Jeremiah 24:4-10

4 Then the word of the LORD came to me:

5 “This is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says: ‘Like these good figs, I regard as good the exiles from Judah, whom I sent away from this place to the land of the Babylonians.^[a]

6 My eyes will watch over them for their good, and I will bring them back to this land. I will build them up and not tear them down; I will plant them and not uproot them.

7 I will give them a heart to know me, that I am the LORD. They will be my people, and I will be their God, for they will return to me with all their heart.

8 “ ‘But like the bad figs, which are so bad they cannot be eaten,’ says the LORD, ‘so will I deal with Zedekiah king of Judah, his officials and the survivors from Jerusalem, whether they remain in this land or live in Egypt.

9 I will make them abhorrent and an offense to all the kingdoms of the earth, a reproach and a byword, a curse^[b] and an object of ridicule, wherever I banish them.

10 I will send the sword, famine and plague against them until they are destroyed from the land I gave to them and their ancestors.’ ”

Jeremiah 24:4-10 Meaning and Commentary

INTRODUCTION TO JEREMIAH 24

This chapter contains a vision of two baskets of figs, representing the Jews both in captivity, and at Jerusalem. The vision is declared, Jer 24:1-3; where both time and place are pointed at, in which the vision was seen, and the nature of the figs described, and what passed between the Lord and the prophet concerning them. The explication of the vision begins, Jer 24:4; and continues to the end of the chapter. The good figs were an emblem of the good people that were carried captive with Jeconiah into Babylon, which the Lord says was for their good; and he promises to own them, and set his eyes upon them for good, and that they should return to their own land, and have a heart to know him as their God, and return unto him, Jer 24:5-7; the bad figs signify the people that were with Zedekiah at Jerusalem, and those that were in Egypt, who are threatened to be carried captive into all lands, and there live under the greatest reproach and disgrace; or be destroyed in their own land by the sword, famine, or pestilence, Jer 24:8-10.

Cross References

• 1. Jeremiah 29:4,20
• 2. S Jeremiah 30:3">Dt Jeremiah 30:3; Jeremiah 27:22; Jeremiah 29:10; Jeremiah 30:3; Ezekiel 11:17
• 3. Jeremiah 33:7; Jeremiah 42:10
• 4. S Deuteronomy 30:9; S Jeremiah 1:10; Amos 9:14-15
• 5. S Isaiah 11:9
• 6. S Leviticus 26:12; S Isaiah 51:16; Jeremiah 31:33; S Zechariah 2:11; Hebrews 8:10
• 7. Jeremiah 32:40
• 8. S 2 Chronicles 6:37; Ezekiel 11:19
• 9. Jeremiah 29:17
• 10. Jeremiah 32:4-5; Jeremiah 38:18,23; Jeremiah 39:5; Jeremiah 44:30
• 11. Jeremiah 39:6
• 12. Jeremiah 39:9
• 13. Jeremiah 44:1,26; Jeremiah 46:14
• 14. S Jeremiah 15:4; Jeremiah 25:18; Jeremiah 34:17
• 15. S Deuteronomy 28:25; S 1 Kings 9:7
• 16. S 2 Kings 22:19; S Jeremiah 29:18
• 17. S Deuteronomy 28:37; Daniel 9:7
• 18. S Isaiah 51:19; S Jeremiah 9:16; Revelation 6:8
• 19. Jeremiah 15:2
• 20. Jeremiah 27:8
• 21. S Deuteronomy 28:21

Footnotes

• [a]. Or "Chaldeans"
• [b]. That is, their names will be used in cursing (see 29:22); or, others will see that they are cursed.