Jeremiah 24:5-10

5 "Thus says the LORD God of Israel, 'Like these good figs, so I will regard ¹as good the captives of Judah, whom I have sent out of this place into the land of the Chaldeans.

6 'For I will set My eyes on them for good, and I will ²bring them again to this land; and I will ³build them up and not overthrow them, and I will ⁴plant them and not pluck them up.

7 'I will give them a ⁵heart to know Me, for I am the LORD; and they will be ⁶My people, and I will be their God, for they will ⁷return to Me with their whole heart.

8 'But like the ⁸bad figs which cannot be eaten due to rottenness -indeed, thus says the LORD -so I will abandon ⁹Zedekiah king of Judah and his officials, and the ¹⁰remnant of Jerusalem who remain in this land and the ones who dwell in the land of ¹¹Egypt.

9 'I will ¹²make them a terror and an evil for all the kingdoms of the earth, as a ¹³reproach and a proverb, a taunt and a ¹⁴curse in all places where * I will scatter them.

10 'I will send the ¹⁵sword, the famine and the pestilence upon them until they are destroyed from the land which I gave to them and their forefathers.' "

Jeremiah 24:5-10 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. Nahum 1:7; Zechariah 13:9
• 2. Jeremiah 12:15; Jeremiah 29:10; Jeremiah 32:37; Ezekiel 11:17
• 3. Jeremiah 31:4; Jeremiah 32:41; Jeremiah 33:7; Jeremiah 42:10
• 4. Jeremiah 32:41
• 5. Deuteronomy 30:6; Jeremiah 31:33; Jeremiah 32:40; Ezekiel 11:19; Ezekiel 36:26
• 6. Isaiah 51:16; Jeremiah 7:23; Jeremiah 30:22; Jeremiah 31:33; Jeremiah 32:38; Ezekiel 14:11; Zechariah 8:8; Hebrews 8:10
• 7. 1 Samuel 7:3; Psalms 119:2; Jeremiah 29:13
• 8. Jeremiah 29:17
• 9. Jeremiah 39:5; Ezekiel 12:12, 13
• 10. Jeremiah 39:9
• 11. Jer 44:1, 26-30
• 12. Jeremiah 15:4; Jeremiah 29:18; Jeremiah 34:17
• 13. 1 Kings 9:7; Psalms 44:13, 14
• 14. Isaiah 65:15
• 15. Isaiah 51:19; Jeremiah 21:9; Jeremiah 27:8; Ezekiel 5:12-17

Footnotes

• [a] Lit "give up"