Jeremiah 29:1

1 And these [are] words of the letter that Jeremiah the prophet sent from Jerusalem unto the remnant of the elders of the removal, and unto the priests, and unto the prophets, and unto all the people -- whom Nebuchadnezzar removed from Jerusalem to Babylon,

Jeremiah 29:1 Meaning and Commentary

Jeremiah 29:1

Now these [are] the words of the letter that Jeremiah the
prophet sent from Jerusalem
The argument and tenor, the sum and substance, of an epistle, which the prophet Jeremiah, being at Jerusalem, wrote, under the inspiration of God, to his countrymen abroad, afterwards described; so the prophets under the Old Testament instructed the people, sometimes by their sermons and discourses delivered by word of mouth to them, and sometimes by letters and epistles; as did the apostles of the New Testament; and they were both ways useful and profitable to men: unto the residue of the elders which were carried away captive;
some perhaps dying by the way, and others quickly after they came to Babylon; some were left, who had been rulers or civil magistrates in Judea, and perhaps of the great sanhedrim: and to the priests, and to the prophets:
false prophets, as the Syriac version; for we read only of one true prophet that was carried captive, and that was Ezekiel; but of false prophets several: and to all the people, whom Nebuchadnezzar had carried away captive
from Jerusalem to Babylon;
which was eleven or twelve years before their last captivity thither. This was a catholic epistle, common to all the captives of every rank and class, age or sex.

Jeremiah 29:1 In-Context

1 And these [are] words of the letter that Jeremiah the prophet sent from Jerusalem unto the remnant of the elders of the removal, and unto the priests, and unto the prophets, and unto all the people -- whom Nebuchadnezzar removed from Jerusalem to Babylon,

2 After the going forth of Jeconiah the king, and the mistress, and the officers, heads of Judah and Jerusalem, and the artificer, and the smith, from Jerusalem --

3 By the hand of Eleasah son of Shaphan, and Gemariah son of Hilkijah, whom Zedekiah king of Judah sent unto Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon -- to Babylon, saying,

4 `Thus said Jehovah of Hosts, God of Israel, to all the removal that I removed from Jerusalem to Babylon,

5 Build ye houses, and abide; and plant ye gardens, and eat their fruit;