Jeremiah 29:16

16 Surely thus said Jehovah concerning the king who is sitting on the throne of David, and concerning all the people that is dwelling in this city, your brethren who went not forth with you in the removal;

Jeremiah 29:16 Meaning and Commentary

Jeremiah 29:16

[Know] that thus saith the Lord
Or "for", or "wherefore thus saith the Lord" ^F24; for the word "know" is not in the text, and seems needless; though it is also supplied by other interpreters ^F25. The words are illative, and follow upon the former; and the sense is, that since they gave heed to their false prophets in Babylon, who told them that they should quickly return; therefore the Lord sent the following message to them, informing them that it was so far from being true that they should in a short time return to Jerusalem, that, on the other hand, they that were there should soon be with them in captivity, or be destroyed: of,
or "concerning" the king that sitteth on the throne of David;
that is, King Zedekiah, who was then the reigning king at Jerusalem: and of all the people that dwelleth in this city;
the city Jerusalem, where Jeremiah was, and from whence this letter was written, in the name of the Lord, to the captives at Babylon: and of your brethren that are not gone forth with you into captivity;
that lived in the several parts of the land of Judea, who were left behind, and not carried captive, when those were to whom these words are directed.

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FOOTNOTES:

F24 (rma hk yk) "nam sic ait", Junius & Tremellius, Piscator, Cocceius; "ideo", Calvin; "ita namque", Schmidt.
F25 "Scitote quod", Vatablus.

Jeremiah 29:16 In-Context

14 And I have been found of you -- an affirmation of Jehovah; and I have turned back [to] your captivity, and have gathered you out of all the nations, and out of all the places whither I have driven you -- an affirmation of Jehovah -- and I have brought you back unto the place whence I removed you.

15 `Because ye have said, Jehovah hath raised up to us prophets in Babylon,

16 Surely thus said Jehovah concerning the king who is sitting on the throne of David, and concerning all the people that is dwelling in this city, your brethren who went not forth with you in the removal;

17 Thus said Jehovah of Hosts, Lo, I am sending among them the sword, the famine, and the pestilence, and I have given them up as figs that [are] vile, that are not eaten for badness.

18 And I have pursued after them with sword, with famine, and with pestilence, and have given them for a trembling to all kingdoms of the earth, for a curse and for an astonishment, and for a hissing, and for a reproach among all the nations whither I have driven them,