And ye shall go and pray unto me . "Go," that is, to the places "where prayer is wont to be made." The clause seems to refer to common prayer for a common object. Comp. striking passages in Solomon's prayer ( 1 Kings 8:48 ), and in Deuteronomy ( Deuteronomy 4:29 , Deuteronomy 4:30 ). read more
Signs that God's favor is restored. I. WHAT HE DOES IN HIS PEOPLE . 1. In turning their hearts to himself . They had been worshipping Baal and the gods of heathendom. Only now and then did they offer a haft-hearted worship to Jehovah. The idolatries that pandered to their lusts were uppermost in their thoughts, and it was only occasionally, in seasons of desperate need, they bethought themselves of Jehovah. Now he was to assume a higher place in their regard. Their... read more
An expected end - Rather, a future and a hope. The nation shall not come to an end; the exile shall be followed by a restoration. read more
Jeremiah 29:10-14. After seventy years be accomplished at Babylon Hebrews, לפי מלאת שׁבעים שׁנה , literally, At the mouth of the accomplishment of seventy years. “And as the mouth of a river, metaphorically, denotes the extremity of its course, where it discharges its waters into the sea; so, by a farther metaphor drawn from hence, לפי seems to denote being at the full end of a certain period or limited course of time, where it is just going to lose itself in, and mix with, the ocean... read more
Letters to the captives in Babylon (29:1-32)In 597 BC several thousand of Jerusalem’s most capable people were taken captive to Babylon. Among them were some false prophets who began to predict, as Hananiah had done, that Babylon was about to fall and that the Judean captives were about to return to Jerusalem. Jeremiah, on hearing of this, wrote a letter to the community of captives (29:1-3).The advice Jeremiah gives to the exiles is that they settle down to a more or less permanent way of... read more
an expected end. Figure of speech Hendiadys. Hebrew "an end and an expectation" = an end, yea, an end which I have caused you to hope for: i.e. a hoped-for end. read more
Jeremiah 29:12. Ye shall go and pray unto me— Ye shall pray unto me more and more. read more
11. I know—I alone; not the false prophets who know nothing of My purposes, though they pretend to know. thoughts . . . I think— (Isaiah 55:9). Glancing at the Jews who had no "thoughts of peace," but only of "evil" (misfortune), because they could not conceive how deliverance could come to them. The moral malady of man is twofold—at one time vain confidence; then, when that is disappointed, despair. So the Jews first laughed at God's threats, confident that they should speedily return; then,... read more
12. Fulfilled ( :-, &c.). When God designs mercy, He puts it into the hearts of His people to pray for the mercy designed. When such a spirit of prayer is poured out, it is a sure sign of coming mercy. go—to the temple and other places of prayer: contrasted with their previous sloth as to going to seek God. read more
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The Pulpit Commentary - Jeremiah 29:11
Thoughts of peace. Such is the consoling word that God sends to his "banished ones" in their affliction. He bids his servant "speak comfortably" to them, even now that their "warfare" is only beginning, and they are having their first taste of the bitterness of exile. Blending with the lamentations of the weeping captives as they "hung their harps on the willows by the waters of Babylon," we can imagine that this gracious word would have a more salutary effect upon them than the living... read more