Jeremiah 24:1 — meaning, Hebrew and Greek word study, commentary
Jeremiah 24:1
The LORD shewed me, and, behold, two baskets of figs were set before the temple of the LORD, after that Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon had carried away captive Jeconiah the son of Jehoiakim king of Judah, and the princes of Judah, with the carpenters and smiths, from Jerusalem, and had brought them to Babylon.
to see · verb, hiphil perfect, 3rd person masculine singular + pronominal suffix
two
שְׁנֵי֙she.Nei
H8147
two · cardinal number, both genders dual construct
baskets
דּוּדַיdûwday
H1736
a boiler or basket
figs
תְאֵנִ֔יםte.'e.Nim
H8384
the fig (tree or fruit) · noun, common masculine plural absolute
set
מוּעָדִ֕יםmu.'a.Dim
H3259
to fix upon (by agreement or appointment) · verb, hophal passive participle, masculine plural absolute
before
לִפְנֵ֖י
Strong's Exhaustive Concordance (James Strong, 1890/1894), public domain; digitized by Open Scriptures (CC BY-SA). KJV word tagging: eBible.org (public domain). Original-language text, parsing and brief lexicon: STEPBible.org data from Tyndale House, Cambridge (CC BY 4.0).
Cross-references
Jeremiah 29:2 (After that Jeconiah the king, and the queen, and the eunuchs, the princes of Judah and Jerusalem, and the carpenters, and the smiths, were…
2 Chronicles 36:10 And when the year was expired, king Nebuchadnezzar sent, and brought him to Babylon, with the goodly vessels of the house of the LORD, and m…
2 Kings 24:12-16 And Jehoiachin the king of Judah went out to the king of Babylon, he, and his mother, and his servants, and his princes, and his officers: a…
Deuteronomy 26:2-4 That thou shalt take of the first of all the fruit of the earth, which thou shalt bring of thy land that the LORD thy God giveth thee, and s…
1 Samuel 13:19-20 Now there was no smith found throughout all the land of Israel: for the Philistines said, Lest the Hebrews make them swords or spears:
Jeremiah 22:24-28 As I live, saith the LORD, though Coniah the son of Jehoiakim king of Judah were the signet upon my right hand, yet would I pluck thee thenc…
Ezekiel 19:9 And they put him in ward in chains, and brought him to the king of Babylon: they brought him into holds, that his voice should no more be he…
Amos 3:7 Surely the Lord GOD will do nothing, but he revealeth his secret unto his servants the prophets.
Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).
Commentary
Matthew Henry on Jeremiah 24:1–end
This short chapter helps us to put a very comfortable construction upon a great many long ones, by showing us that the same providence which to some is a savour of death unto death may by the grace and blessing of God be made to others a savour of life unto life; and that, though God's people share with others in the same calamity, yet it is not the same to them that it is to others, but is designed for their good and shall issue in their good; to them it is a correcting rod in the hand of a tender Father, while to others it is an avenging sword in the hand of a righteous Judge. Observe,
I. The date of this sermon. It was after, a little after, Jeconiah's captivity, Jer 24:1. Jeconiah was hi…
The Lord showed me,.... A vision, or in a vision, what follows; for by this it appears that what was seen was not real, but what was exhibited in a visionary way by the Lord, and represented to the mind of the prophet:
and, behold, two baskets of figs were set before the temple of the Lord; or "pots", as Jarchi; these do not signify the law and Gospel, or the synagogue and church, or the Jews and Christians, or hell and heaven, as some have interpreted it, observed by Jerom; but the Jews that were in captivity with Jeconiah, and those that remained in Jerusalem with Zedekiah, as it is explained in some following verses. These baskets are said to be "set before the temple of the Lord", not t…
Jeremiah 24:1-2
1. The LORD shewed me, and, behold, two baskets of figs were set before the temple of the LORD, after that Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon had carried away captive Jeconiah the son of Jehoiakim king of Judah, and the princes of Judah, with the carpenters and smiths, from Jerusalem, and had brought them to Babylon.
1. Videre me fecit (ostendit mihi visionem) Jehova, et ecce duo calathi ficuum positi coram Templo Jehovae, postquam transtulerat Nebuchadne-zer, rex Babylonis, Jechoniam, filium Joakim, regem Jehudah, et principes Jehudah, et artificem et inclusorem (vel, sculptorem) [122] e Jerusalem, et ab-duxerat eos Babylonem:
2. One basket had very good figs, even like the…
The Church Fathers
The prophet speaks thus concerning the people of Israel and ours: "The Lord showed me two baskets of figs. One had very good ones, the other had very bad ones." This fact, as has often been said, presents an image of the two people, for those two baskets prefigured the synagogue and the church. The basket of very bad fruit mystically designated the people of the synagogue, while the one with very good fruit pointed out the church of the Christians.
(Chapter XXIV. - Verse 1ff.) The Lord showed me, and behold, two baskets (or baskets) full of figs, placed before the temple of the Lord. After Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon had carried Jeconiah son of Jehoiakim, king of Judah, and the princes, the craftsmen, and the captives from Jerusalem to Babylon. One basket had very good figs, like the figs that ripen early, and the other basket had very bad figs, which could not be eaten because they were bad. And the Lord said to me: What do you see, Jeremiah? And I said: I see good figs, very good; and bad figs, very bad, which cannot be eaten, because they are bad. And the word of the Lord came to me, saying: Thus says the Lord God of Israel: As these good figs, so will I know the captivity of Judah, whom I have sent out of this place into the land of the Chaldeans, for good. And I will set my eyes upon them for good, and I will bring them back to this land, and I will build them up, and not tear them down: and I will plant them, and not pluck them up. And I will give them a heart to know me, that I am the Lord; and they shall be my people, and I will be their God: for they shall return to me with their whole heart. And as the fig tree, which cannot be eaten, because it is bad: thus saith the Lord, so will I give (or hand over) Zedekiah the king of Judah, and his princes, and the remnant of Jerusalem, that remain in this city, and that dwell in the land of Egypt. And I will give them for vexation, affliction (or dispersion) to all the kingdoms of the earth as a reproach, and as a parable, and as a proverb, and as a curse in all places where I have driven them. And I will send upon them the sword, and famine, and the pestilence, until they are consumed from the land that I gave to them and their fathers. The two baskets, or baskets of good and evil (or of good things and evil things), are interpreted in the Law and in the Gospel; the Synagogue and the Church; the Jewish people and the Christians; Gehenna and the Kingdom of Heaven, of which one pertains to the punishment of sins, and the other to the dwelling place of the Saints. But we, knowing according to the Apostle Paul (Rom. VII) that the law is good and holy, and the commandment is good and holy, and that the God of both Testaments is one, or rather let us refer to those who believed and did not believe in the coming of the Lord Savior, who, instigated by…
Dictionary and topics
Basket — There are five different Hebrew words so rendered in the Authorized Version: (1.) A basket (Heb. sal, a twig or osier) for holding bread (Gen. 40:16; Ex. 29:3, 23; Lev. 8:2, 26, 31; Num. 6:15, 17,…
Captivity — (1.) Of Israel. The kingdom of the ten tribes was successively invaded by several Assyrian kings. Pul (q.v.) imposed a tribute on Menahem of a thousand talents of silver (2 Kings 15:19, 20; 1 Chr.…
Jehoiachin — Succeeded his father Jehoiakin (B.C. 599) when only eight years of age, and reigned for one hundred days (2 Chr. 36:9). He is also called Jeconiah (Jer. 24:1; 27:20, etc.), and Coniah (22:24; 37:1).…
Carpentry · General references — General references
Fig Tree, The · Fruit of: Gathered and kept in baskets — Fruit of: Gathered and kept in baskets
Jehoiachin · General references — General references
Jeremiah · .Time of his prophecies — .Time of his prophecies
Smith · Jewish, — Jewish,
Dictionary: Easton's (1897) and Smith's (1863), public domain. Topics: Nave's Topical Bible (1896) and Torrey's Topical Textbook (1897), public domain. Both as parsed by NEUU (CC BY 4.0).
lif.Nei
H6440
the face (as the part that turns) · preposition + noun, common masculine plural construct
temple
הֵיכַ֣לhei.Khal
H1964
a large public building · noun, common masculine singular construct
Nebukadnetstsar (or -retstsar · proper noun, a man's name
king
מֶֽלֶךְMe.lekh-
H4428
a king · noun, common masculine singular construct
Babylon
בָּבֶ֡לba.Vel
H894
Babel (i.e. Babylon) · proper noun, a place name
captive
הַגְל֣וֹתhag.Lot
H1540
to denude (especially in a disgraceful sense) · verb, hiphil infinitive construct
Jeconiah
יְכָנְיָ֣הוּye.kha.ne.Ya.hu
H3204
Jekonjah · proper noun, a man's name
son
בֶןven-
H1121
a son (as a builder of the family name) · noun, common masculine singular construct
Jehoiakim
יְהוֹיָקִ֣יםye.ho.ya.Kim
H3079
Jehojakim · proper noun, a man's name
king
מֶֽלֶךְMe.lekh-
H4428
a king · noun, common masculine singular construct
Judah
יְהוּדָה֩ye.hu.Dah
H3063
Jehudah (or Judah) · proper noun, a place name
princes
שָׂרֵ֨יsa.Rei
H8269
a head person (of any rank or class) · noun, common masculine plural construct
Judah
יְהוּדָ֜הye.hu.Dah
H3063
Jehudah (or Judah) · proper noun, a place name
carpenters
הֶחָרָ֤שׁhe.cha.Rash
H2796
a fabricator or any material · definite article + noun, common masculine singular absolute
smiths
הַמַּסְגֵּר֙ha.mas.Ger
H4525
a fastener · definite article + noun, common masculine singular absolute
Jerusalem
מִיר֣וּשָׁלִַ֔םmi.Ru.sha.Lim
H3389
Jerushalaim or Jerushalem · preposition + proper noun, a place name
brought
וַיְבִאֵ֖םvay.vi.'Em
H935
to go or come (in a wide variety of applications) · conjunction + verb, hiphil sequential imperfect, 3rd person masculine singular + pronominal suffix, 3rd person masculine plural
The Two Fig Baskets-an emblem of the future of Judah's people. - Jer 24:1. "Jahveh caused me to see, and behold two baskets of figs set before the temple of Jahveh, after Nebuchadrezzar had carried captive Jechoniah, the son of Jehoiakim, king of Judah, and the princes of Judah, and the work-people and the smiths from Jerusalem, and had brought them to Babylon. Jer 24:2. One basket had very good figs like the early figs, the other basket very bad figs, which could not be eaten for badness. Jer 24:3. And Jahveh said to me: What seest thou, Jeremiah? and I said: Figs; the good figs are very good, and the bad figs very bad, which cannot be eaten for badness. Jer 24:4. Then came the word of Jahv…
This section is a discussion of the meaning of the exile of 597 BC. Some were saying that it had been God’s way of getting the rotten figs out of the barrel (Jerusalem) so that the good figs would survive. Jeremiah said that the exact opposite was the case. The good figs had been taken out of the barrel (into exile) so that the rotten figs would not destroy them.
24:1 Babylon’s King Nebuchadnezzar had taken Jehoiachin into captivity to Babylon in 597 BC. Jehoiachin’s surrender had spared Jerusalem, but its treasures and 10,000 of its elite citizens had gone into exile (2 Kgs 24:8-16). • Typically, baskets of figs would be displayed in a market rather than in the Temple area.
Rashi on Jeremiah 24:1
pots Heb. דּוּדָאֵי.
prepared Heb. מוּעדים.
the craftsmen and the sentries of the gates Torah scholars who were exiled with Jeconiah, and I already explained in the Book of Kings (II 24:14) הֶחָרָש וְהַמַּסְגֵּר (les maitres, les portiers in French) the masters, the sentries of the gates. Another explanation: הֶחָרָש וְהַמַּסְגֵּר: הֶחָרָש is an expression of silence, וְהַמַּסְגֵּר is an expression of closing. That is to say, great sages in Torah, to the extent that when one of them would speak, everyone would remain silent. מַסְגֵּר means that when they would close the discussion, no one would reopen it.
