Chapter 29: A Letter to the Exiles—Hope and Warning

(32 Pesukim)

Overview

Yermiyahu sends a scroll from Jerusalem to the Jewish exiles in Babylon, offering guidance for life in captivity and exposing false prophets. The chapter blends practical advice, divine promises, and stern warnings against deception.

1. The Letter’s Recipients and Context (29:1-3)

• Yirmiyahu the prophet from Jerusalem sent the following letter to the Diaspora. It was addressed to all of the elders, priests, prophets, and all of the exiles who were deported from Israel by Nebuchadnezzar after Yeconiah’s deportation and after the exile of the officers, the princes of Judah and Jerusalem, and the craftsmen and the gate sentries of Jerusalem.
• The letter was delivered through Elasah the son of Shafan and Gemariah the son of Chilkiah, envoys of King Tzidkiyahu to Babylon.

2. Instructions for Life in Exile – Settle Down (29:4-7)

Hashem’s message in the letter to the entire exile:

• Build homes in Bavel and settle down there.
• Plant gardens and enjoy their produce.
• Start families: Get yourselves women to marry and get your sons women to marry, and your daughters you shall give over to men in marriage.  Raise families there and do not diminish in procreation.
• Pray for the peace of Babylon: Seek the welfare of Babylon which is the city you have been exiled to —pray for its peace, for your peace depends on it.

3. Warning Against False Prophets (29:8-9)

• The message continues with warning the people of the exile not to listen to the tidings of the false prophets:
• Do not listen to prophets, diviners, or dreamers among you—they speak lies in Hashem’s name, falsely saying that you will shortly return back to Jerusalem.
• I, Hashem, did not send them; their words will lead to false hope, as you are destined to remain there for 70 years.

4. The Promise of Restoration (29:10-14)

• Hashem continues with a promise of restoration: After 70 years, Hashem will fulfill His word and bring the exiles back.
• His plans are for peace, not harm—to give a future and hope.
• Seek out Hashem your God wholeheartedly and pray to Him, and He will be found.
• As a result, Hashem will gather His people from all nations and restore them to their land.

5. Judgment on Those Remaining in Jerusalem (29:15-19)

• Some individuals believe that there are prophets in Babylon who are prophesies that they will return right away back to Jerusalem. This is untrue.
• Hashem announces: Those who stayed behind in Jerusalem and were not exiled, will face sword, famine, and plague.
• They will become like rotten figs—despised and cursed among nations—because they ignored Hashem’s prophets.

6. Condemnation of False Prophets in Babylon (29:20-23)

• So says Hashem to the entire exile: Ahab the son of Koloyah and Zedekiah the son of Maseiyah, who prophesy lies and commit immorality, will be handed to Nebuchadnezzar for death and they will be publicly burned by him.
• As a result of their public burning, their names will become a curse amongst the people of the exiles: “May Hashem make you like Ahab and Zedekiah.”
• They will suffer this fate because they performed an abomination in Israel: They committed adultery with the wives of their neighbors, and they spoke in Hashem’s name false prophecies.

7. Shemaiah’s Rebellion (29:24-32)

• Hashem sent the following message to Shemaiah the Nechelami through Yirmiyahu: You were the one who sent letters to the entire nation in Jerusalem and to Tzefanya the son of Maseiyah, and to the priests urging them to silence Yermiyahu.
• The letter he sent: You, Shemaiah wrote in the letter that you sent them: Hashem had made you Tzefanyah a priest instead of Yehoyada the priest, to appoint supervisors in the Temple and to maintain order over the madmen and false prophets, and make sure to incarcerate them in a cell, and place them in shackles. If so, says Hashem why did you not protest against Yirmiyahu from the town of Anatot who is mad and saying false prophecies. After all, he was prophesying that the Jewish people remain in Babylon for a while and that they should build homes and plant gardens there to eat their food and produce.
• Tzefanyah the priest had read this letter that he received from Shemaiah in front of Yirmiyahu.
• Hashem told Yirmiyahu to respond as follows to the entire exile: Shemaiah is a false prophet who was not sent by Me and he has promised you falsehoods. Thereby, I instruct regarding Shemaiah that he will have no descendants among the people and will not see the good Hashem brings—because he spoke rebellion against Hashem.

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