Jeremiah 27:1

At the beginning of the reign of Zedekiah son of Josiah king of Judah, this word came to Jeremiah from the LORD.

Berean Standard Bible

Study note

Setting — Jeremiah receives a direct oracle from the LORD at the onset of a specific monarch’s rule in Judah. The supplied BSB text names this king Zedekiah, whereas the provided Hebrew lexicon explicitly lists the name as Jehoiakim.

The words — בְּרֵאשִׁית (be./re.Shit) means “in the beginning of” and מַמְלֶכֶת (mam.Le.khet) means “the reign of,” marking the precise chronological anchor for the prophecy.

The thread — This opening date frame precedes the command to forge a yoke (Jeremiah 27:2), the directive to send it to surrounding nations (Jeremiah 27:3), and the identical warning later repeated to Zedekiah himself (Jeremiah 27:12), while 2 Chronicles 36:11 corroborates the historical timeline of Judah’s final kings.

Why it lands — It establishes that divine instruction is bound to specific political moments, requiring the reader to recognize the historical weight of the message and respond to the stated command to submit to the prevailing authority.

Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.

The Hebrew words

בְּרֵאשִׁ֗יתbe./re.Shitin/ [the] beginning of מַמְלֶ֛כֶתmam.Le.khet[the] reign of יְהוֹיָקִ֥םye.ho.ya.KimJehoiakim בֶּן־ben-[the] son of יֹאושִׁיָּ֖הוּyo.shi.Ya.huJosiah מֶ֣לֶךְMe.lekh[the] king of יְהוּדָ֑הye.hu.DahJudah הָיָ֞הha.Yahit came הַדָּבָ֤רha./da.Varthe/ word הַזֶּה֙ha./Zeh<the>/ this אֶֽל־'el-to יִרְמְיָ֔הyir.me.YahJeremiah מֵאֵ֥תme./'Etfrom/ with יְהוָ֖הYah.wehYahweh לֵאמֹֽר׃le./Mor<to>/ saying

King James Version

In the beginning of the reign of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah king of Judah came this word unto Jeremiah from the Lord, saying,

Cross-references

2 Chronicles 36:11 Zedekiah was twenty-one years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem eleven years.
Jeremiah 27:3 Send word to the kings of Edom, Moab, Ammon, Tyre, and Sidon through the envoys who have come to Jerusalem to Zedekiah king of Judah.
Jeremiah 27:12 And to Zedekiah king of Judah I spoke the same message: “Put your necks under the yoke of the king of Babylon; serve him and his people, and live!
Jeremiah 27:19 For this is what the LORD of Hosts says about the pillars, the sea, the bases, and the rest of the articles that remain in this city,
Jeremiah 28:1 In the fifth month of that same year, the fourth year, near the beginning of the reign of King Zedekiah of Judah, the prophet Hananiah son of Azzur, who was from Gibeon, said to me in the house of the LORD in the presence of the priests and all the people:
Jeremiah 26:1 At the beginning of the reign of Jehoiakim son of Josiah king of Judah, this word came from the LORD:

People named

JeremiahZedekiahJosiah