Bible Strands
Jeremiah 29:4
This is what the LORD of Hosts, the God of Israel, says to all the exiles who were carried away from Jerusalem to Babylon:
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — The LORD of Hosts, identified as the God of Israel, addresses all the exiles carried from Jerusalem to Babylon. This declaration opens a letter entrusted to Elasah and Gemariah and dispatched by King Zedekiah to King Nebuchadnezzar.
The words — The phrase כֹּ֥ה אָמַר (koh 'amar) literally renders "thus says," serving as a formal prophetic introduction. It is immediately followed by the covenant title יְהוָה צְבָאוֹת אֱלֹהֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל (Yahweh tseva'ot 'Elohe Yisrael), "Yahweh of hosts, God of Israel."
The thread — This divine self-identification appears in Jeremiah 24:5 regarding the exiles and aligns with the sovereign authority claimed in Isaiah 10:5 and Isaiah 45:7. These passages collectively frame Yahweh as the active ruler behind both historical displacement and future restoration.
Why it lands — The text states that Yahweh remains the governing authority over the exiles in Babylon, not a distant deity. It requires the displaced community to accept the following directives as binding commands from their sovereign rather than optional advice.
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
King James Version
Thus saith the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, unto all that are carried away captives, whom I have caused to be carried away from Jerusalem unto Babylon;
Cross-references
- Jeremiah 24:5 “This is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says: ‘Like these good figs, so I regard as good the exiles from Judah, whom I have sent away from this place to the land of the Chaldeans.
- Isaiah 10:5 Woe to Assyria, the rod of My anger; the staff in their hands is My wrath.
- Isaiah 45:7 I form the light and create the darkness; I bring prosperity and create calamity. I, the LORD, do all these things.
- Isaiah 59:1 Surely the arm of the LORD is not too short to save, nor His ear too dull to hear.
- Amos 3:6 If a ram’s horn sounds in a city, do the people not tremble? If calamity comes to a city, has not the LORD caused it?
- Isaiah 5:5 Now I will tell you what I am about to do to My vineyard: I will take away its hedge, and it will be consumed; I will tear down its wall, and it will be trampled.