Jeremiah

Jeremiah
In the Hebrew text, the book of Jeremiah is the largest book of the prophets, longer than the twelve so-called minor prophets combined. The prophet Jeremiah is among the most accessible personalities of the Old Testament: we have a wealth of historical and biographical material bearing on his life, and the prophet openly bares his soul in a number of his prayers. Jeremiah ministered during the tumultuous years surrounding the decline of Assyria and the rise of the Babylonian Empire. Judah passed quickly through rapid cycles of independence and subjection first to Egypt and then to Babylon. The prophet’s ministry is set primarily against the background of the rule of Josiah’s three sons and a grandson, the last four rulers of Judah. The nation’s independence was at an end, and Jeremiah would witness the destruction of the city and the temple. - Raymond B. Dillard and Tremper Longman III - AN INTRODUCTION to the OLD TESTAMENT