Jeremiah 24:8

And as the evil figs, which cannot be eaten, they are so evil; surely thus saith the LORD, So will I give Zedekiah the king of Judah, and his princes, and the residue of Jerusalem, that remain in this land, and them that dwell in the land of Egypt: THEM THAT DWELL IN THE LAND OF EGYPT - many Jews had fled for refuge to Egypt, which was leagued with Judea against Babylon....

God, after having promised to deal kindly with the captives, now declares that he would execute heavier punishment on King Zedekiah, and the whole people who yet remained in their own country. We have stated why God exhibited this vision to the Prophet, even that he might support their minds who saw nothing but grounds of despair, and that also, on the other hand, he might correct their pride who flattered themselves in their own lot, because God had deferred his vengeance as to them. Then the Prophet, having given comfort to the miserable exiles, now speaks against Zedekiah and his people, who boasted that God was propitious to them, and that they had not only been fortunate, but also wise in continuing in their own country. He then says that _Zedekiah _and _his princes, _and all who remained in Judea, were like the _bad figs, _which could not be eaten on account of their bitterness. I...

Verse Jeremiah 24:8. _SO WILL I GIVE ZEDEKIAH_] I will treat these as they deserve. They shall be carried into captivity, and scattered through all nations. Multitudes of those never returned to Judea; the others returned at the end of _seventy years_....

The complete fulfillment of this prophecy belongs to the Christian Church. There is a close analogy between Jeremiah at the first destruction of Jerusalem and our Lord at the second. There the good figs were those converts picked out by the preaching of Christ and the Apostles; the bad figs were the mass of the people left for Titus and the Romans to destroy. Jeremiah 24:5 ACKNOWLEDGE ... FOR THEIR GOOD - Specially their spiritual good. Put a comma after Chaldaeans. Jeremiah 24:8 THAT DWELL IN THE LAND OF EGYPT - Neither those carried captive with Jehoahaz into Egypt, nor those who fled there, are to share in these blessings. The new life of the Jewish nation is to be the work only

EXPOSITION Again Jeremiah's ungrateful task is to take up an attitude of direct opposition to the king (comp. Jeremiah 22:13), though, indeed, Zedekiah personally is so weak and dependent on others that he neither deserves nor receives a special rebuke. He and all the people that are left are likened to very bad figs, the good figs—the exiles—having been picked out and sent to Babylon, whence they will one day be restored. The vision is purely an interior process. This is indicated, not only by the phrase, "Jehovah showed me" (comp. Amos 7:1, Amos 7:4, Amos 7:7; Amos 8:1

AND AS THE EVIL FIGS, WHICH CANNOT BE EATEN, THEY ARE SO EVIL,.... Here follows an explication of the evil figs, and an application of them to the wicked Jews: SURELY THUS SAITH THE LORD, SO WILL I GIVE ZEDEKIAH THE KING OF JUDAH; who was then the reigning king of Judah, Jeconiah's father's brother; whom the king of Babylon had made king in his stead, and changed his name from Mattaniah to Zedekiah, 2 Kings 24:17; him the Lord threatens to give up to ruin and destruction, or to deliver into the hands of the enemy: AND HIS PRINCES, AND THE RESIDUE OF THEM, THAT REMAIN IN THIS LAND; the rest of the inhabitants of Jerusalem that continued in the land of Judea, and were not carried captive: AND THEM THAT DWELL IN THE LAND OF EGYPT; who had fled thither for safety upon the invasion of their land, and besieging their city; all these bei

CHAPTER 24 The Two Baskets of Figs _ 1. The vision of the two baskets of figs (Jeremiah 24:1) _ 2. The vision interpreted (Jeremiah 24:4) Jeremiah 24:1. Jeconiah, with the choicest of the nation, had been carried away into captivity. A large portion remained, and were not taken away, and these attributed their escape from exile to some goodness in them. At that time the prophet had a vision. He saw set before the temple two baskets of figs. The one basket was filled with good figs, the second basket with bad figs. Jeremiah 24:4. The good figs are symbolical of those who were carried away

THE GOOD AND BAD FIGS. The prophet sees (either in vision or actuality; see on Jeremiah 1:11; Jeremiah 1:13; _cf._ Amos 7:1, etc.) baskets of good and bad figs respectively; Yahweh tells him that the former represent the first body of exiles under Jeconiah (Jehoiachin, 2 Kings 24:15 f.) who shall be restored, and the latter the people remaining under Zedekiah, together with those in Egypt. For Ezekiel's similar judgment of the Palestinian and Babylonian sections of Judah, see Ezekiel 17:11 ff;...

See introd. summary to section....

SO WILL I GIVE ZEDEKIAH, &C.— _So will I render Zedekiah,_ &c. Houbigant. REFLECTIONS.—Though, in general, the prophet's word was rejected by the people, yet there were some who heard it, and to whom it was a savour of life unto life. And though, the nation's iniquities now being full, they fell into the promiscuous ruin, yet even in their captivity God will take care of them, and make even this most afflictive providence work for the good of the sincere. 1. The date of the vision is in the beginning of Zedekiah's reign, when Nebuchadnezzar had carried away Jeconiah the king, and the princes of Judah, captives to Babylon, and with them the carpenters and smiths; either to employ them in his own works, or to deprive the captive land of their assistance in making fortifications and weapons of war. 2. The vision itself consisted of two baskets of figs, placed before the temple; the one, v...