Use this as a lookup page while you read. The entries point to the chapter where the person, place, or image receives fuller treatment.
People
Jeremiah. A priest from Anathoth, called in Josiah’s thirteenth year and active until after Jerusalem fell.1 → Jeremiah 1
Baruch. Jeremiah’s scribe, who writes the prophet’s dictated scroll and reads it at the temple (Jer. 36). He remains with Jeremiah through the flight to Egypt. → Jeremiah 36
Josiah. The reforming king at the beginning of Jeremiah’s ministry. His death begins the rapid succession of Judah’s final kings. → Jeremiah 1–6
Jehoiakim. Josiah’s son, who burns Jeremiah’s scroll (Jer. 36:23). → Jeremiah 22, Jeremiah 36
Jehoiachin / Jeconiah / Coniah. The same young king under three names; Babylon deposes and exiles him after three months. → Jeremiah 22, Jeremiah 24
Zedekiah. Judah’s last king, installed after Jehoiachin’s deposition (2 Kgs. 24:17); he seeks Jeremiah’s counsel but resists its consequence. → Jeremiah 21, Jeremiah 37–39
Nebuchadnezzar / Nebuchadrezzar. Babylon’s king. Jeremiah uses both spellings; they name the same ruler. → Jeremiah 25, Jeremiah 52
Mulek. Zedekiah’s surviving son, whose descendants become the people of Zarahemla in the Book of Mormon (Hel. 8:21; Omni 1:15–16). → Jeremiah 39
Places and peoples
Anathoth. Jeremiah’s hometown, a priestly town northeast of Jerusalem. → Jeremiah 1, Jeremiah 32
Babylon / Chaldeans. The empire that destroys Jerusalem and carries Judah into exile. In Jeremiah, Babylon is first a real historical power before it becomes the target of the final oracles. → Jeremiah 25, Jeremiah 50–51
Egypt. The false refuge Judah seeks against Babylon; the remnant finally carries Jeremiah there. → Jeremiah 2, Jeremiah 42–44
Ramah. A place north of Jerusalem associated with the captives and Rachel’s weeping (Jer. 31:15).2 → Jeremiah 31, Jeremiah 40
Tophet / the valley of Hinnom. The place south of Jerusalem associated with child sacrifice; Jeremiah’s broken jar there makes it an emblem of coming judgment (Jer. 7:31–32; Jer. 19:1–13). → Jeremiah 7, Jeremiah 19
Images and phrases
Broken cisterns. Human-made sources of security that cannot hold water, set against the Lord, the fountain of living waters (Jer. 2:13). → Jeremiah 2
The potter and clay. The Lord’s authority to reshape a nation, joined to the conditional nature of judgment and repentance (Jer. 18:1–10). → Jeremiah 18
The yoke. Jeremiah’s wooden yoke pictures Babylon’s domination; breaking it without the Lord’s word only replaces it with iron (Jer. 27–28). → Jeremiah 27
Good and bad figs. The exiles and those remaining in Jerusalem, used to overturn easy assumptions about who is safe and who is lost (Jer. 24). → Jeremiah 24
The cup of the Lord’s fury. Judgment as a drink the nations must receive. → The Cup of the Lord’s Fury
Shepherds. Leaders responsible to care for the Lord’s people; Jeremiah’s failed shepherds prepare for the righteous Branch. → The Shepherds and the Branch
“Fear on every side.” Jeremiah’s name for Pashhur, and a recurring expression for surrounding terror (Jer. 20:3, 10). → Jeremiah 20
To root out and to plant. The six verbs of Jeremiah’s commission: judgment is real, but it ends in the Lord’s work of building and planting. → To Root Out and to Plant