Second of the major prophets whose book is in the Latter Prophets section of the Bible. Jeremiah prophesied in Judah for some forty years, from the reign of Josiah (626 BCE) until the destruction of the First Temple during the reign of Zedekiah (587 BCE). His book can be divided into three main sections: chapters 1–25, prophecies of wrath and rebuke against Judah; chapters 26–45, prophecies of all types integrated into the biography of Jeremiah; and chapters 46–51, prophecies concerning the various foreign nations. In addition, the final chapter, 52, is a separate section, describing the final days of the Judah and the exile of King Jehoiachin to Babylon.
The text depicts Jeremiah as a tragic figure, a man of spirit struggling for the truth in a cloud of impending doom. He entreated the nation to mend its ways by uprooting idolatry and putting an end to social and criminal injustice. Only thus, hoped Jeremiah, could disaster be averted or at least diminished. Jeremiah pressed for a more realistic foreign policy and was willing to submit to the immense power of Babylon. He regarded all attempts to revolt as futile, a stance which ran contrary to public opinion. Similarly, he was against any alliances with Egypt or Assyria to halt the progress of Babylon. Jeremiah was arrested and imprisoned, beaten and persecuted. He perceived himself as "a man of conflict and strife with all the land!" (Jer. 15:10), and bitterly complained of his task. Although he witnessed the destruction of Jerusalem, he also foresaw the restoration of Judah. His prophecies concerning the redemption are no less powerful than his repudiations of the people and are among the most poignant of all the biblical prophecies. The prophecies of redemption relieve Jeremiah of the unjustified assessment of him as an unrelieved pessimist. In fact, taking his orations as a whole, he is best described as a realistic optimist.
Following the assassination of Gedaliah, Jeremiah migrated to Egypt where nothing further was heard of him. His life and oracles were recorded by his disciple, Baruch son of Neriah. Later, the biblical Book of Lamentations and the apocryphal Letter of Jeremiah were both attributed to Jeremiah.
