Michelangelo’s Sistine Chapel Ceiling
Public Domain – Sistine Chapel Ceiling 1510-1512
Michaelangelo portrays Jeremiah the prophet as frequently conceived in the western tradition, as a brooding, bordering on depressive, figure. Jeremiah is depicted on the left side of the high altar, one of seven Hebrew Bible prophets depicted in the monumental fresco. Here, Jeremiah is depicted as separate from his colleagues who consult scrolls or books, or look to other figures or contemplate the chapel service below them. Jeremiah is solitary, lost in thought, and isolated. Yet this depiction captures only part of Jeremiah’s five decades of ministry. At the beginning of his calling, Jeremiah was quite young (1:6-7) and spent much of his ministry not in isolated meditation but in vigorous debate with other prophets who gave contradictory reports of God’s words and desires. Thus the most famous visual depiction of Jeremiah reveals some, and at the same time obscures much, of the ministry of the “weeping prophet.”
“Seek the Welfare of the City”
Jeremiah 29:7 frequently serves as the rallying cry for modern urban missions, particularly among evangelical Christians. Missio Alliance, Desiring God, The Gospel Coalition and others frame their outreach efforts using the words that God delivered through Jeremiah to the recently exiled Judeans living in Babylonian exile. The framing of Jeremiah’s message was for the exiles to settle down, get married, have children, form businesses, and to integrate into the communities where they had found themselves. The natural desire of the people to whom Jeremiah spoke was to despise the cities where they had been resettled, and to hate their Babylonian neighbors. Jeremiah’s call, then was to pray for enemies and seek to bless locations that were the epicenter of their experience of injustice and oppression.
In contemporary usage, “seeking the welfare of the city” is frequently citing by urban missionaries who are native to their city, or choose to move to urban areas in order to evangelize urban populations. Modern Christians seeking the welfare of the city tend to enroll children in local schools and patronize, as much as possible, local businesses in order to participate fully in urban life and provide material support and familial investment in their chosen community, believing that “in its prosperity, you will find your prosperity.” Frequently, urban missionizing Christians will practice the instructions of Jeremiah to pray on behalf of the city by conducting prayer walks around their city or neighborhood, inhabiting the urban areas with their prayer practices. Instead of the original context of enmity among exiles who had no choice but to live in the cities of their triumphant enemies, the words of Jeremiah to seek the welfare of the city have been adopted by Christians who choose to inhabit urban areas in order to be a blessing.
Den of Robbers
The original context of Jeremiah’s Temple sermon (Jeremiah 7:1-15) was in warning unrepentant practitioners of chronic sins to not bother to seek forgiveness and safety in God’s house. Folks were practicing violent injustice and flagrant idolatry, and then seeking salvation at the Temple, only to begin the cycle again. In this context, God asks through Jeremiah if God’s house has been turned into a den of robbers (7:11). The intention of the question is not to suggest that there is any robbery happening in the Temple, per se. Instead, a den of robbers is where the robbers go after they have committed their crimes in order to be safe and avoid prosecution or retribution for their theft.
Jesus repurposed the den of robbers line from Jeremiah to critique those selling sacrificial animals in the Temple complex (Matthew 21:12-14; Mark 11:17; Luke 19:16; c.f. John 2:16). Interpretative possibilities vary. Jesus may have used the phrase in the same way as Jeremiah, seeking to prevent the too-easy rituals of forgiveness that did not provoke practices of repentance and improved behavior. Alternatively, Jesus may have simply wished to preclude the sale of animals within Temple premises.
It is this latter interpretation that seems to have captured Christian imagination the most. Congregations across denominations prohibit commercial activities, and even fundraisers within their church buildings. Other congregations have book stores, coffee shops, day-cares and other businesses not only within their building, but as vital components of their sustainability model. Christians continue to debate the applicability of Jeremiah’s words, whether the danger of turning God’s house into a den of robbers is about theft/business that happens outside of holy precincts, or within.
Ageism in the Church
Jeremiah doubts whether he can be the one to fulfill God’s call, because he is only a youth (Jeremiah 1:4-8). In every village and town of Israel and Judah, and surrounding societies, business and political matters were decided by elders, by virtue of the assumption that their advanced age had also granted them advanced wisdom. Jeremiah is right to be anxious about how the message that God gave him would be received from such a young mouth. God’s insists that unlike other prophets who were called much later in life, Jeremiah was called while he still gestated in his mother’s womb. Jeremiah is not to worry that he is only a youth, because he will be obedient to God alone. Therefore, he need not worry about the people who would complain about him because of his youth.
In the movie Gran Turino, one of the major supporting characters is a young Catholic priest, Father Janovich, whom the elderly main character, Walt, derisively calls “padre” even though he thinks of the young priest as “…an overeducated 27-year-old virgin who likes to hold the hands of superstitious old ladies and promise them everlasting life.” Eventually, Walt sees wisdom in Father Janovich and they grant each other grudging respect.
The fear of other generations that Jeremiah experienced is almost ubiquitous in many churches. Young people worry that they will not be listened to, or if they try to express themselves through ritual, liturgy or preaching, they will meet condemnation for “not doing it right.” On the other side, older members of the Body of Christ worry about their contributions, traditions, practices and preferences being ignored, squandered, or worse, reviled, by younger generations. God’s answer to Jeremiah’s fears of others judging him negatively on account of his age is simply a call to faithfulness – for Jeremiah to go where God calls him.
There is a Balm in Gilead
The African-American spiritual, “There is a Balm in Gilead,” draws the inspiration for its title from Jeremiah 8:22 (and to a lesser extent, from 46:11). In a lament over the consequences of Judah’s national sins, Jeremiah asks a rhetorical question: “Is there no balm in Gilead? Is there no physician there? Why then has not the health of the daughter of my people been restored?”
Gilead was a rocky area, which nevertheless, Commiphora/Acacia trees grew in quantity, providing renowned healing ointments. The punishment that God would wreak on Judah would be so severe that even the famous medicinal plants of Gilead would be insufficient to aid in healing.
The beloved 19th century spiritual, included in many hymnals and worship books, turns the assumption of Jeremiah on its head, and insists that there is a balm in Gilead. The God who punished the Judahites for national sins of injustice and idolatry becomes, instead a source of restoration and healing for the person tired of their own sins:
There is a balm in Gilead
To make the wounded whole;
There is a balm in Gilead
To heal the sin-sick soul.
The theology of the spiritual insists that, though God may punish or allow suffering temporarily, God is always ready to strengthen and encourage the humble, the wounded, and the repentant sinner.
Jeremiah by Andrew Mabanji
The beloved sculpture of Jeremiah by Zimbabwean artist, Andrew Mabanji, is housed at St. John’s Abbey in Collegeville, Minnesota. Echoing the hand-on-head meditation of Michaelangelo’s Jeremiah in the Sistine Chapel ceiling, Mabanji adds the words of Jeremiah 20:9 to Jeremiah’s book, proclaiming that God’s word is a fire in the heart. The choice of words is particularly striking, inscribed in a modern interpretation of traditional Shona rock-art.
The name of the country Zimbabwe may be translated as “stone houses” and the country boasts a national tradition of expertly carved stone, which Mabanji adapted to capture Jeremiah’s struggle at embodying a difficult word from God. When asked, Mabanji was untroubled by the words of Jeremiah 10:1-10, prohibiting creation of idols. The work is God’s natural stone, not wood or precious medals, and points to God’s word overpowering the human person, not the human turning from God’s word to idolatry.
False Prophesy
Much of the book that bears his name depicts Jeremiah struggle with false prophets who lulled the people into a sense of complacency and distracted from the spiritual and moral emergency that Jeremiah proclaimed. Jeremiah engages in prophetic battle with Pashhur (Jer 20) and Hananiah (Jer 27-28), as well as other unnamed prophets (Jer 23:7-40) who misled the people in God’s name. Jeremiah’s struggle with false prophets and those who misspeak for God is a common theme in the Hebrew Bible (Deut 13, 18; Ezekiel 13) and the New Testament (Matthew 7:15, Romans 16:18, Rev 20:10).
But false prophets, and accusations of false prophesy continue long after the close of the Biblical canon. Nathan of Gaza functioned as a prophetic endorsor of Shabbatai Z’vi, a disastrous 17th century messianic claimant. More recently, David Koresh/Vernon Howell claimed to be the final prophet of the Branch Davidians, whose religious movement ended in murder and death in Waco, Texas, in 1993.
In American electoral politics, religious supporters of various candidates, (e.g., Franklin Graham who supported Donald Trump and William Barber II who supported Kamala Harris in the 2024 presidential election) are frequently portrayed by political opponents as false prophets. Newsweek said of Graham “If the apple didn’t fall far from the tree, it definitely rolled downhill a while,” while the Christian Post wrote of Barber, “[t]he pastor… reached a new low [inviting LGBTQ folks to church]… you need to learn!” Christians on opposite sides of political spectrums attempt to co-opt Jeremiah’s struggle against false prophets by accusing their political opponents of speaking falsely for God.
Jesus warns his disciples about false prophets and offers this guidance: “Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing but inwardly are ravenous wolves. You will know them by their fruits” (Matthew 7:15-16).
Textual history and Jeremiah’s Scroll
Though Christianity is based on faith, not sight (2 Cor 5:7), discovering archeological proofs of Biblical stories and physical evidence that undergirds Biblical stories has been a passion for both Christians and Jews in modern times. The (re)discovery of the Didache in 1873, the discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls in 1947, the Tel Dan stele in 1993, the Hezekiah bulla in 2009 and the lead scroll on Mt. Ebal in 2019 were sources of great excitement in the academy in Israel and the U.S. Such discoveries are also important to the Christian evangelical community that constructed the Museum of the Bible as well as the Creation Museum and Ark Encounter. Seeking to bridge the gap between the text of Scripture and material culture continues to excite Christians and animate both archeologists and philanthropists.
Jeremiah, unique among Hebrew Bible texts, discusses multiple steps of recension history, destruction, and copying. Chapter 36 discusses how the early works of Jeremiah were seized, systematically destroyed, re-copied, expanded (36:32) and reproduced. Although the oldest extant scrolls of Jeremiah are Greek texts found at the Qumran community, the self-referential recording of the history of the Jeremiah texts offers precious insight into ancient practices of preserving, transmitting and recording prophesy and history. Christian and Jewish archeologists continue to chase after portions of ancient scrolls and fragments, with new discoveries found every year.
I Know the Plans I have for You
There are few verses more ubiquitous in Christian home decor than Jeremiah 29:11 – “For surely I know the plans I have for you, says the Lord, plans for your welfare and not for harm, to give you a future with hope.”
It makes sense. Who doesn’t want God to prosper them and not harm them, to receive a hope and a future? But the context of the verse is important. Jeremiah 29 contains a letter written to the exiles of Judah who had been relocated away from Judah. They would have recently seen friends and family killed by Babylonian troops. They have been forced to march for hundreds of miles, with few, if any belongings. The hopes and plans they had for safety and security in the homes and farms that they had constructed have been utterly dashed.
So, the exiles could be forgiven for being somewhat cynical when God promised through Jeremiah to give them a hope and a future, to prosper them and not to harm them. After all, the Babylonian conquest was framed as God’s punishment for idolatry and injustice. Babylon was God’s tool for harming them! What Jeremiah 29:11 is proclaiming is that God will change the way that God has dealt with the Judahites. They received, according to Isaiah 40:2, a double punishment for their sins. But now, God says to the exiles to live for 70 years where they have been settled. At the end of that time, God will bring those who are still living and their descendants back to the Promised Land.
In the context in which it was received, Jeremiah 29:11 may have been difficult to accept. The people were still in exile, and most who heard Jeremiah’s message would die in exile. And yet, the God who punishes is also the God who redeems. God allowed the exile, but that did not mean that God was done with the people. God still had plans to bless and not harm them.
Marc Chagall and Jeremiah
For 20th century Jewish artist Marc Chagall, Jeremiah’s calling to witness the genocide and upheaval of the Jewish people struck a chord that resonated throughout his life. In his 1956 series on the prophets, Jeremiah is depicted twice.
In the “Lamentations of Jeremiah” Chagall depicts Jeremiah clinging to a Torah scroll, oblivious to the suffering of the people who call out to him from the background. Allegiance to God’s message is portrayed to be a higher calling to Jeremiah than solidarity with the people in their suffering. It should be noted that because of Chagall’s fame, he and his family were given special permission to escape Vichy France to come to the U.S., after the route had been closed to other Jews. Chagall struggled with survivor’s guilt and the experience of war-time exile from France for the rest of his life.
In “Jeremiah” the prophets face is white and gold, recalling the radiant face of Moses after speaking with God (Exodus 34). Jeremiah’s face contrasts strikingly with the background of deep red, orange and purple. Chagall never confirmed, but scholars suggest that the donkey here is perhaps carrying Jeremiah into exile in Egypt against his will (Jer 43:6).
This additional 1956 print depicts Jeremiah 15:16, where Jeremiah described as eating the scroll of God’s word. Chagall interpreted the passage as Jeremiah allowing himself to be fed the scroll by the angel, rather than actively eating it himself.
This 1958 sketch called “Jeremiah thrown into the pit by Malkijah” depicts a bound Jeremiah on his knees, while an angel hides in the shadows, awaiting an opportunity to help Jeremiah after he was thrown into a pit owned by the king’s son, Malchiah (Jeremiah 38).
In Chagall’s 1968 painting, “the Prophet Jeremiah,” rather than taking notice of an angelic being flying over him, Jeremiah holds his hand against his chest while reading a book of his own prophesies. Dismembered hands, the soul of a mother and child, and even the outline of conquerors materialize below and behind him. Jeremiah refuses to contemplate he subline in the midst of destruction.
In his final work on Jeremiah in 1980 uncharacteristically depicts Jeremiah as a happy prophet, being surrounded by women and children who wish to show Jeremiah their games and toys. This scene plays out even in the presence of unconscious children, soldiers on horseback, and a mob with raised weapons who threaten the crowd.
New Covenant and New Heart
In the history of interpretation, few passages of Jeremiah can exceed in importance 31:31-34. This passage introduces the idea of a New Covenant (or Testament) that will be unlike the covenant of Sinai, written on stone. This New Covenant will be written on hearts. The New Covenant is portrayed as a disjuncture from the Sinai Covenant. It will be “Not like the covenant I made with your forefathers.” This language seems to anticipate Ezekiel 36:26, where God will give the people hearts of flesh and not of stone. This movement toward internalized law [written on hearts] away from externally preserved law [written in stone] is common across prophets of the exillic period (see also Isaiah 51:7).
Although Jeremiah specifically frames the New Covenant as pertaining to the house of Israel and the house of Judah, the promise that “I will be their God and they will be my people” was adopted and adapted by early Christian interpreters to insist that God would [continue to] expand welcome into God’s chosen people. Jesus references Jeremiah’s language of new covenant in the Last Supper dialogue by offering the cup after the meal as the New Covenant in his blood (Luke 22:20) which is poured out for “many” (Matthew 26:27-28). The language of a New Covenant in Jesus’ blood, “shed for you and for many/all people” forms the centerpiece of the Eucharistic liturgy.
Eating the Scroll
Jeremiah 15:16 begins a Biblical motif of eating scrolls of God’s words to fortify the prophet with God’s words internally. Jeremiah, in complaints about how he was being persecuted by Judahites hostile to God’s messages through him, affirmed to God that he had eaten God’s words, and they were a joy and his hearts delight because Jeremiah bore the name of God, that is, he was faithful to God. This is almost certainly a reference to the Sotah ritual in Numbers 5, where drinking of water into which has been washed the writing of a scroll, including the divine Name, was said to confirm innocence or guilt in a woman suspected of adultery against whom there was no evidence. Had Jeremiah been unfaithful, and tried to consume God’s words, they would not have been a joy and a delight to him.
The motif of scroll-eating is picked up by Jeremiah’s contemporary, Ezekiel. Instead of Jeremiah’s agency in choosing to consume God’s words, Ezekiel is commanded to eat a scroll presented to him by a supernatural hand (Eze 2:8-3:3). Though initially hesitant – he had to be instructed multiple times to eat the scroll full of “mourning, sighing and woe” (2:10) – Ezekiel was pleasantly surprised to find that the scroll tasted sweet in his mouth, like honey. The internalized words fortified Ezekiel for his prophetic tasks.
Near the end of the New Testament, John of Patmos, like Jeremiah and Ezekiel earlier, was instructed to eat a scroll of God’s words (Rev 10:8-10). Like Ezekiel’s scroll, John’s scroll tasted sweet as honey in his mouth. Revelation adds another layer, however, and points out that, once swallowed, the scrolls will be bitter in John’s stomach. This is almost certainly to indicate that the prophetic task will be unpleasant. Even though having the words of God in one’s mouth is pleasurable, the task of announcing destruction for some and salvation for others is deeply unsettling.
The notion of tasting and consuming God’s words continues far beyond the Biblical text. In Hebrew school and Jewish day schools, young children frequently begin the year with the presentation of a dollop of honey that they are invited to consume to remind them that the study of God’s word, and the blessing and honor of being able to speak Scripture is pleasant and sweet, like honey. In Christian Eucharistic liturgy, congregants are instructed to “taste and see that the Lord is good,” by eating the bread that contains the true presence of the Word-made-flesh, Jesus the Christ.
Leonard Bernstein’s Symphony No. 1, Jeremiah
One of the first major works that started his symphonic career, Leonard Bernstein’s Jeremiah symphony in three movements (Prophesy, Profanation, and Lament) was composed during WWII, and contained melodies that would have been familiar to most synagogue-goers. From the show notes of the second performance of the symphony, at the New York Philharmonic in May, 1944, Bernstein noted:
The intention is … not one of literalness, but of emotional quality. Thus the first movement (‘Prophecy’) aims only to parallel in feeling the intensity of the prophet’s pleas with his people; and the Scherzo (‘Profanation’) to give a general sense of the destruction and chaos brought on by the pagan corruption within the priesthood and the people. The third movement (‘Lamentation’), being a setting of poetic text, is naturally a more literary conception. It is the cry of Jeremiah, as he mourns his beloved Jerusalem, ruined, pillaged and dishonored after his desperate efforts to save it.
Bernstein noted his musical influences rising from synagogue services in which he sat and sometimes participated from a young age.
The symphony does not make use to any great extent of actual Hebrew thematic material. The first theme of the Scherzo is paraphrased from a traditional Hebrew chant, and the opening phrase of the vocal part in the Lamentation is based on a liturgical cadence still sung today in commemoration of the destruction of Jerusalem by Babylon. Other resemblances to Hebrew liturgical music are a matter of emotional quality rather than of the notes themselves.
And yet, Bernstein may have unconsciously incorporated other influences of the synagogue, because the melody of chanted Amidah (sometimes called the shemoneh esrei, or 18 blessings, recited three or four times a day), and of the K’rovoh (poetic elaboration of shemoneh esrei on festivals and Sabbath) shows up in each of the three acts.
Bernstein’s Symphony No. 1 is evocative of Jeremiah’s emotional experience of crying out to save the civilization that he loved, only to have his words fall on unhearing ears. Bernstein was prevailed upon many times to write a fourth movement that would promise restoration or redemption and leave the audience feeling more uplifted. He steadfastly refused, and instead, sought to leave the symphony as the book of Jeremiah ends, with Judah in exile, and only the slimmest glimmers of hope.
Righteous Branch
Twice God promises through Jeremiah to raise up a shoot or branch for the house of David (Jer 23:5-6 and 33:14-17). This undoubtedly is a development of Isaiah’s earlier prophesy of a branch or shoot growing out of the stump of Jesse’s (and thus David’s) felled tree. Whereas Isaiah used the word netzer for a “shoot,” Jeremiah used the word tzemah for “branch.” Zecherah further develops the idea of a branch as a title for a messianic leader from David’s family (3:8, 6:12), using the same term as Jeremiah. In any case, this is stirkingly similar prophetic imagery that imagined a dead tree as not truly lifeless, but merely waiting for the right time to again sprout forth new life.
New Testament authors seized upon “branch” language to support their claims for Jesus as the righteous branch of David’s line. A short reference in Matthew 2:23 mentions that Jesus was called a Nazarene to fulfill the words of the prophets. Yet, there are no Biblical prophesies of the messiah coming from Nazareth – leading to much confusion. However, the term used in Greek for “Nazarene” is nazoraios, and could easily be a direct citation of Isaiah 11:1’s “netzer” and a gloss on Jeremiah and Zecheriah’s use of “branch” instead of “shoot.” So, Matthew could be making an allusion to the prophets Isaiah, Jeremiah and Zechariah saying that the messiah would be a “shoot/branch” (netzer) by also noting that Jesus was from Nazareth.
Robert Burns, “Ah, Woe is Me, My Mother Dear”
Famed Scottish poet Robert Burns paraphrased Jeremiah 15:10 to describe the rapid change of Scottish society. Jeremiah writes, “Woe is me, my mother, that you ever bore me, a man of strife and contention to the whole land! I have not lent, nor have I borrowed, yet all of them curse me.”
Burns wrote near the end of the 18th century, when Scottish society was changing significantly, with the dissolution of clan structure, rapid urbanization and Scottish Enlightenment and industrialization precipitating growing wealth inequality. Burns bemoaned the attraction of English opportunities and Scottish urban centers creating an exile of people from the Scottish highlands and lowlands.
As a romantic poet whose life was cut short because of extensive injuries and sicknesses he suffered while farming and traveling for his work, Burns adapted Jeremiah’s plaintive wail to his mother, asserting that everyone turns away from him, even though he has not done anyone wrong. Burns strongly identified with Jeremiah, as a man calling his society to notice and repent of the ways it was betraying itself and entering into exile.
Does God Cause Calamity?
The message of Jeremiah confounded prophets of his day. God had promised through Moses and other prophets that God’s name would dwell among God’s people and keep them safe. But here Jeremiah prophesied disconcerting news: God’s protection was conditional, and the people were dangerously close to losing it (14:14-16; 20:1-6; 23:15-22, 25-33; 27:1-28:17).
It was the false prophets who said that physical manifestations of God’s grace would continue. Jeremiah and other prophets said that God’s protection and provision of food would be cut off. The people were confronted with vastly differing theologies. Was God a God of love who would never harm God’s people? Or did God’s love for the people also include a willingness to enforce and allow great suffering and desolation if the people rebelled? Jeremiah and the prophets testified to the latter.
The question remains for Christians. Certainly God’s grace and love are God’s defining characteristics. But with each natural disaster or war, prophets – false or true – argue about what is God’s will. Is a hurricane divine punishment on a city known for its licentiousness? Is a war that devastates a population punishment for national sin? Most humans would like to absolve God of responsibility for causing or allowing violence and mayhem. And yet, the prophets remind us that sometimes God goes to great measures and allows the unthinkable to interrupt entrenched patterns of injustice and idolatry.
Rembrandt’s Jeremiah Lamenting the Destruction of Jerusalem
Rembrandt completed this painting, composed of three distinct elements, in 1630. The flames of a destroyed Jerusalem scarcely appear in the painting, present outside the cave in which Jeremiah reflects, far from the attention of the viewer. However, the destruction of Jerusalem is the only topic on which Jeremiah reflects. The prophet’s downcast appearance is modeled on Rembrandt’s father, who, apparently, was the artist’s main model for displaying disappointment, sadness and regret. The richness of the material that surrounds Jeremiah suggest familiarity with legends that Jeremiah hid the Temple treasures in a cave before the Babylonians could loot them (2 Macc 2:4-10). The image of an old prophet who has done all he can to preserve the people of God and the treasures of the Temple, but collapses into despair as the people and place are destroyed, provides a poignant example of faithfulness even when all hope of rescue and forgiveness has been dashed.
