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how did jeremiah's advice here differ from what other prophets or leaders were telling the exiles?

Adds the setting and its conversation across both testaments.

Jeremiah 29:5-7

“Build houses, and dwell in them; and plant gardens, and eat the fruit of them. Take wives, and father sons and daughters; and take wives for your sons, and give your daughters to husbands, that they may bear sons and daughters; and multiply there, and don’t be diminished. Seek the shalom of the city where I have caused you to be carried away captive, and pray to Yahweh for it; for in its shalom you will have shalom.”

The prophet Jeremiah sent this letter from Jerusalem to the Jewish exiles who had been forcibly deported to Babylon by King Nebuchadnezzar in 597 BCE. These verses are part of his counter-cultural advice, urging them to settle down and seek the well-being of their captors, rather than holding out for an immediate return.

What does it mean for you to seek the 'shalom' of the place where you currently find yourself, especially when it's not where you wish to be?

Then — the setting

Jeremiah's letter was sent during the Babylonian exile (6th century BCE). The recipients were Judeans deported to Babylon after the first siege of Jerusalem. Other prophets and leaders (like Hananiah in Jeremiah 28) were telling the exiles that their time in Babylon would be short—perhaps only two years—and that God would quickly restore them to their land. They promised immediate liberation and the overthrow of Babylon. Jeremiah's message was a radical counter-narrative, urging a long-term commitment to life in exile and even a positive contribution to the well-being of their captors' city, for a period of 70 years.

Across the Testaments

This passage is in the Old Testament, addressing the Jewish community exiled in Babylon. The New Testament picks up themes of 'exile' and 'strangers' in a different sense, referring to Christians living in the world as 'sojourners' or 'aliens' (1 Peter 2:11). While not a literal political exile, the New Testament encourages a similar ethic of living faithfully and productively within the dominant culture, even while not being fully 'of' it, mirroring Jeremiah's call to seek the 'shalom' of the city where they find themselves, rather than engaging in immediate rebellion or withdrawal.

Keep thinking

Read alongside it

Jeremiah 28:10-11
Describes the false prophet Hananiah's message of imminent return, directly contrasting Jeremiah's.
Psalm 137:1-4
Expresses the exiles' deep sorrow and resistance to finding joy or belonging in Babylon.
1 Peter 2:13-17
A New Testament parallel, advising early Christians to submit to governing authorities, even those who might be seen as 'foreign.'

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