You asked

how does this advice to thrive in exile compare with the psalmist's lament about babylonian captivity?

The passage, plainly, with room to sit with it.

Jeremiah 29:7

“Seek the peace of the city where I have caused you to be carried away captive, and pray to Yahweh for it; for in its peace you will have peace.”

The prophet Jeremiah wrote this letter in the 6th century BCE to the Jewish exiles who had been forcibly relocated from Judah to Babylon. He's advising them on how to live in their new, foreign home, a place of captivity, not their promised land.

what does it mean to seek the well-being of a place that has caused you harm or holds you captive?

Keep thinking

Read alongside it

Psalm 137:1-6
This psalm expresses profound grief and a desire for vengeance against Babylon, a stark contrast to Jeremiah's call for seeking its peace.
Jeremiah 29:4-6
Just before this verse, Jeremiah tells the exiles to build homes, plant gardens, and raise families in Babylon, indicating a long-term stay and commitment.
Romans 13:1
Paul's instruction to submit to governing authorities, even non-believing ones, resonates with Jeremiah's call to engage with the foreign state.

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