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what might it have felt like for the exiles to receive instructions to 'settle down' from jeremiah?

Adds the setting and its conversation across both testaments.

Jeremiah 29:4-7

“Thus says Yahweh of Armies, the God of Israel, to all the captives whom I have carried away captive from Jerusalem to Babylon: ‘Build houses and live in them; and plant gardens and eat their fruit. 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.’”

This passage is part of a letter sent by the prophet Jeremiah from Jerusalem to the Jewish people exiled in Babylon in the late 7th to early 6th century BCE. They had been forcibly removed from their homeland by the Babylonian empire and were likely hoping for a swift return, fueled by false prophets promising a quick end to their captivity.

What does it mean to seek the well-being of a place, even when you feel like a stranger or unwilling resident there?

Then — the setting

Jeremiah wrote this letter around 597 BCE, after the first wave of Judah's elite had been deported to Babylon by King Nebuchadnezzar. The exiles were in a foreign land, probably hoping for a quick return to Jerusalem, a hope reinforced by other prophets claiming divine messages of imminent restoration. Jeremiah's message directly contradicted these hopeful, but ultimately false, prophecies. His instruction to 'settle down' was a stark call to embrace a long-term future in exile, contrary to their immediate desires and expectations, and it was likely met with shock and resistance by many who saw Babylon as an enemy's land.

Across the Testaments

This passage is from the Old Testament, addressing the community of Israel in forced exile. The theme of living faithfully as a 'sojourner' or 'foreigner' in a land not their own resonates throughout both testaments. In the New Testament, Peter addresses early Christians (many of whom were dispersed) as 'exiles' or 'aliens and strangers' (1 Peter 1:1, 2:11), urging them to live honorably and do good works in the world while awaiting their true, heavenly homeland. While Jeremiah's exiles were physically displaced, the New Testament often frames believers as spiritual exiles, called to live distinctly within earthly societies, contributing to their well-being while not being fully 'of' them.

Keep thinking

Read alongside it

Psalm 137:1-4
This psalm expresses the deep sorrow and refusal to sing in a foreign land, highlighting the exiles' longing for home.
Ezra 2:1
This verse shows that, eventually, a remnant did return, fulfilling a different part of God's plan for the exiles.

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