Jeremiah, Book of

The Book of Jeremiah is the longest prophetic book in the Old Testament (and the longest book of the Bible by word count), consisting of twenty-three independent sections arranged in five main divisions. It combines biography, autobiography, prophetic oracles, laments, sign-acts, and historical narrative in a way that is notably non-chronological — the Hebrew Masoretic text and the Greek Septuagint version differ substantially in arrangement and length (the LXX is approximately one-eighth shorter and places the oracles against nations differently).

The book records Jeremiah's call, his preaching against Judah's idolatry and covenant violation, his temple sermon (Jeremiah 7; 26), his proclamation of the new covenant (Jeremiah 31), his purchase of a field in Anathoth as a symbolic act of hope during the Babylonian siege (Jeremiah 32), his suffering under Jehoiakim and Zedekiah, the fall of Jerusalem, and his forced exile to Egypt. The oracles against foreign nations (Jeremiah 46–51) form a major section. The book had profound influence on the New Testament — particularly the new covenant passage cited in Hebrews 8–10 — and on post-exilic Jewish theological reflection on sin, judgment, and future restoration.