Bible Study Jeremiah 24
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Jeremiah 24 · WEB

The Good Figs and the Bad Figs

Listen — WEB narration 0:00 / 0:00 Narration: World English Bible (David Williams), public domain — AudioTreasure.

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Yahweh showed me, and behold, two baskets of figs set before Yahweh's temple, after Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon had carried away captive Jeconiah the son of Jehoiakim, king of Judah, and the princes of Judah, with the craftsmen and smiths, from Jerusalem, and had brought them to Babylon.
2One basket had very good figs, like the figs that are first ripe; and the other basket had very bad figs, which could not be eaten, they were so bad.
3Then Yahweh said to me, "What do you see, Jeremiah?" I said, "Figs. The good figs are very good, and the bad are very bad, so bad that they can't be eaten."
4Yahweh's word came to me, saying,
5"Yahweh, the God of Israel says: 'Like these good figs, so I will regard the captives of Judah, whom I have sent out of this place into the land of the Chaldeans, for good.
6For I will set my eyes on them for good, and I will bring them again to this land. I will build them and not pull them down. I will plant them and not pluck them up.
7I will give them a heart to know me, that I am Yahweh. They will be my people, and I will be their God; for they will return to me with their whole heart.
8"'As the bad figs, which can't be eaten, they are so bad,' surely Yahweh says, 'So I will give up Zedekiah the king of Judah, his princes, and the residue of Jerusalem who remain in this land, and those who dwell in the land of Egypt,
9I will even give them up to be tossed back and forth among all the kingdoms of the earth for evil, to be a reproach and a proverb, a taunt and a curse, in all places where I will drive them.
10I will send the sword, the famine, and the pestilence among them, until they are consumed from off the land that I gave to them and to their fathers.'"
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Summary

Jeremiah 24 is a brief, vivid vision with a stunning reversal. After the 597 BC deportation of King Jeconiah and the leading citizens to Babylon, God shows Jeremiah two baskets of figs at the temple — one basket excellent, one inedibly rotten. The surprise: the good figs represent the exiles already taken to Babylon, not those who remained in Jerusalem. God promises to watch over the exiles for good, bring them home, build them up, and — most remarkably — give them a new heart to know him. The bad figs are Zedekiah and those who stayed behind or fled to Egypt, who will face sword, famine, and pestilence until consumed. The chapter overturns the common assumption that those left in the land were the blessed remnant.

Themes

  • God's reversal of human expectations — exile as grace, remaining as judgment
  • The gift of a new heart — transformation that only God can initiate
  • The covenant formula renewed — "They will be my people, and I will be their God"
  • Judgment on those who resist God's discipline

Key verses

  • Jer 24:5 — “Like these good figs, so I will regard the captives of Judah, whom I have sent out of this place into the land of the Chaldeans, for good.”
  • Jer 24:7 — “I will give them a heart to know me, that I am Yahweh. They will be my people, and I will be their God; for they will return to me with their whole heart.”
  • Jer 24:9 — “I will even give them up to be tossed back and forth among all the kingdoms of the earth for evil.”

Context & background

The vision is set after the first major deportation in 597 BC, when Nebuchadnezzar took King Jeconiah (Jehoiachin/Coniah), the queen mother, officials, craftsmen, and smiths to Babylon (modern central Iraq; see 2 Kings 24:14-16). Those left behind in Jerusalem (modern Jerusalem, Israel) under the puppet king Zedekiah assumed they were the favored ones — still in the land, still near the temple. Jeremiah's vision shatters that assumption: God's future lies with the exiles, not the remainders. The promise of "a heart to know me" (v. 7) anticipates the new covenant of Jeremiah 31:31-34 and Ezekiel's promise of a "heart of flesh" (Ezek 36:26). Figs were a staple crop in Judah; the first-ripe figs of early summer (June) were prized as a delicacy (cf. Micah 7:1, Isaiah 28:4). Those who "dwell in the land of Egypt" (v. 8) likely refers to Judeans who fled south seeking Egyptian protection — a move Jeremiah consistently opposed.

Cross-references

  • 2 Kings 24:14-16 — The 597 BC deportation of Jeconiah and the leading citizens to Babylon
  • Deuteronomy 30:6 — God will circumcise the heart so they can love him — the Torah's anticipation of heart transformation
  • Ezekiel 11:19-20 — God's promise to give a new heart and new spirit to the exiles
  • Jeremiah 29:4-7 — Jeremiah's letter to the exiles telling them to settle in Babylon and seek its welfare
  • Jeremiah 31:31-34 — The new covenant promise, developing the "heart to know me" theme

Check your reading

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  1. Observe

    What does each basket of figs represent in Jeremiah 24?

  2. Observe

    What inner transformation does God promise the exiles in verse 7?

  3. Interpret

    Why is exile to Babylon called "for good" in verse 5?

  4. Interpret

    What does "I will give them a heart to know me" (v. 7) say about the source of true faith?

  5. Apply

    How should painful displacement be reinterpreted in light of Jeremiah 24?

  6. Apply

    Where should one anchor spiritual confidence in light of the two baskets?

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