The oracle against Babylon is concluded by the addition of a passage of historical prose in Jeremiah 51:59–64. In the passage Jeremiah commands Seriah the son of Neriah, the son of Mahseiah, to take the book
in which Jeremiah had recorded all the disaster that should come upon Babylon,
to Babylon where he was to read it and then “tie a stone to it and cast it into the midst of the Euphrates River. The historical setting for this powerful prophetic act is in the fourth year of Zedekiah’s reign. It is the year 594, the year that the nations gathered in Jerusalem to plot rebellion against Babylonian dominance (see Jeremiah 27:3). Seriah has the same genealogy as Baruch (see Jeremiah 32:12), indicating that they are brothers.1 Seriah travelled to Babylon with Zedekiah who probably went to pledge his loyalty to Nebuchadnezzar, even though it is almost certain that he was part of the meeting in Jerusalem.2
It is also interesting to note that if the meeting in Jerusalem in 594 BC is the original setting for the message that Seriah reads in Babylon, then Jeremiah was already proclaiming a message of judgment against Babylon, even as he was calling on other nations to submit to Nebuchadnezzar as the Lord’s instrument of judgment.3 This apparent contradiction simply demonstrates again that Jeremiah’s loyalty was to the Lord, the sovereign God who used even powerful kings like Nebuchadnezzar to carry out his plans, and Nebuchadnezzar was ultimately accountable to the Lord as well.
All these words that were written concerning Babylon,
that Jeremiah wrote and gave Seriah to read in Babylon, was made up of Jeremiah 50:1–46 and Jeremiah 51:1–64, including the instructions in Jeremiah 51:59–64. That does not exclude the possibility that some changes were made to these two chapters at a later stage.4 The message of these words that Seriah read, however, would have essentially been the same as the message in Jeremiah 50:1–46 and Jeremiah 51:1–64 as we have them today.
The text does not suggest to whom Seriah must read the book. It is very unlikely that he was sent to read it to the Babylonians, as this would have almost certainly led to his death. If there was an audience, then the most likely audience would have been the exiles in Babylon. The purpose of the message would have been to encourage the exiles to wait patiently for the Lord to fulfill his promise to bring judgment on Babylon and to restore his people to Judah. But even if there was no audience, the symbolism of Seriah reading this message in Babylon and throwing the book into the Euphrates River, powerfully spoke of the fact that the Lord’s word was at work in Babylon. Nothing could stop the Lord from doing what he said he would do in his word. It demonstrated his sovereignty as it foreshadowed the permanent destruction of Babylon.5
The final sentence of Jeremiah 51:1–64 is, Thus far the words of Jeremiah.
This is a deliberate addition made by the scribe, probably Baruch, indicating that Jeremiah 52:1–34 was added as a supplement and is not to be attributed to Jeremiah. The sentence also provides a good conclusion to the book of the words of Jeremiah
(Jeremiah 1:1). The story has been told from start to finish: from the boiling pot tipped over in Judah’s direction (Jeremiah 1:13–15) to the mighty empire of Babylon sunk beneath the waves.
6
59 The word that Jeremiah the prophet commanded Seraiah the son of Neriah, son of Mahseiah, when he went with Zedekiah king of Judah to Babylon, in the fourth year of his reign. Seraiah was the quartermaster.