Jeremiah 1:1

The words of Jeremiah son of Hilkiah Let the son of the corrupt woman, whose deeds are proper Jeremiah was descended from Rahab the harlot and let him reprove the son of the righteous woman whose deeds are corrupt these are Israel who corrupted their deeds who are descended from legitimate seed.

The first prophecy begins from the beginning of the book of Jeremiah, son of Hilkiah, and concludes with the phrase, "the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah, son of Hilkiah, in the days of Josiah, son of Amon, king of Judah." This prophecy contains five sections. The first is "the words of Jeremiah." The second is "before I formed you in the womb." The third is "what do you see, Jeremiah?" The fourth is "a boiling pot." The fifth is "going and calling." And behold, I have asked about these five questions in the verses of this prophecy, following my usual method in interpreting the words of the prophets.

The first question is whether the verse intends to inform us during which kings Jeremiah prophesied. Why is it not sufficient to say that he prophesied during the days of Josiah, Jehoiakim, and Zedekiah, kings of Judah, as explained in Isaiah, Hosea, and other prophets? And what is the need to specify that his prophecy began in the thirteenth year of Josiah and continued until the eleventh year of Zedekiah, since in the case of other prophets, the Scripture mentions the time of the kings during which they prophesied but does not specify the number of years of their reigns? Furthermore, if Jeremiah began prophesying during the days of Josiah and his prophecy continued until the end of Zedekiah's reign, why does the verse mention Jehoiachin, who was a middle king between them, and why does it not also mention Jehoahaz, who reigned before Jehoiakim, and Jehoiachin, who reigned before Zedekiah?