The Personal Names in Jeremiah as a Source for the History of the Period

There is hardly another section of the Bible in which the events described are brought to life so vividly through the mention of specific individuals as in the prose sections of Jeremiah. The roll call consists of a few dozen people, including royal officials, priests and temple officials, military leaders, prophets, and others, who are said to have been active during the reigns of either Jehoiakim or Zedekiah (609-586 B.C.E. ). This paper incorporates the most up to date extra-biblical onomastic data in arguing for the essential reliability of the Jeremianic prose material. A similar conclusion is borne out through an examination of certain incidental historical data within the prose material, including details relating to the layout of the temple complex and the sharp political factionalism in the courts of Jehoiakim and Zedekiah.