Jeremiah 11 Figurative Language Analysis

Stephany Vielman March 12, 2013
Prophets and Figurative Language Jeremiah was a prophet called upon by God at a very young age to do His work. Jeremiah spoke against those who disobeyed God and spoke on the consequences of sin. He had a very hard job of trying to get the people of God to obey Him once again and to get them to stop sinning against Him. Jeremiah used figurative language to tell stories and to explain to the people what was going to happen if they continued to sin. The natural imagery that Jeremiah uses can be seen as useful in getting his point across to the disobedient people because he used it to paint a scary picture of how God would devour the people, but he was also able to paint a peaceful picture of
In Jeremiah 11:19, Jeremiah compares himself to a lamb and a tree with fruit, which is a very nice choice for natural imagery, but what is said to be done against the lamb is terrifying, “But I was a gentle lamb led to the slaughter, And I did not know it was against me that the devised schemes, saying, ‘Let us destroy the tree with fruit, let us cut him off from the land of the living, so that his name will no longer be remembered!’” The choice of the lamb is positive because lambs are little, cute, and pure, and do no harm. Lambs are led by shepherds, but as we know, they are also killed for food or for sacrifice. In this case the lamb is led to be slaughtered, but just with the purpose of evil. Jeremiah is to be seen as obedient, pure, and holy since he obeys and follows God in every way possible, but the people of tired of him so they plan to kill him. He is also compared to a tree with fruit because he has a lot to offer to the people, such as life. The imagery usage of “with fruit” is important because it shows the tree serves with purpose, just like Jeremiah. It also shows that that tree is alive and in good soil, and instead of its fruit be eaten, the people will cut it