18. In the first year of Jehoiakim’s rule, what was Jeremiah told to make, and to whom was he to send them along with a message?

¹⁸ Consequently, the prophecy of Jeremiah, chapter 27, has up-to-date meaning for us. There the prophet’s record says:

“In the beginning of the kingdom of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, the king of Judah [in 628 B.C.E.], this word occurred to Jeremiah from Jehovah, saying:

19. According to the regular Hebrew text, when did Jeremiah get Jehovah’s message, and on what occasion did he act upon it?

¹⁹ We note that here two kings are named as reigning over Judah and Jerusalem, first Jehoiakim, and then his brother Zedekiah, who reigned after Jehoiakim and his son Jehoiachin. If the name Jehoiakim is correct in Jeremiah 27:1, then Jeremiah got this prophecy in 628 B.C.E. and kept it in reserve for 11 years before acting upon it. But three Hebrew manuscripts and the Syriac and Arabic versions of Jeremiah 27:1 say “Zedekiah” instead of “Jehoiakim,” and this is how many modern Bible translations state the matter.a