Lives of Scripture

Elasah, son of Shaphan, was sent by King Zedekiah of Judah as part of an embassy to Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, along with Gemariah son of Hilkiah (Jeremiah 29:3). Jeremiah used this journey to send a letter, by Elasah's hand, to the elders, priests, prophets, and all the people the Babylonians had already carried off from Jerusalem into exile. The letter itself is one of the most significant passages in Jeremiah: rather than promising a quick return, it instructed the exiles to build houses and live in them, plant gardens, marry, have children, and "seek the welfare of the city where I have sent you into exile, and pray to the LORD on its behalf" (29:4-7). It warned against the false prophets telling the exiles their captivity would be short, and gave the famous promise that after seventy years God would fulfill His good word toward them and bring them back, plans "for welfare and not for calamity, to give you a future and a hope" (29:10-11). Elasah himself performs no independent action beyond carrying the letter as a royal envoy, but his role placed him at the center of a pivotal moment: God's most important message of patient hope to His exiled people traveled to them because Elasah made the journey.