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Anathoth was a town that lay between Michmash and Jerusalem (Isaiah 10:30). Just three miles north of Jerusalem, Anathoth belonged to the tribe of Benjamin (1 Chronicles 7:8). The prophet Jeremiah was from Anathoth (Jeremiah 1:1), and several of his prophecies involved the men of Anathoth. Besides Nehemiah, Anathoth was also the home of Abiathar the priest and two of King David’s most distinguished soldiers, Abiezer (2 Samuel 23:27) and Jehu (1 Chronicles 12:3).
Some believe Anathoth’s name is derived from the Canaanite goddess Anat. If so, the Israelites chose to keep the Canaanite name rather than give it a new name after the conquest of the land. The city was one of 48 given to the Levites and was designated for the descendants of Aaron (Joshua 21:13, 17–18).
In Jeremiah’s time, the men of Anathoth wickedly sought to take the prophet’s life. They told him, “We will kill you if you do not stop prophesying in the Lord’s name” (Jeremiah 11:21, NLT). They conspired among themselves, saying,
Let us destroy the tree with its fruit,
let us cut him off from the land of the living,
that his name be remembered no more. (Jeremiah 11:19, ESV)
Jeremiah’s response to the threats of the men of Anathoth was godly:let us cut him off from the land of the living,
that his name be remembered no more. (Jeremiah 11:19, ESV)
But, O Lord of hosts, who judges righteously,
who tests the heart and the mind,
let me see your vengeance upon them,
for to you have I committed my cause. (Jeremiah 11:20, ESV)
The Lord heard Jeremiah’s plea concerning the men of Anathoth, and He promised to punish them: “The young men shall die by the sword, their sons and their daughters shall die by famine, and none of them shall be left. For I will bring disaster upon the men of Anathoth, the year of their punishment” (Jeremiah 11:22–23, ESV).who tests the heart and the mind,
let me see your vengeance upon them,
for to you have I committed my cause. (Jeremiah 11:20, ESV)
Being as close to Jerusalem as it was, Anathoth suffered the same fate as Jerusalem during the Babylonian invasion. “The year of their punishment” that Jeremiah had prophesied was that time when Jerusalem was besieged and eventually destroyed by King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon. The men of Anathoth suffered the “disaster” God had proclaimed against them. Those who survived the sword and the famine were deported to Babylon, so that “none of them” were left.
In a postlude of God’s grace, we read the rest of the story in the books of Ezra and Nehemiah. After the Babylonian captivity ended, God allowed a remnant of the men of Anathoth to return to their land. One hundred and twenty-eight men of Anathoth returned under the leadership of Zerubbabel (Ezra 2:23), and the city of Anathoth was resettled in the time of Nehemiah’s governorship (Nehemiah 11:32). The Levites among the men of Anathoth were part of the group who sealed a covenant alongside Nehemiah “to follow the Law of God given through Moses the servant of God and to obey carefully all the commands, regulations and decrees of the Lord our Lord” (Nehemiah 10:29; see also verse 19).
The story of the men of Anathoth shows that, even in judgment, God extends mercy.
