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Question: Is Nephi's mention of Jeremiah being put into prison anachronistic, since Jeremiah would not have been in prison at the time that Lehi left Jerusalem?
Question: Is Nephi's mention of Jeremiah being put into prison anachronistic, since Jeremiah would not have been in prison at the time that Lehi left Jerusalem?
Jeremiah was imprisoned on more than one occasion
It is claimed that Nephi's mention of Jeremiah being put into prison (1 Nephi 7꞉14) is anachronistic, since Jeremiah would not have been in prison when Lehi left Jerusalem. However, Jeremiah was imprisoned on more than one occasion; the Biblical account and the Book of Mormon account are not in contradiction.
Jeremiah was put into prison at least twice during Zedekiah's reign: once soon after Zedekiah ascended the throne (see Jeremiah 37:1,15.)
Jeremiah was released at some point, and again able to preach. He was later put into prison again. (See Jeremiah 38:1-6,13,28.)
The book of Jeremiah is not in strict chronological order; care must be taken with each event to be certain that we understand the proper timing for a given account.
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