Just how historically accurate is the Book of Jeremiah? Some critics have been known question the historicity of the book. Some have said the Jeremiah could have written about the major events that transpired in Jerusalem without being a prophet, and perhaps without even being present.
Big events, perhaps. But what if Jeremiah got even the little details right?
A seemingly insignificant passage in Jeremiah reads, “Then all the officials of the king of Babylon came in and sat down at the Middle Gate: Nergal Sharezer, Samgar, Nebu-Sarsekim the [chief officer/ chief eunuch], Nergal Sharezer… (Jeremiah 39: 3 NASB 95).” The “chief officer” Nebo-Sarsekim was an official in the service of Nebuchadnezzar II. He was virtually unknown to history and was only mentioned once in the book of Jeremiah.
A small cuneiform tablet about 2.13 inches (5.4 cm) long and 1.38 inches (3.5 cm) wide had been excavated in the ancient Mesopotamian city of Sippar and originally from a temple dedicated to Marduk. It was cataloged and wound up in storage it the British Museum, where it lay forgotten. However, after decades in storage, this little tablet was rediscovered and translated. Suddenly, this unknown character Nebu-Sarsekim helped to make the case for the historical reliability of the Book of Jeremiah.
The contents of the tablet were rather mundane: it was a receipt for a charitable donation, and it stated, “1.5 minas of gold, the property of Nabu-sharrussu-ukin [Nebo-Sarsekim], the chief eunuch, which he sent…. to [the temple] Esangila . . . year ten Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon,” (approximately 595 BC).
Although the contents were mundane, the significance is not. The Book of Jeremiah mentions Nebo-Sarsekim, and states that he was present with Nebuchadnezzar and his officials at the capture of Jerusalem in about 587 BC. Other Babylonian documents confirm that the “chief eunuch” was one of the highest-ranking officials in the Babylonian court, and there was only one man in this position.
Summary
This temple receipt:
- confirms the existence of Nebo-Sarsekim,
- confirms him as the chief officer or eunuch under Nebuchadnezzar in ~595 BC,
- in a timeframe just eight years before he was seen by Jeremiah at the Middle Gate in Jerusalem.
This is a significant demonstration of the historical accuracy of the recordings of Jeremiah.
