Jeremiah was born in a priestly family to a man called Hilkiah in the town of Anathoth, which was in the north eastern part of Jerusalem in the territory of Benjamin (Jer.1: I). This was during the reign of King Manasseh.

The Lord appeared to Jeremiah in the 13th year that Josiah son of Amon was the king of Judah dated 627 or 626. King Josiah was the grandson of King Manasseh.

Jeremiah received his call to be a prophet at a tender age. This was later to be the reason he advanced as he tried to resist his call. He protested to Yahweh that he was too young to take up the responsibility he was about to be given. However, he later accepted his call in a remarkable spiritual dialogue with God.

Jeremiah is referred to as the suffering or the weeping prophet. This was attributed to his personal experiences that involved suffering in the course of doing his prophetic work. Because of the continued difficulties, Jeremiah almost gave up with his work but went on to persevere. He openly confessed this to the lord when he said "But when I say, I will forget the Lord and no longer speak in his name, then your message is like a fire burning deep within me" (Jer. 20:9).

He was a man of great passion for his people. He loved his people so much yet he had to pronounce judgement upon them. He hated the fact that every time he had to speak, he could only shout words of violence against the people he loved.

Jeremiah was called to be a prophet when Judah was threatened by the political conflict involving Assyria, Egypt and Babylonia. It was at this time that Syria, Egypt and Babylonia had formed an alliance against the powerful Assyria.

With the political conflict, Judah found herself isolated and living under threat. She had to choose either to continue living that way or take a side in order to feel secured and protected. Consequently, Judah was forced into an alliance with Assyria.

However, Judah's action was against the Lord's wish. It clearly showed lack of trust in the Lord's protection and saving power.

Jeremiah carried out his prophetic work in the southern part of the kingdom particularly around Jerusalem. By this time, King Manasseh had made a lot of mistakes and sinned terribly against the Lord. It was on this ground that God decided to call Jeremiah in order to bring him back to the Sinai covenant ideals.