Seraiah

Seraiah, the son of Neriah and brother of Baruch, accompanied King Zedekiah to Babylon and carried a message from Jeremiah.

Seraiah, mentioned in Jer 51:59-61, was the son of Neriah and the brother of Baruch, Jeremiah's scribe. He held the position of quartermaster, which likely involved overseeing supplies and provisions. In the fourth year of King Zedekiah's reign, Seraiah accompanied the king on a journey to Babylon, possibly for diplomatic purposes. Jeremiah entrusted Seraiah with a prophetic message written in a scroll, which he was to read aloud in Babylon and then tie a stone to it and throw it into the Euphrates River. This symbolic act signified the future destruction of Babylon. Seraiah's role in this event demonstrates his trusted position and his willingness to carry out the prophet's instructions, even in a foreign land.

The son of Neriah. When Zedekiah made a journey to Babylon to do homage to Nebuchadnezzar, Seraiah had charge of the royal gifts to be presented on that occasion. Jeremiah took advantage of the occasion, and sent with Seraiah a word of cheer to the exiles in Babylon, and an announcement of the doom in store for that guilty city. The roll containing this message (Jer. 50:1-8) Seraiah was to read to the exiles, and then, after fixing a stone to it, was to throw it into the Euphrates, uttering, as it sank, the prayer recorded in Jer. 51:59-64. Babylon was at this time in the height of its glory, the greatest and most powerful monarchy in the world. Scarcely seventy years elapsed when the words of the prophet were all fulfilled. Jer. 51:59 is rendered in the Revised Version, “Now Seraiah was chief chamberlain,” instead of “was a quiet prince,” as in the Authorized Version.