THE NEWAMERICANCOMMENTARY

Volume16JeremiahLamentationsF. B. Huey, Jr.BROADMAN PRESSNASHVILLE, TENNESSEEGeneral EditorE. Ray Clendenen

Associate General Editor, OTAssociate General Editor, NT

Kenneth A. MathewsDavid S. Dockery

Consulting Editors

Old TestamentNew Testament

L. RUSS BUSHRICHARD R. MELICK, JR.

DUANE A. GARRETTPAIGE PATTERSON

LARRY L. WALKERCURTIS A. VAUGHAN

Production EditorLINDA L. SCOTTMARC A. JOLLEYThe New American CommentaryVolume 16Copyright 1993 Broadman PressAll rights reserved420116ISBN: 0805401164Dewey Decimal Classification: 224.2Subject Heading: BIBLE. O.T. JEREMIAH, LAMENTATIONSLibrary of Congress Catalog Number: 9242200Printed in the United States of AmericaUnless otherwise indicated, Scripture quotations are from the Holy Bible, New International Version (NIV), copyright 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan Bible Publishers. Quotations marked RSV are from the Revised Standard Version of the Bible, copyrighted 1946, 1952, 1971, 1973. Quotations marked NRSV are from The New Revised Standard Version of the Bible, copyrighted 1989. Quotations marked REB are from The Revised English Bible. Copyright Oxford University Press and Cambridge University Press, 1989. Reprinted by permission. Quotations marked NEB are from The New English Bible. Copyright The Delegates of the Oxford University Press and the Syndics of the Cambridge University Press, 1961, 1970. Used by permission. Quotations marked GNB are from the Good News Bible, the Bible in Todays English Version. Old Testament: Copyright American Bible Society 1976; New Testament: Copyright American Bible Society 1966, 1971, 1976. Used by permission. Quotations marked NASB are from the New American Standard Bible. The Lockman Foundation, 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977. Used by permission. Verses marked TLB are taken from The Living Bible. Copyright Tyndale House Publishers, Wheaton, Illinois, 1971. Used by permission.Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication DataHuey, F. B. 1925Jeremiah, Lamentations / F.B. Huey, Jr.p. cm. (The New American commentary ; v. 16)Includes index.ISBN 08054011641. Bible. O.T. JeremiahCommentaries. 2. Bible. O.T. LamentationsCommentaries. I. Bible. O.T. Jeremiah. English. New International. 1993. II. Bible. O.T. Lamentations. English. New International. 1993. III. Title. IV. Series.BS1525.3.H833 1993224u.2077dc20To my students of the past thirty yearsfrom whom I probably have learned morethan they have learned from me.Editors PrefaceGods Word does not change. Gods world, however, changes in every generation. These changes, in addition to new findings by scholars and a new variety of challenges to the gospel message, call for the church in each generation to interpret and apply Gods Word for Gods people. Thus, THE NEW AMERICAN COMMENTARY is introduced to bridge the twentieth and twenty-first centuries. This new series has been designed primarily to enable pastors, teachers, and students to read the Bible with clarity and proclaim it with power.In one sense THE NEW AMERICAN COMMENTARY is not new, for it represents the continuation of a heritage rich in biblical and theological exposition. The title of this forty-volume set points to the continuity of this series with an important commentary project published at the end of the nineteenth century called AN AMERICAN COMMENTARY, edited by Alvah Hovey. The older series included, among other significant contributions, the outstanding volume on Matthew by John A. Broadus, from whom the publisher of the new series, Broadman Press, partly derives its name. The former series was authored and edited by scholars committed to the infallibility of Scripture, making it a solid foundation for the present project. In line with this heritage, all NAC authors affirm the divine inspiration, inerrancy, complete truthfulness, and full authority of the Bible. The perspective of the NAC is unapologetically confessional and rooted in the evangelical tradition.Since a commentary is a fundamental tool for the expositor or teacher who seeks to interpret and apply Scripture in the church or classroom, the NAC focuses on communicating the theological structure and content of each biblical book. The writers seek to illuminate both the historical meaning and contemporary significance of Holy Scripture.In its attempt to make a unique contribution to the Christian community, the NAC focuses on two concerns. First, the commentary emphasizes how each section of a book fits together so that the reader becomes aware of the theological unity of each book and of Scripture as a whole. The writers, however, remain aware of the Bibles inherently rich variety. Second, the NAC is produced with the conviction that the Bible primarily belongs to the church. We believe that scholarship and the academy provide an indispensable foundation for biblical understanding and the service of Christ, but the editors and authors of this series have attempted to communicate the findings of their research in a manner that will build up the whole body of Christ. Thus, the commentary concentrates on theological exegesis, while providing practical, applicable exposition.THE NEW AMERICAN COMMENTARYs theological focus enables the reader to see the parts as well as the whole of Scripture. The biblical books vary in content, context, literary type, and style. In addition to this rich variety, the editors and authors recognize that the doctrinal emphasis and use of the biblical books differs in various places, contexts, and cultures among Gods people. These factors, as well as other concerns, have led the editors to give freedom to the writers to wrestle with the issues raised by the scholarly community surrounding each book and to determine the appropriate shape and length of the introductory materials. Moreover, each writer has developed the structure of the commentary in a way best suited for expounding the basic structure and the meaning of the biblical books for our day. Generally, discussions relating to contemporary scholarship and technical points of grammar and syntax appear in the footnotes and not in the text of the commentary. This format allows pastors and interested laypersons, scholars and teachers, and serious college and seminary students to profit from the commentary at various levels. This approach has been employed because we believe that all Christians have the privilege and responsibility to read and seek to understand the Bible for themselves.Consistent with the desire to produce a readable, up-to-date commentary, the editors selected the New International Version as the standard translation for the commentary series. The selection was made primarily because of the NIVs faithfulness to the original languages and its beautiful and readable style. The authors, however, have been given the liberty to differ at places from the NIV as they develop their own translations from the Greek and Hebrew texts.The NAC reflects the vision and leadership of those who provide oversight for Broadman Press, who in 1987 called for a new commentary series that would evidence a commitment to the inerrancy of Scripture and a faithfulness to the classic Christian tradition. While the commentary adopts an American name, it should be noted some writers represent countries outside the United States, giving the commentary an international perspective. The diverse group of writers includes scholars, teachers, and administrators from almost twenty different colleges and seminaries, as well as pastors, missionaries, and a layperson.The editors and writers hope that THE NEW AMERICAN COMMENTARY will be helpful and instructive for pastors and teachers, scholars and students, for men and women in the churches who study and teach Gods Word in various settings. We trust that for editors, authors, and readers alike, the commentary will be used to build up the church, encourage obedience, and bring renewal to Gods people. Above all, we pray that the NAC will bring glory and honor to our Lord, who has graciously redeemed us and faithfully revealed himself to us in his Holy Word.SOLI DEO GLORIAThe EditorsAuthors PrefaceRecent years have witnessed a spate of ne commentaries on the Book of Jeremiah (e.g., Carroll, OTL; Craigie et al., Word; Holladay, Her; McKane, ICC; Thompson, NICOT). Can another commentary on this intriguing prophet be justi ed? The answer is yes only if its perspectives and approach are not redundant of what has already been done. No commentary can claim total originality, but each one can add another facet of understanding to the book being studied.THE NEW AMERICAN COMMENTARY has as its purpose to be a theological commentary rather than simply a text-critical, expositional, or devotional commentary. It is intended primarily for ministers, teachers, theological students, and others engaged in meaningful encounters with the Scriptures. If it is to be useful to that audience, it must be solidly grounded in the biblical languages (Hebrew and Aramaic for the OT and Greek for the NT). It must come to grips with historical and grammatical considerations and be unafraid to examine problems with which other commentaries have wrestled. Some application is justi ed since no biblical study is complete, however erudite or technical, until the one making the study has found a message in it. However, no commentary should or could attempt to discover every application that could be made of a single passage. That is the task and privilege of the individual student.There is a trend among recent biblical studies to focus on the theological content of the book or passage under study. It is within the parameters of theological exposition that the NAC hopes to earn its niche among biblical commentaries. With that polestar in mind, this commentary has been written. It is hoped that it, along with other commentaries on the same prophet, will enable the reader to add another facet of understanding and appreciation for Jeremiah as a man and as a prophet of God. I deliberately stated along with other commentaries because it would be presumptuous and arrogant for any writer to claim that he or she has produced the de nitive study and ne plus ultra on this or any other book of the Bible.I wish to express appreciation to the editorial sta of Broadman Press for inviting me to write this commentary. It has been challenging, time consuming, but all-engrossing. I have taught the Book of Jeremiah in a seminary setting for twenty- ve years and thought I knew most of what was signi cant about Jeremiah. This study has made me realize I have only begun to learn about one of the greatest of the OT prophets. The commentary is presented to the reader with the prayer that Jeremiah will become your friend as he has mine through the years of studying the one often remembered as the weeping prophet.F. B. Huey, Jr.AbbreviationsBible BooksGenIsaLuke

ExodJerJohn

LevLamActs

NumEzekRom

DeutDan1, 2 Cor

JoshHosGal

JudgJoelEph

RuthAmosPhil

1, 2 SamObadCol

1, 2 KgsJonah1, 2 Thess

1, 2 ChrMic1, 2 Tim

EzraNahTitus

NehHabPhlm

EsthZephHeb

JobHagJas

Ps (pl. Pss)Zech1, 2 Pet

ProvMal1, 2, 3 John

EcclMattJude

SongMarkRev

ApocryphaAdd Esth The Additions to the Book of EstherBar BaruchBel Bel and the Dragon1, 2 Esdr 1, 2 Esdras4 Ezra 4 EzraJdt JudithEp Jer Epistle of Jeremiah1, 2, 3, 4 Mac 1, 2, 3, 4 MaccabeesPr Azar Prayer of Azariah and the Song of the Three JewsPr Man Prayer of ManassehSir Sirach, EcclesiasticusSus SusannaTob TobitWis The Wisdom of SolomonCommonly Used Sources and AbbreviationsAASOR Annual of the American Schools of Oriental ResearchAB Anchor BibleABD Anchor Bible DictionaryAJSL American Journal of Semitic Languages and LiteraturesAKK AkkadianAnBib Analecta biblicaANE Ancient Near EastANET J. B. Pritchard, ed., Ancient Near Eastern TextsAOAT Alter Orient und Altes TestamentAOTS D. W. Thomas, ed., Archaeology and Old Testament StudyATD Das Alte Testament DeutschBASOR Bulletin of the American Schools of Oriental ResearchBC Biblical CommentaryBDB F. Brown, S. R. Driver, and C. A. Briggs, Hebrew and English Lexicon of the Old TestamentBHS Biblia hebraica stuttgartensiaBib BiblicaBKAT Biblischer Kommentar: Altes TestamentBSC Bible Study CommentaryBZAW Beihefte zur ZAWCAH Cambridge Ancient HistoryCB Cambridge Bible for Schools and CollegesCBC Cambridge Bible CommentaryCBQ Catholic Biblical QuarterlyCHAL W. L. Holladay, ed., Concise Hebrew and Aramic LexiconCTM Concordia Theological MonthlyDOTT D. W. Thomas, ed., Documents from Old Testament TimesEBC Expositors Bible CommentaryFB Forschung zur BibelGTJ Grace Theological JournalHAT Handbuch zum Alten TestamentHBD Holman Bible DictionaryHDR Harvard Dissertations in ReligionHer HermeneiaHKAT Handkommentar zum Alten TestamentHSM Harvard Semitic MonographsHT Helps for TranslatorsHUCA Hebrew Union College AnnualIB Interpreters BibleIBC Interpretation: A Bible Commentary for Teaching and PreachingIBHS B. H. Waltke and M. OConnor, Introduction to Biblical Hebrew SyntaxICC International Critical CommentaryIDB Interpreters Dictionary of the Bible, ed. G. A. Buttrick et al.IDBSup IDB Supplementary VolumeIEJ Israel Exploration JournalIES Israel Exploration SocietyInt InterpretationISBE G. W. Bromiley, ed., International Standard Bible Encyclopedia, rev.ITC International Theological CommentaryJBL Journal of Biblical LiteratureJBLMS Journal of Biblical Literature Monograph SeriesJNES Journal of Near Eastern StudiesJNSL Journal of Northwest Semitic LanguagesJQR Jewish Quarterly ReviewJSOT Journal for the Study of the Old TestamentJSOTSup JSOTSupplement SeriesJSS Journal of Semitic StudiesJTS Journal of Theological StudiesJTSNS Journal of Theological Studies, New SeriesKAT Kommentar zum Alten TestamentKB Koehler and W. Baumgartner, Lexicon in Veteris Testamenti librosLXX SeptuagintLXXa Septuagint AlexandrinusLXXl Septuagint LucianicMT Masoretic TextNICOT New International Commentary on the Old TestamentNip. NiphalNJPS New Jewish Publication Society VersionOBT Overtures to Biblical TheologyOTL Old Testament LibraryPCB M. Black and H. H. Rowley, eds., Peakes Commentary on the Biblepi. Pielpu. Pualptcp. participlePOTT D. J. Wiseman, ed., Peoples of Old Testament TimesRB Revue bibliqueRevExp Review and ExpositorRSR Recherches de science religieuseSBLDS Society of Biblical Literature Dissertation SeriesSBT Studies in Biblical TheologySir The Wisdom of Ben Sira, or EcclesiaticusSyr SyriacTDOT G. J. Botterweck and H. Ringgren, eds., Theological Dictionary of the Old TestamentTOTC Tyndale Old Testament CommentariesTQ Theologische QuartalschriftTWAT G. J. Botterweck and H. Ringgren, eds., Theologisches Wrterbuch zum Alten TestamentTWOT R. L. Harris et al., eds., Theological Word Book of the Old TestamentVg VulgateVT Vetus TestamentumVTSup Vetus Testamentum, SupplementsWMANT Wissenschaftliche Monographien zum Alten und Neuen TestamentWTJ Westminster Theological JournalZAW Zeitschrift fr die alttestamentliche WissenschaftZPD Zondervan Pictorial DictionaryContentsJeremiahIntroductionI.Introduction (1:13)II.The Call and Visions of Jeremiah (1:419)III.Warnings of Judgment from Jeremiahs Early Ministry (2:16:30)IV.Jeremiahs Temple Sermon and Other Messages of Warning (7:110:25)V.The Broken Covenant and Jeremiahs Complaints (11:115:21)VI.Warnings, Exhortations, and a Prophets Despair (16:120:18)VII.Messages to Judah and the Nations (21:125:38)VIII.Jeremiahs Controversy with the False Prophets (26:129:32)IX.Messages of Hope for Restoration (30:133:26)X.Events and Messages from 605 B.C. to the Fall of Jerusalem (34:139:18)XI.Events after the Fall of Jerusalem (40:145:5)XII.Messages concerning Foreign Nations (46:151:64)XIII.A Summary of Events from 597 to 561 B.C. (52:134)LamentationsIntroductionI.The Misery and Desolation of Jerusalem (1:122)II.Gods Judgment on the City (2:122)III.Hope of Relief through Loving-Kindness (3:166)IV.Sorrows of the People Resulting from the Siege (4:122)V.A Prayer for Mercy and Deliverance (5:122)[Seite 19] JeremiahINTRODUCTION OUTLINE1.The World of Jeremiah2.Jeremiah: A Prophet for the Times3.Formation and Structure of the Book4.Authorship5.Jeremiah in the Septuagint Version6.The Theology of Jeremiah7.Jeremiah for Our TimesINTRODUCTION1. The World of JeremiahJeremiah can never be understood apart from the historical currents that swirled about him from the time of his childhood until those tumultuous events that took him to Egypt after forty years of faithfully proclaiming Gods words. The closing years of the seventh century B.C. proved to be a turbulent era in the [footnoteRef:1]ANE.[footnoteRef:2]1 That period can only be described as a time of crisis and transition. The stability that had characterized the years of political and military domination by Assyria in northern Mesopotamia came to an abrupt end in 609 with Assyrias capitulation to a coalition of nations led by the emerging city-state Babylon, fifty miles south of Baghdad. Assyria had been one of the most powerful empires of the ancient world.[footnoteRef:3]2 Few would have anticipated that its fall could come so quickly after reaching the zenith of its political and cultural achievements under the able ruler Ashurbanipal (668627 B.C.). [1: ANE Ancient Near East] [2: 1 See E. H. Merrill, Kingdom of Priests: A History of Old Testament Israel (Grand Rapids: Baker, 1987), 43653.] [3: 2 See H. W. F. Saggs, The Might That Was Assyria (London: Sidgwick & Jackson, 1984).]

Assyria was overextended, its wars were exhausting its resources, its vassals were beginning to test its power, and it was under Gods judgment[Seite 20] (Isa 10:12; 14:2425; Nah 2:83:19). Psammetichus I of Egypt (664610) withheld tribute, ca. 655, and declared his independence from Assyria. The Medes were becoming a potential threat as were hordes of barbarian Cimmerians and Scythians. Ashurbanipals brother and king of Babylon, Shamash-shum-ukin, led a revolt against Assyria in 652 that was put down only after a bitter struggle. After Ashurbanipals death in 627, a Chaldean prince, Nabopolassar (626605), took advantage of general unrest and civil war in the empire to declare Babylons independence. Nineveh fell to the Babylonians and Medes in 612, and the last Assyrian resistance ended in 609 at Haran.Babylons emergence as the major world power did not go unchallenged. Egypt saw the upstart nation as an even greater threat than Assyria and challenged them at the Battle of Carchemish in 605. Babylon emerged from that conflict as the undisputed ruler of the ANE (Jer 46:212). Smaller nations like Judah transferred their loyalty to Babylon. Nebuchadnezzar, Nabopolassars son and general of the victorious army at Carchemish, was called home when his father died that same year and assumed rule of the now-powerful Babylonian Empire.Judah had been under Assyrian domination since the days of King Ahaz (735715 B.C., 2 Kgs 16:78; Isa 7:18:18). With the coming of Assyrian weakness during the days of good King Josiah (640609), Judah was able to maintain its independence (Jer 22:117). Assyria was helpless to challenge Josiahs annexation of much of Northern Israel (2 Chr 34:67). Then Judah became ensnared in the power struggle between Egypt and Babylon. After Josiahs untimely death at the Battle of Megiddo (609) as he tried to halt an Egyptian army from reaching the last remnant of Assyrias resistance at Haran (2 Chr 35:2024), control of Judah fell to the Egyptians under Pharaoh Neco II (610594). Neco appointed Josiahs son, Jehoahaz, as Judahs new king. Recognizing after three months that Jehoahaz supported the anti-Egyptian party in Judah, however, the Egyptians deposed him and took him to Egypt as a prisoner. Neco replaced him with another of Josiahs sons, wicked Jehoiakim (609598). After Egypts defeat at Carchemish in 605, Jehoiakim transferred his allegiance to Babylon (2 Kgs 24:1).Encouraged by the promise of Egyptian military help (cf. Jer 2:3637), Jehoiakim renounced his vassalage to Babylon in 601 (2 Kgs 24:1). In December 598 Nebuchadnezzar sent an army to quell the revolt lest other vassals entertain similar aspirations for independence. Jehoiakim died before a protracted siege of Jerusalem became a reality. Some of his own people may have assassinated him in order to negotiate more favorable peace terms with Nebuchadnezzar. His son, Jehoiachin, occupied the throne for only three months. Nebuchadnezzar deposed him and took him to Babylon in 597 (2 Kgs 24:8). There he remained until his release in 562 by Nebuchadnezzar IIs successor Amel-Marduk (the biblical Evil-Merodach).[Seite 21] Nebuchadnezzar placed Zedekiah (Mattaniah), another of Josiahs sons, on the throne. However, Zedekiah did not learn from his brothers disastrous attempt to sever ties with Babylon. He was encouraged to rebel by an insurrection in Babylon in 595/594 and by the promise of Egyptian help from Pharaoh Hophra (589570), successor of Psammetichus II (594589). Nebuchadnezzar quickly responded to the threat by sending an army to squelch the revolt. He placed Jerusalem under a siege that ended after eighteen months when the defenders, weakened by hunger, disease, and low morale, were no longer able to hold out. The walls were breached; Jerusalem was taken and destroyed, including the revered temple. Nebuchadnezzar carried away a number of the people to Babylon as hostages (2 Kgs 25:121).Nebuchadnezzar was unwilling to allow the rebellious nation any further semblance of independence under its own kings. He incorporated Judah into his empire as a province and appointed Gedaliah, a member of a noble Judahite family, as governor (2 Kgs 25:2226; Jer 40:112). It is uncertain how long he governed before being assassinated by a certain Ishmael (41:13). A number of Gedaliahs supporters, fearing Babylonian retaliation, fled to Egypt, taking Jeremiah with them (2 Kgs 25:26; Jer 42:143:7). Jeremiah 52:30 mentions a deportation in 582, which may have been Nebuchadnezzars punishment for Gedaliahs murder.Jeremiah was born and raised in Judah under Assyrian domination during the reign of wicked King Manasseh (687642 B.C.). Manasseh could not have been unaffected by the pagan religious practices fostered there. Early in his reign Manasseh began reintroducing and multiplying the paganism his father, Hezekiah, purged from Judah. He rebuilt the high places Hezekiah had destroyed, erected altars to Baal, and made an Asherah pole. He worshiped all the starry hosts and built altars to pagan gods in the temple itself. He offered his own son as a burnt sacrifice and practiced sorcery and divination (2 Kgs 21:29; 24:34; Zeph 1:45).Many of Judahs priests were wicked, but there were surely some who lamented what they saw taking place and did all they could to protect their families from such practices. Jeremiahs priestly parents (1:1) probably were among this minority and were careful to observe the Shema (Deut 6:49) in their home. Men and women with profound religious convictions can often trace the factors that molded their character to the teachings and influence of godly parents. Such may have been Jeremiahs fortunate background. At any rate he was prepared to hear the call of God in 627 (1:2) when just a youth, probably in his late teen years. The previous year King Josiah had begun his reforms (2 Chr 34:37). That same year, 627, witnessed the death of Ashurbanipal and the end of Assyrian dominance in the ANE. The rapid disintegration of the Assyrian Empire after Ashurbanipals death must have provided Jeremiah food for thought,[Seite 22] but he provided no record of his inner thoughts of that event. Perhaps he was too absorbed with trying to understand his call and what God was doing in his life to try to interpret international events.The finding of the law book in 622 (2 Chr 34:828) must have affected the young prophet profoundly, though he left no record of his reaction to its discovery. He must have admired the efforts of King Josiah to restore the religious purity that had characterized Josiahs great-grandfather Hezekiah. It may have been those discovered Scriptures that brought Jeremiah to his unshakable conviction, so frequently reflected in his later messages, that continued disobedience to Gods laws would spell the doom of Judah.This became a major focus of Jeremiahs ministry as chief spokesman for the Lord after Josiahs death in 609 and Jehoiakims accession. He became the bitter adversary of Josiahs successors throughout the remaining years of Judahs independent existence.It cannot be ascertained when Jeremiah first came to understand that the upstart nation of Babylon was going to be Gods instrument of judgment on his own people. However, when he realized what was to be, he unflinchingly warned his people that judgment was imminent. His efforts to turn them back to God were of no avail. His only reward was to be branded a traitor, threatened, and imprisoned.Jeremiahs troubles did not end when he was vindicated as a true prophet by Jerusalems fall in 587. He loved his people too much to abandon them, so he made a decision to remain with them to help rebuild the nation (40:16). Even that desire was thwarted when he was forced to go to Egypt (43:16). Jeremiahs latter days are a mystery.The Lord wove Jeremiahs ministry and message into the fabric of his world. In order to understand Jeremiahs book it is necessary to understand the events surrounding the prophet. Nevertheless, Jeremiahs message speaks beyond his world because it was the message of the transcendent Lord of all worlds. It speaks to every world in which there is pride, rebellion against God, spiritual blindness, and Gods people in need of encouragement and hope.2. Jeremiah: A Prophet for the TimesThe tumultuous period of Judahs last days brought forth a clamor of prophetic voices warning that Judahs time was short unless it repented and returned to the Lord. However, towering above Nahum, Habakkuk, Zephaniah, and Ezekiel was the lonely figure of Jeremiah. Nevertheless, his message largely went unheeded.[footnoteRef:4]3[Seite 23] [4: 3 Though none of them mentions the others, it is likely they would have been aware of each others ministry.]

In his commentary on Jeremiah, J. Brights first statement is Jeremiah . . . was one of the prophets of Israel.[footnoteRef:5]4 However commonplace this statement appears, he says, it is actually the essential statement to be made about the man.[footnoteRef:6]5 Another way of introducing Jeremiah is to see him as the most human of all the prophets. More is known about the personal and inner life of Jeremiah than any other prophet. Given to alternating moods of despair and exaltation, it is easier, perhaps, for us to identify with him than with a prophet as majestic and remote as Isaiah, as self-disciplined and visionary as Ezekiel, or as fiery as Amos. [5: 4 J. Bright, Jeremiah: Introduction, Translation, and Notes, AB (Garden City: Doubleday, 1965), xv.] [6: 5 Ibid.]

Jeremiah exhibited qualities of courage, compassion, and sensitivity. He also revealed a darker side of moodiness, introspection, loneliness, doubt, and retribution toward his personal enemies (11:20). He could call for vengeance on those who attacked him but also intercede passionately for God to spare his people. He could stand his ground against personal threats but also weep uncontrollably as he considered the suffering of his own people. Though frequently called the weeping prophet, his tears should be interpreted not as evidence of inner weakness but as proof of his love for his people.[footnoteRef:7]6 He must have gained a reputation for courage during his lifetime, for centuries later comparisons were made between Jesus and Jeremiah (Matt 16:14). [7: 6 Jeremiahs association with weeping has contributed a word to the English language, jeremiad, a lament. The personal nature of the book has suggested to many a comparison to 2 Corinthians.]

He was the son of Hilkiah, a priest of Anathoth in the land of Benjamin. It is not certain whether Jeremiah himself was a priest. If he was, he did not mention it.[footnoteRef:8]7 Jeremiah was not married when called to be a prophet; in fact, he was forbidden to marry (16:14). Since young men customarily married in their late teens, Jeremiah probably was under twenty years of age when called in the thirteenth year of the reign of Josiah (1:2), i.e., 627 B.C.[footnoteRef:9]8 [8: 7 The meaning of his name is uncertain. It has been interpreted to mean the Lord loosens, the Lord hurls, the Lord exalts, or the Lord establishes.] [9: 8 J. P. Hyatt (The Book of Jeremiah: Introduction and Exegesis, IB [New York: Abingdon], 5:779) and W. L. Holladay (Jeremiah 1, Her [Minneapolis: Fortress, 1989], 1:1) argue that the thirteenth year, 627, was the date of Jeremiahs birth. Their view has not gained a wide following.]

The reader is never told how Jeremiah earned his livelihood. It is unlikely that his preaching would have resulted in monetary compensation had a collection plate been passed. Perhaps those few who agreed with his message provided for his physical needs, which would have been minimal. On the other hand, he may have had independent financial resources[Seite 24] because he was able to purchase the land of a relative when it was offered to him (32:9).There are four distinct periods in Jeremiahs ministry: (1) 627609, from the date of his call to the death of King Josiah; (2) 609597, from Josiahs death to the deportation of King Jehoiachin to Babylon; (3) 597587, the years of the reign of King Zedekiah to the fall of Jerusalem; and (4) from the fall of Jerusalem in 587 to Jeremiahs involuntary flight to Egypt, where the story abruptly ends. The reader is told nothing about his final years or his death.An evaluation of Jeremiah by most standards of success would brand him an abysmal failure. He preached for forty years without convincing the people that he was Gods prophet. He was threatened, ridiculed, and physically abused by his own people. Jerusalem was finally destroyed, and Judah ceased to exist as a nation because the people refused to accept Jeremiahs remedy for deliveranceturn back to God and submit to the Babylonians.[footnoteRef:10]9 However, Jeremiah must not be judged by human standards. God has a different measuring stick by which he judges a persons life. His is the test of obedience. God only required that Jeremiah obey him by proclaiming his message. Jeremiah was not responsible for a favorable response or lack of response. One who is an obedient servant of the Lord today is not held accountable for lack of response from those who hear his message.[footnoteRef:11]10 The great rulers of Jeremiahs dayAshurbanipal, Nebuchadnezzar, Neco, and Hophrahave largely been forgotten. Their influence is nil, whereas Jeremiahs name and influence remain because of his obedience to Gods will for him. [10: 9 J. Goldingay (Gods Prophet, Gods Servant [Greenwood, S.C.: Attic, 1984], 17) describes Jeremiah vividly: So almost our last sight of Jeremiah is his back as he turns his feet wearily south, his ministry apparently fruitless, his future apparently only death, far way from the inheritance that he had promised that he and his brethren would repossess in Palestine.] [11: 10 See Goldingay, Gods Prophet, 1530, for an excellent discussion of Jeremiah as an example of the cost of servanthood.]

3. Formation and Structure of the BookThe Book of Jeremiah appears to consist of four distinct parts: chaps. 125; 2645; 4651; and chap. 52. In addition, there is evidence of smaller collections within the work (e.g., 2:14:4; 4:56:30; 8:1417; 21:1123:8; 23:940).[footnoteRef:12]11 Scholars have been unable to agree on how the collections came together. L. Perdue stated that the most complicated and controversial issue in Jeremiah studies involves the analysis of the literary composition and development of the book.[footnoteRef:13]12 J. Bright proposed[Seite 25] a solution for the formation of the book,[footnoteRef:14]13 but E. Achtemeier responded that his solution was only educated guesswork.[footnoteRef:15]14 R. K. Harrison believes the process of transmission . . . was considerably less complex than has been assumed by the majority of liberal scholars,[footnoteRef:16]15 but he admitted it is almost impossible to conjecture the manner in which the prophecy was given its final form.[footnoteRef:17]16 Nevertheless, conservative scholars affirm that Gods guiding hand was ultimately responsible. [12: 11 O. Eissfeldt, The Old Testament: An Introduction (New York: Harper & Row, 1965), 35658.] [13: 12 L. Perdue, Jeremiah in Modern Research, in Prophet to the Nations, ed. L. G. Perdue and B. W. Kovacs (Winona Lake, Ind.: Eisenbrauns, 1984), 14.] [14: 13 Bright, Jeremiah, 1vi-1ix; idem, The Book of Jeremiah: Its Structure, Its Problems, and Their Significance for the Interpreter, Int 9 (1955): 25978.] [15: 14 E. Achtemeier, Deuteronomy-Jeremiah, PC (Philadelphia: Fortress, 1978), 63.] [16: 15 R. K. Harrison, Introduction to the Old Testament (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1969), 815.] [17: 16 Ibid., 817.]

Chapter 36 reveals that the earliest collection was made by Jeremiah himself when he dictated messages to Baruch that he had delivered prior to 605. When Jehoiakim destroyed the scroll on which they were written, Jeremiah dictated them again, adding others. These messages are found in chaps. 125. The remainder of the book speaks of Jeremiah in the third person and was evidently collected later by someone other than the prophet, perhaps by his scribe Baruch.Not only is there uncertainty about how the collection came about, but there also is considerable question about the arrangement of the final form. J. A. Soggins assessment that the whole book gives the impression of having been assembled with almost a complete lack of criteria[footnoteRef:18]17 is probably an overstatement. O. Eissfeldt observed, It is quite clear that this form is the result of a planned arrangement . . . either upset or not consistently carried through.[footnoteRef:19]18 It is evident that an overall plan was not carried out and cannot be recovered. In spite of Soggins statement, however, there is evidence that some criteria were used for the arrangement of certain parts of the book. Certain chapters are clearly gathered together according to subject matter, e.g., chaps. 1819, the potter; 3033, hope for the future; 4651, judgment on foreign nations. Some parts are arranged according to key words, e.g., return in chaps. 34. The book appears at first glance to be arranged chronologically, i.e., beginning with Jeremiahs call and concluding with his words from Egypt more than forty years later. However, the chronological arrangement is not strictly followed. For[Seite 26] example, the events of chap. 25 precede those of chap. 24, and the events of 22:2430 are prior to those in 21:17.[footnoteRef:20]19 Other arrangements can also be detected, e.g., 22:130: condemnation of the wicked rulers, and chaps. 2729: condemnation of false prophets. [18: 17 J. A. Soggin, Introduction to the Old Testament, OTL (Philadelphia: Westminster, 1976), 289.] [19: 18 Eissfeldt, Old Testament, 349. Nicholson (CBC 1:1415) identified four basic collections: 125; 2636; 3745; 4651. Bright (AB, 1vii-1viii) identified three: 125; 3031 (and perhaps 3233); 4651. J. A. Thompson (The Book of Jeremiah, NICOT [Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1980], 27) essentially agreed with Bright, naming 125; 3033; and 4651. Miscellaneous material, including biographical narrative, was added to these basic collections to complete the book. Scholars continue to disagree sharply in regard to what part Jeremiah played in the arrangement of the material.] [20: 19 The commentaries by Bright and Leslie (Jeremiah: Chronologically Arranged, Translated, and Interpreted [New York: Abingdon, 1954]) arrange the chapters and their exegesis to conform with what they believe is the correct order of the events and messages. For a recent attempt to identify the structure of Jeremiah using headings and literary clues, see R. D. Patterson, Of Bookends, Hinges, and Hooks: Literary Clues to the Arrangement of Jeremiahs Prophecies, WTJ 51 (1989): 10931.]

Scholars generally agree that there are three types of literary material in the book. They are (1) the poetic oracles, most from Jeremiah himself; (2) biographical prose narratives about events in the life and time of Jeremiah; and (3) sayings and prose discourses akin to the style and vocabulary found in Deuteronomy and the Historical Books (the so-called Deuteronomistic history).Arguments have been proposed for Jeremiahs dependence on certain portions of Hosea;[footnoteRef:21]20 Amos;[footnoteRef:22]21 Isaiah;[footnoteRef:23]22 Micah;[footnoteRef:24]23 and Zephaniah, Nahum, and Habakkuk.[footnoteRef:25]24 It should not be surprising that prophets were familiar with oracles of their predecessors and of their contemporaries and sometimes reflected that familiarity in their own messages. [21: 20 See Soggin, 294; Eissfeldt, 358; Thompson, NICOT, 8185; Holladay, Jeremiah 2, Her, 4547; Bright, Covenant and Promise, 144.] [22: 21 See Holladay, Jeremiah 2, 4445.] [23: 22 See Eissfeldt, 358; Holladay, Jeremiah 2, 4750.] [24: 23 See Holladay, Jeremiah 2, 5051.] [25: 24 Ibid., 5153.]

4. AuthorshipThe question of authorship must be injected into any discussion of the formation of the Book of Jeremiah. For centuries no serious questions were raised about Jeremianic authorship. However, following critical scholars acceptance of Wellhausens source-critical analysis of the Pentateuch in 1878,[footnoteRef:26]25 scholars subjected other OT books to the same methodology with similar denial of traditional authorship. Influenced by Wellhausens methodology, B. Duhm submitted the Book of Jeremiah to source-critical analysis in his 1901 commentary Das Buch Jeremia.[footnoteRef:27]26 He identified three principal sources or types of material that constituted the book: (1) the only authentic oracles by Jeremiahthe poetic portions in the qinah meterplus Jeremiahs letter to the exiles (chap. 29), a total of about 280 verses; (2) a prose biography by Baruch, about 220 verses; and[Seite 27] (3) everything else, attributed to a succession of editors rather than to Jeremiah. [26: 25 J. Wellhausen, Prolegomena to the History of Ancient Israel (1878; reprint, Cleveland: World, 1957).] [27: 26 B. Duhm, Das Buch Jeremia, KHAT X1 (Tbingen: Mohr, 1901).]

Duhms proposal was further developed by S. Mowinckel in 1914 in his Zur Komposition des Buches Jeremia.[footnoteRef:28]27 He said the book was the result of a long process of editorial compilation and redaction. By form-critical methodology he essentially confirmed Duhms three types of material or sources.[footnoteRef:29]28 He designated the first of these as A, the authentic Jeremiah oracles, mostly poetic and written in the first person, found in chaps. 125. He designated as B the second type, the prose-biographical narratives.[footnoteRef:30]29 The narratives are in the third person and must have been recorded by an eyewitness. They are found in chaps. 2629 and 3445. The third type, labeled C, consists of prose sermons by an editor from a school of Deuteronomistic theologians of the exilic or postexilic period, though containing some genuine words of Jeremiah.[footnoteRef:31]30 This material is highly repetitious, verbose, and drives home the prophetic message with effective forcefulness.[footnoteRef:32]31 [28: 27 S. Mowinckel, Zur Komposition des Buches Jeremia (Oslo: Jacob Dybwad, 1914).] [29: 28 In a later work, Prophecy and Tradition: The Prophetic Books in the Light of Study of the Growth and History of the Tradition (Oslo: Jacob Dybwad, 1946), Mowinckel modified some of his views. Instead of speaking of sources, he preferred to speak of traditionary circles, i.e., circles that preserved oral traditions.] [30: 29 Mowinckel rejected Baruch as author, though later scholars follow Duhm at this point.] [31: 30 A basic component of the contemporary paradigm of critical OT studies is the view that one or more historians of the exilic period wrote or edited a massive work constituting the biblical books of Deuteronomy through Kings, whose purpose was to exhort Israel to devote themselves anew to Yahweh alone and thus to become Gods people among the nations. The writers and editors are called the Deuteronomists, and the work is known as the Deuteronomistic history. This work is supposed to have been supplemented in the postexilic period by the priestly history (GenesisNumbers) and the Chroniclers history (Chronicles, EzraNehemiah). Individuals associated with them (the so-called Deuteronomic school) are believed to have edited many other OT books such as Jeremiah. For further information see the following works: P. R. Ackroyd, The Historical Literature, in The Hebrew Bible and Its Modern Interpreters, ed. D. A. Knight (Philadelphia: Fortress, 1985), 30005; M. Noth, The Deuteronomistic History, 2nd ed. (Sheffield: JSOT, 1981); M. Weinfeld, Deuteronomy and the Deuteronomic School (Oxford: Clarendon, 1972). For a critical evaluation see K. A. Kitchen, Ancient Orient, Deuteronomism, and the Old Testament, in New Perspectives on the Old Testament, ed. J. B. Payne (Waco: Word, 1970), 124; and R. P. Gordon, Deuteronomy and the Deuteronomic School, TB 25 (1974): 11320.] [32: 31 Mowinckel, Jeremia, 47, also identified a D source that included chaps. 3031. It was an originally independent anonymous collection of prose sermons in the Deuteronomic style. However, D has been discarded in contemporary discussions by most scholars.]

Most of the discussions concerning authorship of the Book of Jeremiah have centered around the contribution of Deuteronomic editors (Mowinckels C material) to the formation and theology of the book. The prose sermons seem to share a vocabulary, style, and theological perspective that set them apart from other parts of the book but are characteristic of[Seite 28] the literature now termed Deuteronomistic. After the seminal studies by Duhm and Mowinckel that brought the prose sermons of Jeremiah into focus and pointed to Deuteronomistic influence, other scholars have continued the study of that influence.[footnoteRef:33]32 [33: 32 See most recently M. OBrien, The Deuteronomistic Hypothesis: A Reassessment (Gttingen: Vandenhoeck und Ruprecht, 1989), 344.]

W. Rudolph restated the problem in a way that became the basis for much research that followed.[footnoteRef:34]33 He employed Mowinckels A, B, and C categories but differed in the assignment of certain passages. For example, he assigned several passages to B that Mowinckel had attributed to C. He also differed from Mowinckel in insisting that although there was a Deuteronomic influence, nonetheless, genuine Jeremianic sayings and themes lie behind the C sources. He also believed that C was the chief redactor responsible for the book in its present form. [34: 33 W. Rudolph, Jeremia (Tbingen: Mohr, 1947).]

J. P. Hyatt attributed greater Deuteronomistic activity to the book than his predecessors. He argued that D was responsible for making an edition of the book in one of its early stages.[footnoteRef:35]34 E. Janssen was the first to make use of form-critical evidence to conclude that the prose sermons of Jeremiah were Deuteronomistic in origin.[footnoteRef:36]35 S. Herrmann[footnoteRef:37]36 and E. W. Nicholson[footnoteRef:38]37 added additional support for Deuteronomistic activity in the book. W. Thiels studies were essentially an elaboration of Hyatts arguments and contain the most extensive discussion of the question of Deuteronomistic redaction in recent years.[footnoteRef:39]38 Thiel argued that a Deuteronomistic redactor prepared an edition of Jeremiah in one of its earlier forms during the exilic period. [35: 34 J. P. Hyatt, The Deuteronomic Edition of Jeremiah, in A Prophet to the Nations, ed. L. G. Perdue and B. W. Kovacs (Winona Lake, Ind.: Eisenbrauns, 1984), 251.] [36: 35 E. Janssen, Juda in der Exilszeit: Ein Beitrag zur Frage der Entstehung des Judentums (Gttingen: Vandenhoeck und Ruprecht, 1956).] [37: 36 S. Herrman, Die prophetischen Heilserwartungen im Alten Testament, BWANT 5 (Stuttgart: W. Kohlhammer, 1965).] [38: 37 E. W. Nicholson, Preaching to the Exiles: A Study of the Prose Tradition in the Book of Jeremiah (New York: Schocken, 1971). He understands the context of the prose sermons as exilic (proto) synagogues in Babylon.] [39: 38 W. Thiel, Die deuteronomistiche Redaktion von Jeremia 125 (Wageningen: Neukirchener, 1973); idem, Die deuteronomistische Redaktion von Jeremiah 2645 (Dsseldorf: Neukirchener, 1981). See also M. Weinfeld, Deuteronomic School, 2732.]

Other scholars have not been swayed by the contentions that a Deuteronomistic redactor was responsible for much of the material in the book. Many ideas in the prose sermons do not follow Deuteronomy and the Deuteronomistic literary corpus.[footnoteRef:40]39 S. R. Driver argued that Jeremiah deliberately used or perhaps was influenced by the Deuteronomistic style and[Seite 29] vocabulary in his sermons.[footnoteRef:41]40 J. Bright acknowledged similarities between Jeremiahs prose sermons and the Deuteronomistic materials but insisted that his sermons have a style and diction of their own and are part of the genuine Jeremiah materials. In his words there is a definite kinship between the prose sermons and the genuine Jeremiah.[footnoteRef:42]41 H. Weippert argued that many of the prose discourses in Jeremiah are actually examples of an elevated prose style common in the ANE of Jeremiahs day. It was characterized by frequent parallelism, indicating its origin in poetry. She concluded that Jeremiahs prose discourses influenced the Deuteronomists. Furthermore, the so-called sermons are an essential part of Jeremiahs message in that it is here that we find his call to repentance.[footnoteRef:43]42 [40: 39 H. Cazelles, Jeremie et la Deutronome, RSR 38 (1951): 436.] [41: 40 S. R. Driver, Deuteronomy (Edinburgh: T & T Clark, 1895), xciiff.; cf. Y. Kaufmann, The Religion of Israel (New York: Schocken, 1972), 415.] [42: 41 J. Bright, The Date of the Prose Sermons of Jeremiah, JBL 70 (1951): 26.] [43: 42 H. Weippert, Die Prosareden des Jeremiabuches (Berlin: Walter de Gruyter, 1973), 78, 23233.]

W. Holladay, however, has affirmed that it was the Deuteronomists who influenced Jeremiah. Nevertheless, he agrees that the sermons originated as prosaic versions of poetic messages. Jeremiah patterned his style after the poetic and prose sections of Deuteronomy, which he heard for the first time when it was read publicly during Josiahs reform. As Jeremiahs scribe, Baruch probably had a part also in forming the written style transmitted to us.[footnoteRef:44]43 [44: 43 W. L. Holladay, A Fresh Look at Source B and Source C in Jeremiah, VT 25 (1975): 402.]

Conservative scholars have continued to reject multiple authorship of the book although they allow for some editing.[footnoteRef:45]44 They point out that the failure of critical scholars to agree on the identification of the so-called sources weakens the case for multiple authorship. Even among critical scholars the old consensus of A, B, and C as delineated by Mowinckel is gone.[footnoteRef:46]45 Conservative scholars do admit there are similarities between Deuteronomy and Jeremiah. These are commonly explained, however, by the influence of Deuteronomy on Jeremiah and of Deuteronomic rhetoric on seventh- and sixth-century prose style.[footnoteRef:47]46 [45: 44 C. L. Feinberg, Jeremiah, EBC, vol. 6, ed. F. E. Gaebelein (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1986), 6:362; W. S. LaSor, D. A. Hubbard, F. W. Bush, Old Testament Survey: The Message, Form, and Background of the Old Testament (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1982), 40810.] [46: 45 R. R. Wilson, Prophecy and Society in Ancient Israel (Philadelphia: Fortress, 1980), 23233; B. Childs, Introduction to the Old Testament as Scripture (Philadelphia: Fortress, 1979), 34445.] [47: 46 Harrison, Introduction, 817; LaSor, Hubbard, and Bush, OT Survey, 410. J. G. McConville, Jeremiah: Prophet and Book, TB 42 (1991): 83, argues that a Deuteronomic understanding of the book does too little justice to its individuality. Rather, The book may be derived quite genuinely from Jeremiah (ibid., 94), who has himself edited his messages to teach a theology of repentance.]

[Seite 30] 5. Jeremiah in the Septuagint VersionNo other book of the Old Testament contains as many textual variants between the Hebrew ([footnoteRef:48]MT) and Greek texts ([footnoteRef:49]LXX) as does the Book of Jeremiah. In 1862 F. Giesebracht determined that the LXX is about twenty-seven hundred words or one-eighth shorter than the MT.[footnoteRef:50]47 A more precise count by Y.-J. Min in 1977 found the LXX to be 3,097 words or one-seventh shorter than the MT.[footnoteRef:51]48 The differences include the omission of entire passages in the LXX, the longest being about 180 words. The most significant omissions are 29:1620; 33:1426; 39:413; 51:41b49a; 52:27b30. Other omissions may be a phrase, a sentence, or only a single word or two. The LXX has about one hundred words not found in the MT. Furthermore, some words in the LXX are different from the corresponding words in the MT (variants). Another type variant that occurs is a different arrangement of texts. The most significant one occurs in the messages against foreign nations (chaps. 4651 in the MT). In the LXX this section appears immediately after 25:13a (LXX = 25:1431:44) and is also arranged internally in a different sequence from the MT. [48: MT Masoretic Text] [49: LXX Septuagint] [50: 47 K. H. Graf, Der Prophet Jeremia (Leipzig: Weigel, 1862), xliii; F. Giesebrecht, Das Buch Jeremia (Gttingen: Vandenhoeck und Ruprecht, 1907), xxv.] [51: 48 Y.-J. Min, The Minuses and Pluses of the LXX Translation of Jeremiah as Compared with the Massoretic Text: Their Classification and Possible Origins (Ph.D. Diss., Hebrew University, 1977), 255.]

Some of these differences are recensional, that is, they point to the existence of more than one edition of the Hebrew text. Others are the result of transcriptional errors, and some were introduced as revisions by the LXX translators.[footnoteRef:52]49 Until the discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls, many scholars assumed the LXX was an abridgment of the MT and was thus a historically inferior text.[footnoteRef:53]50 Although some fragments of Jeremiah found at Qumran agree with the MT against the LXX (4QJera, 4QJerc, and 2QJer),[footnoteRef:54]51 two of the three fragments of 4QJerb (covering 9:2210:18; 43:39) are closer to the LXX than the MT.[footnoteRef:55]52 Although the evidence is slim, it seems likely that there were at least two different Hebrew text traditions of Jeremiah in circulation at Qumran, a shorter one forming the[Seite 31] basis for the LXX and a longer one forming the basis for the MT.[footnoteRef:56]53 Whether one or both of these originated during or shortly after Jeremiahs lifetime or were the work of Deuteronomistic editors is a disputed matter. G. L. Archer, Jr. proposed that after producing and disseminating an earlier version of his prophecies, essentially represented by the LXX, Jeremiah continued adding prophecies to the work, which were then collected and finalized by Baruch. The final text was that found in the MT.[footnoteRef:57]54 The approach that seems best and is used by most scholars is that of J. Bright and J. A. Thompson, evaluating each passage individually to determine in each case a preference for the MT or the LXX. [52: 49 Differences in the LXX chaps. 128 and 2952 have been explained by proposing two different translators (H. Thackeray, The Greek Translators of Jeremiah, JTS 4 (19021903): 24666) or by a later revision of the second half (E. Tov, The Septuagint Translation of Jeremiah and Baruch [Missoula: Scholars Press, 1976], 411).] [53: 50 E.g., C. von Orelli, The Prophecies of Jeremiah (Edinburgh: T & T Clark, 1889), 2428. Some nineteenth century scholars like A. W. Streane (The Double Text of Jeremiah [Cambridge: Deighton Bell, 1896]) insisted that the LXX was the older and more reliable text.] [54: 51 F. M. Cross, The Evolution of a Theory of Local Texts, in Qumran and the History of the Biblical Text, ed. F. M. Cross and S. Talmon (Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1975), 308.] [55: 52 Holladay, Jeremiah 2, 3.] [56: 53 For a survey of the history of critical comparisons of the LXX with the MT, see J. G. Janzen, Studies in the Text of Jeremiah, HSM 6 (Cambridge: Harvard University, 1973), 27; E. Tov, Septuagint Translations, HSM 8, 14; S. Soderlund, The Greek Text of Jeremiah: A Revised Hypothesis, JSOTSup 47 (Sheffield: JSOT, 1985), 413; Holladay, Jeremiah 2, 28.] [57: 54 G. L. Archer, Jr., A Survey of Old Testament Introduction, rev. ed. (Chicago: Moody, 1974), 34950.]

After examining the various theories regarding the respective merits of the LXX and MT, S. Soderlund made the following sage observation: It is important not to lose ones perspective: whether in the longer or shorter version, the book of Jeremiah still speaks to us with power and conviction that should not be obscured in the course of an otherwise legitimate and necessary text critical enterprise.[footnoteRef:58]55 [58: 55 Soderlund, Greek Text of Jeremiah, 12728.]

Some of the differences between the LXX and MT will be noted as they are encountered in the commentary that follows where they illuminate the interpretation.[footnoteRef:59]56 [59: 56 For a verse-by-verse comparison of the LXX and MT differences, see Holladay, Jeremiah 1 and Jeremiah 2.]

6. The Theology of JeremiahJeremiah was constantly at odds with his contemporaries (cf. 2729). Their differences arose from his negative view of the future; he was unable to shake his countrymen from their smug complacency. Jeremiah was convinced that Judah would not survive because of its wickedness and refusal to repent and return to God (chaps. 26). He saw Babylon as Gods instrument of judgment on his people and warned that Judah would be destroyed (1:1119; 4:531; 25:114). This kind of preaching was unpopular and almost cost his life on several occasions (18:18; 19:120:6; 26:124; 36:126; 37:1116; 38:116).The tension between Jeremiah and the nation was partly political because the people perceived Jeremiah as a traitor and a Babylonian sympathizer (37:1116). The tension was also theological. Jeremiah was convinced on theological grounds that the nation was under Gods judgment[Seite 32] and would be punished, whereas his opponents argued (6:14; 28:1011) that God had given them the land as part of an unconditional covenant (Gen 17:18) and had promised that a Davidic ruler would always be on the throne (2 Sam 7). Destruction of the nation did not fit that theological view (Jer 26:124).Furthermore, they believed that history had substantiated their understanding. In 722 B.C. Israel, the Northern Kingdom, was destroyed because the people rebelled against their Assyrian overlords (2 Kgs 17), but their calamity was interpreted by the prophets as Gods judgment (Amos 2:616; 3:16:14). Judah was spared at that time because it submitted to Assyrian vassalage (2 Kgs 16:79), but the people interpreted their deliverance as evidence of Gods favor. Then when Jerusalem was spared destruction from Sennacheribs siege of the city in 701, they saw further proof of Gods abiding favor on them (Isa 3638).When Manasseh became king of Judah in 687, he repudiated Hezekiahs reforms, encouraged Baal worship, and was a docile subject of Assyria (1 Kgs 21:118). Nevertheless, Judah continued to maintain an optimistic theology that had its roots in their past history. Since the temple served as a visible symbol of Gods presence, the people were confident he would protect them from all foes. Furthermore, they hoped for a king who would restore the glories of an idealized past under David and Solomon (Mic 5:25a; Jer 26:1719).Jeremiah saw the fallacy of their theology, but for a time it appeared that the timetable for calamity would be reversed because of the sweeping religious reforms of Josiah. Josiah purged all foreign cults from the land and slaughtered their priests unmercifully (2 Kgs 23:414). He even carried his reforms into Israel (2 Kgs 23:1520), knowing that a weakened Assyria was unable to hold its conquered territories. These were the most thoroughgoing reforms in Judahs history and were pressed and directed further by the discovery of the law book in the temple in 622 (2 Kgs 22:313; 2 Chr 34:818). This law book has been equated with the Book of Deuteronomy or parts of it. It was neither a new document nor a pious fraud concocted for the occasion and given Moses name for credibility. It was a collection of ancient laws that derived ultimately from Moses.[footnoteRef:60]57 [60: 57 Kitchen, Ancient Orient.]

Many scholars believe Jeremiahs messages were influenced by the Book of Deuteronomy, and there is no doubt he was familiar with its content. His theology was in agreement with the theology of Deuteronomy (cf. Jer 7:57 and Deut 10:1820; Jer 4:4 and Deut 10:16; Jer 7:9 and Deut 5:9, 1720).[footnoteRef:61]58[Seite 33] Deuteronomic theology demanded that the people give exclusive allegiance to God (Deut 6:4). The worship of other gods was forbidden and would be punished (Deut 28:1568). It also promised restoration and future blessing (Deut 30:115). Deuteronomic theology can be summarized in one statement, Obey and you will be blessed; disobey and you will be cursed (cf. Deut 11:2628). This was the heart of the Mosaic covenant the leaders of the cultic religion of Jerusalem had forgotten (Deut 6:49). [61: 58 W. L. Holladay, The Background of Jeremiahs Self-Understanding: Moses, Samuel, and Psalm 22, JBL 83 (1964): 15364; idem, Jeremiah and Moses: Further Observations, JBL 85 (1966): 1727.]

Jeremiahs messages frequently reflected Deuteronomic thought, i.e., the necessity of obeying the law, punishment for disobedience, the internalization of the law (Deut 6:6; Jer 15:16), the necessity of wholeheartedly seeking God (Deut 4:29; Jer 29:13), and God as warrior (Deut 3:22; Jer 21:5).Deuteronomys promises were not unconditional. The history of the nation as recorded in JoshuaKings testifies that the ancient Mosaic theology was true. God would bless his people if they obeyed him but would punish them if they were disobedient. It was this insistence by Jeremiah that alienated him from his people, who preferred to believe the assuring words of the false prophets (7:4; 28:1013).Jeremiahs earliest preaching was a severe attack on the idolatrous practices of the people (chaps. 23). Though Josiahs reforms were sincere, the hearts of the people were not supportive of the reforms. They abandoned their pagan practices only by force of royal decree and returned to their old ways as soon as Josiah died (2 Kgs 23:2435). Jeremiah must have seen that their outward piety under Josiah was counterfeit though he said little during that time. Josiahs tragic death (2 Chr 35:2027) may have caused profound disillusionment to many, discrediting his Deuteronomic reforms in their eyes.By the time Jehoiakim took the throne after Josiahs death, Jeremiahs alienation from his people was complete. Jehoiakim openly encouraged the pagan cult practices and became Jeremiahs bitterest enemy (2 Kgs 23:3637; Jer 36:132). Jeremiahs denunciation of the petty tyrant and his disparagement of the temple as a security blanket brought him into conflict with the leaders and people alike (Jer 7:115; 26:124), who considered his preaching blasphemous (Jer 7:1011, 1619). However, it is erroneous to conclude that Jeremiah was antimonarchical or that he was hostile to the temple and its cult. His opposition was to the corruption of the kings and priests. He looked forward to a Davidic ruler whom God would raise up and to sincere worship at the temple (23:18). He also looked forward to the reunification of Israel and Judah (3:614).Nebuchadnezzars siege of Jerusalem in 598 following Jehoiakims rebellion did not hinder Judahs complacency, for the city was spared once again, and the Davidic dynasty was left intact. Though some of the people were taken into exile at that time, those remaining interpreted events as punishment[Seite 34] on the exiles but blessings on themselves (chap. 24). Since the nation was still intact, they believed God had not revoked his eternal promises to them (2 Kgs 23:2627), and Jeremiah could not correct their tragic interpretation.With the fall of Jerusalem to the Babylonians in 587, Jeremiahs theological position was finally vindicated (2 Kgs 24:1825:21; Jer 52). Judahs demise as an independent nation created a spiritual crisis of the first magnitude for which official theology had no answers. Instead of accepting Jerusalems fall as punishment for their wickedness, the people concluded that Josiahs reforms had been a mistake; hence they felt they never should have abandoned their worship of the queen of heaven (7:1620; 44:1718).Some interpreted the disaster as proof that Marduk was more powerful than Yahweh (Jer 50:2, 38; 51:47). Others felt God had broken his covenant and abandoned his people. Only a few interpreted events from Jeremiahs perspective, as Gods punishment on a disobedient people.The emphasis on judgment looms large in the book, but hope is also prominent. Though it appeared that God was finished with his people, Jeremiah knew that was not so. Just as he could warn of disaster in the best of times, he could also proclaim hope when there seemed to be none (Jer 32:144). He could look beyond the present time of punishment and see a glorious future for Gods people when they would live in peace and safety (Jer 31). He was confident there would always be a faithful remnant. From the time of his call he knew there would be both tearing down and rebuilding (1:10, 1416; 31:3134).Eschatology is not a prominent concern of the book. Apocalyptic imagery is not characteristic of Jeremiah. Nevertheless, there is a forward look when the land would be rebuilt and repopulated and when God would provide a leader who would be faithful. For Jeremiah the eschatological future was not focused on temple or king but on a new covenant by which God would establish a new individualized relationship with his people (31:3134). The new covenant would require obedience to laws written on the heart (Jer 4:4; Deut 6:49; 10:1222) and would be based on Gods willingness to forgive (Jer 18:112). He would provide a Davidic ruler (23:18), and Israel and Judah would be reunited. The deliberate inclusion of the account of Jehoiachins release from prison in 562 B.C. as the final narrative in the book (52:3134; cf. 2 Kgs 25) is a masterful statement that there will be a future for the people of God (Jer 32).It is difficult to categorize Jeremiahs theology. The book that bears his name is rich in theological content and timeless truth, but it is often overlooked in theological studies since much of its theological content is implied theology.[footnoteRef:62]59 Jeremiah had much to say about God. He was a thoroughgoing monotheist, declaring that the Lord was the only God[Seite 35] (10:116). He knew his God was in sovereign control of all events and nations, including Judah. He understood him to be holy, transcendent, righteous, loving, forgiving, but also wrathful. Jeremiah presented God as the Divine Warrior. He frequently called him LORD of Hosts, a military term. God would fight against sin wherever he found it, whether in Judah or in other nations. Jeremiah also saw God as the Lord of creation and Sustainer of the universe (5:22). But he also knew him to be a personal God who listens patiently to doubts, complaints, and questions. [62: 59 Hyatt, Jeremiah, IB 5:784.]

The Book of Jeremiah reflects different modes of revelation, such as the symbolic acts (see 5:1), the oral message of the prophet, and the acts of God (e.g., the destruction of Jerusalem). Jeremiah had much to say about Gods words. He ate them and delighted in them (15:16), but they also produced inner turmoil that was like fire burning in his bones (20:9). He knew from painful personal encounter there were false prophets who claimed to speak Gods words although they did not (23:940).Gods grace is demonstrated by his patient dealings with Judah in spite of its stubborn rebellion. He repeatedly appealed, Return, faithless people (3:14). Jeremiah did not minimize the seriousness of sin or hesitate to condemn it. He also knew that sin must be punished by a just God. He understood that it is deep seated, a part of human nature (13:23), engraved on the perverse human heart (17:1, 5) but that God and God alone can conquer it (31:33). The remedy for sin was not to take sacrifices to the temple or to observe its rituals. The only remedy for sin was repentance and the obedience of faith.7. Jeremiah for Our TimesThe Book of Jeremiah is a part of Gods Word, the Bible. As such it is necessary that we discover its relevance for our lives today. W. Brueggemann has been helpful in this area in two ways. First, the role of the prophet in ancient Israel was to nurture, nourish, and evoke a consciousness and perception alternative to the consciousness and perception of the dominant culture around us.[footnoteRef:63]60 This definition suggests that the prophet preached Gods word (an alternative consciousness) to a nonbelieving community (the dominant culture). Jeremiah did just that. His prophetic ministry was characterized by his preaching Gods word to a people who had forgotten who and what God is. Jeremiah nurtured and nourished the people with Gods word, but they refused to accept. [63: 60 W. Brueggemann, Prophetic Imagination (Philadelphia: Fortress, 1978), 13.]

Second, Brueggemann suggests that the prophets preached relinquishment and receiving.[footnoteRef:64]61 This idea is based on a sound theological conviction:[Seite 36] Gods powerful governance is displacing the present idolatrous order of public life and is generating a new order that befits Gods will for the world.[footnoteRef:65]62 Jeremiah preached the relinquishment of the old ways of idolatry and oppression and the receiving of Gods word that brings life in times of crisis, hope in times of despair. [64: 61 Brueggemann, Hopeful Imagination (Philadelphia: Fortress, 1986), 47.] [65: 62 Ibid., 4.]

Just as Jeremiah . . . challenged their falsely based security, their double-think, their manipulative ways, their god-substitutes,[footnoteRef:66]63 we too must challenge people today in all their sin by proclaiming Gods Word, which brings life to those who repent. Brueggemann and E. Martens have called attention to both the oppression of people in society and the lack of morals in society today. As much as at any time, the Book of Jeremiah is relevant for today. [66: 63 E. Martens, Jeremiah, BCBC (Scottdale, Penn.: Herald, 1986), 26.]

Martens calls for courage (like that of Jeremiah) in proclaiming Gods Word. Such courage entails boldness to confront evils in a world where evil is normalized; to protest against preachers of an easy grace which promises endless benefits without responsibility; to present a God who demands righteous living and sends his wrath against all evil.[footnoteRef:67]64 The prophet Jeremiah is a model whom we should imitate in proclaiming Gods Word. [67: 64 Ibid., 27.]

OUTLINE OF THE BOOKI.Introduction (1:13)II.The Call and Visions of Jeremiah (1:419)1.The Call of Jeremiah (1:410)2.Vision of the Branch of an Almond Tree (1:1112)3.Vision of a Boiling Pot (1:1316)4.A Divine Challenge and Promise (1:1719)III.Warnings of Judgment from Jeremiahs Early Ministry (2:16:30)1.Gods Rebuke of Judahs Faithlessness (2:137)1.Forsaking of God for Worthless Idols (2:119)2.Irresistible Attraction to Other Gods (2:2028)3.Refusal by Judah to Acknowledge Its Guilt (2:2937)2.An Appeal to Return to God (3:14:4)1.Judah as an Unfaithful Wife (3:15)2.Comparison of Judah and Israel (3:611)3.Promise of Forgiveness to a Reunited People (3:1218)4.Promise of Blessing to a Repentant People (3:194:4)[Seite 37] 3.Announcement of an Invasion from the North (4:531)1.Bitter Punishment of a Wicked People (4:518)2.Jeremiahs Anguished Response (4:1922)3.A Time of Devastation and Ruin (4:2331)4.The Total Sinfulness of Judah (5:131)1.Jeremiahs Vain Search for a Righteous Person (5:16)2.Gods Justification for Judahs Punishment (5:713)3.The Coming of a Distant Nation against Judah (5:1419)4.Warning to a Foolish and Rebellious People (5:2031)5.The Coming Siege and Fall of Jerusalem (6:130)1.An Appeal to Flee the Coming Siege (6:18)2.Punishment of a Shameless People (6:915)3.Refusal to Heed Gods Warnings (6:1620)4.The Terrors of the Approaching Enemy (6:2126)5.A People Rejected by God (6:2730)IV.Jeremiahs Temple Sermon and Other Messages of Warning (7:110:25)1.The Temple Sermon (7:115)1.Misplaced Trust in Deceptive Words (7:111)2.Warning from Shilohs Fate (7:1215)2.Worship of the Queen of Heaven (7:1620)3.A Disobedient Nation (7:2129)4.Coming Judgment of Human Sacrifice (7:3034)5.Desecration of Graves by the Enemy (8:13)6.Stubborn Refusal to Return to God (8:413)7.The Peoples Resignation to the Coming Invasion (8:1417)8.Lament for a Stricken People (8:189:6)9.Gods Justification for the Coming Punishment (9:716)10.A Lament over Jerusalems Destruction (9:1722)11.The Only Basis for Boasting (9:2324)12.The Worthlessness of Circumcision (9:2526)13.Preparation for Exile (10:125)1.The Foolishness of Idolatry (10:116)2.Announcement of Exile (10:1722)3.Jeremiahs Prayer (10:2325)V.The Broken Covenant and Jeremiahs Complaints (11:115:21)1.The Broken Covenant (11:18)2.Inescapable Punishment of the Covenant Breakers (11:913)3.Jeremiah Forbidden to Pray for the People (11:1417)4.A Plot against Jeremiahs Life (11:1812:6)1.The Plot Revealed to Jeremiah (11:1820)2.Gods Assurance of Punishment of the Conspirators (11:2123)3.A Question about the Prosperity of Wicked People (12:16)[Seite 38] 5.Gods Rejection of His Inheritance (12:713)6.A Conditional Promise for Israels Neighbors (12:1417)7.A Corrupt People and Their Punishment (13:127)1.The Ruined Linen Garment (13:111)2.The Smashed Wineskins (13:1214)3.The Threat of Captivity (13:1519)4.The Humiliation of an Unclean People (13:2027)8.Catastrophes That Cannot Be Averted (14:115:9)1.A Severe Drought (14:16)2.A Presumptuous Plea for Mercy (14:79)3.The Lords Rejection of the Plea (14:1012)4.Judgment on False Prophets (14:1316)5.Jeremiahs Lament and Supplication (14:1722)6.The Futility of Intercession (15:14)7.The End of Gods Pity (15:59)9.Jeremiahs Complaint and Gods Rebuke (15:1021)1.The Prophets Accusation against God (15:1018)2.Gods Rebuke of the Prophet (15:1921)VI.Warnings, Exhortations, and a Prophets Despair (16:120:18)1.Threats and Promises (16:121)1.Jeremiah Forbidden to Marry (16:14)2.Jeremiah Forbidden to Mourn or Feast (16:59)3.Explanation of Judahs Coming Punishment (16:1013)4.Promise of Restoration to the Land (16:1415)5.Futility of Hiding from God (16:1618)6.Ultimate Acknowledgment of God by the Nations (16:1921)2.Further Warnings and Exhortations (17:127)1.Judahs Indelible Sin (17:14)2.A Choice of Cursing or Blessing (17:58)3.The Desperate Condition of the Human Heart (17:913)4.Jeremiahs Appeal for Vindication (17:1418)5.Warnings about Sabbath Observance (17:1927)3.Jeremiahs Visit to the Potter (18:123)1.The Message of the Potter (18:112)2.Punishment of a Forgetful People (18:1317)3.A Plot against Jeremiah (18:1823)4.Lessons from a Broken Clay Jar (19:115)1.Assembling at the Valley of Ben Hinnom (19:19)2.The Broken Jar and Its Symbolic Meaning (19:1015)5.Jeremiahs Humiliation and Despair (20:118)1.Pashhurs Punishment of Jeremiah (20:16)2.Jeremiahs Struggle with His Call (20:710)3.Jeremiahs Prayer for Vengeance (20:1113)[Seite 39] 4.A Curse on the Day of His Birth (20:1418)VII.Messages to Judah and the Nations (21:125:38)1.Messages against the Kings of Judah (21:122:30)1.Jeremiahs Reply to Zedekiahs Inquiry (21:110)2.A Warning to the House of David (21:1112)3.A Warning to a Complacent City (21:1314)4.A Message for the King and the City (22:19)5.A Message of Judgment on Shallum (22:1012)6.A Message of Judgment on Jehoiakim (22:1319)7.The Consequences of Jerusalems Disobedience (22:2023)8.The Fate of Coniah (Jehoiachin) (22:2430)2.Promise of a Better Day (23:18)1.Wicked Shepherds and Their Fate (23:14)2.Announcement of a Coming Righteous King (23:56)3.Return of a Banished People (23:78)3.Messages against False Prophets (23:940)1.Condemnation of Godless Prophets and Priests (23:912)2.Evil Prophets of Samaria and Jerusalem (23:1315)3.Rejection of Unauthorized Prophets (23:1622)4.A Declaration of Gods Greatness (23:2324)5.Rejection of Lying Prophets (23:2532)6.The Burden of the Lord (23:3340)4.Two Baskets of Figs (24:110)1.Description of the Figs (24:13)2.Meaning of the Good Figs (24:47)3.Meaning of the Bad Figs (24:810)5.Gods Wrath against Judah and Other Nations (25:138)1.Judahs Refusal to Listen to the Prophets (25:17)2.Seventy Years of Punishment (25:814)3.The Cup of Gods Wrath (25:1529)4.Gods Coming Judgment on All Nations (25:3038)VIII.Jeremiahs Controversy with the False Prophets (26:129:32)1.The Temple Sermon and Its Consequences (26:124)1.Summary of the Sermon (26:16)2.Arrest and Trial of Jeremiah (26:719)3.Arrest and Slaying of Uriah the Prophet (26:2023)4.The Release of Jeremiah (26:24)2.Jeremiahs Symbolic Yoke (27:122)1.Warning to the Nations to Serve Nebuchadnezzar (27:111)2.Warning to King Zedekiah to Serve Nebuchadnezzar (27:1215)3.Warning to the Priests and All the People (27:1622)3.Conflict between Jeremiah and Hananiah (28:117)1.Hananiahs False Prophecy (28:14)[Seite 40] 2.Jeremiahs Response to Hananiah (28:59)3.Hananiahs Symbolic Act (28:1011)4.Jeremiahs Denunciation of Hananiah (28:1217)4.Jeremiahs Letter to the Exiles (29:132)1.Sending of the Letter (29:13)2.A Warning against the False Prophets (29:423)3.Jeremiahs Response to Shemaiahs Letter (29:2428)4.A Message to the Exiles about Shemaiah (29:2932)IX.Messages of Hope for Restoration (30:133:26)1.Promises of Restoration (30:124)1.Introduction to the Messages (30:13)2.Promise of Restoration for Jacob (30:411)3.Promise of Healing for an Incurable Wound (30:1217)4.Promise of Restoration of the Fortunes of Jacob (30:1822)5.The Fierce Anger of the Lord (30:2324)2.The New Covenant (31:140)1.The Rebuilding of Israel (31:16)2.Return of the Scattered People (31:714)3.The End of Rachels Weeping for Her Children (31:1522)4.Description of Future Blessing (31:2328)5.Repudiation of a Popular Saying (31:2930)6.Announcement of a New Covenant (31:3134)7.Gods Assurance of Israels Eternal Duration (31:3537)8.Gods Promise That Jerusalem Would Be Rebuilt (31:3840)3.Jeremiahs Purchase of a Field in Anathoth (32:144)1.Jeremiahs Confinement During the Siege of Jerusalem (32:15)2.Jeremiahs Purchase of a Field from a Cousin (32:615)3.Jeremiahs Prayer (32:1625)4.Gods Response to the Prayer (32:2644)4.Promise of Restoration (33:126)1.The Rebuilding of Judah and Jerusalem (33:19)2.The Restoration of Joy and Thanks (33:1011)3.The Restoration of Pastures and Flocks (33:1213)4.Restoration of the Davidic Dynasty and the Levitical Priesthood (33:1426)X.Events and Messages from 605 B.C. to the Fall of Jerusalem (34:139:18)1.A Warning to Zedekiah of His Fate (34:17)2.Treacherous Dealings with the Slaves (34:822)1.A Broken Promise of Freedom for the Slaves (34:811)2.Gods Denunciation of the Broken Promise (34:1216)3.Punishment for Not Freeing the Slaves (34:1722)3.Jeremiah and the Recabites (35:119)[Seite 41] 1.Jeremiahs Test of the Recabites Loyalty (35:15)2.Refusal to Break Jonadabs Vow (35:611)3.The Lesson for Judah (35:1217)4.Commendation of the Recabites (35:1819)4.Jehoiakims Reaction to Jeremiahs Written Messages (36:132)1.The Command to Write the Messages on a Scroll (36:13)2.Baruch Commanded to Write the Scroll (36:47)3.Public Reading of the Scroll at the Temple (36:810)4.Reading of the Scroll before the Officials (36:1119)5.Reading of the Scroll to the King (36:2026)6.Rewriting of the Destroyed Scroll (36:2732)5.Jeremiahs Arrest and Imprisonment (37:121)1.The Kings Request for Prayer (37:15)2.Jeremiahs Reply to the King (37:610)3.Jeremiahs Arrest (37:1115)4.Jeremiahs Secret Interview with the King (37:1621)6.Jeremiahs Confinement in a Cistern (38:128)1.The Demand for Jeremiahs Punishment (38:16)2.Jeremiahs Rescue from the Cistern (38:713)3.Another Secret Interview with Zedekiah (38:1426)4.The Officials Questioning of Jeremiah (38:2728)7.The Fall of Jerusalem to the Babylonians (39:118)1.The Capture of the City (39:13)2.Zedekiahs Flight and Capture (39:47)3.Destruction of the City (39:810)4.The Release of Jeremiah (39:1114)5.Promise of Deliverance for Ebed-Melech (39:1518)XI.Events after the Fall of Jerusalem (40:145:5)1.Release of Jeremiah (40:16)2.The Governorship of Gedaliah (40:741:18)1.The Peoples Response to Gedaliahs Appointment (40:712)2.A Warning to Gedaliah of an Assassination Plot (40:1316)3.The Assassination of Gedaliah (41:13)4.Other Violent Acts by Ishmael (41:410)5.Rescue of Ishmaels Captives (41:1118)3.The Flight to Egypt (42:143:7)1.A Request for Jeremiahs Advice (42:16)2.Jeremiahs Advice to the People (42:722)3.Rejection of Jeremiahs Advice (43:13)4.The Journey to Egypt (43:47)4.Jeremiahs Messages in Egypt (43:844:30)1.A Symbolic Announcement of Egypts Fate (43:813)2.Condemnation of Idolatry in Egypt (44:114)[Seite 42] 3.Allegiance to the Queen of Heaven (44:1519)4.Condemnation of the Peoples Decision (44:2028)5.A Sign of Punishment (44:2930)5.A Message to Baruch (45:15)1.Baruchs Complaint (45:13)2.The Lords Assurance (45:45)XII.Messages concerning Foreign Nations (46:151:64)1.Introduction to the Messages (46:1)2.Egypt (46:228)1.The Defeat of Egypts Army (46:212)2.Egypts Coming Conquest by Nebuchadnezzar (46:1324)3.A Word of Hope to Egypt (46:2526)4.Words of Assurance to Israel (46:2728)3.Philistia (47:17)4.Moab (48:147)1.The Destruction of Moab (48:110)2.The Humbling of a Complacent Nation (48:1117)3.Judgment on Moabs Cities (48:1825)4.The Futility of Moabs Insolence (48:2630)5.A Lament for Moab (48:3139)6.Moabs Punishment and Restoration (48:4047)5.Ammon (49:16)6.Edom (49:722)7.Damascus (49:2327)8.Kedar and Hazor (49:2833)9.Elam (49:3439)10.Babylon (50:151:64)1.Announcement of Babylons Doom (50:110)2.Explanation for Its Punishment (50:1117)3.The Restoration of Israel (50:1820)4.Gods Wrath against Babylon (50:2132)5.The Desolation of Babylon (50:3340)6.Babylons Helplessness (50:4146)7.The Lords Vengeance on Babylon (51:114)8.A Hymn of Praise to the Lord (51:1519)9.Gods Power against Enemies (51:2026)10.Nations Summoned against Babylon (51:2732)11.A Call for Retribution (51:3335)12.Further Description of Babylons Fall (51:3644)13.An Appeal to Flee from Babylon (51:4548)14.Another Warning of Babylons Coming Destruction (51:4958)15.Seraiahs Symbolic Act against Babylon (51:5964)[Seite 43] XIII.A Summary of Events from 597 to 561 B.C. (52:134)1.The Rule of King Zedekiah (52:111)2.The Destruction of Jerusalem (52:1227)3.Three Deportations to Babylon (52:2830)4.Release of Jehoiachin from Prison (52:3134)[Seite 44]

[Seite 47] SECTION OUTLINEI.INTRODUCTION (1:13)I. INTRODUCTION (1:13)1The words of Jeremiah son of Hilkiah, one of the priests at Anathoth in the territory of Benjamin. 2The word of the Lord came to him in the thirteenth year of the reign of Josiah son of Amon king of Judah, 3and through the reign of Jehoiakim son of Josiah king of Judah, down to the fifth month of the eleventh year of Zedekiah son of Josiah king of Judah, when the people of Jerusalem went into exile.Verses 13 serve as an introduction to the entire Book of Jeremiah.[footnoteRef:68]1 They give some information about Jeremiah and the names of the kings who ruled Judah during his ministry. Textual scholars are divided in their analysis of chap. 1. Some believe vv. 13 were added as an introduction to the entire book by a later redactor. Some believe the visions of vv. 1116 occurred at a later time and that vv. 1516 were an expanded addition to vv. 1314. Others believe vv. 1719 were added at a later time in Jeremiahs career or even by a later editor.[footnoteRef:69]2 No firm evidence has yet been presented that would confirm that the chapter was originally composed of diverse literary units. It can just as easily be read as a unified, coherent account of Jeremiahs call and as Jeremiahs own introduction to the scroll dictated to Baruch in 605 B.C.[footnoteRef:70]3 [68: 1 For similar introductions see Isa 1:1; Hos 1:1; Amos 1:1; Mic 1:1. Verse 1 of the LXX begins, The word of God which came to Jeremiah, an intentional focus on the true source of the words of Jeremiah.] [69: 2 W. McKane (A Critical and Exegetical Commentary on Jeremiah, vol. 1, Introduction and Commentary on Jeremiah I-XXV, ICC [Edinburgh: T & T Clark, 1986], 25) says, The chapter was not put together by Jeremiah and not very much in it is attributable to him.] [70: 3 W. Rudolph (Jeremia, HAT 12 [Tbingen: Mohr-Siebeck, 1947], 910) sees the unifying hand of Jeremiah in chap. 1.]

1:1 Jeremiah[footnoteRef:71]4 was the son of Hilkiah, not the Hilkiah who discovered the book of the law in the temple in 622 B.C. (2 Kgs 22:8) but a priest who lived in Anathoth. Anathoth was located about three miles northeast of Jerusalem in the tribal division of Benjamin (Josh 21:1718). The nearby modern village of Anata preserves the ancient name. Abiathar was banished to Anathoth by Solomon ca. 962 for supporting Adonijahs attempt to make[Seite 48] himself king (1 Kgs 1:7; 2:2627). Jeremiah may have been a descendant of Abiathar. If so, he could claim descent from the house of Eli, the priestly family in charge of the ark of the covenant when it was located at Shiloh (cf. 1 Sam 1:3; 14:3; 1 Kgs 2:27). Jeremiah used the fate of Shiloh as a warning to Jerusalem (7:14; 26:6). Scholars are uncertain whether Jeremiah ever functioned as a priest even though he was of priestly lineage. He was frequently critical of them (e.g., 1:18; 2:8; 6:13; 13:13; 23:11). [71: 4 Nine other men bear this name in the OT (2 Kgs 23:31; 1 Chr 5:24; 12:4, 10, 13; Neh 10:2; 12:1, 34; Jer 35:3). The name is also found on three inscribed Hebrew seals and in Lachish Letter 1 (W. L. Holladay, Jeremiah 1, Her [Philadelphia: Fortress, 1986], 15).]

1:23 The book affirms repeatedly that the messages of Jeremiah were not his own creation but were the Lords words. In Hebrew the word of the Lord came to (lit. was or happen) occurs 123 times in the OT and suggests self-existent power that manifests itself and is able to transform what it touches (Isa 55:11).Jeremiahs prophetic career began in the thirteenth year of the reign of Josiah, which would have been 627 B.C. Some scholars argue this date was the year of Jeremiahs birth.[footnoteRef:72]5 However, this would be an uncommon use of the expression the word of the Lord came.[footnoteRef:73]6 Furthermore, this understanding confuses the events of the coming word in vv. 24 with that of the Lords forming in v. 5. The latter verse only says God set him apart before birth. Therefore Jeremiah was a young man (v. 6), probably under twenty years of age, and unmarried (16:2) when called. He was born around 650645 during the rule of the wicked King Manasseh (2 Kgs 21:118) and continued to labor for an undetermined period beyond the fall of Jerusalem (40:144:30; see Introduction). [72: 5 See the arguments in Holladay, Jeremiah: A Fresh Reading (New York: Pilgrim, 1990), 915; idem, Jeremiah 2, Her (Philadelphia: Fortress, 1989), 2526; J. P. Hyatt, Introduction and Exegesis, Jeremiah, in IB, 5:779; C. F. Whitley, The Date of Jeremiahs Call, VT 14 (1964): 46783. For a critique see McKane, Jeremiah 1, 35. D. R. Jones, Jeremiah, NCBC (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1992), 62, refers to the view as unverified speculation. Though no messages in the book can be certainly dated to Josiahs reign, cf. 25:3; 2 Chr 35:25.] [73: 6 Cf. v. 4; 28:12; 33:1; 36:27; 39:15; 42:7; 43:8; Ezek 1:3; Hag 1:1; Zech 1:1; 1 Kgs 13:20; 18:1; 2 Kgs 20:4.]

How many today could continue faithfully proclaiming Gods word for forty years in spite of total rejection, ridicule, and threats? Yet the NT leads us to expect such response from a self-seeking, self-sufficient, secular society (Matt 24:9; John 15:1821; 17:14). The secret of Jeremiahs steadfastness lies in the statement, The word of the Lord came to him (cf. 15:16; 20:9; 2 Cor 4).Jeremiah would have been considered a failure by todays standards of success, but in Gods evaluation he was an outstanding success. Why? Because God judges us by a different standard from the worlds criteria for success. If we are obedient to his commands for us, then we will receive his commendation (Matt 25:21). Jeremiah was a success because he faithfully proclaimed the word of the Lord.[Seite 49] SECTION OUTLINEII.THE CALL AND VISIONS OF JEREMIAH (1:419)1.The Call of Jeremiah (1:410)2.Vision of the Branch of an Almond Tree (1:1112)3.Vision of a Boiling Pot (1:1316)4.A Divine Challenge and Promise (1:1719)II. THE CALL AND VISIONS OF JEREMIAH (1:419)This section is divided into three units by the repetition of the word of the Lord came in vv. 4, 11, 13. It describes the call itself and the two visions. Whether the visions occurred at the same time as the call, they are recounted in the same pattern of word of the Lord came . . . I said . . . the Lord said. God has a person for every task he wants accomplished. The person comes to understand that task through what is referred to as a call experience. A comparative study of the prophetic calls reveals that although they were different, each created an irresistible constraint on the prophets life.[footnoteRef:74]7 In spite of indifference, physical abuse, or rejection, each was driven to proclaim the messages he received from God. What God appoints and initiates God enables (Phil 2:13; 4:13).[footnoteRef:75]8 [74: 7 The calls of Moses (Exod 3:14:17), Samuel (1 Sam 3:121), Isaiah (Isa 6:113), Jeremiah (Jer 1:19), and Ezekiel (Ezek 1:13:15) are described in detail. The calls of Elisha (1 Kgs 19:1921), Jonah (Jonah 1:12), Amos (Amos 7:1415), and Hosea (Hos 1:2) are described more briefly. In the case of other OT prophets we are told nothing. The prophets came from different backgrounds and were called in different ways. H. G. Reventlow (Liturgie und prophetisches Ich bei Jeremia [Gtersloh: Gtersloher Verlaghaus Gerd Mohn, 1963], 2477) interprets Jeremiahs entire call narrative as an ordination formula that could be used in a liturgical setting between a worshiper and a cultic official speaking in the name of the Lord. W. McKane (A Critical and Exegetical Commentary on Jeremiah, vol. 1, Introduction and Commentary on Jeremiah I-XXV, ICC [Edinburgh: T & T Clark, 1986], 14) concludes that the call narrative does not come from the historical Jeremiah but is a later estimate of him. This unnecessarily skeptical view of the historicity of events in the Book of Jeremiah is shared by other scholars (e.g., R. P. Carroll, Jeremiah, OTL [Philadelphia: Westminster, 1986]).] [75: 8 M. H. Woudstra, A Prophet to the Nations: Reflections on Jeremiahs Call to the Prophetic Office, VR 18 (1972): 113.]

1. The Call of Jeremiah (1:410)4The word of the Lord came to me, saying,5Before I formed you in the womb I knew you,[Seite 50] before you were born I set you apart;I appointed you as a prophet to the nations.6Ah, Sovereign Lord, I said, I do not know how to speak; I am only a child.7But the Lord said to me, Do not say, I am only a child. You must go to everyone I send you to and say whatever I command you. 8Do not be afraid of them, for I am with you and will rescue you, declares the Lord.9Then the Lord reached out his hand and touched my mouth and said to me, Now, I have put my words in your mouth. 10See, today I appoint you over nations and kingdoms to uproot and tear down, to destroy and overthrow, to build and to plant.1:45 The experience that changed Jeremiahs life is described in 1:410. He later questioned many difficult and painful experiences, but he never doubted the authenticity of his call. It often kept him going when he was ready to renounce his ministry (20:9). Gods call to Jeremiah is contained in vv. 45. The rest of the book is a collection of messages and experiences over the next forty years. It is not necessary to assume that Jeremiah heard an audible voice, but the message was unmistakable. God had set him apart to be a prophet.The Hebrew verb translated formed (yr) is the same word found in Gen 2:7 and is related to the word for potter (Jer 18:24). Like a composer constructing the instrument on which music will be played, God created Jeremiah as a spokesman for the word of the Lord.[footnoteRef:76]9 The meaning for the Hebrew word knew (yd) ranges from factual knowledge (Gen 27:2) to carnal knowledge (Gen 19:8; Judg 21:11). Here it involves choosing a relationship (Gen 18:19; Deut 34:10). The Lord was thinking about Jeremiah before he was born.[footnoteRef:77]10 At that time God had already designated Jeremiah to be a prophet.[footnoteRef:78]11 [76: 9 D. Kidner, The Message of Jeremiah (Leicester: Inter-Varsity, 1987), 2325.] [77: 10 On the treaty background of , see H. Huffmon, The Treaty Background of Hebrew yada, BASOR 181 (1966): 13177. On Gods foreknowledge, see Judg 13:35; Ps 139:4, 16; Isa 49: