Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Acknowledgments
- List of Abbreviations
- Note on Citations
- Introduction
- 1 The Hermeneutics of Citation: Jeremiah 26
- 2 The Identification of Legitimate Israel: Jeremiah 27–32:15
- EXCURSUS 1 THE REDACTION OF JEREMIAH 1–25:13+OAN
- EXCURSUS 2 THE REENGAGEMENT OF THE ROYAL LINE IN JEREMIAH 33:14–26
- 3 The Standards of Faith and Intermediation: Jeremiah 34–36
- 4 The Fall of Judah, the Descent into Egypt, and Baruch ben Neriah: Jeremiah 37–45
- EXCURSUS 3 THE “WORDS OF JEREMIAH” AND SERAIAH'S COLOPHON IN THE MT AND LXX TRADITIONS
- 5 The Polemics of Exile
- 6 The Exilic Coalition between the Shaphanides and Levites
- Conclusion
- Notes
- Bibliography
- Author Index
- Scriptural and Extra-Biblical Texts Index
- Subject Index
4 - The Fall of Judah, the Descent into Egypt, and Baruch ben Neriah: Jeremiah 37–45
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 27 July 2009
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Acknowledgments
- List of Abbreviations
- Note on Citations
- Introduction
- 1 The Hermeneutics of Citation: Jeremiah 26
- 2 The Identification of Legitimate Israel: Jeremiah 27–32:15
- EXCURSUS 1 THE REDACTION OF JEREMIAH 1–25:13+OAN
- EXCURSUS 2 THE REENGAGEMENT OF THE ROYAL LINE IN JEREMIAH 33:14–26
- 3 The Standards of Faith and Intermediation: Jeremiah 34–36
- 4 The Fall of Judah, the Descent into Egypt, and Baruch ben Neriah: Jeremiah 37–45
- EXCURSUS 3 THE “WORDS OF JEREMIAH” AND SERAIAH'S COLOPHON IN THE MT AND LXX TRADITIONS
- 5 The Polemics of Exile
- 6 The Exilic Coalition between the Shaphanides and Levites
- Conclusion
- Notes
- Bibliography
- Author Index
- Scriptural and Extra-Biblical Texts Index
- Subject Index
Summary
while jeremiah 26–36 constitute a compilation of diverse mate-rial, Jeremiah 37–44 are almost exclusively narrative in nature (though oracles have been incorporated into these narratives). This has led a number of scholars to argue that they derive from a different compositional circle or author than Jeremiah 26–36, but in addition to the elements already discussed, several considerations weigh in against this conclusion. Like the earlier literary unit, this second unit provides an historical background for a number of Jeremiah's oracles (poetry and prose) contained in Jeremiah 1–25. We also encounter indications throughout Jeremiah 37–44 of the fissure between the royal officers (scribes and otherwise) that surfaced in Jeremiah 26–36, with the prophet clearly identified as an ally to some and an enemy to others, contributing to the sense of political and sociological chaos in the twilight years of Judah. This not only would have lent immediacy and authenticity to the narrative for an exilic audience that had experienced a devastating break in the continuity of their own lives via the exile, but it also developed issues that were already present in Jeremiah 1–25, with the prophet's critique of the infallibility of the Davidic dynasty finding fruition in the depiction of the reign of the last king to rule from Jerusalem (this same element surfaces in Jeremiah 34–36, as observed earlier).
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- The Polemics of Exile in Jeremiah 26-45 , pp. 113 - 141Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2007