102 TRANSLATION, NOTES, AND COMMENTS
and I will gather them together into the midst of this city. I.e., the Chaldeans
(Kim}:ii; Volz), not the weapons of war (pace Rashi; Rudolph), and not the de-
fenders of Jerusalem (pace Cheyne; Duhm; Peake). The view that Jerusalem's
defenders are at this early stage engaging the enemy outside the walls of Jeru-
salem, after which they will be driven inside, is traceable to T, which has "I
will gather you [i.e., the defenders of Jerusalem] together into this city." But
the Babylonians have already begun their siege, which means they are outside
the wall and the defenders all inside. Calvin has it right: the Chaldeans are
fighting outside the city, and Yahweh will (later, after a breach is made) bring
them inside, at which time they will occupy the heart of the city. This is how
it happened (39:1-3).
and I will gather them together. Lacking in the LXX, but present in Symm
(kai sunaxo autous). The words bring the thought to completion and should be
retained.
- And I myself will fight against you with outstretched hand and with strong
arm. The pronoun >anf ("I") is emphatic: It is Yahweh himself who is taking up
the fight against his covenant people, precisely the opposite of what Zedekiah
wished for. Lam 2:5 states: "The Lord became like an enemy." Even without
the precise wording of 22: 7, the language here is nevertheless that of holy war
(de Vaux l 956b: 264-65; Moran l 963a: 338). De Vaux points out that holy war
traditions have their clearest and most complete expression in Deuteronomy,
which he finds remarkable, since at the time, Israel's military triumphs were in
the distant past. In the later years of nationhood, wars were less clearly religious
in character, making Yahweh's statement here that he is fighting against Judah
a sharp and unexpected reversal of ancient holy war ideology. On "holy war" in
ancient Israel, see de Vaux 1956b: 258-67.
with outstretched hand and with strong arm. Hebrew beyad netuya ubizroa
<~azaqa. This reversal of holy war ideology deeply penetrates the prophet's lan-
guage, with the present phrase inverting the usual "(with) strong hand and
(with) outstretched arm" cliche, signifying judgment here, not deliverance. In
Deuteronomy, the standard cliche celebrates Yahweh's miraculous deliver-
ance in the Exodus (Deut 4:34; 5:15; 7:19; 11:2; 26:8; cf. S. R. Driver 1902:
lxxix, #12; Weinfeld 1972b: 329, #14), a sense in which Jeremiah also uses it
(32:21). But "I will stretch out my hand" is a Jeremianic expression for divine
judgment (6:12; 15:6), which may account for the reversal. The image of a
flexed arm wielding the sword is well known from Egyptian literature, occur-
ing in the Tell el-Amarna Letters (EA 286, 12; 287, 27; 288, 14, 34; cf. ANET^3
487-89) and elsewhere. Rameses II is referred to as the "strong armed," the one
"whose hand is outstretched" (Gaballa 1969). Pharaoh Apries (Hophra) took
on the titulary name "possessed of a muscular arm"; and his father, Psammeti-
chus II, gave himself the epithet "Mighty-armed" (Freedy and Redford 1970:
482-83; cf. Ezek 30:21-22).
yes, in anger and in wrath and in great fury. Hebrew ube>ap ube~ema
ubeqe$ep gadol. Another cliche, occuring also in 32:37 and in Deut 29:27[Eng
29:28]. More common in Jeremiah is simply "(my) anger and (my) wrath"
