Jeremiah 21-36 A New Translation with Introduction and Commentary by (Anchor Yale Bible Commentaries)

128 TRANSLATION, NOTES, AND COMMENTS

(cf. 4:8; 6:26; 25: 34; Joel 1:5-14), saying it is no part of any liturgy. But Weiser

calls it a lament. It is definitely not a judgment oracle (pace Holladay). Verses

11-12 are a judgment oracle, preceded by an expanded messenger formula

similar to the one in v 18a. This formula should include the words, "who de-

parted from this place" (pace Bright and NAB, who begin the oracle with these

words). Because of the messenger formula, vv 11-12 cannot be taken as later

comment on the lament, a view widely held among commentators and others

(Duhm; Cornill; Rudolph; Hyatt; Thiel 1973: 240-41; Carroll; Holladay;

Jones; McKane), some of whom attribute the lament to Jeremiah, and the

comment to Baruch.

The unit as a whole is demarcated at the top end by a petubah in 4QJer•

and MP and a setumah in ML and MA before v 10. Demarcation at the bottom

end is by a reconstructed petubah in 4QJerc (Tov 1997: 190) and a setumah in

MA, ML, and MP after v 12. 4QJer• lacks a section after v 12. Separating the

lament from the oracle is a reconstructed petubah in 4QJ ere (Tov 1997: 190)

and a setumah in ML and MP after v 10. 4QJer• and MA both lack the section

afterv 10.

The lament is a tricolon followed by a bicolon (BHS). Contrasting terms,

"for the dead" and "his birth," make an inclusio for the whole (Holladay).

................ for the dead v^10

..................... his birth

Compare "cursed"/"blessed," and "cursed"/"making him very glad," m

20:14-15.

The prose oracle also has an inclusio made by the following repetition:

He will not return there again ...

and this land he will not see again

lo' ... 'od

lo' ... 'od

v l lb

v 12

The oracle is linked to the lament by these key terms:

v 10 Because he will not return again

and not see the land of his birth

vv 11-12 He will not return ... again ...

and this land he will not see again

There are no catchwords connecting to poems preceding or following. On the
rhetorical structure comprising all of 22:6-23, see Rhetoric and Composition
for 22:6-9.