Speaking of Kings (21:1-23:8) 157
other, and doing the same in a time of transition-have relevance to the present
situation, even though the seal here has metaphorical meaning. In the post-
exilic period, Zerubbabel, who was the grandson of Jehoiachin (1 Chr 3: 16-
19), was said to be chosen by Yahweh to become his signet ring (Hag 2:23; Sir
49: 11 ). For a large collection of West Semitic seals with pictures, see Avigad
- Seals and scarabs are also discussed in Tufnell, "Seals and Scarabs" in
IDB R-Z, 254-59.
I will tear you off. Hebrew 'etqenka. The verb ntq, "to tear away," points to
violent action. On the energic nun, see GKC §58i. The shift here to direct ad-
dress, present also in LXX and T, is doubtless intentional (see Rhetoric and
Composition). The Vg has evellam eum, "I will tear him off."
- And I will give you into the hand of those who seek your life. A stereotyped
expression in the Jeremiah prose (19:7; 21:7; 22:25; 34:20, 21; 38:16; 44:30;
46:26). Holladay sees irony in Yahweh's tearing Jehoiachin off his own hand
and then giving him into the hand of enemies. The fourfold repetition of "into
the hand" in the verse reinforces this irony (see Rhetoric and Composition).
and into the hand of those before whom you are in dread. The same basic ex-
pression as in 39:17. The LXX lacks "into the hand," which has the effect of
combining this phrase with the one preceding. The two should not be joined.
What we have are four separate phrases, each beginning "into the hand," em-
bellishing a single idea (see Rhetoric and Composition). The tendency with
many commentators (Giesebrecht; Cornill; Volz; Rudolph; Weiser; Bright;
Holladay; McKane) has been to take "into the hand" with the next phrase (also
lacking in the LXX) as MT expansion.
and into the hand of Nebuchadrezzar, king of Babylon. Another stereotyped
phrase in the Jeremiah prose (21:7; 22:25; 32:28; 44:30; 46:26), occurring some-
times without "Nebuchadrezzar" (20:4; 21:10; 22:25; 27:6; 29:21; 32:3, 4, 36;
34:2, 21 [expanded]; 37:17; and 38:3 [expanded]). The LXX omits the phrase,
but this can be due to haplography (whole-word: wbyd ... wbyd). Aquila and
Theod have it.
and into the hand of the Chaldeans. This stereotyped expression occurs in
22:25; 32:24, 28, 43; 38:18; and 43:3. On Chaldea and the Chaldeans, see Note
for 50: 1.
- And I will throw you and your mother who bore you to another land where
you were not born, and there you shall die. The queen mother is Nehushta (see
Note on 13:18). This prophecy was fulfilled (24:1; 29:2; 52:31-34; 2 Kgs 24:15;
25:27-30). On Nebuchadrezzar's capture of Jerusalem in 597 B.C. (including
documentation in the Babylonian Chronicle), which led to the exile of Jehoi-
achin, his wives, the queen mother, and other leading citizens to Babylon, see
Note for 29:2.
And I will throw you. Hebrew hetaltf makes for another violent image (16:13;
cf. Isa 22: 17). Yahweh will hurl as with a slingshot the young king and his
mother into a foreign land.
another land. The LXX lacks 'af:ieret ("another"), which could be more hap-
lography (homoeoarcton: 'aleph ... 'aleph), since the word is present in
