184 TRANSLATION, NOTES, AND COMMENTSthey shall be pushed and fall upon it. Hebrew yidda&u as pointed is an N-stem
of d&&, although a few MSS read yidda&u from d&h, which has the same mean-
ing: "to be pushed." In Ps 35:5-6 the angel of Yahweh "pushes" (do&eh) evil-
doers on a way "dark and slippery" (&osek wa&alaqlaqqot). Yahweh himself
may be doing the pushing here; otherwise it would have been the enemy. See
also Pss 36:13[Eng 36:12]; 73:18; and Prov 14:32.
Indeed I will bring evil upon them. Hebrew kf->abz> <alehem ra<a. A Jere-
mianic expression, on which see Note for 6: 19.
in the year of their reckoning. Hebrew senat pequddatam. The phrase recurs
in 11 :23 and 48:44 and has other variations in Jeremiah (see Note for 6: 15).MESSAGE AND AUDIENCE
Jeremiah opens the present dialogue by lamenting his weakened condition be-
fore Yahweh and his holy words. His mind and all his senses have been ren-
dered incapable, and his bones shake out of control. He compares himself to a
man drunk on wine. Yahweh answers the prophet, saying he understands fully.
Indeed, the land is full of adulterers. Because of this curse the land is bone dry.
The course of these animal-like men is evil; their might is not right. Yahweh
continues the indictment, saying that even prophet and priest have become
polluted; even in his Temple their evil can be found. In a second oracle, Yah-
weh judges this adulterous population. Their way will prove to be a slippery
slope in thick darkness, on which a push will easily bring them down. Yahweh
says he will indeed bring evil upon them in the year of their reckoning.
These oracles can be dated anytime after Jehoiakim's reign begins in 609
B.C., when pagan rites have once again made entry into the Temple, and judg-
ment is still a ways off.
2. Tale of the Evil Prophets (23: 13-15)
23 13 Now in the prophets of Samaria
I have seen a foolish thing:
They prophesied away by Baal
and led my people Israel astray(^14) But in the prophets of Jerusalem
I have seen a horrible thing:
Committing adultery and walking by the lie
they even strengthened the hands of evildoers
so that no person turned from his evil
All of them have become to me like Sodom
and her inhabitants like Gomorrah.
(^15) Therefore thus said Yahweh of hosts concerning the prophets:
Look I will feed them wormwood