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

204 TRANSLATION, NOTES, AND COMMENTS

seems less rhythmic than the oracles. Nevertheless, in v 26 is this chiasmus

(Zurro 1987: 201):

... in the mind I of the prophets prophesying the lie

yes, prophets I of their deceitful mind

beleb I hannebi'fm

unebf'e I libbam

And Holladay, in his earlier analysis, found this chiasmus in v 28a:

... who has with him I a dream

but the one who has my word I with him

> aser-,itto I ~alom

wa>aser debarf I >itto

In his commentary Holladay takes vv 28-29 as poetry (BHS takes only 28b-29)

and vv 30-32 as more structured prose. He also says the entire passage is au-

thentic to Jeremiah, which it gives every indication of being (pace Duhm;

McKane). The LXX lacks the messenger formulas in vv 28b, 31, and 32, but

there is no reason why these and three other formulas in vv 28b-32 should be

regarded as secondary (pace Volz; Janzen 1973: 201 n. 76; McKane).

NOTES

23:25. I have heard what the prophets say who are prophesying a lie in my name:
'I have dreamed, I have dreamed.' Here and in the verses following, we find the
strongest polemic anywhere in the Bible against dreams and dreamers of
dreams. It is repeated more briefly in 27:9-10 and 29:8-9 against prophets,
diviners, and dreamers who are opposing Nebuchadnezzar and his newly-
emerging suzerainty in the region. Dreams, however, are generally viewed
positively in the OT, where they are often a bona fide medium of divine reve-
lation, e.g., in the so-called E document of the Pentateuch: Gen 20:3; 28: 10-
17; 31:24; 37:5-10; 40:5-11; also in Num 12:6; 1 Kgs 3:5; Joel 3:l[Eng 2:28];
and elsewhere. In Num 12:6-8, however, Yahweh's direct speech to Moses is
ranked higher than revelations given to prophets in visions and dreams.
Dreams are basically what we think them to be today: visionary experiences
while one is asleep or in an intermediary state between wakefulness and
sleep, occurring usually but not always at night or in the early hours of the
morning (Oppenheim 1956: 187, 225-26; Lindblom 1965: 84-85; Gen 28: 11-
12, 16; 1 Kgs 3:5; Isa 29:7; in the NT: Matt 1:20, 24). Dreams are well attested
in the ancient world. Extrabiblical texts in sufficient quantity contain dream
reports from Sumer (Sargon of Akkad; Gudea of Lagash); Old Babylonia
(King Ammiditana; Gilgamesh; Uta-napishtim), Mari (a native of Sakka; a
priest of the god Itur-Mer; the woman Addu-duri), the Hittites (the hunter
Keshshi; King Hattushili III; his wife; King Murshili II); Ugarit (King Keret);
Assyria (Prince Kumma; King Assurbanipal) Neo-Babylonia (King Naboni-
dus), and Egypt (Pharaohs Sesostris I, Amenophis II, Thutmosis IV, and Mar-
niptah), to name some of the better-known examples. In the Deir <Alla plaster
text from the early eighth century B.C. (I 1 ), the gods are said to have come to