Speaking of Prophets (23:9-40) 217
ous, but a reduced meaning of "laymen" in v 34, is spurious exegesis and
should be rejected. The whole of v 34 restates the judgment in straight talk via
the wordplay of v 33. The T here substitutes "scribe" for "prophet;' as it does
elsewhere (see Note for 6:13).
And I will cast you off. Hebrew wenatastf. A converted perfect, as also in v 39.
The verb nts means "to cast off, abandon" (7:29; 12:7). Here Yahweh readies
himself to throw off a troublesome burden (cf. Isa 1: 14). But is not Yahweh the
God who carries his people like a long-suffering father and lifts them high on
eagle's wings (Exod 19:4; Deut 1:31; 32:11-12; Hos 11:3; Isa 46:3-4; 63:9)?
- So the prophet or the priest or the people who says, 'the burden ofYahweh,'
yes, I will reckon against that person and against his house. Here the opaque
judgment of v 3 3 is restated in plain language. This rhetoric is seen often in
Jeremiah, where transparent restatements come immediately after metaphori-
cal, hyperbolic, or ironic statements (in poetry, see the signature bicolon in
Note for 3:3). Yahweh's judgment here is in response to the abuse of a conse-
crated phrase (Cheyne). The phrase, therefore, must be taken out of service.
The oath "by Yahweh's life" was banned at an earlier time because of misuse
(see Note for 4:2, and compare Matt 5:33-37). Ezekiel censured the widely-
used "oracle of Yahweh" (ne)um yhwh) formula, although stopping short of an
outright prohibition (Ezek 13:6-7). Whenever language suffers abuse, be-
comes empty by mindless repetition, or is compromised in some other way by
people not using it properly, there is justification for banning it and replacing
it with meaningful language. That is precisely what is happening here: the
question "What is the burden of Yahweh?" is to be banned and replaced by the
questions "What has Yahweh answered?" or "What has Yahweh spoken?"
yes, I will reckon against that person and against his house. Divine judgment
comes not only to errant individuals, but to their entire house (20:6). See retri-
bution discussion in Note for 31:29.
3 5. Thus you shall say each person to his fellow and each person to his brother.
The plural tt/meril. ("you shall say") indicates that Jeremiah, now the speaker,
is addressing a multiple audience (see Rhetoric and Composition). He is tell-
ing people how to inquire from anyone they meet-not just from himself or
from other prophets-concerning revelations that have come from Yahweh.
'What has Yahweh answered?' Hebrew meh-'ana. yhwh. The verb 'nh ("to an-
swer") occurs repeatedly in the OT to denote God's response to prayers offered
by prophets as well as other individuals, also denote a divine revelation, even
when a specific request has not been made (33:3; 42:4; 1 Sam 7:9; Mic 3:7;
Hab 2:2; Malamat 1966: 212-13). In 33:3, Yahweh says, "Call to me and I will
answer you (we)e'eneka)." The verb 'nh appears in the eighth-century Zakir In-
scription (A 11; Donner and Rollig 1962-64 I: 37; #202; II: 205; ANET^3 655;
CS II 155), where King Zakir of Hamath says when ten kings, led by Ben-
hadad)II, had come up a~ainst him: "Then I lifted up (w)s)) my hand(s) to
Becel Semayin, and Becel Semayin answered me (wy'nny)." In the celebrated
contest on Mt. Carmel between Elijah and the prophets of Baal, the prophets
of Baal were first to cry out to their god: "O Baal, answer us," but no one
