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

Good Figs Gone for Export (24:1-10) 223

which is an independent collection still intact; 2) a pair of prose groupings sub-

sequently broken up to form the present sequence: "The Jehoiakim Cluster"

(25-26, 35-36) and "The Zedekiah Cluster" (24, 27-29); and 3) a single prose

narrative (34), which has been inserted next to chap. 35 for polemical reasons.

Some scholars (Bright; Boadt; Carroll; Rofe 1989: 393-95; Jones; Parke-Taylor

2000: 297) view chap. 24 as a conclusion, which it is not. Form, content, and

location all point to its being a beginning. Like chap. 1 opening the Jeremiah

book, in which one finds the almond branch and boiling pot visions (1: 11-14),

the present chapter with its vision of fig baskets (24: 1-4) defines Judah's destiny

after the humiliating events of 597 B.C., simultaneously marking Jeremiah's re-

turn to ministry after a forced retirement. These two chapters, 1 and 24, are the

only chapters of their kind in the book. Both contain vision reports in which

Yahweh is in dialogue with the prophet, and the visions in both issue forth in

divine oracles.

Chapter 24 anticipates some of the most important themes preached by Jere-

miah before and after the fall of Jerusalem: a return from Babylon and rebuild-

ing in the land; a new covenant; and judgment on those seeking refuge in

Egypt. So far as placement is concerned, chap. 24 is not connected to the King

and Prophet Appendix (Rudolph), nor does it form an inclusio with chap. 1

(pace Rafe 1989: 393-94). As Rafe himself recognizes, the flaw in his view is

that it does not sufficiently account for the similar dates in 24: 1 and 29:2,

which point to a continuity between these chapters. Chapter 24 is then a be-

ginning chapter that belongs with chaps. 27-29. Jerome began Book V of his

commentary with chap. 24, and Mowinckel (1914: 5) too, made a major break

between chaps. 23 and 24. For an explanation of how chaps. 24-36 may have

achieved their present sequence, see "Excursus III: The Composition of Jere-

miah 24-36," atthe end of 25:1-14 below. S, 'lfJ f.

The present chapter at an earlier time was the firsf of four Zedekiah prose

narratives arranged in a chiasmus. The chiasmus was made primarily from

opening statements about date, which doubled as "catchlines" linking the nar-

ratives (Lundbom 1975: 109-11[== 1997: 143-45]):

A Chap. 24-after the exile of Jeconiah

B Chap. 27 -beginning of Zedekiah's reign [4th year]"

B' Chap. 28-beginning of Zedekiah's reign (4th year)

A' Chap. 29-after the exile of Jeconiah

One notes in addition that common subject matter fills the middle chapters:

preaching and symbolic action advocating subservience to the king of Baby-

lon. The outer chapters, 24 and 29, also have thematic continuity, dividing as

they do the Judahite community into good and bad remnants. Matching this

"Zedekiah Cluster" (24, 27-29) is another four-chapter "Jehoiakim Cluster"

"MT's "Jehoiakim" is changed to "Zedekiah," and the fourth year is derived from the super-
scription in 28:1, which reads, "in that same year" (see Notes).