244 TRANSLATION, NOTES, AND COMMENTS
and I have spoken to you-constantly I spoke-but you have not listened. He-
brew wa>adabber ("and I have spoken") is a waw consecutive imperfect of the
type found in Isa 6: I ( GKC § 111 b). The verb repeated with skm ("to rise
early"), which recurs in v 4, is for emphasis (see Note on 7: 13). Here in v 3 the
form is an anomalous >askem (Q), "I rose early," instead of the usual haskem,
"rising early." Several MSS and T have haskem, leading some scholars (Duhm;
Comill; Ehrlich 1912: 307; Rudolph; Holladay) to emend. But >askem can
stand (Giesebrecht). The LXX lacks the concluding "but you have not lis-
tened" (weU? sema'tem), which can be attributed to haplography (homoeoarc-
ton: w ... w). These words should not be deleted with Schwally (1888: 179)
who imagines that the prior "I have spoken" introduces the repentance mes-
sage of v 5 (all of v 4 is taken as interpolation). Aquila, Symm, and Theod have
the words. More important, the indictment is incomplete without "but you
have not listened" (cf. 7: 13, 25-26; 11: 7-8; 29: 19; 35:14-16; 44:4-5). On the re-
curring theme of Yahweh speaking and people not hearing in the Baruch
prose, see Note for 44: 5.
- and Yahweh has repeatedly sent to you all his servants the prophets-con-
stantly he sent-but you have not listened, indeed you have not bent your ear to
listen. On Yahweh's having sent prophets without success to the covenant
people in times past, see Note for 7:25. Jeremiah cites these former prophets
(of doom) in his speech to Hananiah in 28:8.
and Yahweh has repeatedly sent. Hebrew wesala~ yhwh. The perfect consec-
utive verb carries forth repeated action in the past (GKC § l 12e). The LXX
omits "Yahweh" in the interest of keeping Yahweh as the speaker. Read the MT
(so Ehrlich 1912: 307).
to listen. Hebrew lismoa'. The LXX omission of this term can be attrib-
uted to haplography (homoeoarcton: l ... l). The word is present in Aq and
Theod.
- Return, would you, each person from his evil way and from your evil doings,
and dwell on the soil that Yahweh gave to you and to your fathers for all time.
"Return!" (silbU) is Jeremiah's recurring trumpet call (18:11; 35:15), said by
Volz to be the Kernwort of the prophet's preaching. Volz compares it with the
later preaching of John the Baptist. Prophetic preaching modifies in a signifi-
cant way the preaching of Deuteronomy, which simply admonishes people to
keep the covenant in order that they may live long in the land (Deut 5:32-33).
Jeremiah, too, preached this message (11:4-5), and in his first Temple Oracle
(7:3-7) told the people to "make good" (hetfbU) your ways and your doings,"
which is somewhere between a call to obedience and a call for conversion. In
the call to return, tenure in the land is no longer assured; in fact, people are
told that unless they change their evil behavior the land will be lost. Calvin
notes a wordplay in the Hebrew on silbU ("return") and ilsebil ("dwell"). The
LXX has "I gave" (edoka) instead of "Yahweh gave," which is consistent with its
shift to Yahweh as speaker. Yahweh's gift of the land to the fathers is a central
theme both in Deuteronomy (Deut 6: 10, 18; 8: l; 9:5; 10: 11; cf. 32:7-9) and in
Jeremiah (Jer 3:18; 7:7, 14; 11:5; 16:15; 24:10; 25:5; 30:3; 32:22; 35:15).
