Indictment of Judah and the Nations (25:1-38) 245
for all time. Hebrew lemin-'olam we'ad-'olam. On this idiom, see Note for
7:7. Yahweh may have given Israel the land for all time, but since the Sinai
covenant is conditional in nature and contains a multitude of curses should
the people disobey (Deuteronomy 28), one wonders if the Deuteronomic
wording, "that you may live long in the land" (weha>araktem yamfm ba>are?),
would not have been a better and more realistic articulation of the divine
promise (cf. Deut 5: 3 3 ).
- Do not go after other gods to sen;e them and to worship them, and do not
provoke me to anger with the work of your hands, and I will do you no hurt. This
could be preaching out of Deuteronomy, but it is followed immediately with
an indictment on the people for breaking the first and second commandments
(cf. Exod 20:3-4; Deut 5:7-8), which makes it more like early Jeremiah reform
preaching. See also 35:15.
the work of your hands. Hebrew ma'aseh yedekem. The LXX, T, and Vg have
"works" plural; T and Vg have a plural also in vv 7 and 14. This stereotypical
phrase has generally positive meaning in Deuteronomy (Deut 2:7; 14:29;
16:15; 24:19), although there and elsewhere it can refer disparagingly to idols
(Deut 4:28; 31:29; Jer 1:16; 25:6, 7; 32:30; 44:8; cf. 2 Kgs 22:17). See further
Note for 1:16.
And I will do you no hurt. Hebrew welc/ >ara' lakem, where ra' can also be
translated "evil." The LXX has tau kakosai hymas ("to do you evil/hurt"), which
is MT's reading at the end of v 7. The T: "and I will not do evil to you."
- oracle of Yahweh-so as to provoke me to anger with the work of your hands,
to your own hurt. The LXX once again omits, and many (Schwally 1888: 180;
Giesebrecht; Cornill; Peake; Volz; Rudolph; Weiser; Tov 1985: 233) take the
words as an MT plus. If the Hebrew Vorlage to the LXX lacked the messenger
formula, as it sometimes does, this omission could be due to haplography (ho-
moeoarcton: l ... l). Jeremiah states often that Yahweh becomes provoked by
people's worshiping false gods and their idols (7: 18; 8: 19; 11:17; 25:6-7; 32:29-
30; 44:3, 8), a perspective he shares with the Song of Moses (Deut 32:16, 21).
See also Huldah's oracle in 2 Kgs 22: 17.
so as to provoke me to anger. Hebrew lema'an hak'isenf (Q). Here the con-
junction lema'an ("so as to") indicates not purpose, but result. For other such
usages, see Nate on 27: 10.
to your own hurt. Hebrew Zera' lakem. An interesting rhetorical twist is that
now it is not Yahweh who will bring hurt on the people for chasing after other
gods but the people who, because of their adventurism, will bring hurt on
themselves. See also 7 :6, where the same expression occurs, and 7: 19, where
the same rhetoric is employed.
- Therefore thus said Yahweh of hosts: 'Because you have not listened to my
words.' The messenger formula in this introductory statement is not really
needed, since the oracle following has an "oracle of Yahweh" formula (v 9).
There is also somewhat of a problem in correlating "because you have not lis-
tened to my words" with the oracle following, since that oracle promises judg-
ment not only for Judah but for other nations. Rudolph says: "for die Sunde
