296 TRANSLATION, NOTES, AND COMMENTS
(Josh 2:19; 2 Sam 1:16; 1 Kgs 2:37; cf. Matt 27:25). The elders and others
present could be found opposing God! (cf. Acts 5:39).
- Also, a man was prophesying mightily in the name of Yahweh-Uriah son
of Shemaiah from Kiriath-jearim. A contemporary of Jeremiah is here cited by
the narrator because he too prophesied against Jerusalem in Yahweh's name
but suffered a worse fate than the fates of Micah and Jeremiah. Uriah must
have been a presence to be reckoned with, for it says he "prophesied mightily"
(mitnabbe') in Yahweh's name. The verb nb' in the Hithpael means "prophesy
with zeal," although elsewhere in the book it has the negative meaning of "rave
on as a prophet" (see Note for 14:14). Torczyner (1938: 62-73) in translating
and interpreting the Lachish Letters argued that "the prophet" referred to in
one of the letters (3:20) was Uriah of Kiriath-jearim. But his view was rejected
almost immediately (Albright 1936: 11; 1938: 15; Hempel 1938: 127), one rea-
son being that Torczyner dated the letters to Jehoiakim's reign. When they
were shown later to date to Zedekiah's time (Ginsberg; cf. Albright 1936: 11 ),
Torczyner argued that the king here in chap. 26 was not Jehoiakim, as the text
clearly states, but Zedekiah (Ginsberg 1940: 11). The connection to Uriah was
contrived, and any identification of this prophet with Uriah is now considered
out of the question (D. W. Thomas l 946a; l 946b; 1961 ). For an English trans-
lation of the Lachish Letters, see ANET^3 321-22.
Uriah son of Shemaiah. These names were common in Judah at the time,
both showing up on the Arad ostraca: "Uriah" on 26: 1 and 31:2, and Shema-
iah on 27:2; 31:5; 39:2, 7-8 (Aharoni 1981). "Uriah" has also appeared on the
"Ophel Ostracon," a Khirbet el-Qom tomb inscription, and numerous seals.
The name "Shemaiah," which is borne by other individuals in the book of
Jeremiah (29:24; 36:12), has turned up on the Lachish ostraca, the Wadi Mu-
rabba<at Papyrus, and other contemporary seals and bullae (see Appendix I
on "Uriah ben Shemaiah").
Kiriath-jearim. A border city in Judah on the western boundary of Benjamin
(Josh 15:9; 18: 14, 28), first identified with Kuryet el-'Enab (Abu Ghosh) by Ed-
ward Robinson in 1838 (E. Robinson 1874 II: 11), but now thought to lie on a
commanding hill just to the west, Tell el-Achar (Deir el-Azhar), which is about
13 kilometers west-northwest of Jerusalem on the ancient road to Joppa (Vin-
cent 1907: 417; F. T. Cooke 1923-24;ABD 4: 84-85).
against this city and. The LXX omits, which is probably another loss due to
haplography (whole-word: 'l ... 'l). Janzen ( 1973: 119) agrees here about the
haplography. ·
- And King Jehoiakim heard his words, also all his officers and all the
princes, and the king sought to put him to death. King Jehoiakim, who remains
entirely in the background when Jeremiah is put on trial, is here the one want-
ing action against a troublesome prophet and troublesome prophecy. The
princes and officers in the royal house heard Uriah's prophecy, but only the
king sought to kill him. The LXX omits "also all his officers," which may again
be due to haplography (whole-word: wkl ... wkl). So also Janzen 1973: 119.
The "officers" (gibb6rfm, lit., "mighty men") are here military men ( 46:9;
