Jeremiah and the Yoke Bars (27:1-22) 317
likely more haplography (two-word: >Sr[> ... >Sr!'). See note in BHS. Aquila,
Theod, T, and Vg have the words.
by sword and by famine and by pestilence I will reckon with that nation ...
until I have consumed them by his hand. The language is Jeremianic; see 14: 15
and 24: 10. On the triad "by sword and by famine and by pestilence," see Note
for 5:12. The LXX lacks "and by pestilence," which it sometimes does (see
Note for 38:2). But Aq and Symm both have the term (en loimo).
I will reckon with that nation. On the verb pqd ("to reckon, pay a visit") in
Jeremiah, see Note for 5:9. The LXX omits "that nation," having simply "I will
reckon with them." Since it reads "the nation and the kingdom" at the begin-
ning of the verse, it may here be avoiding a repetition of "nation." At the same
time, consistency is maintained by employing a plural pronoun for a plural
antecedent.
until I have consumed them by his hand. T again "by his power" (cf. v 6).
Commentators are troubled here by an infinitive, tummf ("I have consumed"),
taking an object, since tmm in the Qal is usually intransitive (there is no Piel).
The LXX translates heos ekliposin ("until they are abandoned"), leading H.
Weippert (1973: 169 n. 275) to emend to tummam, "they are consumed"; cf.
24: 10. But another transitive Qal of tmm is attested in Ps 64:7[Eng 64:6], which
casts doubt on the wisdom of emending both texts, as BOB and KB^3 suggest. To
be rejected is the emendation by some to tittf, "I have given." Volz says, "(It) is
too weak, and the corruption would not be explained."
- And you, do not you listen to your prophets, and to your diviners, and to
your dreamers, and to your soothsayers, and to your sorcerers-they who are say-
ing to you: 'You shall not serve the king of Babylon.' An expanded form of the
stereotyped directive in these chapters (see Note for 23:16). Note the accumu-
latio. These are prophets and clairvoyant types not residing in Jerusalem but in
the countries represented, who are advising kings and fanning nationalistic
sentiments there.
your prophets. Hebrew nebf>ekem. These countries have optimistic prophets
like those inveighed against in 23:9-40 and elsewhere. The T has "prophets of
falsehood"; the LXX pseudopropheton ("false prophets"), which never occur:;
in the MT of Jeremiah (see Note for 6:13).
your diviners. Hebrew qosemekem. Predicters of the future, basically, who
shake arrows, cast lots, and examine livers for a fee (Ezek 21:26-27[Eng 21:2 l·-
22]; cf. Num 22:7). The divination practices of the medium of Endor, lit.,
"mistress of necromancy" (ba<cJ,lat->ob ), included calling up the dead ( 1 Sam
28:7-8). Balaam is called a "diviner" in Josh 13:22. According to the Bible,
viners were indigenous to Canaanite culture (Deut 18:9--14; 1 Sam 28:7-F ,
being present also among the Philistines (1 Sam 6:2) and the Babylonians
(Ezek 21:26-27[Eng 21:21-22]). They and their secret arts are repudiated or
forbidden outright in the OT (Deut 18:10; 1 Sam 15:23; 2 Kgs 17:17; Zech
10:2). Prophets, too, censure them in the strongest of terms, in Yahweh's name
(Mic 3:6-7, 11; Isa 3:2; 44:25). Jeremiah knows prophets who are practicing
divination in Jerusalem (Jer 14: 14) and has a harsh word also for diviners in
