Jeremiah Meets Hananiah (28:1-17) 327of sources (vv 6-9 and 15-17 must be disengaged from the prophet Jeremiah)
that in the end leaves us with a narrative scarcely more reliable than Carroll's
"story." Once again, McKane finds ambiguities and discontinuities where
there are none. There is no problem here with predictive prophecy, as in
chap. 27. Duhm says that Jeremiah really did predict Hananiah's death and
that Hananiah really did die.
Problems of text are much the same as in chap. 27, although here not so nu-
merous. Older commentators, and some more recently, show a decided prefer-
ence for the shorter LXX text. There are exceptions. Giesebrecht, noting that
the other Versions often support MT, sees haplography as an explanation for
the LXX omissions in vv 3 and 15. Volz thinks the LXX in places has been
abridged. Rudolph, Weiser, and Bright sometimes read the MT and sometimes
the LXX. Cornill, Holladay (following Janzen 1973 ), and Mc Kane heavily fa-
vor the LXX. Nevertheless, we have six arguable cases for LXX haplography in
the chapter. So instead of taking the shorter LXX with greater seriousness, as
Mc Kane (p. 715) advises, what we really need to do is take the longer MT with
greater seriousness, particularly when it finds support in other Versions, a point
curiously underweighed by McKane, in light of his exegetical method that
claims to pay the Versions more attention. The Hebrew Vorlage to the LXX
doubtless had many of the omissions we now see in the LXX. This Vorlage then
did not preserve a purer and more original text but was an inferior text plagued
by haplographic and other transmissional errors.
The present narrative contains a superscription, which in spite of minor
problems (see Notes), is nevertheless fully integrated into the introduction
(v 1). The narrative contains six divine oracles (three from Hananiah, three
from Jeremiah) and reports also Jeremiah's own words to Hananiah and the
Temple audience. The number of oracles is the same as in chap. 27. With
the exception of "to me" in v 1 and Jeremiah's quoted words in vv 6-9 and 15,
the narrative is all third person.
The narrative structure contains multiple repetitions and linking terms:
A Jeremiah reports on a specific date, in that year, that Hananiah
spoke to him before a Temple audience of priests and
people (v I)
Oracle I (Hananiah) I have broken the yoke of the king of
Babylon. Withn two years' time I
will bring back to this place all the
Temple vessels brought to
Babylon (vv 2-3)
Oracle II (Hananiah) Jeconiah and exiles of Judah who
came to Babylon I will bring back
to this place ... for I will break the
yoke of the king of Babylon ( v 4)
B Narrator reports Jeremiah's reply; also Hananiah's oracle of
response (vv 5-1 la)