Jeremiah Meets Hananiah (28:1-17) 333
omits "all" in "all the exiles" in v 4 but otherwise retains the term, having "all
the exiles" in v 6; "all the people" in vv 1, 5, 7, 10 (not in MT), and 11; and "all
the nations" in vv 11and14. Janzen (1973: 65-67) says the particle kol ("all")
occurs over 500 times in the book of Jeremiah, and while it is difficult to know
whether a given plus or minus is original, he generally views the pluses,
whether in the LXX or MT, as secondary. But none of the zero variants dis-
cussed by Janzen is said to result from haplography. Here in chap. 28, any con-
clusion that the particle represents an MT expansion is largely conjecture.
that Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, took from this place and brought to
Babylon. Lacking in the LXX but present in T and Vg. Some commentators de-
lete with Duhm and Cornill, but the phrase is best retained (Volz, Rudolph,
Weiser, Bright). D. N. Freedman points out that if the final babel ("Babylon")
was originally babela. ("to Babylon"), which is what we would expect here (see
v 4 and eight other times in chaps. 27-29: 27:18, 20, 22; 29:1, 3, 4, 15, 20), the
loss of the entire phrase could then be attributed to haplography (homo-
eoteleuton: h ... h).
- And Jeconiah son of Jehoiakim, king of Judah, and all the exiles of Judah
who came to Babylon, I will bring back to this place. A direct contradiction of
Jeremiah's prophecy that (Je)coniah (= Jehoiachin) would die in a foreign land
(22:26-27). Calvin finds this a remarkable utterance with Zedekiah occupying
the throne, because if Jehoiachin returns, Zedekiah will be deposed. Perhaps
Zedekiah is too weak to override popular sentiment. Nebuchadnezzar's prefer-
ential treatment of Jehoiachin in exile, known from a cuneiform text roughly
contemporary (see Note for 52:34), was doubtless intended to divide people's
loyalties. That is precisely the situation here.
Jeconiah. This shortened spelling of Jehoiachin, yekonya., occurs also in
27:20 (Q) and 29:2. For other spellings of this king's name in the OT, see Note
for 22:24.
son oflehoiakim, king ofludah. The LXX omits, which may be attributed to
haplography (homoeoteleuton: h ... h). The T and Vg have the words.
who came to Babylon, I will bring back to this place-oracle of Yahweh. The
LXX omits, probably more loss due to haplography (homoeoteleuton: h ... h).
The T and Vg have the words.
- Then Jeremiah the prophet said to Hananiah the prophet. Jeremiah now
speaks directly to Hananiah; therefore, we may take Hananiah's oracles in
vv 2-4 as being directed to Jeremiah, which argues against deleting "to me"
in v l. The priests and people are onlookers, although we note in v 7 that
Jeremiah has included "all the people" in his audience. With both Jeremiah
and Hananiah given the designation "the prophet," added weight is attached
to the confrontation. Both are prophets; more than that, both are Yahweh
prophets. There is also irony in the assumed parity (Bright). The LXX omits
both occurrences of "the prophet," which is a more impoverished reading.
in the presence of the priests and in the presence of all the people who were
standing in the house of Yahweh. The LXX inverts "priests" and "people," as it
does also in 27: 16. It is pointed out by Duhm, and again more recently by
