Jeremiah 21-36 A New Translation with Introduction and Commentary by (Anchor Yale Bible Commentaries)

Book of the Covenant (30:1-31:40) 445

of Yahweh" formula at the end of v 20. This formula should not be deleted

(pace Giesebrecht; Volz).

Like its companion poem, this oracle is structured by parallel grammatical

forms:

Is .......................? ha ... v 20

Is .........................? )• Im ...

I will assuredly remember him ... zakor 'ezkerennu

I will assuredly have mercy on him rabem 'arabamennu

Catchwords connecting to the companion poem preceding:

v 20 Ephraim v 18 Ephraim

NOTES

31:20. Is Ephraim my dear son? Is he the child of delight? For more than all my
speaking against him, I will assuredly remember him still. Hebrew yaqqfr means
"dear, very precious" (cf. yaqar in 15: 19 and yeqar in 20:5) The rhetorical ques-
tions feign surprise (Cheyne), conveying both distance and intimacy between
Yahweh and Ephraim (Trible 1977: 274; 1978: 43). One is reminded here of
Saul's tender words to David after David discovered him, spared his life, and
upbraided him for wanting to take his life: "Is this your voice, my son David?"
after which Saul began to weep (1 Sam 24:16). The questions posed here are
answered by Yahweh himself, which classical rhetoricians called hypophora
(see 30:15 and Note on 49:7). The entire verse echoes the divine pathos and
love expressed earlier in Hosea (Hos 11:1, 8-9; K. Gross 1930: 13; 1931: 244-
45; Ludwig 1968: 531-32). The LXX and Vg do not translate the he' interroga-
tive or the 'im beginning the second colon. Omission of the latter in the LXX

could be attributed to haplography (homoeoteleuton: m ... m). Held (1969:

79. thinks that the kf colon should continue the question, as it does in Num
    11:12; Amos 6:12; Mic 4:9; Hab 3:8; Jer 18:14-15; Isa 66:8; Job 7:12; and 10:5-
    6, proposing further that Hebrew had a fixed ha ... 'im ... kf ... formula like

the Jeremianic ha ... 'im ... maddua' ... (see Note for 2:14). This would

yield the following translation:

Is (ha) Ephraim my dear son?

Is ('im) he the child of delight?

Then (kf) why so often do I speak of him

and definitely remember him still?

But whether such a formula existed is questionable. In Amos 6:12 and Jer
18: 14-15, the kf clause is better rendered as an affirmation preceded by "but."