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

472 TRANSLATION, NOTES, AND COMMENTS

Robert Bellah (1975: 139-51), writing in the early 1970s, had come to the

conclusion that the covenant between God and the Puritan founders of

America-which had much the character of the Deuteronomy covenant-was

broken through and through. What was needed, in his view, was a reaffirming

of this outward covenant and its remaking into an internal covenant, which

America had done earlier in its religious and ethical revivals.

Martin Luther King Jr. during this same period in American history saw him-

self as being "the prophet like Moses," leading his people out of the Wilder-

ness and showing them from a distance the Promised Land. In his "Moses

on the Mountain" speech" given April 3, 1968, just prior to his death,

King said:

We've got some difficult days ahead. But it really doesn't matter with me

now. Because I've been to the mountaintop. I won't mind. Like anybody, I

would like to live a long life. Longevity has its place. But I'm not con-

cerned about that now. I just want to do God's will. And he's allowed me to

go up to the mountain. And I've looked over, and I've seen the Promised

Land. I may not get there with you, but I want you to know tonight that we

as a people will get to the Promised Land. So I'm happy tonight. I'm not

worried about anything. I'm not fearing any man. "Mine eyes have seen the

glory of the coming of the Lord."

(M. L. King 1959: 63)

For other comparisons between Jeremiah and Martin Luther King Jr., see

Drotts 1973.

EXCURSUS IV: THE NEW COVENANT IN THE

LITERATURE OF JUDAISM, INCLUDING QUMRAN

In postexilic Judaism the covenant idea contains all the ambiguities chracter-
izing the larger eschatological hope generally. National life has been recon-
structed along the old lines, which is to say, the Mosaic covenant is again
central and the Law (Torah) occupies a position of supremacy. In Nehemiah
9-10 a "faith covenant" eamana in lO:l[Eng 9:38]) is made to walk according
to Yahweh's t6rc1 given through Moses. Ezra prays that the people will thereby
return to the "faithful heart" of Abraham (9:7-8). At the same time a new cove-
nant is looked for in the future, at which time the Messianic Age will dawn.
Baruch 2:3 5 speaks of an eternal covenant that will secure Israel's tenure in the
land. In Jubilees, where the Law has eternal validity and the Messianic Age is
thought to have already begun, an eternal covenant is described in which the
people on their part will confess sin, and God on his part will create a holy
spirit in the people and will cleanse them (Jub 1:22-24).