Book of the Covenant (30:1-31:40) 489as these misunderstand the nature of Hebrew composition, assuming as they
do that bona fide compilations must always have their climax at the end. This
sometimes happens, as, for example, when the Book of Restoration was ex-
panded to include 31 :23-34 and the new covenant oracles were put last. But
when the oracles in 31: 3 5-40 were added, the new covenant oracles found
themselves in the center of the expansion; nevertheless, in this position too
they were climactic, since they came at the midpoint of a chiastic structure in
which the climax is not at the end but at the center (see Rhetoric and Compo-
sition for 31:23-26). The present oracle then simply balances off the oracle
beginning the expansion (31:23-26), the two promising a rebuilding and re-
consecration of Jerusalem.
Bright thinks that Jeremiah could well have spoken the sentiments expressed
in these verses, and I would agree (cf. 30:18). The oracle postdates-not pre-
dates (pace Calvin)-the fall of Jerusalem, and with the city now a heap of rub-
ble, its terraces destroyed and its valleys more a dumping ground than ever, the
promise of a rebuilt and reconsecrated Jerusalem comes as a radical word from
Yahweh and more daring preaching on the part of Jeremiah. Everyone, surely,
has concluded by now that this was the end of things. In this prophecy, then,
Jeremiah shows himself once again to be out ahead of the people in hearing
the divine word, speaking words they can scarcely believe, and being the
prophet of reversals that he has always been. This prophecy may not kindle the
imagination as the new covenant prophecy does, but it is powerful and emi-
nently worthy of a prophet like Jeremiah.
The main point of this oracle is that lofty Jerusalem, together with its ter-
races and surrounding valleys, shall be rebuilt and reconsecrated "for Yah-
weh." The key word is lyhwh, which occurs at the beginning of the oracle and
is repeated at the end (Cheyne; Cornill):
... the city shall be rebuilt for Yahweh
... the valley ... and the terraces ... shall be holy for Yahwehlyhwh
lyhwhv 38
v 40The word qode8 ("holy") links this oracle with the oracle in vv 23-26 (see Rhet-
oric and Composition for 31 :23-26).
Catchwords connecting to the previous oracles:
v 39 measuring hammidda v 37 be measured yimmadduNOTES
31:38. Look, days are coming. On this phrase, see Note for 7:32. The MT omis-
sion of ba'fm ("are coming"), which is remedied by a Q reading, is generally
attributed to haplography (homoeoteleuton: ym ... ym). Many MSS and the
Yrs have the word. BHS has the haplography wrong, connecting the omitted
word with n'm instead of with the preceding ymym. If there was a skipping of
the eye to n'm , the omitted word would have to begin with nun, not beth, and
the haplography would be homeoarcton, not homoeoteleuton.