More on Restoration and Covenants (33:1-26) 537wasteland there will again be pastures for shepherds to rest their flock. All
throughout Judah flocks will be seen passing under the rod of the shepherd
who counts them.
Both oracles appear to postdate the fall of Jerusalem, as the land is a com-
plete ruin. When heard in tandem with the prior oracle (vv 4-9), the noise of
houses being torn down, fighters shouting at the wall, and women wailing over
fallen comrades heaped without ceremony in demolished houses will be fol-
lowed here by an eerie silence. But Yahweh promises to replace both the un-
pleasant sounds and the deathly silence with the glad sounds of joy and
thanksgiving, signifying health and new life.4. A Righteous King in a Righteous City (33:14-16)
33 14 Look, days are coming-oracle of Yahweh-when I will confirm the
good word that I spoke to the house of Israel and concerning the house of
Judah:(^15) In those days and at that time
I will make sprout for David a Shoot of righteousness
and he will do justice and righteousness in the land
(^16) In those days Judah will be saved
and Jerusalem will dwell in secmity
And this is what one will call her:
'Yahweh is our righteousness.'
RHETORIC AND COMPOSITION
MT 33:14-16 = LXX 0. Here at the end of chap. 33, four oracles invoking the
name of David (vv 14-16, 17-18, 19-22, and 23-26) bring the expanded Book
of Restoration to a close. These oracles (vv 14-26) are usually taken to be quite
late (postexilic ), largely because they are lacking in the LXX. See most recently
Lust 1994. Other reasons for non-Jeremianic authorship and a late date have
also been advanced: 1) oddities or carelessness of Hebrew style; 2) a repetition
of material found earlier in the book (Peake; Ferry 1998); and 3) the infusion of
ideas said to be foreign to Jeremiah, viz., covenant promises to the Davidic
royal line and especially the line of Levitical priests. According to Buber ( 1949:
175), Jeremiah had nothing to say about the future of the priesthood.
All of these arguments, many of which date back to or echo earlier source-
critical work, are less than conclusive. The present oracle only slightly modi-
fies a messianic oracle in 23:5-6, which is widely taken to be Jeremianic. Also,
a restored priesthood is assumed in 31: 14, which can be dated originally to the
reform years of Josiah, but at the very least takes on fresh importance after the