554 TRANSLATION, NOTES, AND COMMENTSmiles north of Lachish and 18 miles southwest of Jerusalem. King Sargon II of
Assyria (721-705 B.C.), who campaigned in Philistia in 712 B.C., refers in his
Annals to Azaqa, a stronghold situated in the midst of the mountains, virtually
inaccessible (Tadmor 1958: 81). The famous Madeba mosaic map (sixth cen-
tury A.D.) refers to the area as "Bethzakar." Tell Zakariya was excavated by F. J.
Bliss and R. A. Macalister for the Palestine Exploration Fund in 1898-99. A
fortress with towers was then uncovered, which in its latest phase is thought
now to belong to Rehoboam's fortification (2 Chr 11:9). On archaeological
work carried out at Tell Zakariya, see J. D. Seger i11 OEANE 1: 243; and
E. Stern in NEAEHL 1: 123; also ABD 1: 537-39. When the Jews returned
from exile, families settled in both Lachish and Azekah (Neh 11:30).MESSAGE AND AUDIENCE
This narrative segment reports a divine word that came to Jeremiah when Neb-
uchadrezzar and a coalition of other kings and peoples were fighting against
Jerusalem and Judah's other cities. The prophet was told to go directly to King
Zedekiah with an oracle. It stated that Yahweh was giving the city into the
hands of Nebuchadrezzar, who would burn it with fire. As for the king himself,
he had no chance of escape, and could expect capture. What is more, he
would have the dubious honor of meeting the Babylonian king face to face,
after which he would be taken to Babylon.
A second oracle mitigates this judgment, or so it seems. Zedekiah will not
die by the sword but rather in peace. There will be burnings in his honor and
pl".opli". will l;:imf'.nt him with the usual cries of "Woe, lord!" The narrator says
that Jeremiah told this to Zedekiah in Jerusalem. The segment then con-
cludes by repeating that the army of the king of Babylon was presently fight-
ing against Jerusalem and the cities of Judah, now attacking daughter cities of
Lachish and Azekah, for they alone remained of Judah's fortified cities, ex-
cept for Jerusalem.
When the two oracles are heard together, the mitigation of Oracle II will be
lessened and an ironic tone will be discerned. Zedekiah may die in peace, but
it will be in faraway Babylon. Burnings in the king's honor will also be seen
now against the backdrop of Jerusalem's dishonorable burning, and the cries of
woe made for the king will be set over against the woeful cries of an entire na-
tion that perished. It now becomes clear to the audience that people in Baby-
lon will not mourn Zedekiah in the way that they mourned other kings of
Judah, whether good or bad.
The narrative fits well into the period of which its superscription speaks,
when the king of Babylon was into the last phase of his subjugation of Judah,
588-586 B.C. Cities around Lachish and Azekah were being taken, and
Lachish and Azekah would be next. Jerusalem would be last.
When this narrative segment is heard together with the segment that fol-
lows, which reports Zedekiah's breaking of the covenant made to release
Hebrew slaves, the audience will realize that the judgment given here to Zede-