556 TRANSLATION, NOTES, AND COMMENTSand their dead bodies shall become food for the birds of the skies and
the beasts of the earth.^21 And Zedekiah, king of Judah, and his
princes, I will give into the hand of their enemies and into the hand of
those who seek their life, into the hand of the army of the king of
Babylon, who have withdrawn from you.(^22) Look I am commanding-oracle of Yahweh - and I will bring them
back to this city, and they will fight against it and take it, and they will
burn it with fire; and the cities of Judah I will make a desolation with-
out inhabitant.
RHETORIC AND COMPOSITION
MT 34:8-22 = LXX 41:8-22. This second portion of narrative in the chapter
begins by reporting a covenant that Zedekiah made with the people of Jerusa-
lem to release their Hebrew slaves, and then how they reneged on that cove-
nant (vv 8-11). What follows are four divine oracles delivered to the king and
the people of Jerusalem (vv 12-22). The event took place before the personal
judgment on Zedekiah in vv 1-7. Delimitation at the top end is by a petubah
in MA, ML, and MP before v 8 and at the bottom end by a petubah in MA, ML,
and MP after v 22, which is also the chapter division. After v 11, MA and MP
have another petubah and ML a setumah, which separate the opening narrative
from Oracle I. After v 16, MA, ML, and MP have a setumah separating Oracle I
from Oracle II.
The oracles are taken to be four in number, although v l 7a is admittedly
brief and could be combined with vv l 7b-2 l into a single oracle. The reason
for taking l 7a as a separate oracle is that it has a separate messenger formula,
"Therefore thus said Yahweh," and that it is an indictment, unlike vv l 7b-2 l,
which are a judgment. The four oracles are introduced by these four messen-
ger formulas:
I Thus said Yahweh, God of Israel
II Therefore thus said Yahweh
III oracle of Yahweh
IV oracle of'lahweh
v 13
v 17a
v 17b
v 22
Oracles I and II (vv 13-16, 17a) are indictment; Oracles III and IV (vv 17b-21,
22) are judgment. Oracle III judges the king and the people of Jerusalem;
Oracle IV judges Jerusalem and the cities of Judah.
Oracle I contains a contrast made explicit by emphatic pronouns ("I" and
"you") and key words ("your fathers" and "you"). Oracles I and II, in a similar
way, are linked and contrasted by emphatic pronouns ("I" and "you") and key
word phrases ("did/have not listen( ed) to me"):
I ('anokf), I cut a covenant with your fathers ('et->abotekem)... vv 13-14
But your fathers did not listen to me (welo,-samif'll >abotekem ,elay) ...