566 TRANSLATION, NOTES, AND COMMENTS
The biblical precedent for what occurs here is the ritual accompanying a
covenant Yahweh makes with Abraham that Abraham's descendants will in-
herit the land of promise (Gen 15:7-21). There, animals were cut in two, and
in the darkness "a smoking fire pot and a flaming torch passed between the
pieces" (v 17), symbolizing the divine presence. Abraham was not a party to
this covenant in the way that Zedekiah and the people of Jerusalem were party
to the covenant of slave manumission. The covenant Yahweh made with Abra-
ham was unconditional, with no demands being placed on Abraham and no
chance fur either noncompliance or abrogation. On the covenant of divine
commitment, see D. N. Freedman 1964. A calf was slaughtered for the cove-
nant ceremony presided over by Zedekiah, for as v 19 states, the people of J eru-
salem and Judah walked in procession between the severed parts.
who did not carry out the words of the covenant. I.e., who did not keep the
terms as stated in v 14. Hebrew >aser lc/-heqfmu >et-dibre habberft. The LXX
omits "words (of)," which are present in Theod, T, and Vg. But Theod follows
the LXX in reading "my covenant."
- and the princes oflerusalem. The LXX omits, which can be explained as
an inner-Greek haplography, since the word immediately following in the LXX
is kai (whole-word: kai ... kai). Aquila, T, and Vg have the omitted words.
the eunuchs. Here high-ranking officials (Calvin: chief men); see Note for 29:2.
and all the people of the land who walked between the parts of the calf The
LXX has only "and the people" (kai ton laon), but Aq, T, and Vg have the omit-
ted words.
- and into the hand of those who seek their life. The LXX omits, which can
be attributed to haplography (homoeoarcton: w ... w or homoeoteleuton:
m ... m). Giesebrecht notes that the words are present in all the Hexapla cod-
ices, CL, S, T, and Vg.
and their dead bodies shall become food for the birds of the skies and the beasts
of the earth. Upon the men of Jerusalem who violated the covenant will come
a curse of nonburial (see Note for 7:33). Death and nonburial are not promised
to Zedekiah and his princes (v 21 ), which, at least in the case of Zedekiah, is
consistent with the burial promised him in vv 4-5.
- 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. This is how it hap-
pened; see 39:4-5; 52:7-9. The LXX again omits "and into the hand of those
who seek their life," which can be another loss attributed to haplography
(whole-word: wbyd ... wbyd or homoeoteleuton: m ... m).
into the hand of the army of the king of Babylon, who have withdrawn from
you. A reference to the Babylonian withdrawal from Jerusalem puts the inci-
dent early in the siege (Sarna [1973: 144-45] says between January and April
587 B.c.), when Pharaoh Apries (Hophra) and the Egyptians made a move out
of Egypt, forcing the Babylonians to lift the siege (37:5). The LXX reading, kai
dunamis basileos Babulonos tois apotrechousin ap' auton ("and the forces of
the king of Babylon to whom they are running away from them"?), is clearly
defective (so also Janzen 1973: 42; McKane).
