598 TRANSLATION, NOTES, AND COMMENTSThe fact that Elishama's name is given without a patronym may indicate that
he was not from a prominent scribal family, perhaps having received the ap-
pointment over someone who was. The Shaphan family had pro-Babylonian
sympathies, and Jehoiakim was an appointee of Egypt ("Gemariah" in ABD 2:
929). In Judah's later remnant community at Mizpah, a power struggle took
place between an heir to the royal line, namely, Ishmael son of Nethaniah, son
of Elishama; and a descendant of the Shaphan family, viz., Gedaliah son of
Ahikam, son of Shaphan. This ended tragically in the murder of Gedaliah by
Ishmael (see Note for 41: I). If the two persons named Elishama are in fact one,
then the fight to rule Judah's remnant community can be traced to tensions
now existing between two prominent families. But in Cheyne's view, Gemar-
iah is also a high-positioned scribe in Jehoiakim's administration. Cheyne
notes that in Solomon's cabinet there were two scribes, one having civil and
one having military duties (1Kgs4:3; cf. Jer 52:25). Gemariah, in any case, has
his own Temple chamber, and it is here that Baruch gives a first reading of the
Jeremiah scroll. Baruch's use of Gemariah's chamber shows not only that
Baruch had access to restricted Temple areas, but that Gemariah supported
Jeremiah's efforts to call the nation to reform. Later, Gemariah is one of those
urging the king not to burn the scroll (v 25). It is gratuitous for McKane
(p. 917) to say that Gemariah's representation as an ally of Jeremiah is an idea
that should be given up. For what reason? There are indications aplenty in the
book, explicit and otherwise, that Jeremiah had good relations with the scribal
family of Shaphan throughout his career (Rudolph; Weiser; Bright; Muilen-
burg 1970a). See further Note for 26:24.
In the so-called "House of the Bullae" 1mcovf'.rf'.O in Shiloh's City of David
excavations, 51 seal impressions originally attached to papyri turned up in the
586 B.C. destruction level of Jerusalem. One of these was of particular impor-
tance (Shiloh 1984: 19-20). It contained the inscription "Belonging to Gema-
riah, [son of] Shaphan" (Shiloh 1985: 80-83 #2, 68; 1986: 28-29 #2, 3 3-34;
Shiloh and Tarler 1986: 204-5; Bieberstein and Bloedhorn 1994 III: 134; Avi-
gad 1997: 191 #470) and doubtless belonged to the individual named here. So
we know that Gemariah was a professionally trained scribe, authorized to seal
official documents and other records. The name "Gemariah" has shown up on
other bullae and on the Arad and Lachish ostraca (see Appendix I).
Temple chambers were used for a variety of purposes (see Note for 35:2).
Muilenburg (l 970a: 229-30) thinks the present chamber (Ziska) was a library,
belonging as it does to Gemariah. Since it is now clear that Gemariah was a
scribe acting in some capacity within Jehoiakim's government, it is reasonable
that a chamber belonging to him would contain stored documents. Here then
is where the Jeremiah scroll should have ended up (see criterion #10 for a col-
ophon in Leichty 1964; cf. Lundbom 1986b: 90; 0. Pedersen 1998: 241). In-
stead it was consigned to the flames (v 23). The same might also be said about
Jeremiah's scroll of Babylon oracles, which Seraiah wrapped with a stone and
threw into the Euphrates (51 :63-64). On archives and libraries in the ANE, see
- Pedersen 1998.