Jeremiah 21-36 A New Translation with Introduction and Commentary by (Anchor Yale Bible Commentaries)

Speaking of Kings (21:1-23:8)

Woe to him who builds his house ...

C And he frames for himself windows

and panels in cedar (ba'arez)

Are you a king because you compete in cedar? (ba'arez)

They shall not lament for him

B' ...................... [Jehoiakim]

Go up to Lebanon and scream (hallebanon)

and in the Bashan raise your voice!

A' You who dwell in Lebanon (ballebanon) ...

nested in the cedars (ba'arazfm)

(22: 13-17)

(22:18-19)

(22:20-23)

123

The present oracle has two stanzas, each of which is two bicolons in qinah

(3:2) meter (Giesebrecht; Hyatt). The whole has this key word balance (Lund-

bom 1975: 48-49 [ = 1997: 67-68]):

v 6a

.................. Lebanon

II ................... cedars v 7b

The poetry also has assonance:

....... 'asfteka ............. ....... I will make...... v 6b

II .......... mas/:iitfm .. 'fs .... ..... destroyers ... person v 7 a

....................... ha'es ..................... the fire v 7b

Yahweh is the speaking voice throughout, addressing directly the royal palace
(apostrophe). Jeremiah, or else a later voice, is the speaker of the question-and-
answer dialogue.
The prose comment is linked to the oracle by these key words:

v 6 cities v 8 city (2x)

each person 'IS each person 'fs

Catchwords connecting to the preceding unit are the following (Mowinckel
1946: 49):

v 6 the house of the king of Judah v l the house of the king of Judah