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

Speaking of Kings (21:1-23:8) 133

The oracle as presently constituted divides into three stanzas, having a line

division of 4:4:2. The first two stanzas are nicely balanced by almost verbatim

repetitions:

.... who builds his house without righteousness

and his upper rooms without iustice

..... I will build for myself a house ......

............................ upper rooms

................... for himself ...............

................................ in cedar

II ......................... in cedar

....... Did not ........................

....... iustice and righteousness

Then it went well ................

then it went well

Is not ...............................

v 13

v 14

v 15

v 16

Holladay notes the repeated belc/ ("without") in v 13; also the repeated halo'

("Did not/Is not") in vv 15-16.

Stanza III has particularly nice repetition in the Hebrew:

III kf............ ka .......... ka v 17

kf ... <al ..................... ka

we<al ...... ha ......... li ......

we<al .. ha ... we<a[ .. ha ... la ...

Since v 17 adds nothing to the key word structure of vv 13-16, and since the
"oracle of Yahweh" formula (present also in 4QJerc) comes at the end of v 16,
it could be that v 17 is a later add-on. Cornill takes this verse to be an isolated
"four-line poem" linking vv 13-16 with vv 18-19.
The oracle alternates both speaking voices and addressees. In Stanza I, Yah-
weh speaks to an assembled audience about Jehoiakim, introducing the king's
own boastful ambitions in v l 4a. In Stanzas II and III, Yahweh addresses the
king directly, referring first to the good deeds of Josiah, his father, and then un-
leashing a harsh rebuke to him for behavior both self-serving and inhumane.

NOTES

22:13. Woe to him who builds his house without righteousness, and his upper
rooms without justice. For national well-being it is essential that the king prac-
tice righteousness and justice (see Notes for 21:11 and 22:3). The king under
review here is Jehoiakim, whose disregard for both is seen in his building or