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

Speaking of Kings (21:1-23:8) 143

where (Jones). Jones says that the combination of terms, introducing first an in-

dictment and then a judgment, occurs more than fifty times in the OT But this

combination does not argue for an original unity of vv 13-19. The present oracle

is independent of the oracle in vv 13-17. Nevertheless, the "woe ... therefore"

collocation may still be intentional within the larger rhetorical structure of 22:6-

23 (see Rhetoric and Composition for 22:6-9). This collocation occurs only one

other time in Jeremiah, in 23: 1-8, where it also is editorial.

These catchwords link the present oracle to the previous one:

v 18 woe ( 4x) v 13 woe

NOTES

22:18. Therefore thus said Yahweh to Jehoiakim son oflosiah, king ofludah. The
LXX adds ouai epi ton andra touton, "Woe upon this man," which some com-
mentators (Cornill; Rudolph; Bright; Holladay) believe to be original. The
lack in MT (hwy <[ )ys hzh) could be due to haplography (homoeoteleuton:
h ... h).
son of Josiah. "Josiah" is spelled y>wsy[h] in 4QJer°; in MT the spelling is
y>syhw.
They shall not lament for him. Hebrew lc/-yispedil l6. The MT repeats the

same verb in the next line, while the LXX varies the verbs: me kopsontai ... me

klausontai, "they shall not lament ... they shall not weep" (Vg also varies the
verbs). Compare the repeated ~<q ("scream") in 22:20. The LXX's second verb
does not translate Heb yi§repil, "they shall burn (spices)," as Holladay states
(p. 592 n. 18b). Compare verbs in 34:5 in both MT and LXX. Jehoiakim's death
is here anticipated, and he will not be mourned as Josiah was.
'Woe, my brother! Woe sister!' ... 'Woe lord! Woe his majesty!' "Woe" (hay) is
here a cry of lament, as also in 34:5. "Woe, my brother!" occurs in 1Kgs13:30,
where it is uttered at the burial of an unnamed Judahite prophet. For a discus-
sion of the term, which in 22:13 and 23:1 is a prophetic invective, see Note on
22: 13. The LXX in the present verse omits "Woe sister!" and "Woe his maj-
esty!" but both appear to be present in 4QJerc (reconstructed; Tov 1997: 192).
CO and CL have different readings for "my brother": CO has adefphe ("brother"
without "my"); CL has kurie ("lord"). The Vg too has simply "brother" ({rater).
COL also read "brother" instead of "sister" (Heb )a~6t is "sister" singular, not
"sisters"), and "brother" instead of "his majesty." "His majesty" (hodoh) may
have confused the ancient translator(s) because of an uncommon third-
masculine singular suffix, oh (T; Kim}:ii; cf. CKC §58a). Proposals by Dahood
( 1961) and Holladay to alter the terms in the interest of achieving greater sym-
metry should be set aside.
Questions have been raised about the cry "Woe sister!" Kim}:ii suggests
that it may have been for Jehoiakim's wife, an interpretation favored also by
Blayney. The scene envisioned is a procession of mourners where one is
condoling with the other, and the prophet, says Calvin, is imitating their