Thus said Yahweh. The LXX omits, for which reason some commentators
(Giesebrecht; Cornill; Weiser; Rudolph; Bright; Janzen 1973: 85; Holladay) take
this messenger formula to be a later addition. Giesebrecht says the formula is
superfluous after "Hear the word of Yahweh" immediately preceding (v 29).
But the omission can be attributed to haplography (homoeoarcton: k ... k or
whole-word: yhwh ... yhwh). The T, Aq, Symm, Theod, and Vg all have the
formula.
Write this man down childless. More apostrophe, with Yahweh now imagin-
ing scribes at his side, ready to take dictation. The singular imperative of the
LXX imagines only one scribe. Some have suggested that Jehoiachin is being
entered childless in a census list (Neh 12:22-23; cf. Isa 4:3), but we noted
above that Jehoiachin did have sons, some of whom could have been born in
Jerusalem. The Hebrew 'arfrf is clear: it means "childless" (Gen 15:2; Lev
20:20-21) and is rendered in the Vg as sterilem ("barren, sterile"). There is no
reason to follow G. R. Driver (1937-38: 115), who thinks the real meaning of
the Hebrew is "disgraced," i.e., stripped of honor (so NEB and REB). There is
also little enthusiasm for the LXX's ekkerukton anthropon ("a man banished by
public proclamation"), so most commentators stay with the MT. The LXX text
is likely corrupt, translating as it does the next word, geber, with anthropon
(pace BHS) and then omitting the rest of the phrase. What we have here is a
bold metaphor meaning: "Jehoiachin may just as well be recorded as child-
less, for he will have no heir to sit on the throne of David." In the end it mat-
ters not whether he has one son, two sons, or five sons-in Jerusalem, in
Babylon, or on the way to Babylon. Most of the modern Versions (but not the
AV) get the basic meaning by translating a simile (i.e., with "as"), which the
figure is not. Wessels (1989: 244) thinks that Jeremiah has overreached his
judgment, i.e., the statement was hyperbole and consequently wrong. But the
statement is not hyperbole; it is a bold metaphor that was fulfilled.
a man who will not prosper in his days. Hebrew geber can mean simply
"man," although here it doubtless has overtones of a man who is young, strong,
and eminently able. The LXX lacks "(he) who will not prosper in his days,"
probably, as was just mentioned, because of a corrupt text. Things have
changed since Jeremiah lamented over wicked people prospering (12:1). Here
the verb $1~ means prosper in the sense of "succeed" via a royal heir.
Indeed there shall not prosper from his offspring a man to sit upon the throne
of David and rule again in Judah. Taking the kf with Calvin as an emphatic
"Indeed!" The same prophecy was given earlier to Jehoiakim (36:30). Mala-
mat (1975: 138) is of the opinion that Jeremiah rejected the legitimacy of
Jehoiachin, whom the false prophets were advocating in the last decade of
Judah's existence, preferring Zedekiah instead, despite his drawbacks. And
yet, while no son of Jehoiachin will reign in Judah, the Davidic line will sur-
vive, as the oracles in 23:5-6 and 33:17-18 declare. One may also note that
Matt 1:11-12 has Jehoiachin and his son Shealtiel in the messianic line. The
present verse was also put to use in the Dead Sea community. The Qumran
Temple Scroll (1 lQT 59:14-15) says concerning the king who disregards God's
