Indictment of Judah and the Nations (25:1-38) 279
McKane accept the LXX reading only reluctantly. Some of the more recent
English Versions (NIV; NRSV; NJB) return to "precious vessel" (AV had
"pleasant vessel"), which allows for a sudden change of metaphors. Both Rashi
and Kim}:ii (following T) read "precious vessel." The change of metaphors is
not a problem; in v 30 they changed abruptly from a roaring lion to men tread-
ing grapes. The LXX's "rams" can perhaps be attributed to the misreading of
Heb kiklf ("like a vessel") as ke'ele ("like rams").
- Flight shall vanish from the shepherds. This vivid expression occurs also
in Amos 2:14; Job 11:20; and Ps 142:5[Eng 142:4]. Hebrew manos means
"flight, place of escape." The shepherds, like the nobles of the flock, will find
no place of refuge.
- The sound of a scream of the shepherds and the wailing of the nobles of the
fiock. Taking Heb qol $a<ci.qat hari/fm as a triple construct chain: "The sound
of a scream of the shepherds" (cf. AV). Another possibility could be ''A sound!
a scream of the shepherds." But compare in 48:3: "The sound of a scream (qol
$e'aqa) from Horonaim"; and 51:54: "The sound of a cry (qol ze'aqa) from
Babylon." The parallel phrase is similarly a triple construct chain: "and the
wailing of the nobles of the flock." The nouns are cognates of the verbs in v 34
(see Rhetoric and Composition). At the beginning, Jeremiah commanded the
shepherds and nobles of the flock to wail and cry loudly; now he claims to hear
them doing precisely that (Cheyne), which is a case of apostrophe. The
screaming and wailing is because Yahweh is devastating flocks in their pasture-
lands (cf. Zech l 1:3a).
because Yahweh is devastating their pasturage. The verb sdd ("devastate") oc-
curs throughout the book of Jeremiah, appearing particularly often in the For-
eign Nation Oracles (see Note for 48:8). In Zech 11:3 shepherds are said to be
wailing because their splendor is devastated. Hebrew mar'ftam ("pasturage") is
a metonymy for "flock," as it is also in 10:21 (Giesebrecht). The T: "for the
Lord has plundered their people." Kim}:ii explains mar'ftam as the nations over
which kings exercise rule.
- Yes, the peaceful pastures lie silent. Hebrew wenadammu ne'Ot hassalom.
The verb is a prophetic perfect. Yahweh's destructive work is portrayed as al-
ready having been accomplished. The once-peaceful pastures now lie deathly
silent-an ironic transformation from one kind of tranquillity to another.
Isaiah imagines Jerusalem's return to a "peaceful pasture" (neweh salom) once
Yahweh pours out his Spirit on a devastated land (Isa 32:18).
before the burning anger of Yahweh. Hebrew mippene /:zaron 'ap-yhwh.
This phrase and those concluding v 38 are variations on a common climactic
expression in Jeremiah, affirming the awesomeness of Yahweh's anger (see
Note for 4:8). The LXX has "my anger," which may simply reproduce the ex-
pression as it occurs in v 38b (which the LXX omits), or, as some have sug-
gested (Schwally 1888: 188 n. 1, citing Spohn earlier; Volz; G. R. Driver 1960:
119), be a misreading of "anger of Yahweh" in an abbreviated form (' ~N).
The phrase, in any case, is not misplaced; nor should it be deleted (pace
Duhm; Bright; Janzen 1973: 14 n. 21). The various forms of the expression
