292 TRANSLATION, NOTES, AND COMMENTS
"the place" [ maqom], not "the city"), but it does not reflect the judgment stated
here (vv 4b-6), which is conditional. See Note on v 9.
A sentence of death for this man! I.e., this man deserves to die (Giesebrecht;
Duhm; cf. Deut 19:6; 21:22; 22:26; 2 Sam 12:5). A formal sentence has not yet
been issued.
because he has prophesied to this city according to what you have heard with
your ears. Only the people heard Jeremiah; the princes were not present. Here
a reason is given for the accusers' wanting a death sentence, which the LXX
provided additionally in v 9.
- Then Jeremiah said to all the princes and to all the people. The LXX omits
"all" (kol) before "the princes," which could be due to haplography (homo-
eoteleuton: l ... l). Jeremiah presents here his defense to the princes and the
people. It has frequently been pointed out what exemplary behavior Jeremiah
shows in making his defense: no heroics, no theatrical defiance, simply a hum-
ble testimony exuding confidence in what he has prophesied. Jerome saw hu-
mility in the statement, "Do to me as seems good and right in your eyes" and
calmness in the words, "For in truth, Yahweh sent me." Peake writes: "It is a
great scene which here passes before us."
Yahweh sent me to prophesy to this house and to this city all the words that you
have heard. Jeremiah's claim is that Yahweh sent him-bedrock testimony that
he is Yahweh's royal messenger (1:7; 25:15). In one of the Mari Letters, a man
is instructed in a revelation from the god Dagan to deliver a message to King
Zimri-lim. Dagan says: "Now go, I have sent you!" (Beyerlin 1978: 125). Jere-
miah's words also pass the true prophecy test in Deut l 3:2-6[Eng 13: 1-5] and
answer the first charge made against him, that he dared prophesy what he did
in Yahweh's name (v 9). Blank ( 195 5) says this testimony is Jeremiah's strongest
argument and the source of his prophetic authority.
- And now, make good your ways and your doings, and obey the voice of
Yahweh your God; and then Yahweh will repent concerning the evil that he has
spoken against you. The rhetorical particle we<attd ("And now") signals a dis-
course shift from past to present (see Note for 2: 18). Hebrew wesim<u be means
here not simply "hear" or "listen" but "obey." What we are hearing now is Jere-
miah's reform message as presented in Oracle I of 7:3-7, with the one differ-
ence that Yahweh has promised to repent of the evil he has planned, if people
amend their ways (cf. 18:6-8). The LXX lacks "your God" and has "evils" plu-
ral. "Your God" should be retained because it appears to be answered by the
"our God" in v 16.
- But I, look I am in your hands. Do to me as seems good and right in your
eyes. Authority statements now cease, and Jeremiah turns his attention to
earth and looks for truth in the audience gathered about him. He does not say
that he is leaving himself in the hands of God but that his life is now in the
hands of the court. This submission to the will of the court is actually a veiled
argument, one that the classical rhetoricians called "surrender" (Gk epitrope;
Lat permissio; ad Herrenium 4:29; cf. Lundbom 1991 b: 18-19). An example of
"surrender" from the ad Herennium:
