Jeremiah Meets Hananiah (28:1-17) 335
would not be returning from Babylon. Jeremiah had told them also to serve the
king of Babylon and live (27:16-17). So now, rather than repeat his earlier or-
acle, he makes a general point about true and false prophecy. Digressions of
this sort occur elsewhere in the Jeremianic discourse (see Note for 27:5). The
particular argument used here is called a distributio in the classical rhetorical
handbooks (ad Herennium iv 35), a figure that not only compares but appor-
tions (Brandt 1970: 133-35). The emphasis is placed on prophets and prophe-
cies of peace. For this discourse as an example of Jeremiah's breakaway from
authority preaching, see Lundbom 1991 b: 21-22.
- The prophets who were before me and before you, from ancient times, yes,
they prophesied to many lands and against great kingdoms of war and evil and
pestilence. Jeremiah doubtless has in mind prophets such as Amos, Micah,
Isaiah, Zephaniah, and others in the classical tradition. He is not saying, how-
ever, that all true prophets in the past were prophets of doom (pace Volz). The
question of doom prophecy should actually have been settled over a decade
ago, when Jeremiah's harsh words about Jerusalem and the Temple were rec-
ognized as having a precedent in the preaching of Micah (26: 18). Jeremiah has
himself been preaching oracles of doom against foreign nations, including
Babylon, for a decade or more. Hananiah's oracles, too, could certainly qualify
as the preaching of war against Babylon. Viewed as such, Jeremiah's statement
here may be seen as a skillful attempt to make common cause with his oppo-
nent. The general principle applies to them both.
before me and before you. Another rhetorical move in which Jeremiah, at
least for the present, is treating Hananiah as an equal and a prophet the same
as he.
from ancient times. Or "from time immemorial." Hebrew min-ha'olam. The
term 'Olam is indeterminate past or future time (5:15b; 6:16).
yes, they prophesied to many lands and against great kingdoms. The waw on
the converted imperfect wayyinnabe'u is here translated (following the LXX,
T, and Vg): "yes, they prophesied," but as a casus pendens it can go untranslated
(GKC §11 lh; l 43d; cf. 6:19; 33:24), as it does in all modern Versions since the
AV Compare also "many nations and great kingsn in 25: 14 and 27: 7.
of war and evil and pestilence. The same triad appears in T, but "and evil and
pestilence" is lacking in the LXX, perhaps in the interest of contrasting just
"war" with "peace" in the next verse. The usual triad is "sword, famine, and
pestilence." Since the triad here is different, "evil" (ra'a) should not be re-
placed with "famine" (ra'ab), in spite of MS support for this reading.
- The prophet who prophesies peace, when the word of the prophet comes to
be, the prophet whom Yahweh has truly sent will be known. Since a general prin-
ciple is still being expounded, the imperfect yinnabe' should be translated
present tense: "prophesies" (pace Holladay). Jeremiah at first sight seems to be
citing the test for true prophecy in Deut 18:21-22; however, there, prophe-
cies of doom are at issue, since people are told that, when prophecies go un-
fulfilled, "You need not be afraid of him" (Crenshaw 1971: 53; Childs 1985:
133-34). Now Jeremiah extends the test of fulfillment or nonfulfillment to
