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

Letters to the Exiles (29:1-32) 349

documented in the Babylonian Chronicle (BM 21946 Rev. 11-13; Wiseman

1956: 72-73; ANET^3 564), which says that Nebuchadnezzar seized the (main)

city of Judah, captured its king, appointed a king of his own choosing, and took

considerable tribute back to Babylon. For a picture of the cuneiform text now

in the British Museum, see ANEP^2 348 #804.

2. after Jeconiah the king, and the queen mother and the eunuchs, the princes
   of Judah and Jerusalem, and the craftsmen and the smiths had gone out from
   Jerusalem. A parenthetical statement but part of the introduction, like the
   statement containing similar information in 24: 1. These contextual notes are
   what link chaps. 24 and 29 in a larger rhetorical structure (see Rhetoric and
   Composition for 24:1-10). The verse then need not be taken in part or in its
   entirety as a secondary addition from 2 Kgs 24:12-16, as many commentators
   propose (pace Giesebrecht; Duhm; Cornill; Volz; Rudolph; Weiser, Bright;
   Holladay). The Versions all have it. Since nothing more is said here by way of
   a date, it may be that these letters-and others-went to Babylon very soon
   after the exile of 597 B.C.
   Jeconiah. This shortened spelling of Jehoiachin, yekonya, occurs also in
   27:20 (Q) and 28:4. For other spellings of this king's name in the OT, see Note
   for 22:24.
   the queen mother. Nehushta, the daughter of Elnathan (see Note for 13:18).
   Her exile along with that of Jehoiachin is predicted in 22:26.
   the eunuchs. Hebrew hassarfsfm. Although eunuchs(= castrated men) per-
   formed domestic service in the royal palace (Ebed-melech being one such per-
   son, 38: 7; cf. 41: 16), the term referred also to high-ranking government and
   military officials (52:25; cf. 39:3). The eunuchs here, as also in 34:19, are
   doubtless high-ranking officials. The T translates "princes"; Calvin prefers
   "chiefs." On biblical sarfs meaning "eunuch," see Tadmor 1995.
   the princes of Judah and Jerusalem. The LXX omits and in its place has kai
   pantos eleutherou kai desmotou, "and every freeman and prisoner." Theodotion
   (kai archonton Iouda ex Ierousalem) supports the MT. On the more inclusive
   meaning of Heb sarfm ("princes"), see Note for 24:1. Because the phrase here
   is without the copulative, Cheyne thinks "the princes" stands in apposition to
   "the eunuchs," although he knows of no other passage where princes are so
   called. The T reads: "and the princes, the princes of Judah and Jerusalem."
   Several Heb MSS, along with CL, Theod, S, and Vg, have the waw. Assuming
   then that the waw was originally in the text, we have another LXX omission at-

tributable to haplography (homoeoarcton: w ... w).

and the craftsmen and the smiths. Hebrew wehe"f:zaras wehammasger. The
LXX translates "craftsmen" (technitou) but not "smiths," which it does also in
24: 1. Symm has architektona kai ton sungkleionta ("chief builders and
smiths"), supporting MT. On these two groups of skilled workers, see Note for
24: 1. Cuneiform texts from the reigns of Esarhaddon (680-669 B.c.) and Assur-
banipal (668-627 B.c.) list among Egyptian deportees to Mesopotamia the fol-
lowing skilled persons: physicians, veterinarians, diviners, dream interpreters,
snake charmers, singers, goldsmiths, coppersmiths, black[ smiths], cartwrights,