inasmuch as they have not listened to my words-oracle ofYahweh-which
I sent to them by my servants the prophets-constantly I sent-and you did not
listen. A recurring theme in Jeremiah. People have been listening to prophets,
but to those Yahweh has not sent. To the prophets Yahweh has sent, they have
paid no heed. On the rhetorical idiom of a repeated verb used together with
skm (here "I sent to them ... constantly I sent"), see Note for 7: 13. The expres-
sion, "I sent to you all my servants the prophets" is discussed in Note for 7:25.
inasmuch as. Or "because" (AV; RSV; NJV). The conjunctive expression
tabat > i.1Ser has this meaning also in N um 25:13; Deut 21:14; and 2 Kgs 22: 17.
I sent to them. Hebrew salabtf >alehem. Several MSS have the suffix kem, "to
you," which anticipates the direct address immediately following. It is unclear
precisely where the shift to direct address occurs.
and you did not listen. Giesebrecht takes this shift to the second person as a
scribal mistake, which is too dismissive, even though COL and S have a third
plural. Since the final phrase has an additional "oracle of Yahweh" formula,
one wonders if the final words might be a later add-on. But this particular or-
acle appears to have two messenger formulas at the beginning and two at the
end (see Rhetoric and Composition). Kiml:ti says the second person is to apply
the prophecy now to the exiles, which is probably right. These people, too,
need to be reminded that they did not listen to Yahweh's word when they were
still in Judah.
Now you! Hebrew wir>attem. This emphatic pronoun underscores the
shift in discourse now directed to the exiles, following an oracle concerning
the unfavored remnant in Jerusalem.
Ahab son of Kolaiah and ... Zedekiah son of Maaseiah. The LXX omits
the patronyms, which it occasionally does. It includes the patronym for
Zephaniah the priest in v 25. The patronyms here should be read; they are
present in CL, Aq, Theod, S, T, and Vg. Also, "Kolaiah" (qolaya) makes a word-
play with both "swearword" (qelala) and "roast" (qalam) in v 22. We know
nothing about these men other than what is reported here. Zephaniah, the
priest, mentioned in 21: 1 and 37 :3, is also a "son of Maaseiah;' but whether he
is a brother to Zedekiah cannot be said. "Ahab" and "Zedekiah" are both com-
mon biblical names. The name "Kolaiah," spelled qollyahu, has turned up on
a late-seventh-early-sixth-century seal of unknown provenance (see "Ahab ben
Kolaiah" in Appendix I); "Maaseiah" has turned up in its short form, "Maasai,"
on one of the Arad ostraca and in its long form on a number of seals and bullae
(see "Maaseiah ben Shallum" in Appendix I).
who are prophesying a lie to you in my name. See v 9. The LXX omits, which
is another loss due to haplography, independent of the omission of Zedekiah's
patronym (homoeoarcton: hn ... hn). Aquila and Theod have the words. Be-
cause these individuals have been "prophesying" (hannibbe>fm ), it is assumed
that they are prophets.
Look I will give them into the hand of Nebuchadrezzar, king of Babylon,
and he will strike them down before your eyes. This together with what fol-
lows in v 22 is a predictive word; judgment has not yet taken place (Calvin).
