Book of the Covenant (30:1-31:40) 377
acle following, the purpose for writing a scroll seems to be to record for poster-
ity Yahweh's promise that the fortunes of Israel and Judah will be restored and
that exiles from both nations will be returned by Yahweh to the land. This will
serve to keep the exiles' hope alive and will also confirm Yahweh's word when
the day of fulfillment comes. One other time Jeremiah is said to have written a
scroll of his prophecies-i.e., against Babylon (51 :60).
for yourself. Hebrew leka. The LXX omits. The command is given to Jere-
miah, but the scroll is obviously not for him but for the larger dispirited
community.
all the words. I.e., all the words of certain divine prophecies not otherwise
specified. The directive is not as inclusive as the one in 36:2. Yahweh may also
be telling the prophet to be sure and write down all the words in the collection
that Yahweh has in mind and not leave out any. A cautionary word along these
lines was given to him twice about the preached word (26:2; 50:2), although in
both cases the words to be preached were words of judgment. Here the over-
riding message is one of hope for the future.
- look, days are coming. A recurring phrase in the book, on which see Note
for 7:32. Here in the Book of Restoration the phrase takes on a rhetorical func-
tion (see Rhetoric and Composition).
I will restore the fortunes. A sonorous expression of the verb sub with a cog-
nate accusative (see Note for 29: 14), which also has a rhetorical function in
the Book of Restoration (see Rhetoric and Composition). See also Deut 30:2-
3, where the restoration of fortunes will come once the people have re-
turned ( = repented) to Yahweh. The "fortunes" are treasures taken as war
booty to Babylon, as well as treasures in the land destroyed by the enemy. The
LXX and T take sebUt to mean "captives, captivity" (from shh, "to take cap-
tive"), which is the meaning given to the term in the AV The LXX reads shh
rather than sub again in 31: 19. But more recent modern Versions (except
NIV) translate the Hebrew as "fortunes," which is correct. Becking ( l 994a:
158-59) thinks the LXX deliberately adapted its text to those living in a Helle-
nistic world.
Israel and Judah. Some commentators (Volz; Rudolph; Weiser; McKane)
want to eliminate "and Judah" as later expansion, but most retain, which is cor-
rect since the verses are introducing the first Book of Restoration (chaps. 30-
31 ), where the concern is for both Israel and Judah's future. The Versions all
have "Israel and Judah." The term "Judah" occurs here, in the superscription
of 30:4, and four other times in 31:23-40, all of which is expansionary material
creating the first Book of Restoration. "Judah" occurs nowhere in the poetry of
30:5-31:22, some of which was originally preaching to Northern Israel only.
During the final years of Zedekiah's reign and after, Jeremiah's focus was on a
restored Judah-Israel.
said Yahweh. Hebrew )amar yhwh. This appears superfluous after an earlier
messenger formula in the verse, but the LXX, T, and Vg all have it.
and I will bring them back to the land that I gave to their fathers, and they
shall possess it. Yahweh's gift of the land to the fathers is a central theme in
