386 TRANSLATION, NOTES, AND COMMENTS
MESSAGE AND AUDIENCE
In this poem of lament, Jeremiah articulates his own anguish and that of the
people as Jerusalem teeters on the verge of destruction. Here is not a vision of
what will happen at some future time but a report of something happening cur-
rently. The prophet hears with everyone else a frightful sound, one of anguish
and terror, and asks those listening to inquire whether it is possible for a male
to bear a child. It is not necessary to answer. Why then does Jeremiah see every
man with his hands on his loins like a woman giving birth? Their faces have
the look of death! The audience again need not answer. So Jeremiah must
come out with a thundering "Woe!" There is nothing quite like the present
day, a day belonging to Yahweh that brings distress upon poor Jacob. Will he
be saved from it? The audience is left to answer this question. But will it?
This pathos-filled lament was probably spoken to a Judahite audience just
prior to 586 B.C., at which time Jeremiah was in the court of the guard (Bright;
Berridge 1970: 187). But once Jerusalem had been reduced to ruins, this poem
to the survivors was joined with the salvation oracle in vv 10-11, and the two
together answered the question about Jacob's being saved quite differently. Yes,
Jacob would be saved, not from Nebuchadrezzar and the Babylonian army, but
from its distant land of captivity. Salvation was now being promised to both
Israel and Judah (v 4), and Jeremiah's lament along with Yahweh's answer had
become a single divine word. And at an even later time, the question in v 7b
became not a question at all but a statement anticipating Yahweh's salvation
on the other side of judgment, which at this point had already been fulfilled.
b) Do Not You Be Afraid, Jacob (30:8-11)
30 8 And it will happen in that day-oracle of Yahweh of hosts:
I will break his yoke from upon your neck
and your straps I will tear away
So strangers shall not again make him serve;^9 instead they shall serve Yah-
weh their God and David, their king, whom I will raise up for them.(^10) But you, do not you be afraid, Jacob my servant
-oracle ofYahweh-
and do not you be broken, Israel
For look I will save you from afar
and your offspring from the land of their captivity
And Jacob will return and be undisturbed
yes, be at ease and none will frighten
(^11) For I am with you
-oracle of Yahweh-
to save you
For I will make a full end of all the nations