Book of the Covenant (30:1-31:40)among which I have scattered you
But of you I will not make a full end
Yes, I will correct you justly
but I will by no means leave you unpunished.RHETORIC AND COMPOSITION
387MT 30:8-11 = LXX 37:8-9. The present verses contain three oracles, the first
in vv 8-9 being a subsequent addition to the core poetry meaning to reinterpret
v 7. "That [judgment] day" of v 7 now becomes "that [salvation] day" of v 8.
This added oracle, which is mostly but not entirely in prose, also attaches itself
to the pair of oracles in vv 10-11 that promise a future salvation for Jacob. The
oracle in vv 8-9 is delimited at the top end by a petubah in 4QJerc before v 8;
The ML and MP have no section here, and the verses in MA are not extant. De-
limitation at the bottom end is by a setumah in ML and a petubah in MP after
v 9. 4QJerc upon reconstruction appears not to have a section after v 9 (Tov
1997: 195). Oracles II and III, which in the core poetry become a single word
of salvation, are delimited at the top end by a setumah in ML and a petubah in
MP before v 10 and at the bottom end by a petubah in ML, MP, and 4QJerc (re-
constructed) after v 11.
Both vv 10 and 11 have "oracle of Yahweh" formulas, indicating two separate
oracles. In the parallel passage of 46:27-28, however, the first formula is lack-
ing. There is also no section marking after v 10, which is the case also after
46:27 in 2QJer, MA, and MP, although ML does have a setumah after v 27. What
we probably have here are two salvation oracles combined to answer Jeremiah's
word of judgment in vv 5-7 (see Rhetoric and Composition for 30:4-7). Since
the judgment in vv 5-7 is in the style of a lament, it is natural that it be an-
swered by a salvation oracle (Begrich 1934: 82). Assurances of salvation follow-
ing laments are well documented in the Psalms, and here too we likely have a
liturgical form created for use in worship. While it is possible that the present
salvation oracles were addressed originally to Northern Israel, as a companion
piece to vv 5-7 they are likely to have been spoken from the start to Judah (Hol-
laday), then later on applied to both Israel and Judah.
The LXX omits vv 10-11, perhaps because of a duplication in the Foreign Na-
tion Collection (MT 46:27-28). Quite often, though not always, the LXX omits
doublets the second time they occur in the book (first noted by G. L. Spohn
in 1824; cf. Janzen 1973: 2-3). In the LXX, where the Foreign Nation Oracles
come earlier, the second occurrence is here. The oracles, however, cannot be
omitted in the present context without the larger structure being violated.
Thus they are not a gloss on vv 7-9 (pace Janzen 1973: 94) or a further working
out of vv 8-9 (pace Calvin; McKane). Verses 8-9 break the continuity between
vv 5-7 and vv 10-11. It is unnecessary to decide which placement-the one
here or the one in 46:27-28-is better or more original. The verses are suitable
in both contexts, and questions about priority of place are largely irrelevant
(Streane; Becking 1994a: 149-50).