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

388 TRANSLATION, NOTES, AND COMMENTS

Also a nonissue (except for Carroll and Mc Kane) is whether vv 10-11 belong

to the period of Second Isaiah. Graf argued long ago that the verses were au-

thentic to Jeremiah, the language in both verses-particularly v I I-strongly

supporting this claim (Bright; Holladay; Jones: "the resemblance [to Second

Isaiah] is superficial"). The "do not you be afraid! I fear not!" of v 10, which

was the parade example of those arguing a Second Isaiah provenance, is a di-

vine command elsewhere in Jeremiah (1:8; 42:11) and, in fact, is a formula

much older than either Jeremiah or Second Isaiah (see Notes). Also, its collo-

cation here with the phrase "do not be broken" is clearly a Jeremianic con-

struction (see Rhetoric and Composition for 30:1-3).

In the parallel verse of 46:28, an opening line similar to the opening line in

v 27 is added:

But you, do not you be afraid, Jacob my servant v 27 (= 30:10)

II You, do not you be afraid, Jacob my servant v 28

Some commentators (Volz; Rudolph; Bright; Holladay) thus restore what they

think is a missing colon in 30: l la, although there is no textual warrant for do-

ing so. The opening colon in v l la adds "to save you," which is not present in

46:28, perhaps to function as a catchword with the oracle in v 10 and the com-

panion poem in vv 5-7 (see below). The link between vv 10-11 is made with

these key words:

I For look I will save you from afar

II For I am with you ... to save you

Oracle II contains this balance of sound:

II For I am with you ...

But of you ...

kf hinenf mosf'aka

kf ... lehOsf'eka

kf-'ittekil ) anf ...

> ak > otekil ...

v lOb

v l la

v lla

v llc

The inserted vv 8-9 are prose for the most part. The whole cannot be
scanned as poetry (pace Thompson), nor can vv 8-9 be taken with Bozak
(1991: 21) as a stanza of a unified poem in vv 5-11. However, the line "I will
break his yoke from upon your neck, and your straps I will tear away" might be
poetry, which would explain its otherwise troublesome second person suffixes
(see Notes). We see again in 31:23 second person poetry embodied in a prose
oracle. The oracle here could, but need not, derive from Jeremiah. A late date
is also not required (Hertzberg 1952: 596-97). It could date from the same time
as other supplemental material in the first Book of Restoration (30: 1-3; 31:23-
40), since it has a similar rhetorical structure: an introductory formula and a
verb + "not again":

And it will happen in that day ... ... bayyom hahu' v8

So strangers shall not again make him serve ... welo'-ya'abdu-bd 'od