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

Book of the Covenant (30:1-31:40) 421

Streane). Recognizing this as a dialogue oracle resolves a concern raised by

Weiser, who says that since the divine speech begins in v 8, the messenger for-

mula should precede this verse instead of preceding v 7.

The oracle has three stanzas with repeated and balancing terms. The whole

can be taken as an expanded key word chiasmus (Holladay), where Yahweh

and his people ("Jacob and Israel; Ephraim") are named in I and III, and enu-

meration ("blind, lame, those pregnant, those in labor") occurs in II, which is

the center (cf. Lund 1942: 57-58). In II and III the verb bO> ("bring, come") is

also repeated:

· · · · ............ for Jacob leya'aqob

.... Yahweh ..............

..................... Israel

II Look I will bring them hinenf mebf' 'otam

... the blind and the lame

the pregnant and woman in labor ...

III .............. they shall come

..... I am as a father to Israel

.... Ephraim .................

yabo'u

haym leyisra'el le' ab

'eprayim

Catchwords connecting to the prior oracle (cf. Condamin):

v 7 your people

v 9 Ephraim

v 2 a people

v6 Ephraim

v7

v8

v9

A host of catchwords (not including the name of Yahweh) connect this oracle
to the oracle following (cf. Carroll;,Jones):

v7 cry (for joy) ronnu v 10 Hear sim'u

Jacob nations

gladness simf:ia and say we'imrCi

nations Israel

Proclaim ... and say hasmf'u ... he will gather him yeqabbe§ennu

we'imrCi

your people v 11 Jacob

Israel v 12 And they shall come uba'u

v8 Look I will bring hinenf mebf' and cry for joy werinnenu

And I will gather them weqibba§tfm v 13 be glad tismaf:i

together yaf:idaw together yaf:idaw