14As for you, do not pray for this people, or lift up a cry or prayer on their behalf, for I will not listen when they call to me in the time of their trouble. 15What right has my beloved in my house, when she has done vile deeds? Can vowsa and sacrificial flesh avert your doom? Can you then exult? 16The LORD once called you, “A green olive tree, fair with goodly fruit” but with the roar of a great tempest he will set fire to it, and its branches will be consumed. 17The LORD of hosts, who planted you, has pronounced evil against you, because of the evil that the house of Israel and the house of Judah have done, provoking me to anger by making offerings to Baal.
Jeremiah’s Life Threatened
18It was the LORD who made it known to me, and I knew;
then you showed me their evil deeds.
19But I was like a gentle lamb
led to the slaughter.
And I did not know it was against me
that they devised schemes, saying,
“Let us destroy the tree with its fruit,
let us cut him off from the land of the living,
so that his name will no longer be remembered!”
20But you, O LORD of hosts, who judge righteously,
who try the heart and the mind,
let me see your retribution upon them,
for to you I have committed my cause.
21Therefore thus says the LORD concerning the people of Anathoth, who seek your life, and say, “You shall not prophesy in the name of the LORD, or you will die by our hand”—22therefore thus says the LORD of hosts: I am going to punish them; the young men shall die by the sword; their sons and their daughters shall die by famine; 23and not even a remnant shall be left of them. For I will bring disaster upon the people of Anathoth, the year of their punishment.
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a Gk: Heb Can many
11.1–17 The broken covenant. The prose sermon, built around a partial poetic oracle of judgment, is an addition in the form of a speech of judgment against Judah’s violation of the covenant. The sermon explains the destruction of Judah and Jerusalem and the Babylonian exile. Both language and theology reflect the Mosaic covenant and its ritual renewal found in Deuteronomy (also see 7.16–28; Josh 24). The formal character of the covenant consists of a historical prologue describing God’s acts of salvation on the people’s behalf (the exodus from Egypt and the gift of the land of Canaan, vv. 4–5); stipulations necessary for maintaining the covenantal relationship (heed the words of this covenant, v. 3); curses for violating the covenant (vv. 3, 8–13); blessings for keeping trust; and witnesses (Jeremiah serves as witness: “So be it, LORD,” v. 5).
11.3 See Deut 27.26.
11.4 See Deut 4.20.
11.5 That I may perform…ancestors. See Deut 7.8; 8.18; 9.5. A land flowing with milk and honey. See Deut 6.3; 11.9; 26.9, 15; 27.3. As at this day. Cf. Deut 2.30; 4.20, 38; 6.24; 8.18; 10.15; 29.28.
11.14 Jeremiah is not allowed to intercede for Judah to avert divine judgment (see 7.16; 14.11; Ex 32.30–32).
11.15 Sacrificial flesh. See 6.20; 7.21–22.
11.18–20.18 These chapters consist of various types of materials in both poetry and prose: laments, judgment oracles, biographical narratives, and oracles of salvation. However, dominating chs. 11–20 are the laments by Jeremiah, the Lord, and the people of Judah and Jerusalem. Jeremiah utters seven laments: 11.18–23; 12.1–6; 15.10–21; 17.14–18; 18.18–23; 20.7–12;20.14–18. The usual structure consists of two parts: the prophet’s complaint and the Lord’s response. A fragment of a lament describes the conversion of pagan nations (16.19–20). Parts of two thanksgiving psalms, often found as a response to laments, are inserted (17.12–13; 20.13). Two laments are attributed to the Lord (12.7–13; 14.17–18) and two others to the people of Jerusalem (14.1–10; 14.19–22). In two prose additions, Jeremiah is told to cease intercession, i.e., to stop offering a lament on behalf of the people in the effort to divert punishment for their sin (14.11–12;16.1–13). Another prose addition indicates that even if Moses and Samuel, two of Israel’s greatest prophets, were to intercede, punishment would not be avoided (15.1–4). Common in the Psalter (e.g., Pss 3; 4; 5; 6; 7; 9–10) and the book of Job, laments contain all or at least some of the following elements: invocation (call to God and initial pleas), complaint (description of suffering, reproachful questions), plea for help, condemnation of or imprecation against enemies, affirmation of confidence, confession of sins, acknowledgment of divine response, and hymnic elements (praise of God, blessings). Laments are often followed by thanksgiving psalms in which the worshiper praises and gives thanks to God for salvation (e.g., Pss 18; 21; 32; 34). The laments attributed to Jeremiah provide a unique look at the prophet’s inner struggle with faith, persecution, and human suffering. If they are Jeremiah’s own words, the laments could be placed in any period of his life. These laments interact with various judgment oracles, in both poetry and prose, which figure prominently in these chapters: 13.1–11, 12–14;13.15–17, 18–19, 20–27; 14.13–16; 15.5–9; 16.16–18, 21; 17.1–4. The setting presupposed by the judgment oracles is the siege of Jerusalem and the imminent exile, either in 597 or in 587 BCE. Biographical narratives also appear for the first time, to illustrate graphically the reasons for the laments and the reality of judgment and salvation: the potter and the clay (18.1–12), the broken earthenware jug (19.1–15), and persecution of Jeremiah by Pashhur the priest (20.1–6). Also present in the form of prose speeches (12.14–17;16.14–15) is the promise of salvation, similar to the ones found in the Book of Consolation in chs. 30–31. Finally, a conditional, “either-or” prose sermon offers judgment or salvation depending on whether the sabbath is honored (17.19–27).
11.18–23 The plot against Jeremiah’s life. The first lament of Jeremiah consists of a poetic complaint (vv. 18–20) and a prose response (vv. 21–23). In the complaint, Jeremiah indicates he is the innocent, unwitting target (gentle lamb, v. 19) of a plot against his life. As is common to laments in general and Jeremiah’s own complaints, the prophet seeks God’s protection and asks for divine retribution against the would-be evildoers.
11.19 To have one’s (good) name…remembered was greatly desired. Survival by means of memory was greatly coveted, for this, along with children, were the two major means of life beyond death in ancient Israel (see Gen 12.2; Eccl 2.16; 7.1.) A belief in resurrection did not clearly develop in Judaism until the second century BCE (see Dan 12.2).
11.20 The request for punishment of enemies is common in laments (e.g., Pss 3.7; 7.6).
11.21–23 The enemies of Jeremiah are identified in a prose addition as the people of Anathoth, i.e., his own family and neighbors. The reason for their persecution of Jeremiah is unclear.
JEREMIAH 12
Jeremiah Complains to God
1You will be in the right, O LORD,
when I lay charges against you;
but let me put my case to you.
Why does the way of the guilty prosper?
Why do all who are treacherous thrive?
2You plant them, and they take root;
they grow and bring forth fruit;
you are near in their mouths
yet far from their hearts.
3But you, O LORD, know me;
You see me and test me—my heart is with you.
Pull them out like sheep for the slaughter,
and set them apart for the day of slaughter.
4How long will the land mourn,
and the grass of every field wither?
For the wickedness of those who live in it
the animals and the birds are swept away,
and because people said, “He is blind to our ways.”a
God Replies to Jeremiah
5If you have raced with foot-runners and they have wearied you,
how will you compete with horses?
And if in a safe land you fall down,
how will you fare in the thickets of the Jordan?
6For even your
kinsfolk and your own family,
even they have dealt treacherously with you;
they are in full cry after you;
do not believe them,
though they speak friendly words to you.
7I have forsaken my house,
I have abandoned my heritage;
I have given the beloved of my heart
into the hands of her enemies.
8My heritage has become to me
like a lion in the forest;
she has lifted up her voice against me—
therefore I hate her.
9Is the hyena greedyb for my heritage at my command?
Are the birds of prey all around her?
Go, assemble all the wild animals;
bring them to devour her.
10Many shepherds have destroyed my vineyard,
they have trampled down my portion,
they have made my pleasant portion a desolate wilderness.
11They have made it a desolation;
desolate, it mourns to me.
The whole land is made desolate,
but no one lays it to heart.
12Upon all the bare heightsc in the desert
spoilers have come;
for the sword of the LORD devours
from one end of the land to the other;
no one shall be safe.
13They have sown wheat and have reaped thorns,
they have tired themselves out but profit nothing.
They shall be ashamed of theird harvests
because of the fierce anger of the LORD.
14Thus says the LORD concerning all my evil neighbors who touch the heritage that I have given my people Israel to inherit: I am about to pluck them up from their land, and I will pluck up the house of Judah from among them. 15And after I have plucked them up, I will again have compassion on them, and I will bring them again to their heritage and to their land, every one of them. 16And then, if they will diligently learn the ways of my people, to swear by my name, “As the LORD lives,” as they taught my people to swear by Baal, then they shall be built up in the midst of my people. 17But if any nation will not listen, then I will completely uproot it and destroy it, says the LORD.
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a Gk: Heb to our future
b Cn: Heb Is the hyena, the bird of prey
c Or the trails
d Heb your
12.1–6 Jeremiah’s second lament (see note on 11.18–23), the question of divine justice. In his complaint (vv. 1–4), Jeremiah accuses God of injustice: it is God who supports the wicked.
12.1–2 Put my case reflects the law court in which Jeremiah brings charges against God, who serves as judge. The theory of retribution, in which the righteous are rewarded and the wicked are punished, is questioned by the prophet.
12.5–6 God’s response is a warning that the present persecution of the prophet is only going to intensify.
12.7–13 The lament pictures God weeping over the destruction of Judah by invading enemies. The Lord, having abandoned the people, is the one who gives victory to the invaders.
12.7 My house, either the nation of Judah (Hos 9.15) or the temple (Jer 7.10).
12.14–17 Judgment against Judah’s neighbors, a prose oracle of salvation added during the exile. Judah’s neighbors may escape God’s future judgment at the conclusion of the exile only if they are converted to the worship of Yahweh. Common to oracles of salvation is the promise of the punishment of enemies (see 30.10–11).
JEREMIAH 13
The Linen Loincloth
1Thus said the LORD to me, “Go and buy yourself a linen loincloth, and put it on your loins, but do not dip it in water.” 2So I bought a loincloth according to the word of the LORD, and put it on my loins. 3And the word of the LORD came to me a second time, saying, 4“Take the loincloth that you bought and are wearing, and go now to the Euphrates,a and hide it there in a cleft of the rock.” 5So I went, and hid it by the Euphrates,b as the LORD commanded me. 6And after many days the LORD said to me, “Go now to the Euphrates,c and take from there the loincloth that I commanded you to hide there.” 7Then I went to the Euphrates,d and dug, and I took the loincloth from the place where I had hidden it. But now the loincloth was ruined; it was good for nothing.
8Then the word of the LORD came to me: 9Thus says the LORD: Just so I will ruin the pride of Judah and the great pride of Jerusalem. 10This evil people, who refuse to hear my words, who stubbornly follow their own will and have gone after other gods to serve them and worship them, shall be like this loincloth, which is good for nothing. 11For as the loincloth clings to one’s loins, so I made the whole house of Israel and the whole house of Judah cling to me, says the LORD, in order that they might be for me a people, a name, a praise, and a glory. But they would not listen.
Symbol of the Wine-Jars
12You shall speak to them this word: Thus says the LORD, the God of Israel: Every wine-jar should be filled with wine. And they will say to you, “Do you think we do not know that every wine-jar should be filled with wine?” 13Then you shall say to them: Thus says the LORD: I am about to fill all the inhabitants of this land—the kings who sit on David’s throne, the priests, the prophets, and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem—with drunkenness. 14And I will dash them one against another, parents and children together, says the LORD. I will not pity or spare or have compassion when I destroy them.
Exile Threatened
15Hear and give ear; do not be haughty,
for the LORD has spoken.
16Give glory to the LORD your God
before he brings darkness,
and before your feet stumble
on the mountains at twilight;
while you look for light,
he turns it into gloom
and makes it deep darkness.
17But if you will not listen,
my soul will weep in secret for your pride;
my eyes will weep bitterly and run down with tears,
because the LORD’s flock has been taken captive.
18Say to the king and the queen mother:
“Take a lowly seat,
for your beautiful crown
has come down from your head.”e
19The towns of the Negeb are shut up
with no one to open them;
all Judah is taken into exile,
wholly taken into exile.
20Lift up your eyes and see
those who come from the north.
Where is the flock that was given you,
your beautiful flock?
21What will you say when they set as head over you
those whom you have trained
to be your allies?
Will not pangs take hold of you,
like those of a woman in labor?
22And if you say in your heart,
“Why have these things come upon me?”
it is for the greatness of your iniquity
that your skirts are lifted up,
and you are violated.
23Can Ethiopiansf change their skin
or leopards their spots?
Then also you can do good
who are accustomed to do evil.
24I will scatter youg like chaff
driven by the wind from the desert.
25This is your lot,
the portion I have measured out to you, says the LORD,
because you have forgotten me
and trusted in lies.
26I myself will lift up your skirts over your face,
and your shame will be seen.
27I have seen your abominations,
your adulteries and neighings, your shameless prostitutions
on the hills of the countryside.
Woe to you, O Jerusalem!
How long will it be
before you are made clean?
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a Or to Parah; Heb perath
b Or by Parah; Heb p
erath
c Or to Parah; Heb perath
d Or to Parah; Heb perath
e Gk Syr Vg: Meaning of Heb uncertain
f Or Nubians; Heb Cushites
g Heb them
13.1–11 The linen loincloth. This prose narrative recounts a symbolic action by Jeremiah. A symbolic action graphically illustrates the message of a prophet (see chs. 19, 32). The structure involves three parts: the prophet is commanded by God to perform a symbolic act, the narrative reports that the act was carried out, and an explanation of the act is given. Loincloth, an undergarment covering the middle of the body. Linen was used for various types of clothing, sheets, curtains, and burial shrouds. All garments worn by priests were made of linen (Lev 16.4).
13.4 The Euphrates and the Tigris were the two major rivers that coursed through Babylonia. Carrying out the symbolic act beside the Euphrates may suggest that the ultimate interpretation of the action refers to exiles from Jerusalem deported to Babylon in 597 or 587/6 BCE. However, a broader interpretation that includes the exiles from the Northern Kingdom (722/1 BCE) cannot be ruled out (see v. 11). That Jeremiah actually twice made such a long journey of some four hundred miles is doubtful. The alternative Parah (see text note a), modern Khirbet Farah, is about five miles northeast of Jerusalem. A more likely possibility is that the journey, like the larger narrative, is a symbolic action, not to be taken literally.
13.7 That the loincloth was ruined points to Israel’s and Judah’s corruption by their stubborn sinfulness.
13.12–14 The symbol of the wine-jars. A prose speech, this oracle of judgment is issued against the leaders of Judah—kings, priests, and prophets—and against the citizens of Jerusalem. Quoting a popular proverb, every wine-jar should be filled with wine (v. 12), the speech is similar to the preceding narrative. Either the wine-jar filled with wine symbolizes a complacency that is expressed in the belief there will always be plenty, or the saying is a truism: wine-jars are made to hold wine.
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