I. Domestic Prophecies and History.-1. Till the destruction of Jerusalem, (i.-xxxix.)-2. After that event, before and after the flight to Ægypt, (xl.-xlv.) II. Prophecies relating to Foreign Nations, (xlvi.— li.) An appendix (lii.) relates the history of the last king, Zedekiah. The prophecies of the first part (i.-xxxix.) relate mostly to the destruction of Judah, then threatened by Babylon. The prophet sees this continually approaching, and admonishes the people to avert it, by a penitent and humble submission to the will of Jehovah, who gives the dominion to the Chaldeans. The prophet's reproaches, lamentations, and threats, are rarely interrupted by more cheerful views, but such occur in xxx. xxxi. and xxxiii. The prophecies of the second part (xl-xlv.) are directed against the flight to Egypt, against Egypt itself, and the Jews who dwelt there. The foreign prophecies in xlvi.-xlix. relate mostly to the victories of Nebuchadnezzar. But in l.— li. the destruction of the haughty Babylon itself is threatened. § 217, a. SPURIOUSNESS OF PARTS OF THE BOOK. Since some larger and smaller paragraphs have been inserted in the text," so likewise some false inscriptions have been added. Thus, for example, to judge from xxvi. 1, the inscription in xxvii. 1, is false-"In the beginning of the reign of Jehoiakim,. word unto Jeremiah." It should be Zedekiah." a § 218. came this [Verses 3, 12, 20, are against the time of Jehoiakim. Leclerc would In xlvii. 1, the date" before Pharaoh smote Gaza" -is false; for in this chapter the author predicts the destruction of the Philistines by a people from the north, (verse 2,) and not by the Ægyptians." The hard construction - "The word of Jehovah, that came to Jeremiah"- which occurs in xiv. 1, xlvi. 1,. and xlix. 34, but never in the Septuagint - seems to be the work of some foreign hand. Since the oracle, (xlix. 34-39,) to judge from the analogy of the others, against the same people, seems to belong to the fourth year of Jehoiakim, therefore it appears that the date is false in verse 34-"in the beginning of the reign of Zedekiah.” It seems the original inscription was "concerning Elam,” which is still preserved in the Septuagint. The date (i. 2, 3)—from the thirteenth of Josiah to the eleventh of Zedekiah - does not include the oracles in xl.—xliv., but belongs to an earlier collection; or else it originated in a mistake. Perhaps it was interpolated, because it applies to the last chapter of Jeremiah. Jeremiah cannot be the author of lii.; for in verse 31, sqq., events are related which took place after Jeremiah's insert before Jehoiakim. The contents of the chapter hardly agree with the first year of Zedekiah. Hitzig, in loc.] The Seventy have merely οὕτως εἶπε κύριος. * Here the Seventy have simply ἐπὶ τοὺς ἀλλοφύλους τάδε λέγει κύριος. d Movers (l. c. p. 35) explains the circumstance that the masoretic inscription of xlix. 34-39, is in the Seventy found at the end of the oracle, by the hypothesis that some one added the collection in xxvii.-xxix. to the original collection of oracles against foreign parts, [xlvi.—xlviii.,] but that another man afterwards separated these three chapters (xxvii.-xxix.) therefrom, and left the inscription of xxvii. remaining. On other inscriptions, probably added later, see Movers, 1. c. p. 24. time." The whole passage, with the exception of verses 28-30,- which are not in the Septuagint,-is borrowed from 2 Kings xxiv. 18-xxv. 30, and interpolated here. There are two interpolations in l. li., namely, 1. 39— 46, and li. 15-19. The first is borrowed from Isaiah, and other parts of Jeremiah: Jer. 1. 39-46. "Therefore the wild beasts of the desert, with the wild beasts of the islands, shall dwell there, and the owls shall dwell therein and it shall be no more inhabited forever; neither shall it be dwelt in from generation to generation. As God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah and the neighbor cities thereof, saith the Lord, so shall no man abide there, neither shall any son of man dwell therein. 66 'Behold, people shall come from the north, and a great nation, and many kings shall be raised up from the coasts of the earth. They shall hold the bow and the lance: they are cruel, and will not show mercy their voice shall roar like the sea, and they shall ride upon horses, every one put in array, like a man to the battle, against a Isa. xxxiv. 14. "The wild beasts of the desert shall also meet with the wild beasts of the island, and the satyr shall cry to his fellow; the screech-owl also shall rest there, and find for herself a place of rest." "And Chap. xiii. 19-21. Babylon, the glory of kingdoms, the beauty of the Chaldees' excellency, shall be as when God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah. It shall never be inhabited, neither shall it be dwelt in from generation to generation: neither shall the Arabian pitch tent there; neither shall the shepherds make their fold there but wild beasts of the desert shall lie there; and their houses shall be full of doleful creatures; and owls shall dwell there, and satyrs shall dance there." Jer. xlix. 18. "As in the overthrow of Sodom and Gomorrah [It relates, in part, what Jeremiah had treated of elsewhere, (xxxix. xl.;) in part, what took place at Babylon, while Jeremiah was in Egypt, whence he never returned; and, in part, what took place in the time of Evil-merodach, when, it is probable, Jeremiah was not alive. The subscription (li. 64) "Thus far the words of Jeremiah" - shows that his genuine books were supposed to end there. See also Hitzig, l. c. p. 415, sqq.] thee, O daughter of Babylon. and the neighbor cities thereof, saith the Lord, no man shall abide there, neither shall a son of man dwell in it." The king of Babylon hath heard the report of them, and his hands waxed feeble anguish took hold of him, and pangs as of a woman in travail. Behold, he shall come up like a lion from the swelling of Jordan unto the habitation of the strong but I will make them suddenly run away from her and who is a chosen man, that I may appoint over her? for who is like me? and who will appoint me the time? and who is that shepherd that will stand before me? Therefore hear ye the counsel of the Lord, that he hath taken against Babylon; and his purposes, that he hath purposed against the land of the Chaldeans: Surely the least of the flock shall draw them out: surely he shall make their habitation desolate with them. At the noise of the taking of Babylon the earth is moved, and the cry is heard among the nations." Jer. vi. 22-24. "Thus saith the Lord, Behold, a people cometh from the north country, and a great nation shall be raised from the sides of the earth. They shall lay hold on bow and spear; they are cruel, and have no mercy; their voice roareth like the sea, and they ride upon horses, set in array as men for war against thee, O daughter of Zion. We have heard the fame thereof: our hands wax feeble: anguish hath taken hold of us, and pain, as of a woman in travail.” "Behold, Chap. xlix. 19-—21. he shall come up like a lion from the swelling of Jordan against the habitation of the strong but I will suddenly make him run away from her: and who is a chosen | man, that I may appoint over her? for who is like me? and who will appoint me the time? and who is that shepherd that will stand before me? therefore hear the counsel of the Lord that he hath taken against Edom; and his purposes that he hath purposed against the inhabitants of Teman: Surely the least of the flock shall draw them out surely he shall make their habitations desolate with them. The earth is moved at the noise of their fall; at the cry, the noise thereof was heard in the Red Sea." The second is borrowed from earlier passages in Jere miah: a Jer. li. 15-19. "He hath made the earth by his power, he hath established the world by his wisdom, and hath stretched out the heaven by his understanding. When he uttereth his voice, there is a multitude of waters in the heavens; and he causeth the vapors to ascend from the ends of the earth: he maketh lightnings with rain, and bringeth forth the wind out of his treasures. Every man is brutish by his knowledge; every founder is confounded by the graven image for his molten image is falsehood, and there is no breath in them. They are vanity, the work of errors: in the time of their visitation they shall perish. The Portion of Jacob is not like them: for he is the former of all things and Israel is the rod of his inheritance: The Lord of hosts is his name." Jer. x. 12-16. "He hath made the earth by his power, he hath established the world by his wisdom, and hath stretched out the heavens by his discretion. When he uttereth his voice, there is a multitude of waters in the heavens, and he causeth the vapors to ascend from the ends of the earth; he maketh lightnings with rain, and bringeth forth the wind out of his treasures. Every man is brutish in his knowledge: every founder is confounded by the graven image: for his molten image is falsehood, and there is no breath in them. They are vanity, and the work of errors: in the time of their visitation they shall perish. The Portion of Jacob is not like them: for he is the former of all things; and Israel is the rod of his inheritance: The Lord of hosts is his name." The passage, li. 44-48,' which is omitted by the Seventy, is probably spurious; for the supposition in 1. 28, li. 11, 51, that the temple is destroyed, and the long duration of the Babylonian exile, in l. 33, do not agree with the date given in li. 59, 63, 64, although we find Movers, 1. c. p. 16. See doubts on the genuineness of this passage in Eichhorn, §542, a. Von Cöllen, in A. L. Z. Erganz. Blat. for 1828, xvi. p. Gramberg, 1. c. vol. ii. p. 396, sqq., and the 4th edition of this work. Knobel (vol. ii. p. 353, sqq.) ascribes it to Baruch. 118. From -, in verse 44, to 48. |