Witnessing a Prophetic Text in the Making

Noam Mizrahi

• Publisher: De Gruyter
• Year: 2017
• ISBN:
  9783110530001
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Teologia e religione
• Subtopic: Critica e interpretazione biblica

The book of Jeremiah poses a challenge to biblical scholarship in terms of its literary composition and textual fluidity. This study offers an innovative approach to the problem by focusing on an instructive case study. Building on the critical recognition that the prophecy contained in Jer 10: 1-16 is a composite text, this study systematically discusses the various literary strands discernible in the prophecy: satirical depictions of idolatry, an Aramaic citation, and hymnic passages. A chapter is devoted to each strand, revealing its compositional development—from the earliest recoverable stages down to its late reception. A range of pertinent evidence—culled from the literary, text-critical, and linguistic realms—is examined and sets within broader perspectives, with an eye open to cultural history and the development of theological outlook.
The investigation of a particular text has important implications for the textual and compositional history of Jeremiah as a whole. Rather than settling for the common opinion that Jeremiah developed in two main stages, reflected in the MT and LXX respectively, a nuanced supplementary model is advocated, which better accords with the complexity of the available evidence.

Chapter 1
From cult to polemic

(Jer 10:2–5, 8–9, 14–16)

2 Thus says the LORD: Do not learn the way of the nations, or be dismayed at the signs of the heavens; for the nations are dismayed at them. 3 For the customs of the peoples are false: a tree from the forest is cut down, and worked with an ax by the hands of an artisan; 4 people deck it with silver and gold; they fasten it with hammer and nails so that it cannot move. 5 Their idols are like a wrought palm tree, and they cannot speak; they have to be carried, for they cannot walk. Do not be afraid of them, for they cannot do evil, nor is it in them to do good. […] 8 They are both stupid and foolish; the instruction given by idols is no better than wood! 9 Beaten silver is brought from Tarshish, and gold from Uphaz. They are the work of the artisan and of the hands of the goldsmith; their clothing is blue and purple; they are all the product of skilled workers. […] 14 Everyone is stupid and without knowledge; goldsmiths are all put to shame by their idols; for their images are false, and there is no breath in them. 15 They are worthless, a work of delusion; at the time of their punishment they shall perish. 16 Not like these is the LORD, the portion of Jacob, for he is the one who formed all things, and Israel is the tribe of his inheritance; the LORD of hosts is his name (NRSV, slightly modified in v. 5).

§1Prolusion

Three passages that mock idolatry – vv. 2–5, 8–9, 14–16 – comprise the principle literary strand of the prophecy contained in Jer 10:1–16. Quantitatively, these passages encompass more than half of the material contained in the prophetic unit. Qualitatively, they grant the entire prophecy its anti-idolatrous character, which extends to other literary strands even though they do not necessarily express the same ideological trend on their own. Thus, the harsh, satirical presentation of the idols as human-made objects easily absorbs the Aramaic passage (v. 11), which predicts destruction for “gods that did not make the heavens and the earth.” The hymnic passages, which praise YHWH as the creator (vv. 12–13) and universal sovereign (vv. 6–7, 10), are likewise easily integrated into the fabric of the prophecy as presenting a counterbalance for the idols’ impotency to do anything at all.

From a compositional point of view, each of the strands now intertwined in the prophecy can be separated analytically from the others, thus revealing their original independence as textual segments. However, only the satirical passages form a coherent sequence of their own, exhibiting a narrative-like logic that guides its sequence. The hymnic passages do not converge; they are best regarded as either complete or fragmentary poems supplemented to the prophecy at different stages in its compositional history.54 In many respects, the Aramaic passage is a sui generis fragment in prophetic literature at large.55 The satirical passages, by contrast, are so tightly interconnected in their language, literary form, subject matter, and ideology that they must be regarded as stemming from the same original document, which was only secondarily divided into distinct paragraphs.

furnishes partial confirmation for the original continuity between the satirical passages; there, two hymnic passages (vv. 6–7, 10) are entirely absent, and the satirical passages separated by them are closely combined (albeit with some important textual variation, discussed below). Nevertheless,

does not fully preserve the original form of the prophetic unit because there too, hymnic (vv. 12–13) and Aramaic (v. 11) passages interfere between the satirical passages (vv. 2–5a + 9 + 5b on the one hand and vv. 14–16 on the other). Apparently,

already evinces the marks of a relatively late reworking and supplementation.56

Study of the satirical passages should also take into account another aspect of the literary evidence. While these passages appear to stem from an original, continuous document, this reconstructed text does not necessarily form an unanalyzable literary unity. On the contrary, the starting point for this chapter is the recognition that a close reading of the satirical passages exposes internal tensions suggesting that this strand of material should be viewed as a literary composite comprising of two sub-strands.

On the one hand, the satirical passages contain a series of clauses that depict in great detail the process of manufacturing statues of gods (vv. 3b–5a, 9). These clauses emphasize the high value of the precious materials utilized for making the cult images: silver and gold imported from distant lands, and blue and purple garments that typify royal and divine clothing. These clauses also highlight the skilled craftsm...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Title Page
• Copyright
• Contents
• Acknowledgments
• Introduction
• Chapter 1 From cult to polemic (Jer 10:2–5, 8–9, 14–16)
• Chapter 2 From wisdom to hymn (Jer 10:12–13)
• Chapter 3 Language and identity (Jer 10:11)
• Chapter 4 From nature to history (Jer 10:10)
• Chapter 5 An orison of incomparability (Jer 10:6–7)
• Synthesis and conclusions
• Bibliography
• Index of sources
• Index of authors
• Index of words and phrases