The Book of Jeremiah

Historical Background
 His historical background is unique- he lived before the exile, during the exile and after the
exile.
 Before the exile- words of doom, after the exile- words of hope.
 He got his vocation during the time of king Josiah, the reformer (640-609 BCE)
 Assyria and Egypt were trying to become superpowers, they were competing with each other to
take control of Syria and Palestine.
 There was the rise of Neo-Babylonians, Egypt felt threatened.
 Egyptian King Necho, marched to Haran, king Josiah tried to stop him at Meggido, but was
killed by Necho, (2kgs. 23:29)
 It was not merely a blow for Judah but a theological shock- theology of retribution- good
man but bad end. 2Kgs. 22-23, speaks about the reformation by Josiah.
 His son Jehoahaz was his successor, he ruled for three months, continuing the policy of
his father, Necho, summoned him to Riblah and sent him to exile to Egypt
 The king of Egypt, appointed his brother, Jehoiakim as king of Judah ( Jer. 22:10-11)
 Once more, Judah was under the shadow of Egypt
 As the Neo-Babylonians rose, Nabbukadnezzar became the commander-in chief of the
army, he dealt a severe blow to Pharoah Necho (Jer. 46:2, 3-12).
 With this Egypt lost its control over Syria and Palestine, but they came under the shadow
of Babylon
 Nebuchadnezzar made Jehoakim as his vasal, but at least on two occasions, it rebelled
against Babylon
 The book of kings tells that he had a natural death, but probably he was assassinated
 The absence of mourning rites and other dishonor mentioned in 22:18-19
 He was autocratic and tyrannical – so people had disregard for him (22:13-17)
 His son Jehoiachin succeeded him – in 597 BCE, Nebuchadnezzar came in person and
carried off Jehoiachin into exile to Babylon and appointed his uncle Zedekiah, the
incompetent person as king
 Zedekiah, was a weakling, under the pressure of his nobles and counsellors, rebelled
against Babylon
 As a result temple was destroyed the city walls were razed to the ground. The total
destruction of Jerusalem took place 587-586 (Jer. 52:12)
 In this situation, Jeremiah prophesied and consisted in his message, requesting king and
people to return to Yahweh (3; 26:3), and to submit to Nabukadnezzar to whom Yahweh
had handed over not only Judah (34:2) but other nations as well (27:4-6)
 But Judah refused to “return” to the Lord, so Jeremiah weeps for his country (8: 18b-23)
 Vocation of Jeremiah (1:4-10)
 The narrative of vocation of Jeremiah is an extraordinary summary of the life and
message of the prophet.
 It gives a profound insight into the personality and into the uphill tasks the prophet
received from Yahweh
 Parallel call narratives, Moses (Ex. 3:1-12) and Gideon (Judg. 6:11-18)
 Three verbs used to describe the call narrative of Jeremiah, yada “to know”, or ‘to
choose”, hiqdish, ‘to consecrate or set apart’ , and natan, ‘to give or appoint’ (1:5)
 Jeremiah has been chosen paradoxically before he was born, before he was formed or
confined in the womb.
 Secondly he was appointed as prophet to the nations and not only to Judah
 Jeremiah was ordered by Yahweh to bring the message to the ambassadors of the
surrounding nations- during the reign of Zedekiah, a coalition against Babylon
 Jeremiah objects to the call, because he is youth (na’ar), Yahweh reassures him of his
protection (vv.6-9), it was probably, in the year 627 BCE, thirteenth of Josaih (1:2)
 Message

New Covenant
 In the old covenant, there are two types- conditional covenant and unconditional covenant
 Conditional covenant – Sinai covenant. Ex.19:4-6, Ex.24:1-7, it was bi-lateral. If you
obey I will be your God, and you will be my people
 Unconditional covenant: known as the Davidic covenant. We find this in 2 Sam 7:4-17- it
was unilateral- you will reign forever and ever, this was followed in SK
 In 722 BCE the NK fell. So people thought the true covenant was the unconditional
covenant
 When the SK fell in 587 BCE, they were in physical and spiritual crisis.
 They had no king, no temple, they wondered if God still loved them, what about his
promises? Has he abandoned us? In this context, Jeremiah comes with the new Covenant
(31:31-34
 There is an initiative from God, we read the word ‘thus says the Lord’ four times. It is an
unconditional covenant.
 Covenant is not on stone tablets like the Sinai Covenant, but on the tablets of the heart
 .
 It is a theological high point in the OT, the idea of new covenant is found in Ezekiel
(Ez.34:25) and second Isaiah (Isa.55:3), Jeremiah is the first one to use the expression
‘berit hadasha’ or ‘new covenant’, which is uniquely his
 In the NT, Jeremiah’s ‘new covenant’ in the Last supper narrative in Luke (LK. 22:20),
Jesus is claiming to fulfil Jeremiah’s words
 The introductory formula, ‘the days are surely coming, says the Lord,’ appears often in
the final reduction of the book.
 It appears three times, in v.27, 38, besides v.31 ( 9:24; 16:14; 19:6; 23:7; 30:3; 33:14
48:12; 48:12; 49:2; 51:52)
 The phrase, ‘says the Lord’, Hebrew , neum yhwh or ‘whisper of Yahweh’
 The emphasis is that Jeremiah is passing on to us a message that is not his own but which
has its origin in God himself.
 The new covenant that is promised is contrasted with the earlier one at Sinai
 The new covenant is unbreakable and it is everlasting. This is explicitly mentioned
elsewhere, “I will make an everlasting covenant (berit olam) (32:40)
 it will not be written on stone tablets but on our hearts, in the new covenant there will be
no need for an intermediary or teacher.
 No longer only material prosperity, there is spiritual dimension is brought into the
covenant. Forgiveness of sins which was not to be found in Sinai covenant.
 Material prosperity too included “and I will restore your fortunes” (29:14; 30:3, 18,23;
32:44; 33:7,11; 34:26), of the nations (49:8; 49:39)
 ZEPHANIAH

 There was a moral decay in the soil of Manassesh’s reign.

 The king reversed the effects of his father’s religious reform of the previous century.
 During his time, the prophetic voice was muffled by the oppressive policies of this wicked
king.
 Towards the end of Assubanipal’s (Assyrian king) reign and early in Josiah’s rule, again
the prophets began to address the spiritual and political affairs of the time.
 Zephaniah was stepped forth to announce the Day of the Lord and to confer hope on the
remnant that still kept Yahweh's commandment
 The Message

 Zephaniah did not explicitly champion the cause of the poor as Amos, Isaiah and Micah
had done.
 Yet he was keenly aware of injustice (3:3-4)
 It was out of that sense of justice that Zephaniah perceived the sharp lines of the Day of
the Lord.
The Day of the Lord
 Zephaniah called Judah to silence before the Lord in deference to the nearness of the
awful day (1:7)
 His glossary of terms includes “the day of the Lord’s sacrifice” (1:8a), “that day’,(1:9,
10:3:11, 16), ‘that time’ (1:12; 3:10), “the great day of the Lord’ (1:14); ‘the day of the
Lord’s wrath’(1:18), and simply ‘day of wrath’ in 1:15; 2:2 and 3 use a synonym for
‘wrath’
 Other terms are “day of trouble and distress”, “day of destruction and desolation’, ‘day of
darkness and gloom’, ‘day of clouds and thick darkness’, and ‘day of trumpet and battle
cry’ (1:15-16a)
 For our prophet the Day of the Lord was near. In 1:14 he puts twice the word ‘near’, to
emphasize its impending nature.
 Day of the Lord is the day of Judgment both on Judah and the nations.
 IT IS ALSO A DAY OF SALVATION. The great important idea is that the Day of the
Lord will visit not only judgement on Judah and the nations but also salvation.
 Judah’s salvation will come through the remnant (2:7) and the Lord will restore her
fortunes (2:7; 3:20)
 Yahweh is in the midst of Israel is just and righteous (3:5), he is the king of Israel (3:15),
and he is a warrior who brings about victory (3:17)
 So Judahites will be able to graze in peace with no fear of any threats from oppressors and
plunders, Yahweh will shepherd them (3:13)
 As a result of this the prophet invites Israel to sing a hymn of joy to Yahweh (3:14-18),
Yahweh himself will join in the dancing with shouts of joy.
 No need to be in fear and panic (3:15-16)
 Now there will be only shouts of joy or loud singing from Yahweh himself who will
renew Israel with his love (3:17)
 DUTERO ISSIAH

UNIVRSALISATION OF SALVATION
 No other prophets can match with the second Isaiah on this topic, he was eminent and
creative post-exilic theologian.
 The book of Jonah and the book of Ruth deal with this topic, however, they cannot match
his breadth of vision.
 This theme is propounded both in the four songs of the servant (Isa. 42:1-7; 49:1-9; 50:4-
9; 52:13-53:12), as well as in the rest of the book
 In the songs of the servant, the servant of the Lord (‘ebed yhwh) is a royal or messianic
figure
 The word ‘ebed’ (servant) does not have the connotation of ‘slave’, according to the text
like Psalms, where it is applied to David (Ps. 89:3, 20) and others which speak of Moses
( Dt. 34:5; Num. 12:8b; 2 Kgs. 21:8; 2 Chr. 1:3)
 But David and Moses services were confined to Israel. But in the songs of the servant,
“the servant” mentioned in the songs, that is a messianic figure, whose service goes
beyond Israel, all other nations.
 According to the First song (Isa 42:1-4), “his task is to bring forth justice to the goyim,
nations” (42:1b)
 42:2a, “He will not grow faint or be crushed … established justice to the earth”
 42:2b, fortunately for him “the coastlands wait for his tora or teaching”
 49: 5a and 6a, in the second song, his task is not only to bring back home the survivors of
Israel from the exile, but he is also chosen as “the light of the goyim, nations
 As a result of this salvation that comes from Yahweh reaches to the ends of the earth
(4:6b), in this text universalism of salvation is expressed
 In the rest of the theme of universalism of salvation is propounded in almost identical
words in the songs.
 Isa. 51: 4-5, “ listen to me…., this text has a lot of similarities to the first song, the servant
refers to Yahweh himself.
 Historical situation: Cyrus gave freedom to back to their country not only to the Jews but
to many other peoples.
 Second Isaiah tells us that Yahweh has chosen Cyrus as his instrument of salvation not
only for his own people but for all nations
 Finally, second Isaiah shows how Yahweh who is the creator God has given breath to all
human beings and life to all the creatures that move upon it.
 Yahweh is interested not only in the salvation of a few Jews, but also to all human beings
(42:5)
 The servant chosen as a covenant for the people of Israel is also destined to be or
goyim/ammim or light of the nations/peoples, who will bring release to whoever is sitting
in the darkness of the dungeon (42:6-7)