AUTHOR

Jeremiah is the second longest book of the Bible, next to the Psalms. It is the only book of the Old Testament that tells us some details of its origin. According to 36:1-26, Baruch had written a first version at the dictation of Jeremiah. The scroll was initially read in public and then again for the state officials and for the king. Because the words in the scroll angered King Jehoiakim, he cut up the scroll and burnt it piece by piece. Jeremiah therefore dictated a second and enlarged edition of the first book to Baruch (36:32). Additional references to Jeremiah’s own writing activity (25:13; 30:2; 51:60) suggest that the scroll of 36:32 is not identical to the present form of the biblical book. Third person references to Jeremiah after chapter 25 suggest that perhaps the scroll of 36:32 may be confined to chapters 1–25.

STRUCTURE AND CONTENT

Biblical scholars have struggled to explain the arrangement of Jeremiah’s prophecies. The book is not arranged chronologically as a whole, although some chronological arrangement is apparent. No theory has achieved a consensus, but various devices (such as theme, style, audience, and rhetoric) are summoned to explain certain connections. The book is often considered an anthology of prophetic units that were collected and combined at various times with little intentionality.

A useful proposal recently made by Richard Patterson is that the prophecies were arranged according to the prophet’s divine call to be a prophet to the nations (1:4-19) and to Judah in particular (1:13-19). He identifies a twofold structure to the book that reverses those emphases: chapters 2–24 focus on Jeremiah and his people; chapters 25–51 focus on Jeremiah and the nations. On either end are the description of the prophetic call and commission in chapter 1 and the historical appendix in chapter 52. The two main sections each begin with a subsection that sets forth the theme (2:1–3:5 and 25:1-38), followed by a subsection that develops the theme (3:6–23:40 and 26:1–51:58), and concluding with a sign (24:1-10 and 51:59-64).

The so-called confessions of Jeremiah (11:18-23; 12:1-4; 15:10-21; 17:14-18; 18:19-23; 20:7-18) are scattered through chapters 11–20. Oracles of hope (chaps. 30–31) interrupt the stories about Jeremiah (chaps. 26–45). Words against kings (21:11–22:30) and against prophets (23:9-40) appear to be independent collections.

TEXT OF THE BOOK

The earliest Greek version of Jeremiah, dating back to pre-Christian centuries, is more than 12.5 percent shorter than the Hebrew text (although it adds about a hundred verses not found in the Hebrew). Only a few longer sections are missing (33:14-26; 39:4-13). The Greek text rather uses less titles and epithets, and single words and verses are missing throughout the book. More than 2,700 words of the Hebrew text do not have Greek equivalents. Fragments of Hebrew manuscripts from Qumran show that a longer and a shorter Hebrew text existed side-by-side in the time of Jesus.

THE RELIABILITY OF JEREMIAH

It is common these days for critical scholars to dismiss the idea that God might speak directly to someone. They consider prophetic utterances to be mere literary devices, and they assume predictions are impossible. They don’t even consider the possibility that what Jeremiah had to say might be true.

Such accusations, however, are nothing new. Jeremiah himself faced significant opposition during his time as a prophet of God, and he saw little or no fruit for any of his labors. His words were discounted by everyone almost as soon as he said them. And yet, despite everything, he persisted in his ministry.

Jeremiah strongly believed that he was delivering a message from God (1:2-3; 2:5; 34:1). When he was imprisoned (32:2; 37:15) and even threatened with death (26:8), he did not recant his prophecies nor reverse his claim that they were messages from God (26:12). A man may be willing to die for something he mistakenly thinks is true, but one will seldom die for something he knows to be a sham. Jeremiah was in a unique position to know whether or not his words were a revelation from God. Given the way he lived his life in the face of such opposition, we can be sure that these words are not the rantings of a madman.

The words about Jeremiah’s call to ministry—“I chose you before I formed you in the womb; I set you apart before you were born. I appointed you a prophet to the nations” (1:5)—have caused some to think that the date of Jeremiah’s call and birth is one and the same. However, this is not likely to have been the case. The plain sense of the text is that God was thinking about Jeremiah and planning his life before he was born, and he had already designated Jeremiah as a prophet, but Jeremiah’s commissioning took place when he was “a youth” (see v. 6; this Hb word most commonly refers to men in their teens). The important points to note are that God alone chose Jeremiah and that God spoke through his chosen prophet.