,jeremiah ,being ,the ,baird ,lecture for #aibb ,by ,george ,adam ,smith ,new ,york ,george ,h4 ,doran ,company #aibd ,,contents ,dedication4 ,preface4 ,preliminary4 ,lecture ,i4 ,the ,man ,and ,the ,book4 ,lecture ,,ii4 ,the ,poet4 ,lecture ,,iii4 ,the ,prophet--,his ,youth ,and ,his ,call4 ,lecture ,,iv4 ,the ,prophet ,in ,the ,reign ,of ,josiah4 #a4 ,his ,earliest ,oracles4 7,,ii4 #b-;,,iv4 #d47 #b4 ,oracles on the ,scythians4 7,with some others3 ,,iv4 #e-,,vi4 #bi47 #c4 ,jeremiah and ,deuteronomy4 7,chs4 ,,vii1 ,,viii4 #h1 ,,xi47 ,lecture ,v4 ,under ,jehoiakim4 #a4 ,from ,megiddo to ,carchemish1 #fjh-fje4 #b4 ,parables4 7,,xiii1 ,,xviii-,,xx1 ,,xxxv47 #c4 ,oracles on the ,edge of ,doom4 7,,vii4 #af-,,xviii passim1 ,,xxii1 ,,xlv47 ,lecture ,,vi4 ,to ,the ,end ,and ,after4 #a4 ,the ,release of ,hope4 7,,xxiv1 ,,xxix47 #b4 ,prophets and ,prophets4 7,,xxiii4 #i-cb1 ,,xxvii-,,xxix1 etc47 #c4 ,the ,siege4 7,,xxi1 ,,xxxii-,,xxxiv1 ,,xxxvii1 ,,xxxviii47 #d4 ,and ,after4 7,,xxx1 ,,xxxi1 ,,xxxix-,,xliv47 ,lecture ,,vii4 ,the ,story ,of ,his ,soul4 #a4 ,protest and ,agony4 7,i1 ,,iv4 #aj1 #ai1 ,,vi4 #aa1 ,,xi4 #ah-,,xii4 #f1 ,,xv4 #aj-,,xvi4 #i1 ,,xvii4 #ad-ah1 ,,xviii4 #ah-bc1 ,,xx4 #g-ah47 #b4 ,predestination4 7,i1 ,,xviii1 etc47 #c4 ,sacrifice4 ,lecture ,,viii4 ,god1 ,man ,and ,the ,new ,covenant4 #a4 ,god4 #b4 ,man and the ,new ,covenant4 ,appendix ,i4 ,medes ,and ,scythians4 ,appendix ,,ii4 ,necoh's ,campaign4 ,index ,of ,texts4 ,index ,of ,names ,and ,subjects4 ,footnotes ,,dedication4 ,,to ,,the ,,union ,,of ,,the ,,scottish ,,churches ,,preface4 ,the purpose and the scope of this volume are set forth in the beginning of ,lecture ,i4 ,lecture ,,ii4 explains the various metrical forms in which ,i understand ,jeremiah to have delivered the most of his prophecies1 and which ,i have endeavoured1 however imperfectly1 to reproduce in ,english4 ,here it is necessary only to emphasise the variety of these forms1 the irregularities which are found in them1 and the occasional passage of the ,prophet from verse to prose and from prose to verse1 after the manner of some other bards or rhapsodists of his race4 ,the reader will keep in mind that what appear as metrical irregularities on the printed page would not be felt to be so when sung or chanted2 just as is the case with the folk-songs of ,palestine to-day4 ,i am well aware that metres so primitive and by our canons so irregular have been more rhythmically rendered by the stately prose of our ,english ,versions2 yet it is our duty reverently to seek for the original forms and melodies of what we believe to be the ,oracles of ,god4 ,the only other point connected with the metrical translations offered1 which need be mentioned here1 is that ,i have rendered the name of the ,god of ,israel as it is by the ,greek and our own ,versions--,the ,lord--which is more suitable to ,english verse than is either ,yahweh or ,jehovah4 ,the text of the ,lectures and the footnotes show how much ,i owe to those who have already written on ,jeremiah1 as also in what details ,i differ from one or another of them4 ,i have retained the form of ,lectures for this volume1 but ,i have very much expanded and added to what were only six ,lectures of an hour each when delivered under the auspices of the ,baird ,trust in ,glasgow in #aibb4 ,george ,adam ,smith4 ,,chanonry ,,lodge1 ,,old ,,aberdeen1 #ahth ,october1 #aibc4 ,,preliminary4 ,first of all1 ,i thank the ,baird ,trustees for their graceful appointment to this ,lecture of a member of what is still1 though please ,god not for long1 another ,church than their own4 ,i am very grateful for the privilege which they grant me of returning to ,glasgow with the accomplishment of a work the materials for which were largely gathered during the years of my professorship in the city4 ,the value of the opportunity is enhanced by all that has since befallen our nation and the world4 ,the ,great ,war invested the experience of the ,prophet1 who is the subject of this ,lecture1 with a fresh and poignant relevance to our own problems and duties4 ,like ourselves1 ,jeremiah lived through the clash not only of empires but of opposite ethical ideals1 through the struggles and panics of small peoples1 through long and terrible fighting1 famine1 and slaughter of the youth of the nations1 with all the anxieties to faith and the problems of ,providence1 which such things naturally raise4 ,passionate for peace1 he was called to proclaim the inevitableness of war1 in opposition to the popular prophets of a false peace2 but later he had to counsel his people to submit to their foes and to accept their captivity1 thus facing the hardest conflict a man can who loves his own--between patriotism and common sense1 between his people's gallant efforts for freedom and the stern facts of the world1 between national traditions and pieties on the one side and on the other what he believed to be the ,will of ,god4 ,these are issues which the successive generations of our race are called almost ceaselessly to face2 and the teaching and example of the great ,prophet1 who dealt with them through such strenuous debates both with his fellow-men and with his ,god1 and who brought out of these debates spiritual results of such significance for the individual and for the nation1 cannot be without value for ourselves4 ,lecture ,i4 ,,the ,,man ,,and ,,the ,,book4 ,in this and the following lectures ,i attempt an account and estimate of the ,prophet ,jeremiah1 of his life and teaching1 and of the ,book which contains them--but especially of the man himself1 his personality and his tempers 7there were more than one71 his religious experience and its achievements1 with the various high styles of their expression2 as well as his influence on the subsequent religion of his people4 ,it has often been asserted that in ,jeremiah's ministry more than in any other of the ,old ,covenant the personality of the ,prophet was under ,god the dominant factor1 and one has even said that 8his predecessors were the originators of great truths1 which he transmuted into spiritual life407#a7 ,to avoid exaggeration here1 we must keep in mind how large a part personality played in their teaching also1 and from how deep in their lives their messages sprang4 ,even ,amos was no mere voice crying in the wilderness4 ,the discipline of the desert1 the clear eye for ordinary facts and the sharp ear for sudden alarms which it breeds1 along with the desert shepherd's horror of the extravagance and cruelties of civilisation--all these reveal to us the ,man behind the ,book1 who had lived his truth before he uttered it4 ,hosea again1 tells the story of his outraged love as the beginning of the ,word of the ,lord by him4 ,and it was the strength of ,isaiah's character1 which1 unaided by other human factors1 carried ,judah1 with the faith she enshrined1 through the first great crisis of her history4 ,yet recognise1 as we justly may1 the personalities of these prophets in the nerve1 the colour1 the accent1 and even the substance of their messages1 we must feel the still greater significance of ,jeremiah's temperament and other personal qualities both for his own teaching and for the teaching of those who came after him4 ,thanks to his loyal scribe1 ,baruch1 we know more of the circumstances of his career1 and thanks to his own frankness1 we know more of his psychology than we do in the case of any of his predecessors4 ,he has1 too1 poured out his soul to us by the most personal of all channels2 the charm1 passion and poignancy of his verse lifting him high among the poets of ,israel4 ,so far as our materials enable us to judge no other prophet was more introspective or concerned about himself2 and though it might be said that he carried this concern to a fault1 yet fault or none1 the fact is that no prophet started so deeply from himself as ,jeremiah did4 ,his circumstances flung him in upon his feelings and convictions2 he was constantly searching1 doubting1 confessing1 and pleading for1 himself4 ,he asserted more strenuously than any except ,job his individuality as against ,god1 and he stood in more lonely opposition to his people4 ,jeremiah was called to prophesy about the time that the religion of ,israel was re-codified in ,deuteronomy--the finest system of national religion which the world has seen1 but only and exclusively national--and he was still comparatively young when that system collapsed for the time and the religion itself seemed about to perish with it4 ,he lived to see the ,law fail1 the ,nation dispersed1 and the ,national ,altar shattered2 but he gathered their fire into his bosom and carried it not only unquenched but with a purer flame towards its everlasting future4 ,we may say without exaggeration that what was henceforth finest in the religion of ,israel had1 however ancient its sources1 been recast in the furnace of his spirit4 ,with him the human unit in religion which had hitherto been mainly the nation was on the way to become the individual4 ,personal piety in later ,israel largely grew out of his spiritual struggles47#b7 ,his forerunners1 it is true1 had insisted that religion was an affair not of national institutions nor of outward observance1 but of the people's heart--by which heart they and their hearers must have understood the individual hearts composing it4 ,but1 in urging upon his generation repentance1 faith and conversion to ,god1 ,jeremiah's language is more thorough and personal than that used by any previous prophet4 ,the individual1 as he leaves ,jeremiah's hands1 is more clearly the direct object of the ,divine ,interest and ,grace1 and the instrument of the ,divine ,will4 ,the single soul is searched1 defined and charged as never before in ,israel4 ,but this sculpture of the individual out of the mass of the nation1 this articulation of his immediate relation to ,god apart from ,law1 ,temple and ,race1 achieved as it was by ,jeremiah only through intense mental and physical agonies1 opened to him the problem of the sufferings of the righteous4 ,in his experience the individual realised his ,self only to find that ,self--its rights1 the truths given it and its best service for ,god--baffled by the stupidity and injustice of those for whom it laboured and agonised4 ,the mists of pain and failure bewildered the ,prophet and to the last his work seemed in vain4 ,whether or not he himself was conscious of the solution of the problem1 others reached it through him4 ,there are grounds for believing that the ,figure of the ,suffering ,servant of the ,lord1 raised by the ,great ,prophet of the ,exile1 and the idea of the atoning and redemptive value of ,his sufferings were1 in part at least1 the results of meditation upon the spiritual loneliness on the one side1 and upon the passionate identification of himself with the sorrows of his sinful people on the other1 of this the likest to ,christ of all the prophets47#c7 99 99 99 99 99 ,for our knowledge of this great life--there was none greater under the ,old ,covenant--we are dependent on that ,book of our ,scriptures1 the ,hebrew text of which bears the simple title 8,jeremiah40 ,the influence of the life and therefore the full stature of the man who lived it1 stretches1 as ,i have hinted1 to the latest bounds of ,hebrew history1 and many writings and deeds were worshipfully assigned to him4 ,thus the ,greek ,version of the ,old ,testament ascribes ,lamentations to ,jeremiah1 but the poems themselves do not claim to be1 and obviously are not1 from himself4 ,he is twice quoted in ,,ii4 ,chronicles and once in ,ezra1 but these quotations may be reasonably interpreted as referring to prophecies contained in our book1 which were therefore extant before the date of the ,chronicler47#d7 ,ecclesiasticus ,,xlix4 #f-g reflects passages of our ,book1 and of ,lamentations1 as though equally ,jeremiah's1 and ,daniel ,,ix4 #b refers to ,jeremiah ,,xxv4 #ab4 ,a paragraph in the ,second ,book of ,maccabees1 ,ch4 ,,ii4 #a-h1 contains1 besides echoes of our ,book of ,jeremiah1 references to other activities of the ,prophet of which the sources and the value are unknown to us4 ,but all these references1 as well as the series of apocryphal and apocalyptic works to which the name either of ,jeremiah himself or of ,baruch1 his scribe1 has been attached17#e7 only reveal the length of the shadow which the ,prophet's figure cast down the ages1 and contribute no verifiable facts to our knowledge of his career or of his spiritual experience4 ,for the actual life of ,jeremiah1 for the man as he was to himself and his contemporaries1 for his origin1 character1 temper1 struggles1 growth and modes of expression1 we have practically no materials beyond the ,canonical ,book to which his name is prefixed47#f7 ,roughly classified the contents of the ,book 7after the extended title in ,ch4 ,i4 #a-c7 are as follows3-- #a4 ,a ,prologue1 ,ch4 ,i4 #d-ai1 in which the ,prophet tells the story of his call and describes the range of his mission as including both his own people and foreign nations4 ,the year of his call was #fbg-f ,b4,c4 #b4 ,a large number of ,oracles1 dialogues between the ,prophet and the ,deity and symbolic actions by the ,prophet issuing in ,oracles1 mostly introduced as by ,jeremiah himself1 but sometimes reported of him by another4 ,most of the ,oracles are in verse2 the style of the rest is not distinguishable by us from prose4 ,they deal almost exclusively with the ,prophet's own people though there are some references to neighbouring tribes4 ,the bulk of this class of the contents is found within ,chs4 ,,ii-,,xxv1 which contain all the earlier oracles1 i4e4 those uttered by ,jeremiah before the death of ,king ,josiah in #fjh1 but also several of his prophecies under ,jehoiakim and even edekiah4 ,more of the latter are found within ,chs4 ,,xxvii-,,xxxv3 all these1 except ,,xxviii and part of ,,xxxii1 which are introduced by the ,prophet himself1 are reported by another4 #c4 ,a separate group of ,oracles on ,foreign ,nations1 ,chs4 ,,xlvi-,,li1 reported to us as ,jeremiah's4 #d4 ,a number of narratives of episodes in the ,prophet's life from #fjh onwards under ,jehoiakim and edekiah to the end in ,egypt1 soon after #ehf2 apparently by a contemporary and eyewitness who on good grounds is generally taken to be ,baruch the ,scribe3 ,chs4 ,,xxvi1 ,,xxxvi-,,xlv2 but to the same source may be due much of ,chs4 ,,xxvii-,,xxxv 7see under #b74 #e4 ,obvious expansions and additions throughout all the foregoing2 and a historical appendix in ,ch4 ,,lii1 mainly an excerpt from ,,ii4 ,kings ,,xxiv-,,xxv4 ,on the face of it1 then1 the ,book is a compilation from several sources2 and perhaps we ought to translate the opening clause of its title not as in our versions 8,the ,words of ,jeremiah10 but 8,the ,history of ,jeremiah10 as has been legitimately done by some scholars since ,kimchi4 ,what were the nuclei of this compilation8 ,how did they originate8 ,what proofs do they give of their value as historical documents8 ,how did they come together8 ,and what changes1 if any1 did they suffer before the compilation closed and the ,book received its present form8 ,these questions must be answered1 so far as possible1 before we can give an account of the ,prophet's life or an estimate of himself and his teaching4 ,the rest of this lecture is an attempt to answer them--but in the opposite order to that in which ,i have just stated them4 ,we shall work backward from the two ultimate forms in which the ,book has come down to us4 ,for these forms are two4 ,besides the ,hebrew text1 from which the ,authorised and ,revised ,english ,versions have been made1 we possess a form of the ,book in ,greek1 which is part of the ,greek ,version of the ,old ,testament known as the ,septuagint4 ,this is virtually another edition of the same work4 ,the ,hebrew text belongs to the ,second or ,prophetical ,canon of the ,jewish ,scriptures1 which was not closed till about #bjj ,b4,c41 or more than #cej years after ,jeremiah's death4 ,the ,greek ,version was completed about the same time1 and possibly earlier4 ,these two editions of the ,book hold by far the greatest part of their contents in common1 yet they differ considerably in the amount and in the arrangement of their contents1 and somewhat less in the dates and personal references which they apply to various passages4 ,we have thus before us two largely independent witnesses who agree in the bulk of their testimony1 and otherwise correct and supplement each other4 ,in size the ,greek ,book of ,jeremiah is but seven-eighths of the ,hebrew17#g7 but conversely it contains some hundred words that the ,hebrew lacks4 ,part of this small ,greek surplus is due to the translators' expansion or paraphrase of briefer ,hebrew originals1 or consists of glosses that they found in the ,hebrew ,,mss4 from which they translated1 or added of themselves2 the rest is made up of what are probably original phrases but omitted from the ,hebrew by the carelessness of copyists2 yet none of these differences is of importance save where the ,greek corrects an irregularity in the ,hebrew metre1 or yields sense when the ,hebrew fails to do so47#h7 ,more instructive is the greater number of phrases and passages found in the ,hebrew ,book1 and consequently in our ,english ,versions1 but absent from the ,greek4 ,some1 it is true1 are merely formal--additions to a personal name of the title king or prophet or of the names of a father and grandfather1 or the more frequent use of the divine title of ,hosts with the personal ,name of the ,deity or of the phrase ,rede of the ,lord47#i7 ,also the ,greek omits words which in the ,hebrew are obviously mistakes of a copyist47#aj7 ,again1 a number of what are transparent glosses or marginal notes on the ,hebrew text are lacking in the ,greek1 because the translator of the latter did not find them on the ,hebrew manuscript from which he translated47#aa7 ,some titles to sections of the ,book1 or portions of titles1 absent from the ,greek but found in our ,hebrew text1 are also later editorial additions47#ab7 ,greater importance1 however1 attaches to those phrases that cannot be mere glosses and to the longer passages1 wanting in the ,greek but found in the ,hebrew1 many of which upon internal evidence must be regarded as late intrusions into the latter47#ac7 ,and occasionally a word or phrase in the ,hebrew1 which spoils the rhythm or is irrelevant to the sense1 is not found in the ,greek47#ad7 ,finally1 there is one great difference of arrangement4 ,the group of ,oracles on ,foreign ,nations which appear in the ,hebrew as ,chs4 ,,xlvi-,,li are in the ,greek placed between verses #ac and #ae7ae7 of ,ch4 ,,xxv1 and are ranged in a different order--an obvious proof that at one time different editors felt free to deal with the arrangement of the compilation as well as to add to its contents47#af7 ,modern critics differ as to the comparative value of these two editions of the ,book of ,jeremiah1 and there are strong advocates on either side47#ag7 ,but the prevailing opinion1 and1 to my view1 the right one1 is that no general judgment is possible1 and that each case of difference between the two witnesses must be decided by itself47#ah7 ,with this1 however1 we have nothing at present to do4 ,what concerns us now is the fact that the ,greek is not the translation of the canonical ,hebrew text1 but that the two ,books1 while sharing a common basis of wide extent1 represent two different lines of compilation and editorial development which continued till at least #bjj ,b4,c4 ,between them they are the proof that1 while our ,bible was still being compiled1 some measure of historical criticism and of editorial activity was at work on the material--and this not only along one line4 ,we need not stop to discuss how far the fact justifies the exercise of criticism by the modern ,church4 ,for our present purpose it is enough to keep in mind that our ,book of ,jeremiah is the result of a long development through some centuries and on more than one line1 though the two divergent movements started with1 and carried down1 a large body of material in common4 ,moreover1 this common material bears evidence of having already undergone similar treatment1 before it passed out on those two lines of further development which resulted in the canonical ,hebrew text and the ,greek ,version respectively4 ,the signs of gradual compilation are everywhere upon the material which they share in common4 ,now and then a chronological order appears1 and indeed there are traces of a purpose to pursue that order throughout4 ,but this has been disturbed by cross-arrangements according to subject17#ai7 and by the intrusion of later oracles and episodes among earlier ones7#bj7 or vice versa7#ba7 as if their materials had come into the hands of the compilers or editors of the ,book only gradually4 ,another proof of the gradual growth of those contents1 which are common to the ,hebrew and the ,greek1 is the fashion in which they tend to run away from the titles prefixed to them4 ,take the title to the whole ,book17#bb7 ,ch4 ,i4 #b1 ,which was the ,word of the ,lord to ,jeremiah in the days of ,josiah1 son of ,amon1 ,king of ,judah1 in the thirteenth year of his reign4 ,this covers only the narrative of the ,prophet's call in ,ch4 ,i1 or at most a few of the ,oracles in the following chapters4 ,the supplementary title in verse #c--;,it came also in the days of ,jehoiakim1 the son of ,josiah1 ,king of ,judah1 up to the end of7#bc7 the eleventh year of edekiah1 the son of ,josiah ,king of ,judah1 up to the exile of ,jerusalem1 in the fifth month--is probably a later addition1 added when the later ,oracles of ,jeremiah were attached to some collection of those which he had delivered under ,josiah2 but even then the title fails to cover those words in the ,book which ,jeremiah spake after ,jerusalem had gone into exile1 and even after he had been hurried down into ,egypt by a base remnant of his people47#bd7 ,moreover1 the historical appendix to the ,book carries the history it contains on to #efa ,b4,c4 at least47#be7 ,again there are passages1 the subjects of which are irrelevant to their context1 and which break the clear connection of the parts of the context between which they have intruded47#bf7 ,the shorter sentences1 that also disturb the connection as they stand1 appear to have been written originally as marginal notes which a later editor or copyist has incorporated in the text47#bg7 ,to this class1 too1 may belong those brief passages which appear twice1 once in their natural connection in some later chapter and once out of their natural connection in some earlier chapter47#bh7 ,and again in ,,vii4 #a-bh and ,,xxvi4 #a-i we have two accounts1 apparently from different hands1 of what may or may not be the same episode in ,jeremiah's ministry4 ,these data clearly prove that not only from the time when the ,hebrew and ,greek editions of the ,book started upon their separate lines of development1 but from the very beginnings of the ,book's history1 the work of accumulation1 arrangement and re-arrangement1 with other editorial processes1 had been busy upon it4 ,the next question is1 have we any criteria by which to discriminate between the elements in the ,book that belong either to ,jeremiah himself or to his contemporaries and others that are due to editors or compilers between his death soon after #ehf and the close of the ,prophetic ,canon in #bjj ,b4,c48 ,the answer is that we have such criteria4 ,all ,oracles or ,narratives in the ,book1 which 7apart from obvious intrusions7 imply that the ,exile is well advanced or that the ,return from ,exile has already happened1 or which reflect the circumstances of the later ,exile and subsequent periods or the spirit of ,israel and the teaching of her prophets and scribes in those periods1 we may rule out of the material on which we can rely for our knowledge of ,jeremiah's life and his teaching4 ,of such ,exilic and post-,exilic contents there is a considerable1 but not a preponderant1 amount4 ,these various items break into their context1 their style and substance are not conformable to the style and substance of the ,oracles1 which 7as we shall see7 are reasonably attributed to ,jeremiah1 but they so closely resemble those of other writings from the eve of the ,return from ,exile or from after the ,return that they seem to be based on the latter4 ,in any case they reflect the situation and feelings of ,israel in ,babylonia about #edj ,b4,c4 ,some find place in our ,book among the earlier ,oracles of ,jeremiah17#bi7 others in his later17#cj7 but the most in the group of ,oracles on ,foreign ,nations47#ca7 ,and1 finally1 there are the long extracts from the ,second ,book of ,kings1 bringing1 as ,i have said1 the history down to at least #efa47cb7 ,all these1 then1 we lay aside1 so far as our search for ,jeremiah himself and his doctrine is concerned1 and we do so the more easily that they are largely devoid of the style and the spiritual value of his undoubted ,oracles and ,discourses4 ,they are more or less diffuse and vagrant1 while his are concise and to the point4 ,they do not reveal1 as his do1 a man fresh from agonising debates with ,god upon the poverty of his qualifications for the mission to which ,god calls him1 or upon the contents of that mission1 or upon his own sufferings and rights2 nor do they recount his adventures with his contemporaries4 ,they are not the outpourings of a single soul but rather the expression of the feelings of a generation or of the doctrines of a school4 ,we have in our ,bible other and better utterances of the truths1 questions1 threats and hopes which they contain4 ,but once more--in what remains of the ,book1 what belongs to ,jeremiah himself or to his time1 we have again proofs of compilation from more sources than one4 ,some of this is in verse--among the finest in the ,old ,testament--some in prose orations2 some in simple narrative4 ,some ,oracles are introduced by the ,prophet himself1 and he utters them in the first person1 some are reported of him by others4 ,and any chronological or topical order lasts only through groups of prophecies or narratives4 ,fortunately1 however1 included among these are more than one account of how the writing of them and the collection of them came about4 ,in #fjd-fjc ,b4,c41 twenty-one1 or it may have been twenty-three1 years after ,jeremiah had begun to prophesy1 the history of ,western ,asia rose to a crisis4 ,pharaoh ,ncoh who had marched north to the ,euphrates was defeated in a battle for empire by ,nebuchadrezzar1 son of the ,king of ,babylon4 ,from the turmoil of nations which filled the period ,babylon emerged as that executioner of the ,divine judgments on the world1 whom ,jeremiah since #fbg or #fbe had been describing generally as out of the ,north4 ,his predictions were justified1 and he was able to put a sharper edge on them4 ,henceforth in place of the enemy from the ,north ,jeremiah could speak definitely of the ,king of ,babylon and of his people the ,chaldeans4 ,in ,ch4 ,,xxv we read accordingly that in that year1 #fjd-c1 he delivered to the people of ,jerusalem a summary of his previous oracles4 ,he told them that the cup of the ,lord's wrath was given into his hand2 ,judah and other nations1 especially ,egypt1 must drink it and so stagger to their doom4 ,but a spoken and a summary discourse was not enough4 ,like ,amos and ,isaiah1 ,jeremiah was moved to commit his previous ,oracles to writing4 ,in ,ch4 ,,xxxvi is a narrative presumably by an eyewitness of the transactions it recounts1 and this most probably the scribe who was associated with the ,prophet in these transactions4 ,jeremiah was commanded to take a roll of a book and write on it all the words which the ,lord had spoken to him concerning ,jerusalem7#cc7 and ,judah and all the nations from the day the ,lord first spake to him1 in the days of ,josiah1 even unto this day4 ,for this purpose he employed ,baruch1 the son of ,neriah1 afterwards designated the ,scribe1 and ,baruch wrote on the ,roll to his dictation4 ,being unable himself to enter the ,temple he charged ,baruch to go there and to read the ,roll on a fast-day in the ears of all the people of ,judah who have come in from their cities4 ,baruch found his opportunity in the following ,december1 and read the ,roll from the ,new ,gate of the ,temple to the multitude4 ,this was reported to some of the princes in the ,palace below1 who sent for ,baruch and had him read the ,roll over to them4 ,divided between alarm at its contents and their duty to the king1 they sent ,jeremiah and ,baruch into hiding while they made report to ,jehoiakim4 ,the king had the ,roll read out once more to himself as he sat in his room in front of a lighted brasier1 for it was winter4 ,the reading incensed him1 and as the reader finished each three or four columns he cut them up and threw them on the fire till the whole was consumed4 ,but ,jeremiah1 in safe hiding with ,baruch1 took another ,roll and dictated again the contents of the first2 and there were added besides unto them many like words4 ,the story has been questioned1 but by very few1 and on no grounds that are perceptible to common sense4 ,one critic imagines that it ascribes miraculous power to the ,prophet in 8its natural impression that the ,prophet reproduces from memory and dictates all the words which the ,lord has spoken to him407#cd7 ,there is no trace of miracle in the story4 ,it is a straight tale of credible transactions1 very natural 7as we have seen7 at the crisis which the ,prophet had reached4 ,no improbability infects it1 no reflection of a later time1 no idealising as by a writer at a distance from the events he recounts4 ,on the contrary it gives a number of details which only a contemporary could have supplied4 ,nor can we forget the power and accuracy of an ,oriental's memory1 especially at periods when writing was not a common practice4 ,there is1 of course1 more room for difference of opinion as to the contents of each of the successive ,rolls1 and as to how much of these contents is included in our ,book of ,jeremiah4 ,but to such questions the most probable answer is as follows4 ,there cannot have been many of the ,prophet's previous ,oracles on the first ,roll4 ,this was read three times over in the same day and was probably limited to such ,oracles as were sufficient for its practical purpose of moving the people of ,judah to repentance at a ,fast1 when their hearts would be most inclined that way4 ,but when the first ,roll was destroyed1 the immediate occasion for which it was written was past1 and the second ,roll would naturally have a wider aim4 ,it repeated the first1 but in view of the additions to it seems to have been dictated with the purpose of giving a permanent form to all the fruits of ,jeremiah's previous ministry4 ,the battle of ,carchemish had confirmed his predictions and put edge upon them4 ,the destruction of the ,jewish people was imminent and the ,prophet's own life in danger4 ,his enforced retirement along with ,baruch lent him freedom to make a larger selection1 if not the full tale1 of his previous prophecies4 ,hence the phrase there were added many words like those on the first ,roll47#ce7 ,if such a ,roll as the second existed in the care of ,baruch then the use of it in the compilation of our ,book of ,jeremiah is extremely probable1 and the probability is confirmed by some features of the ,book4 ,among the ,oracles which can be assigned to ,jeremiah's activity before the fourth year of ,jehoiakim there is on the whole more fidelity to chronological order than in those which were delivered later1 and while the former are nearly all given without narrative attached to them1 and are reported as from ,jeremiah himself in the first person1 the latter for the most part are embedded in narratives1 in which he appears in the third person47#cf7 ,further let us note that if some of the ,oracles in the earlier part of the ,book--after the account of the ,prophet's call--are undated1 while the dates of others are stated vaguely2 and again1 if some1 including the story of the call1 appear to be tinged with reflections from experiences of the ,prophet later than the early years of his career1 then these two features support the belief that the ,oracles were first reduced to writing at a distance from their composition and first delivery--a belief in harmony with the theory of their inclusion and preservation in the ,prophet's second ,roll4 ,let us now turn to the biographical portions of the ,book4 ,we have proved the trustworthiness of ,ch4 ,,xxxvi as the narrative of an eyewitness1 in all probability ,baruch the ,scribe1 who for the first time is introduced to us4 ,but if ,baruch wrote ,ch4 ,,xxxvi it is certain that a great deal more of the biographical matter in the ,book is from his hand4 ,this is couched in the same style2 it contains likewise details which a later writer could hardly have invented1 and it is equally free from those efforts to idealise events and personalities1 by which later writers betray their distance from the subjects of which they treat4 ,it is true that1 as an objector remarks1 8the ,book does not contain a single line that claims to be written by ,baruch407#cg7 ,but this is evidence rather for1 than against1 ,baruch's authorship4 ,most of the biographical portions of the ,old ,testament are anonymous4 ,it was later ages that fixed names to ,books as they have fixed ,baruch's own to certain apocryphal works4 ,moreover1 the suppression of his name by this scribe is in harmony with the modest manner in which he appears throughout1 as though he had taken to heart ,jeremiah's words to him3 ,seekest thou great things for thyself8 ,seek them not4 ,only thy life will ,i give thee for a prey in all places whither thou goest47#ch7 ,but there is still more conclusive evidence4 ,that ,baruch had not been associated with ,jeremiah before #fjc-d is a fair inference from the fact that the ,prophet had to dictate to him all his previous ,oracles4 ,now it is striking that up to that year and the introduction of ,baruch as ,jeremiah's scribe1 we have few narratives of the ,prophet's experience and activity--being left in ignorance as to the greater part of his life under ,josiah--and that these few narratives--of his call1 of his share in the propagation of ,deuteronomy1 of the plot of the men of ,anathoth against him1 of his symbolic action with his waist-cloth1 and of his visit to the house of the ,potter--are 7except in the formal titles to some of them7 told in the first person by ,jeremiah himself17#ci7 while from #fjd-c onwards the biographical narratives are much more numerous and1 except in three of them17#dj7 the ,prophet appears only in the third person4 ,this coincidence of the first appearance of ,baruch as the ,prophet's associate with the start of a numerous series of narratives of the ,prophet's life in which he appears in the third person can hardly be accidental4 99 99 99 99 99 ,such1 then1 are the data which the ,book of ,jeremiah offers for the task of determining the origins and authenticity of its very diverse contents4 ,after our survey of them1 those of you who are ignorant of the course of recent criticism will not be surprised to learn that virtual agreement now exists on certain main lines1 while great differences of opinion continue as to details--differences perhaps irreconcilable4 ,it is agreed that the book is the result of a long and a slow growth1 stretching far beyond ,jeremiah's time1 out of various sources2 and that these sources are in the main three3-- ,a4 ,collections of genuine ,oracles and ,discourses of ,jeremiah--partly made by himself4 ,b4 ,narratives of his life and times by a contemporary writer or writers1 the principal1 if not the only1 contributor to which is 7in the opinion of most7 the ,scribe ,baruch4 ,c4 ,exilic and ,post-,exilic additions in various forms3 long prophecies and narratives2 shorter pieces included among the ,prophet's own ,oracles2 and scattered titles1 dates1 notes and glosses4 ,moreover1 there is also general agreement as to which of these classes a very considerable number of the sections of the ,book belong to4 ,there is not1 and cannot be1 any doubt about the bulk of those which are apparently exilic or post-exilic4 ,it is equally certain that a large number of the ,oracles are ,jeremiah's own1 and that the most of the ,narratives are from his time and trustworthy4 ,but questions have been raised and are still receiving opposite answers as to whether or not some of the ,oracles and ,narratives have had their original matter coloured or expanded by later hands2 or have even in whole been foisted upon the ,prophet or his contemporary biographer from legendary sources4 ,of these questions some1 however they be answered1 so little affect our estimates of the ,prophet and his teaching that we may leave them alone4 ,but there are at least four of them on the answers to which does depend the accurate measure of the stature of ,jeremiah as a man and a prophet1 of the extent and variety of his gifts and interests1 of the simplicity or complexity of his temperament1 and of his growth1 and of his teaching through his long ministry of over forty years4 ,these four questions are 7#a7 ,the authenticity of the account of his call in ,ch4 ,i4 7#b7 ,the authenticity of the account of his support of the promulgation of ,deuteronomy1 the ,old ,covenant1 in ,ch4 ,,xi4 7#c7 ,the authenticity of his ,oracle on the ,new ,covenant in ,ch4 ,,xxxi4 7#d7 ,and an even larger question--,whether indeed any of the prose ,oracles attributed to him in the ,book are his1 or whether we must confine ourselves to the passages in verse as alone his genuine deliverances8 ,the first three of these questions we may leave for discussion to their proper places in our survey of his ministry4 ,the fourth is even more fundamental to our judgment both of the ,book and of the ,man2 and ,i shall deal with it in the introduction to the next lecture on 8,the ,poet ,jeremiah40 ,lecture ,,ii4 ,,the ,,poet4 ,from last lecture ,i left over to this the discussion of a literary question1 the answer to which is fundamental to our understanding both of the ,book and of the ,man1 but especially of the ,man4 ,the ,book of ,jeremiah has come to us with all its contents laid down as prose1 with no metrical nor musical punctuation2 not divided into stichoi or poetical lines nor marked off into stanzas or strophes4 ,yet many passages read as metrically1 and are as musical in sound1 and in spirit as poetic as the ,psalms1 the ,canticles1 or the ,lamentations4 ,their language bears the marks that usually distinguish verse from prose in ,hebrew as in other literatures4 ,it beats out with a more or less regular proportion of stresses or heavy accents4 ,it diverts into an order of words different from the order normal in prose4 ,sometimes it is elliptic1 sometimes it contains particles unnecessary to the meaning--both signs of an attempt at metre4 ,though almost constantly unrhymed1 it carries alliteration and assonance to a degree beyond what is usual in prose1 and prefers forms of words more sonorous than the ordinary4 ,but these many and distinct passages of poetry issue from and run into contexts of prose unmistakable4 ,for two reasons we are not always able to trace the exact border between the prose and the verse--first because of the frequent uncertainties of the text1 and second because the prose1 like most of that of the prophets1 has often a rhythm approximating to metre4 ,and thus it happens that1 while on the one hand much agreement has been reached as to what ,oracles in the ,book are in verse1 and what1 however rhythmical1 are in prose1 some passages remain1 on the original literary form of which a variety of opinion is possible4 ,this is not all in dispute4 ,even the admitted poems are variously scanned--that is either read in different metres or1 if in the same metre1 either with or without irregularities4 ,such differences of literary judgment are due partly to our still imperfect knowledge of the laws of ,hebrew metre and partly to the variety of possible readings of the text4 ,nor is even that all4 ,the claim has been made not only to confine ,jeremiah's genuine ,oracles to the metrical portions of the ,book1 but1 by drastic emendations of the text1 to reduce them to one single1 exact1 unvarying metre4 ,these questions and claims--all-important as they are for the definition of the range and character of the prophet's activity--we can decide only after a preliminary consideration of the few clear and admitted principles of ,hebrew poetry1 of their consequences1 and of analogies to them in other literatures4 ,in ,hebrew poetry there are some principles about which no doubt exists4 ,first1 its dominant feature is ,parallelism1 ,parallelism of meaning1 which1 though found in all human song1 is carried through this poetry with a constancy unmatched in any other save the ,babylonian4 ,the lines of a couplet or a triplet of ,hebrew verse may be ,synonymous1 that is identical in meaning1 or ,supplementary and ,progressive1 or ,antithetic4 ,but at least their meanings respond or correspond to each other in a way1 for which no better name has been found than that given it by ,bishop ,lowth more than a century and a half ago1 8,parallelismus ,membrorum407#da7 ,second1 this rhythm of meaning is wedded to a rhythm of sound which is achieved by the observance of a varying proportion between stressed or heavily accented syllables and unstressed4 ,that is clear even though we are unable to discriminate the proportion in every case or even to tell whether there were fixed rules for it2 the vowel-system of our ,hebrew text being possibly different from what prevailed in ancient ,hebrew4 ,but on the whole it is probable that as in other primitive poetries7#db7 there were no exact or rigorous rules as to the proportion of beats or stresses in the single lines4 ,for the rhythm of sense is the main thing--the ruling factor--and though the effort to express this in equal or regularly proportioned lines is always perceptible1 yet in the more primitive forms of the poetry just as in some ,english folk-songs and ballads the effort did not constantly succeed4 ,the art of the poet was not always equal to the strength of his passion or the length of his vision1 or the urgency of his meaning4 ,the meaning was the main thing and had to be beat out1 even though to effect this was to make the lines irregular4 ,as ,i have said in my ,schweich ,lectures3 8,if the ,hebrew poet be so constantly bent on a rhythm of sense this must inevitably modify his rhythms of sound4 ,if his first aim be to produce lines each more or less complete in meaning1 but so as to run parallel to its fellow1 it follows that these lines cannot be always exactly regular in length or measure of time4 ,if the governing principle of the poetry requires each line to be a clause or sentence in itself1 the lines will frequently tend1 of course within limits1 to have more or fewer stresses than are normal throughout the poem40 ,but there are other explanations of the metrical irregularities in the traditional text of ,hebrew poems1 which make it probable that these irregularities are often original and not always 7as they sometimes are7 the blunders of copyists4 ,in all forms of ,eastern art we trace the influence of what we may call ,symmetriphobia1 an aversion to absolute symmetry which expresses itself in more or less arbitrary disturbances of the style or pattern of the work4 ,the visitor to the ,east knows how this influence operates in weaving and architecture4 ,but its opportunities are more frequent1 and may be used more gracefully1 in the art of poetry4 ,for instance1 in many an ,old ,testament poem in which a single form of metre prevails there is introduced at intervals1 and especially at the end of a strophe1 a longer and heavier line1 similar to what the ,germans call the 8,schwellvers0 in their primitive ballads4 ,and this metrical irregularity is generally to the profit both of the music and of the meaning4 ,further1 the fact that poems1 such as we now deal with1 were not composed in writing1 but were sung or chanted is another proof of the possibility that the irregularities in their metre are original4 ,in the songs of the peasants of ,palestine at the present day the lines vary as much as from two to five accents1 and within the same metrical form from three to four2 lines with three accents as written will1 when sung to music1 be stressed with four1 or with four as written will be stressed with five in order to suit the melody47#dc7 ,nor are such irregularities confined to ,eastern or primitive poetry4 ,in the later blank verse of ,shakespeare1 broken lines and redundant syllables are numerous1 but under his hand they become things of beauty1 and 8the irregularity is the foundation of the larger and nobler rule40 ,to quote the historian of ,english prosody--8,these are quite deliberate indulgences in excess or defect1 over or under a regular norm1 which is so pervading and so thoroughly marked that it carries them off on its wings407#dd7 ,heine in his unrhymed 8,nordseebilder10 has many irregular lines--irregularities suitable to the variety of the subjects of his verse4 ,again1 in relevance to the mixture of poetry with prose in the prophetic parts of the ,book of ,jeremiah1 it is just to note that the early pre-,islamic rhapsodists of ,arabia used prose narratives to illustrate the subjects of their chants2 that many later works in ,arabic literature are medleys of prose and verse2 that in particular the prose of the 8,arabian ,nights0 frequently breaks into metre2 while the singing women of ,mecca 8often put metre aside and employ the easier form of rhymed prose07#de7 the 8,saj0 as it is called4 ,if ,i may offer a somewhat rough illustration1 the works of some ,eastern poets are like canoe voyages in ,canada1 in which the canoe now glides down a stream and is again carried overland by what are called portages to other streams or other branches of the same stream4 ,similarly these works have their clear streams of poetry1 but every now and again their portages of prose4 ,i may say at once that we shall find this true also of the ,book of ,jeremiah4 ,all these phenomena1 both of ,eastern and of ,western poetry1 justify us in regarding with scepticism recent attempts whether to eliminate--by purely arbitrary omissions and additions1 not founded on the evidence of the ,manuscripts and ,versions--the irregularities in the metrical portions of the ,book of ,jeremiah1 or to confine the ,prophet's genuine ,oracles to these metrical portions1 and to deny that he ever passed from metre into rhythmical prose4 ,and our scepticism becomes stronger when we observe to what different results these attempts have led1 especially in the particular form or forms of metre employed4 ,professor ,duhm1 for instance1 confines our prophet to one invariable form1 that of the ,qnah or ,hebrew ,elegy1 each stanza of which consists of four lines of alternately three and two accents or beats2 and by drastic and often quite arbitrary emendation of the text he removes from this every irregularity whether of defect or redundance in the separate lines47#df7 ,on the other hand ,cornill concludes that 8the metrical pieces in the book are written throughout in ,oktastichs10 or eight lines a piece1 but admits 7and rightly7 that 8in the metrical structure of the individual lines there prevails a certain freedom1 due to the fact that for the prophet verse-making 7,dichten7 was not an end in itself40 ,while he allows1 as all must1 that ,jeremiah frequently used the ,qnah metre1 he emphasises the presence of the irregular line1 almost as though it were the real basis of the prophetic metre47#dg7 ,other modern scholars by starting from other presuppositions or by employing various degrees of the textual evidence of the ,versions1 have reached results different from those of ,duhm and ,cornill47#dh7 ,but at the same time it is remarkable how much agreement prevails as to the frequent presence of the ,qnah measure or its near equivalent4 ,to sum up3 in view of the argument adduced from the obvious principles of ,hebrew verse and of the primitive poetic practice of other nations--not to speak of ,shakespeare and some modern poets--,i am persuaded after close study of the text that1 though ,jeremiah takes most readily to the specific ,qnah metre1 it is a gross and pedantic error to suppose that he confined himself to this1 or that when it appears in our ,book it is always to be read in the same exact form without irregularities4 ,the conclusion is reasonable that this rural prophet1 brought up in a country village and addressing a people of peasants1 used the same license with his metres that we have observed in other poetries of his own race4 ,nor is it credible that whatever the purpose of his message was--reminiscence1 or dirge1 or threat of doom or call to repent1 or a didactic purpose--,jeremiah1 throughout the very various conditions of his long ministry of forty years1 employed but one metre and that only in its strictest form allowing of no irregularities4 ,this1 ,i say1 is not credible47#di7 ,the other question1 whether in addition ,jeremiah ever used prose in addressing his people1 may be still more confidently answered4 ,duhm maintains that with the exception of the letter to the ,jewish exiles in ,babylonia17#ej7 the ,prophet never spoke or wrote to his people in prose1 and that the ,book contains no ,oracles from him1 beyond some sixty short poems in a uniform measure4 ,these ,duhm alleges--and this is all that he finds in them--reveal ,jeremiah as a man of modest1 tender1 shrinking temper1 8no ruler of spirits1 a delicate observer1 a sincere exhorter and counsellor1 a hero only in suffering and not in attack407#ea7 ,every passage of the ,book1 which presents him in any character beyond this--as an advocate for the ,law or as a didactic prophet--is the dream of a later age1 definitely separable from his own ,oracles not more by its inconsistence with the temper displayed in these than by its prose form2 for in prose1 according to ,duhm1 ,jeremiah never prophesied4 ,on the evidence we have reviewed this also is not credible4 ,that ,jeremiah never passed from verse to prose when addressing his people is a theory at variance with the practice of other poets of his race2 and the more unlikely in his case1 who was not only a poet but a prophet1 charged with truths heavier than could always be carried to the heart of his nation upon a single form of folk-song4 ,not one of the older prophets1 upon whom at first he leant1 but used both prose and verse2 and besides there had burst upon his young ear a new style of prophetic prose1 rhythmical and catching beyond any hitherto publicly heard in ,israel4 ,at least some portions of our ,book of ,deuteronomy were discovered in the ,temple a few years after his call1 and by order of ,king ,josiah were being recited throughout ,judah4 ,is it probable that he1 whose teaching proves him to have been in sympathy with the temper and the practical purpose of that ,book1 should never have yielded to the use of its distinctive and haunting style8 ,it is true that1 while the lyrics which are undoubtedly the prophet's own are terse1 concrete1 poignant and graceful1 the style of many--not of all--of the prose discourses attributed to him is copious1 diffuse1 and sometimes cold4 ,but then it is verse which is most accurately gripped by the memory and firmly preserved in tradition2 it is verse1 too1 which best guards the original fire4 ,prose discourses1 whether in their first reporting or in their subsequent tradition more readily tend to dilate and to relax their style4 ,nor is any style of prose so open as the ,deuteronomic to additions1 parentheses1 qualifications1 needless recurrence of formulas and favourite phrases1 and the like4 ,therefore in the selection of materials available for estimating the range and character of ,jeremiah's activities as a prophet1 we must not reject any prose ,oracles offered by the ,book as his1 simply because they are in prose4 ,this reasonable caution will be of use when we come to consider the question of the authenticity of such important passages as those which recount his call1 or represent him as assisting in the promulgation of ,deuteronomy1 and uttering the ,oracle on the ,new ,covenant47#eb7 ,but1 while it has been necessary to reject as groundless the theory that ,jeremiah was exclusively a poet of a limited temper and a single form of verse and was not the author of any of the prose attributed to him1 we must keep in mind that he did pour himself forth in verse2 that it was natural for a rural priest such as he1 aiming at the heart of what was mainly a nation of peasants1 to use the form or forms of folk-song most familiar to them7#ec7--;in fact the only literary forms with which they were familiar2 and that in all probability more of the man himself comes out in the poetry than in the prose which he has left to us4 ,by his native gifts and his earliest associations he was a poet to begin with2 and therefore the form and character of his poetry1 especially as revealing himself1 demand our attention4 99 99 99 99 99 ,from what has been said it is clear that we must not seek too high for ,jeremiah's rank as a poet4 ,the temptation to this--which has overcome some recent writers--is due partly to a recoil from older1 unjust depreciations of his prophetic style and partly to the sublimity of the truths which that mixed style frequently conveys4 ,but those truths apart1 his verse was just that of the folksongs of the peasants among whom he was reared--sometimes of an exquisite exactness of tone and delicacy of feeling1 but sometimes full both of what are metrical irregularities according to modern standards1 and of coarse images and similes4 ,to reduce the metrical irregularities1 by such arbitrary methods as ,duhm's1 may occasionally enhance the music and sharpen the edge of an ,oracle yet oftener dulls the melody and weakens the emphasis47#ed7 ,the figures again are always simple and homely1 but sometimes even ugly1 as is not infrequent in the rural poetries of all peoples4 ,even the dung on the pastures and the tempers of breeding animals are as readily used as are the cleaner details of domestic life and of farming--the house-candle1 the house-mill1 the wine skins1 the ornaments of women1 the yoke1 the plough1 and so forth4 ,and there are abrupt changes of metaphor as in our early ballads1 due to the rush of a quick imagination and the crowd of concrete figures it catches4 ,some of ,jeremiah's verse indeed shows no irregularity4 ,the following1 for instance1 which recalls as ,hosea loved to do the innocence and loyalty of ,israel's desert days1 is in the normal ,qnah rhythm of lines with alternately three and two accents each4 ,the two first lines are rhymed1 the rest not4 ,,ii4 #b;f43-- ,the troth of thy youth ,i remember1 ,thy love as a bride1 ,thy follow of ,me through the desert1 ,the land unsown4 ,holy to the ,lord was ,israel1 ,of ,his income the firstling1 ,all that would eat it stood guilty1 ,evil came on them4 ,or ,,ii4 #cb3-- ,can a maiden forget her adorning1 ,or her girdle the bride8 ,yet ,me have ,my people forgotten1 ,days without number4 ,how fine hast thou fashioned thy ways1 ,to seek after love6 ,thus 't was thyself7#ee7 to those evils ,didst train7#ef7 thy ways4 ,yea on thy skirts is found blood ,of innocent7#eg7 souls4 ,not only on felons787 ,i find it17#eh7 ,but over all these4 ,here again is a passage which1 with slight emendations and these not arbitrary1 yields a fair constancy of metre 7,,iv4 #bi-ca73-- ,from the noise of the horse and the bowmen ,all the land is in flight1 ,they are into the caves1 huddle in thickets1 ,and are up on the crags47#ei7 ,every town of its folk is forsaken1 ,with none to inhabit4 ,all is up6 ,thou destined to ruin17877#fj7 ,what doest thou now ,that thou deck'st thee in deckings of gold ,and clothest in scarlet17#fa7 ,and with stibium widenest thine eyes8 ,in vain dost thou prink6 ,though satyrs1 they utterly loathe thee1 ,thy life are they after4 ,for voice as of travail ,i hear1 ,anguish as hers that beareth1 ,the voice of the ,daughter of ion agasp1 ,she spreadeth her hands3 8,woe unto me1 but it faints1 ,my life to the butchers60 ,on the other hand here is a metre17#fb7 for the irregularities of which no remedy is offered by alternative readings in the ,versions1 but ,duhm and others reduce these only by padding the text with particles and other terms4 ,yet these very irregularities have reason2 they suit the meaning to be expressed4 ,thus while some of the couplets are in the ,qnah metre1 it is instructive that the first three lines are all short1 because they are mere ejaculations--that is they belong to the same class of happy irregularities as we recalled in ,shakespeare's blank verse4 ,israel a slave6 ,or house-born serf6 ,why he for a prey8 ,against him the young lions roar1 ,give forth their voice1 ,and his land they lay waste ,burning and tenantless4 ,is not this being done thee ,for thy leaving of ,me8 ,or take the broken line added to the regular verse on ,rachel's mourning1 the sob upon which the wail dies out3-- ,a voice in ,ramah is heard1 lamentation ,and bitterest weeping1 ,rachel beweeping her children ,and will not be comforted-- ,for they are not67#fc7 ,sometimes1 too1 a stanza of regular metre is preceded or followed by a passionate line of appeal1 either from ,jeremiah himself or from another--,i love to think from himself1 added when his ,oracles were about to be repeated to the people in #fjd-c4 ,thus in ,ch4 ,,ii4 #ca we find the cry1 ,o generation look at the ,word of the ,lord6 breaking in before the following regular verse1 ,have ,i been a desert to ,israel1 ,or land of thick darkness8 ,why say my folk1 8,we are off1 ,no more to meet ,thee40 ,there is another poem in which the ,qnah measure prevails but with occasional lines longer than is normal--,ch4 ,v4 #a-f;a 7alternatively to end of #e7fd774 ,run through ,jerusalem's streets1 ,look now and know1 ,and search her broad places ,if a man ye can find1 ,if there be that doth justice ,aiming at honesty4 ,that ,i may forgive her4 ,though they say1 8,as ,god liveth10 ,falsely they swear4 ,lord1 are thine eyes upon lies7#fe7 ,and not on the truth8 ,thou hast smitten1 they ail not1 ,consumed them1 they take not correction2 ,their faces set harder than rock1 ,they refuse to return4 ,or take ,ch4 ,,ii4 #e-h4 ,a stanza of four lines in irregular ,qnah measure 7verse #e7 is followed by a couplet of four-two stresses and several lines of three each 7verses #f and #g71 and then 7verse #h7 by a couplet of three-two1 another of four-three1 and another of three-three47#ff7 ,in ,chs4 ,,ix and ,x also we shall find irregular metres4 ,let us now take a passage1 ,,ix4 #bb1 #bc1 which1 except for its last couplet1 is of another measure than the ,qnah4 ,the lines have three accents each1 like those of the ,book of ,job3-- ,boast not the wise in his wisdom1 ,boast not the strong in his strength1 ,boast not the rich in his riches1 ,but in this let him boast who would boast-- ,instinct and knowledge of ,me1 ,me1 the ,lord1 ,who work troth ,and7#fg7 justice and right upon earth1 ,for in these ,i delight4 ,or this couplet1 ,x4 #bc1 in lines of four stresses each3-- ,lord1 ,i know--not to man is his way1 ,not a man's to walk or settle his steps6 ,not being in the ,qnah measure1 both these passages are denied to ,jeremiah by ,duhm4 ,is not this arbitrary8 ,the sections of the ,book which pass from verse to prose and from prose to verse are frequent4 ,one of the most striking is the narrative of the ,prophet's call1 ,ch4 ,i4 #d-ai1 which ,i leave to be rendered in the next lecture4 ,in ,chap4 ,,vii4 #bh ff4 we have1 to begin with1 two verses3-- ,this is the folk that obeyed not ,the voice of the ,lord17#fh7 ,that would not accept correction2 ,lost7#fi7 is truth from their mouth4 ,shear and scatter thy locks1 ,raise a dirge on the heights1 ,the ,lord hath refused and forsaken ,the sons of ,his wrath4 ,then these verses are followed by a prose tale of the people's sins4 ,is this necessarily from a later hand1 as ,duhm maintains1 and not naturally from ,jeremiah himself8 ,again ,chs4 ,,viii and ,,ix are a medley of lyrics and prose passages4 ,while some of the prose is certainly not ,jeremiah's1 being irrelevant to the lyrics and showing the colour of a later age1 the rest may well be from himself4 ,ch4 ,,xiv is also a medley of verse and prose4 ,after the ,dirge on the ,drought 7which we take later71 comes a passage in rhythmical prose 7verses #aa-af71 broken only by the metrical utterance of the false prophets in verse #ac3-- ,sword or famine ye shall not see1 ,they shall not be yours2 ,but peace and staith shall ,i give you ,within this ,place47#gj7 ,and verse comes in again in verses #ag-ah1 an ,oracle of ,jeremiah's own3-- ,let mine eyes with tears run down1 ,by night and by day1 ,let them not cease from weeping7#ga7 ,for great is the breach-- ,broken the ,virgin1 ,daughter of my people1 ,most sore the wound6 ,fare ,i forth to the field1 ,lo1 the slain of the sword2 ,if ,i enter the city1 ,lo1 anguish of famine4 ,priest and prophet alike are gone begging ,in a land they know not4 ,hast ,thou utterly cast away ,judah1 ,loathes ion ,thy soul8 ,why then hast ,thou smitten us1 ,past our healing8 ,hoped we for peace--no good1 ,for time to heal--and lo panic6 ,lord we acknowledge our evil1 ,the guilt of our fathers-- ,to ,thee have we sinned4 ,and now the measure changes to one of longer irregular lines1 hardly distinguishable from rhythmical prose1 which ,duhm therefore takes1 precariously1 as from a later hand3-- ,for ,thy ,name's sake do not despise1 ,demean not the ,throne of ,thy ,glory1 ,remember and break not ,thy ,covenant with us6 ,can any of the gentile ,bubbles bring rain1 ,or the ,heavens give the showers8 ,art not ,thou ,he7#gb7 on whom we must wait8 ,for all these ,thou hast made4 ,again in ,ch4 ,,xv4 #a-b1 prose is followed by a couplet1 this by more prose 7verses #c1 #d7 and this by verse again 7verses #e-i74 ,but these parts are relevant to each other1 and some of ,duhm's objections to the prose seem inadequate and even trifling4 ,for while the heavy judgment is suitably detailed by the prose1 the following dirge is as naturally in verse3-- ,jerusalem1 who shall pity1 ,who shall bemoan thee8 ,who shall but turn him to ask ,after thy welfare8 ,and once more1 in the ,oracle ,ch4 ,,iii4 #a-f the first verse1 a quotation from the law on a divorced wife1 is in prose1 and no one doubts that ,jeremiah himself is the quoter1 while the rest1 recounting ,israel's unfaithfulness to her ,husband is in verse4 ,see below1 pages #ih1 #ii4 99 99 99 99 99 ,so much for the varied and often irregular streams of the ,prophet's verse and their interruptions and connections by 8portages0 of prose4 ,let us turn now from the measures to the substance and tempers of the poetry4 ,as in all folk-song the language is simple1 but its general inevitableness--just the fit and ringing word--stamps the verse as a true poet's4 ,hence the difficulty of translating4 ,so much depends on the music of the ,hebrew word chosen1 so much on the angle at which it is aimed at the ear1 the exact note which it sings through the air4 ,it is seldom possible to echo these in another language2 and therefore all versions1 metrical or in prose1 must seem tame and dull beside the ring of the original4 ,before taking some of the ,prophet's renderings of the more concrete aspects of life ,i give1 as even more difficult to render1 one of his moral reflections in verse--,ch4 ,,xvii4 #e f4 ,mark the scarceness of abstract terms1 the concreteness of the figures3-- ,cursd the wight that trusteth in man ,making flesh his stay6 ,and his heart from the ,lord is turned ,like some desert-scrub shall he be1 ,nor see any coming of good1 ,but dwell in the aridest desert1 ,a salt1 uninhabited land4 ,blessd the wight that trusts in the ,lord1 ,and the ,lord is his trust6 ,he like a tree shall be planted by waters1 ,that stretches its roots to the stream1 ,unafraid7#gc7 at the coming of heat1 ,his leaf shall be green4 ,sans care in a year of drought1 ,he fails not in yielding his fruit4 ,as here1 so generally1 the simplicity of the poet's diction is matched by that of his metaphors1 similes1 and parables4 ,a girl and her ornaments1 a man and his waist-cloth--thus he figures what ought to be the clinging relations between ,israel and their ,god4 ,the stunted desert-shrub in contrast to the river-side oaks1 the incomparable olive1 the dropped sheaf and even the dung upon the fields2 the vulture1 stork1 crane and swift2 the lion1 wolf and spotted leopard coming up from the desert or the jungles of ,jordan2 the hinnying stallions and the heifer in her heat2 the black ,ethiopian1 already familiar in the streets of ,jerusalem1 the potter and his wheel1 the shepherd1 plowman and vinedresser1 the driver with his ox's yoke upon his shoulders2 the harlot by the wayside2 the light in the home and sound of the hand-mill--all everyday objects of his people's sight and hearing as they herded1 ploughed1 sowed1 reaped or went to market in the city--he brings them in simply and with natural ease as figures of the truths he is enforcing4 ,they are never bald or uncouth1 though in translation they may sometimes sound so4 ,in the very bareness of his use of them there lurks an occasional irony as in the following--a passage of prose broken by a single line of verse47#gd7 ,the ,deity is addressing the prophet3-- ,and thou shalt say unto this people1 8,every jar shall be filled with wine10 and it shall be if they say unto thee1 8,don't we know of course7#ge7 that 8,every jar shall be filled with wine10 then thou shalt say unto them3 ,thus saith the ,lord1 ,lo1 ,i am about to fill the inhabitants of this land1 the kings and princes1 the priests and prophets1 even ,judah and all the inhabitants of ,jerusalem1 with drunkenness the drunkenness1 that is1 of horror at impending judgments and ,i will dash them one against another1 fathers and sons together4 ,i will not pity1 saith the ,lord1 nor spare nor have compassion that ,i should not destroy them4 ,how one catches the irritation of the crowd on being told what seems to them such a commonplace--till it is interpreted6 ,like his fellow-prophets1 whose moral atmosphere was as burning as their physical summer1 who living on the edge of the desert under a downright sun drew breath 7as ,isaiah puts it7 in the fear of the ,lord and saw the world in the blaze of ,his justice1 ,jeremiah brings home to the hearts of his people the truths and judgments1 with which he was charged1 in the hard1 hot realism of their austere world4 ,through his verse we see the barer landscapes of ,benjamin and ,judah without shadow or other relief1 every ugly detail exposed by the ruthless noon1 and beyond them the desert hills shimmering through the heat4 ,drought1 famine1 pestilence and especially war sweep over the land and the ghastly prostrate things1 human as well as animal1 which their skirts leave behind are rendered with vividness1 poignancy and horror of detail4 ,take1 to begin with1 the following1 ,,xiv4 #a ff43-- ,the ,word of the ,lord to ,jeremiah ,concerning the ,drought4 ,jerusalem's cry is gone up1 ,judah is mourning1 ,the gates thereof faint in ,black grief to the ground4 ,her nobles sent their menials for water1 ,they came to the pits2 ,water found none and returned1 ,empty their vessels4 ,abashed and confounded ,they cover their heads47#gf7 ,the tillers7#gg7 of the ground are dismayed1 ,for no rain hath been7#gh72 ,and abashed are the ploughmen1 ,they cover their heads4 ,the hind on the moor calves and abandons1 ,for the grass has not come4 ,on the bare heights stand the wild asses1 ,gasping for air ,with glazen eyes-- ,herb there is none6 ,though our sins do witness against us1 ,lord act for the sake of ,thy ,name6 ,for many have been our backslidings1 ',fore ,thee have we sinned4 ,hope of ,israel1 ,his ,saviour ,in time of trouble1 ,why be like a traveller7#gi7 through the land1 ,or wayfaring guest of a night8 ,why art ,thou as one that is stunned1-- ,strong yet unable to save8 ,yet ,lord1 ,thou art in our midst1 ,o'er us ,thy ,name hath been called ,do not forsake us6 ,thus saith the ,lord of this people3-- ,so fond to wander are they1 ,their feet they restrain not1 ,the ,lord hath no pleasure in them1 ,he remembers their guilt47#hj7 ,the following dirge is on either a war or a pestilence1 or on both1 for they often came together4 ,the text of the first lines is uncertain1 the ,hebrew and ,greek differing considerably3-- ,call ye the keening women to come1 ,and send for the wise ones1 ,that they hasten and sing us a dirge1 ,till with tears our eyes run down1 ,our eyelids with water4 ,for death has come up by our windows1 ,and into our palaces1 ,cutting off from the streets the children1 ,the youths from the places4 ,and fallen are the corpses of men ,like dung on the field1 ,or sheaves left after the reaper1 ,and nobody gathers47#ha7 ,the minatory discourses are sombre and lurid4 ,sometimes the terror foretold is nameless and mystic1 yet even then the ,prophet's simplicity does not fail but rather contributes to the vague1 undefined horror4 ,in the following it is premature night which creeps over the hills--night without shelter for the weary or refuge for the hunted4 ,hear and give ear1 be not proud1 ,for the ,lord hath spoken6 ,give glory to the ,lord your ,god ,before it grows dark1 ,and before your feet stumble-- ,on the mountains of dusk4 ,while ye look for light1 ,he turns it to gloom ,and sets it thick darkness47#hb7 ,there this poem leaves the ,doom1 but in others ,jeremiah leaps in a moment from the vague and far-looming to the near and exact4 ,he follows a line which songs of vengeance or deliverance often take among unsophisticated peoples in touch with nature4 ,they will paint you a coming judgment first in the figure of a lowering cloud or bursting storm and then in the twinkling of an eye they turn the clouds or the lightnings into the ranks and flashing arms of invaders arrived4 ,i remember an instance of this within one verse of a negro song from the time of the ,american ,civil ,war3-- ,don't you see de lightning flashing in de cane-brakes8 ,don't you think we'se gwine to have a storm8 ,no you is mistaken--dem's de darkies' bayonets1 ,and de buttons on de uniform6 ,examples of this sudden turn from the vague to the real are found throughout ,jeremiah's ,oracles of ,doom4 ,here are some of them3-- ,wind off the glow of the bare desert heights1 ,right on the ,daughter of ,my people1 ,it is neither to winnow nor to cleanse1 ,in full blast it meets me4443 ,lo1 like the clouds he is mounting1 ,like the whirlwind his chariots6 ,swifter than vultures his horses2 ,woe6 ,we are undone6 ,for hark a signal from ,dan1 ,mount ,ephraim echoes disaster1 ,warn the folk6 8,they are come607#hc7 ,make heard o'er ,jerusalem4 ,lo1 the beleaguerers 787 come ,from a land far-off1 ,they let forth their voice on the townships of ,judah1 ,close as the guards on her suburbs ,they are on and around her1 ,for ,me she defied47#hd7 ,there is a similar leap from the vagueness of ,,iv4 #bc-bf1 which here follows1 to the vivid detail of verses #bi-ca already rendered on page #de4 ,i looked to the earth1 and lo1 chaos1 ,to the heavens1 their light was gone1 ,i looked to the mountains1 they quivered1 ,the hills were all shuddering4 ,i looked and behold not a man1 ,all the birds of the heavens had fled4 ,i looked for the gardens1 lo desert1 ,all the townships were burning4 ,or take a similar effect from the ,oracle on the ,philistines1 ,ch4 ,,xlvii4 #b1 #c4 ,lo1 the waters are up in the ,north1 ,the torrents are plunging1 ,o'erwhelming the land and her fulness1 ,the city and her dwellers4 ,mankind is crying and howling1 ,every man in the land1 ,at the noise of the stamp of the hoofs of his steeds ,at the rush of his cars1 ,the rumble of his wheels4 ,fathers look not back for their children1 ,so helpless their hands67#he7 ,or take the ,prophet's second vision on his call1 ,ch4 ,i4 #ac ff41 the boiling cauldron with its face from the ,north1 which is to boil out over the land2 then the concrete explanation1 ,i am calling to all the kingdoms of the ,north1 and they shall come and every one set his throne in the gates of ,jerusalem4 ,there you have it--that vague trouble brewing in the far ,north and then in a moment the northern invaders settled in the gates of the ,city4 ,but the poetry of ,jeremiah had other strains4 ,i conclude this lecture with selections which deal with the same impending judgment1 yet are wistful and tender1 the poet taking as his own the sin and sufferings of the people with whose doom he was charged4 ,the first of these passages is as devoid of hope as any we have already seen1 but like ,christ's mourning over the ,city breathes the regret of a great love--a profound and tender ,alas6 ,jerusalem1 who shall pity1 ,who shall bemoan thee8 ,or who will but turn him to ask ,after thy welfare8 ,then follow lines of doom without reprieve and the close comes3-- ,she that bore seven hath fainted1 ,she breathes out her life4 ,set is her sun in the daytime1 ,baffled and shamd2 ,and their remnant ,i give to the sword ,in face of their foes47#hf7 ,in the following also the poet's heart is with his people even while he despairs of them4 ,the lines1 ,,viii4 #ad-;,,ix4 #a1 of which #ag and #ai;b are possibly later insertions1 are addressed to the country-folk of ,judah and ,benjamin3-- ,for what sit we still8 ,sweep together1 ,and into the fortified cities1 ,that there we may perish6 ,for our ,god7#hg7 hath doomed us to perish1 ,and given us poison to drink1 ,for to ,him7#hh7 have we sinned4 ,hope for peace there was once-- ,but no good-- ,for a season of healing-- ,lo1 panic47#hi7 ,from ,dan the sound has been heard17#ij7 ,the hinnying of his horses2 ,with the noise of the neighing of his stallions ,all the land is aquake4 ,for that this grief hath no comfort17#ia7 ,sickens my heart upon me4 ,hark to the cry of my people ,wide o'er the land-- 8,is the ,lord not in ion1 ,is there no ,king there807#ib7 ,harvest is over1 summer is ended ,and we are not saved6 ,for the breach of the ,daughter of my people ,i break1 ,i darken1 ,horror hath seized upon me1 ,pangs as of her that beareth47#ic7 ,is there no balm in ,gilead1 ,is there no healer8 ,why will the wounds never stanch ,of the daughter of my people8 ,o that my head were waters1 ,mine eyes a fountain of tears1 ,that day and night ,i might weep ,for the slain of my people6 ,such in the simple melodies of his music and in the variety of his moods--now sombre1 stern and relentless1 now tender and pleading1 now in despair of his people yet identifying himself with them--was this rural poet1 who was called to carry the burdens of prophecy through forty of the most critical and disastrous years of ,israel's history4 ,in next lecture we shall follow the earlier stages which his great heart pursued beneath those burdens4 ,lecture ,,iii4 ,,the ,,prophet--,,his ,,youth ,,and ,,his ,,call4 ,jeremiah was born soon after #fej ,b4,c4 of a priestly house at ,anathoth1 a village in the country of ,benjamin near ,jerusalem4 ,just before his birth ,egypt and the small states of ,palestine broke from allegiance to ,assyria4 ,war was imminent1 and it may have been because of some hope in ,israel of ,divine intervention that several children born about the time received the name ,yirmyahu--,yahweh hurls or shoots47#id7 ,the boy's name and his father's1 ,hiliah1 ,yahweh my portion17#ie7 are tokens of the family's loyalty to the ,god of ,israel1 at a time when the outburst in ,jewry of a very different class of personal names betrays on the part of many a lapse from the true faith1 and when the loyal remnant of the people were being persecuted by ,king ,manasseh4 ,probably the family were descended from ,eli4 ,for ,abiathar1 the last of that descent to hold office as ,priest of the ,ark1 had an ancestral estate at ,anathoth1 to which he retired upon his dismissal by ,solomon47#if7 ,the child of such a home would be brought up under godly influence and in high family traditions1 with which much of the national history was interwoven4 ,it may have been from his father that ,jeremiah gained that knowledge of ,israel's past1 of her ideal days in the desert1 of her subsequent declensions1 and of the rallying prophecies of the eighth century1 which is manifest in his earlier ,oracles4 ,some have claimed a literary habit for the stock of ,abiathar47#ig7 ,yet the first words of ,god to ,jeremiah--before ,i formed thee in the body ,i knew thee1 and before thou camest forth from the womb ,i hallowed thee7#ih7--;as well as the singular originality he developed1 rather turn us away from his family traditions and influence4 ,what is more significant1 for its effects appear over all his earlier prophecies1 is the country-side on which the boy was born and reared4 ,anathoth1 which still keeps its ancient name ,anata1 is a little village not four miles north-north-east of ,jerusalem1 upon the first of the rocky shelves by which the central range of ,palestine declines through desert to the valley of the ,jordan4 ,the village is hidden from the main road between ,jerusalem and the ,north1 and lies on no cross-road to the ,east4 ,one of its influences on the spirit of its greatest son was its exposure to the ,east and the ,desert4 ,the fields of ,anathoth face the sunrise and quickly merge into the falling wilderness of ,benjamin4 ,it is the same open1 arid landscape as that on which several prophets were bred3 ,amos a few miles farther south at ,tekoa1 ,john ,baptist1 and during ,his ,temptation our ,lord ,himself4 ,the tops of the broken desert hills to the east are lower than the village4 ,the floor of the ,jordan valley is not visible1 but across its felt gulf the mountains of ,gilead form a lofty horizon4 ,the descending foreground with no shelter against the hot desert winds1 the village herds straying into the wilderness1 the waste and crumbling hills shimmering in the heat1 the open heavens and far line of the ,gilead highlands1 the hungry wolves from the waste and lions from the jungles of ,jordan are all reflected in ,jeremiah's poems3-- ,light o' heel young camel1 ,zig-zagging her tracks1 ,heifer gone to school to the desert-- ,in the heat of her passion1 ,snapping the breeze in her lust1 ,who is to turn her8 ,wind off the glow of the bare desert heights1 ,direct on my people1 ,neither to winnow nor to sift1 ,in full blast it meets me4 ,a lion from the jungle shall smite1 ,a wolf from the wastes undo them1 ,the leopard shall prowl round their towns1 ,all faring forth shall be torn4 ,even the stork in the heavens ,knoweth her seasons1 ,and dove1 swift and swallow ,keep time of their coming4 ,is there no balm in ,gilead1 ,no healer there87#ii7 ,we need not search the botany of that province for the suggestion of this last verse4 ,gilead was the highland margin of the young prophet's view1 his threshold of hope4 ,the sun rose across it4 ,the tribal territory in which ,anathoth lay was ,benjamin's4 ,even where not actually desert the bleak and stony soil accords with the character given to the tribe and its few historical personages4 ,benjamin shall ravin as a wolf47#ajj7 ,of ,benjamin were the mad ,king ,saul1 the cursing ,shimei1 ,jeremiah's persecutors in ,anathoth1 and the other ,saul who breathed threatenings and slaughter against the ,church--while ,jeremiah himself1 in his moods of despair1 seems to have caught the temper of the tribe among whom his family dwelt4 ,whether in the land or in its sons it was hard1 thorny soil that needed deep ploughing47#aja7 ,it was1 too1 as ,isaiah had predicted1 the main path of invasion from the ,north17#ajb7 by ,ai1 ,migron1 ,michmash1 the ,pass1 ,geba1 ,ramah1 ,gibeah of ,saul1 ,laish1 and poor ,anathoth herself4 ,it had been the scene of many massacres1 and above all of the death of the ,mother of the people1 who returns to bewail their new disasters3-- ,a voice in ,ramah is heard1 lamentation ,and bitterest weeping1 ,rachel beweeping her children1 ,and will not be comforted1 ,for they are not47#ajc7 ,the cold northern rains and the tears of a nation's history alike swept these bare uplands4 ,the boy grew up with many ghosts about him--not ,rachel's only but the ,levite and his murdered wife1 the slaughtered troops at ,gibeah and ,rimmon1 ,saul's sullen figure1 ,asahel stricken like a roe in the wilderness of ,gibeon1 and the other nameless fugitives1 whom through more than one page of the earlier books we see cut down among the rocks of ,benjamin4 ,the empty1 shimmering desert and the stony land thronged with such tragedies--,jeremiah was born and brought up on the edge between them4 ,it was a nursery not unfit for one1 who might have been 7as many think71 the greatest poet of his people1 had not something deeper and wider been opened to him1 with which ,anathoth was also in touch4 ,the village is not more than an hour's walk from ,jerusalem4 ,social conditions change little in the ,east2 then1 as now1 the traffic between village and city was daily and close--country produce taken to the capital2 pottery1 salted fish1 spices1 and the better cloths brought back in exchange4 ,we see how the history of ,jerusalem may have influenced the boy4 ,solomon's ,temple was nearly four hundred years' old4 ,there were the city walls1 some of them still older1 the ,palace and the ,tombs of the ,kings--perhaps also access to the written rolls of chroniclers and prophets4 ,above all1 ,anathoth lay within the swirl of rumour of which the capital was the centre4 ,jerusalem has always been a tryst of the winds4 ,it gathers echoes from the desert far into ,arabia1 and news blown up and down the great roads between ,egypt and ,damascus and beyond to the ,euphrates2 or when these roads are deserted and men fear to leave their villages1 news vibrating as it vibrates only in the tremulous ,east1 from hamlet to hamlet and camp to camp across incredible spaces4 ,as one has finely said of a rumour of invasion3-- ,i saw the tents of ,cushn in affliction1 ,the curtains of ,midian's land were trembling47#ajd7 ,to the north lay the more fruitful ,ephraim--more fruitful and more famous in the past than her sister of ,benjamin1 but now in foreign hands1 her own people long gone into exile4 ,it was natural that her fate should lie heavy on the still free but threatened homes of ,benjamin1 whose northern windows looked towards her2 and that a heart like ,jeremiah's should exercise itself upon ,god's meaning by such a fate and the warning it carried for the two surviving tribes47#aje7 ,moreover1 ,shiloh lay there1 ,shiloh where ,eli and other priestly ancestors had served the ,ark in a sanctuary now ruined47#ajf7 ,it was1 too1 across ,ephraim with its mixed population in touch with the court and markets of ,nineveh1 that rumours of war usually reached ,benjamin and ,judah3-- ,hark6 ,they signal from ,dan1 ,mount ,ephraim echoes disaster47#ajg7 ,after a period of peace1 and as ,jeremiah was growing to manhood1 such rumours began to blow south again from the ,euphrates4 ,some thirteen years or so earlier1 ,asshurbanipal1 the ,sardanapalus of the ,greeks1 had accomplished the last ,assyrian conquest in ,palestine1 #fda ,b4,c41 and for an interval the land was quiet4 ,but towards #fbe word came that the ,medes were threatening ,nineveh1 and1 though they were repelled1 in that year ,asshurbanipal died and ,nabopolassar of ,babylon threw off the ,assyrian yoke4 ,palestine felt the grasp of ,nineveh relax4 ,there was a stir in the air and men began to dream4 ,but quick upon hope fell fear4 ,hordes of a new race whom--after the ,greeks--we call ,scythians1 the ,ashguzai of the ,assyrian monuments1 had half a century before swarmed over or round the ,caucasus1 and since then had been in touch1 and even in some kind of alliance1 with the ,assyrians4 ,soon after #fbd they forced the ,medes to relinquish the siege of ,nineveh4 ,they were horsemen and archers1 living in the saddle1 and carrying their supplies behind them in wagons4 ,after 7as it seems7 their effective appearance at ,nineveh1 they swept over the lands to the south1 as ,herodotus tells us27#ajh7 and riding by the ,syrian coast were only brought up by bribes on the border of ,egypt47#aji7 ,this must have been soon after the young prophet's call in #fbg-f4 ,in short1 the world1 and especially the ,north1 was 7to use ,jeremiah's word7 boiling with events and possibilities of which ,god alone knew the end4 ,prophets had been produced in ,israel from like conditions in the previous century1 and now after a silence of nigh seventy years1 prophets were again to appear3 ,zephaniah1 ,nahum1 ,habakkuk1 and ,jeremiah4 ,for these northern omens conspired with others1 ethical and therefore more articulate1 within ,judah herself4 ,it was two generations since ,isaiah and ,hezekiah had died1 and with them the human possibilities of reform4 ,for nearly fifty years ,manasseh had opposed the pure religion of the prophets of the eighth century1 by persecution1 by the introduction of foreign and sensual cults1 and especially by reviving in the name of ,israel's ,god7#aaj7 the ancient sacrifice of children1 in order to propitiate ,his anger4 ,thus it appears that the happier interests of religion--family feasts1 pieties of seed-time and harvest1 gratitude for light1 fountains and rain1 and for good fortune--were scattered among a host both of local and of foreign deities2 while for the ,god of ,israel1 the ,god of ,abraham1 ,moses and ,isaiah1 the most horrible of superstitious rites were reserved1 as if all that ,his people could expect of ,him was the abatement of a jealous and hungry wrath4 ,a few voices crying through the night had indeed reminded ,judah of what ,he was and what ,he required4 ,he hath showed thee1 ,o man1 what is good2 and what doth the ,lord require but to do justly1 and love mercy1 and walk humbly with thy ,god47#aaa7 ,at last with the overthrow of ,manasseh's successor1 ,amon1 signs of a dawn appeared4 ,the child of eight years who was heir to the throne was secured1 perhaps through his mother's influence1 by a party in ,court and ,temple that had kept loyal to the higher faith2 and the people1 probably weary of the fanatic extravagance of ,manasseh1 were content to have it so4 ,the young ,king ,josiah1 who to the end was to prove himself worthy of his training1 and the boy in the priest's home at ,anathoth were of an age3 a fact not to be omitted from any estimate of the influences which moulded ,jeremiah in his youth4 ,but no trace of this appears in what he has left us2 as a boy he may never have seen the ,king1 and to the close of ,josiah's reign he seems to have remained too obscure to be noticed by his monarch2 yet at the last he has only good to say of ,josiah3-- ,did he not eat and drink1 ,and do judgment and justice8 ,the cause of the poor and the needy he judged-- ,then was it well47#aab7 ,attempts at reform were made soon after ,josiah's accession17#aac7 but little was achieved1 and that little only in the capital and its ,temple4 ,in the latter for four hundred years no deity of the land had been worshipped save ,yahweh1 and ,he in no material form4 ,it would be easy to remove from the streets of ,jerusalem any recently introduced ,baals and possibly1 as ,assyria's sovereignty relaxed1 the worship of the ,host of ,heaven4 ,but beyond ,jerusalem the task was more difficult4 ,every village had the shrine of a deity before the ,god of ,israel came to the land4 ,the names of these local ,baalm1 or ,lords1 had mostly vanished17#aad7 and ,israel claimed the rural sanctuaries for ,yahweh4 ,but the old rites1 with the old conceptions of deity attached to them1 seem to have been transferred to ,him by the ignorant worshippers1 till instead of one ,yahweh--one ,lord--unique in character and in power1 there were as many as there had been ,baalm1 and they bore the same inferior and sometimes repulsive characters4 ,we cannot exaggerate this division of the ,godhead into countless local forms3-- ,as many as thy cities in number ,so many ,o ,judah thy gods67#aae7 ,their high places lay all round the ,prophet and each had its bad influence1 not religious only but ethical1 not only idolatrous but immoral1 with impure rites and orgies4 ,lift to the bare heights thine eyes1 ,where not wast thou tumbled8 ,the land thou hast fouled with thy whoredoms17#aaf7 --spiritual and physical both2 the one led to the other4 ,this dissipation of the national mind upon many deities was reflected in the nation's politics4 ,with no faith in ,one ,supreme ,god the statesmen of ,judah1 just as in ,isaiah's earlier days1 fluttered between the great powers which were bidding for the empire of the world4 ,egypt under ,psamtik's vigorous direction pressed north1 flying high promises for the restless vassals of ,assyria4 ,but ,assyria1 though weakened1 had not become negligible4 ,between the two the anchorless policy of ,judah helplessly drifted4 ,to use ,jeremiah's figure1 suitable alike to her politics and her religion1 she was a faithless wife1 off from her husband to one paramour after another4 ,all this was chaos worse than the desert that crumbled before ,anathoth1 a tragedy more bitter than the past which moaned through the land behind4 ,what had ,god to say8 ,it was a singular mark of ,israel1 that the hope of a great prophet never died from her heart4 ,where earnest souls were left they prayed for his coming and looked for the ,word of the ,lord by him more than they who wait for the morning4 ,the same conditions prevailed out of which a century before had come an ,amos1 a ,hosea1 a ,micah and an ,isaiah4 ,israel needed judgment and the ,north again stirred with its possibilities4 ,who would rise and spell into a clear ,word of ,god the thunder which to all ears was rumbling there8 ,the call came to ,jeremiah and1 as he tells the story1 came sudden and abrupt yet charged with the full range and weight of its ultimate meaning1 so far as he himself was concerned3-- ,before in the body ,i built thee1 ,i knew thee1 ,before thou wast forth of the womb1 ,i had hallowed thee1 ,and a prophet to the nations had set thee47#aag7 ,a thought of ,god1 ere time had anything to do with him1 or the things of time1 even father or mother1 could make or could mar him2 ,god's alone1 and sent to the world2 out of the eternities with the ,divine will for these days of confusion and panic and for the peoples1 small and great1 that were struggling through them4 ,it was a stupendous consciousness--this that then broke in the village of ,anathoth and in the breast of the young son of one its priests2 the spring of it deeper and the range of it wider than even that similar assurance which centuries later filled another priest's home in the same hill country3-- ,and thou1 child1 shalt be called the prophet of the ,highest1 ,for thou shalt go before the face of the ,lord1 ,to prepare ,his ways47#aah7 ,the questions of foreknowledge and predestination1 with which ,jeremiah engaged himself not a little1 ,i leave for a future lecture47#aai7 ,here we may consider the range of his mission4 ,this was very wide--not for ,judah only1 but a prophet to the nations had ,i set thee4 ,the objection has been taken1 that it is too wide to be original1 and the alternative inferences drawn3 either that it is the impression of his earliest consciousness as a prophet but formed by ,jeremiah only after years of experience revealed all that had been involved in his call2 or that it is not ,jeremiah's own but the notion formed of him by a later exaggerating generation4 ,it is true that ,jeremiah did not dictate the first words of the ,lord to him till some twenty-three years after he heard them1 when it was possible and natural for him to expand them in terms of his intervening experience4 ,and we must remember the summary bent of the ,hebrew mind--how natural it was to that mind to describe processes as if they were acts of a day1 done by a fiat as in the story of the ,creation2 or to state a system of law and custom1 which took centuries to develop1 as though it were the edict of a single lawgiver and all spoken at once1 when the development entered on a new and higher stage1 as we see in the case of ,deuteronomy and its attribution to ,moses4 ,yet the forebodings at least of a task so vast as that of prophet to the nations were anything but impossible to the moment of ,jeremiah's call2 for the time surged1 as we have seen1 with the movements of the nations and their omens for his own people4 ,indeed it would have been strange if the soul of any prophet1 conscious of a charge from the ,almighty1 had not the instinct1 that as the meaning of this charge was gradually unfolded to him1 it would reveal1 and require from him the utterance of1 ,divine purposes throughout a world so full even to the uninspired eye of the possibilities both of the ruin of old states and of the rise of new ones--a world so close about his own people1 and so fraught with fate for them1 that in speaking of them he could not fail to speak of the whole of it also4 ,if at that time a ,jew had at all the conviction that he was called to be a prophet1 it must have been with a sense of the same responsibilities1 to which the older prophets had felt themselves bound3 men who knew themselves to be ministers of the ,lord of ,hosts1 ,lord of the ,powers of the ,universe1 who had dealt not with ,israel only but with ,moab and ,ammon and ,aram1 with ,tyre and the ,philistines and ,egypt1 and who had spoken of ,assyria herself as ,his staff and the rod of ,his judgment4 ,jeremiah's three contemporaries1 ephaniah1 ,nahum and ,habakkuk1 all deal with the foreign powers of their day--why should he in such an age not have been conscious from the first that his call from the ,lord of ,hosts involved a mission as wide as theirs8 ,i am sure that if we had lived with this prophet through his pregnant times1 as we have lived through these last ten years and have been compelled to think constantly not of our own nation alone--concentrated as we had to be on our duties to her--but of all the nations of the world as equally involved in the vast spiritual interests at stake1 we should have no difficulty in understanding how possible and natural it was for ,jeremiah to hear his mission to the nations clearly indicated in the very moment of his call4 ,and in fact ,jeremiah's acknowledged ,oracles--some of them among his earliest--travel far beyond ,judah and show not merely a knowledge of1 and vivid interest in1 the qualities and fortunes of other peoples1 but a wise judgment of their policies and therefore of what should be ,judah's prudent attitude and duty towards them4 ,for long before his call she had been intriguing with ,egypt and ,assyria47#abj7 ,just then or immediately later the ,scythians1 after threatening the ,medes1 were sweeping over ,western ,asia as far as the frontier of ,egypt1 and in his ,scythian songs ,jeremiah7#aba7 shows an intimate knowledge of their habits4 ,in his ,parable of the ,potter 7for which unfortunately there is no date7 he declares ,god's power to mould or re-mould any nation47#abb7 ,and ,baruch1 writing of ,jeremiah's earlier ministry1 says that he spoke concerning all nations47#abc7 ,no wonder that ,jeremiah shrank from such a task3 ,ah1 ,lord ,god1 ,i know not to speak1 ,i am too young47#abd7 ,his excuse is interesting4 ,had he not developed his gift for verse8 ,or1 conscious of its rustic simplicity1 did he fear to take the prophet's thunder on lips1 that had hitherto moved only to the music of his country-side8 ,in the light of his later experience the second alternative is not impossible4 ,when much practice must have made him confident of his art as a singer1 he tells us how burning he felt the ,word of the ,lord to be4 ,but whatever was the motive of his reluctance it was overcome4 ,as he afterwards said3-- ,ah1 ,lord1 ,thou didst beguile me1 ,and beguiled ,i let myself be2 ,thou wast too strong for me ,and hast prevailed47#abe7 ,the following shows how this came about3-- ,and the ,lord said unto me1 ,say not ,i am too young1 for to all to which ,i send thee thou shalt go1 and all ,i command thee thou shalt speak1 ,be not afraid before them ,for with thee am ,i to deliver1 ,rede of the ,lord4 ,and the ,lord put forth ,his hand and caused it to touch my mouth1 and the ,lord said to me1 ,lo1 ,i have set ,my ,word in thy mouth1 ,see ,i appoint thee this day ,over the nations and kingdoms1 ,to pull up and tear down and destroy17#abf7 ,to build and to plant4 ,to this also objection has been taken as still more incredible in the spiritual experience of so youthful a rustic4 ,it has been deemed the exaggeration of a later age1 and described as the 8gigantic figure0 of a 8plenipotentiary to the nations10 utterly inconsistent with the modest singer of the genuine oracles of ,jeremiah1 8a hero only in suffering1 not in assault407#abg7 ,such an objection rather strains the meaning of the passage4 ,according to this ,jeremiah is to be the carrier of the ,word of the ,lord4 ,that ,word1 rather than the man himself1 is the power to pull up and tear down and destroy1 to build and to plant7#abh7--that ,word which no ,hebrew prophet received without an instinct of its world-wide range and its powers of both destruction and creation4 ,two visions follow4 ,to appreciate the first we must remember the natural anxiety of the prophets when charged with pronouncements so weighty and definite4 ,the ,word1 the ethical purpose of ,god for ,israel was clear1 but how was it to be fulfilled8 ,no strength appeared in the nation itself4 ,the party1 or parties1 loyal to the ,lord had been in power a dozen years and effected little in ,jerusalem and nothing beyond4 ,the people were not stirred and seemed hopeless4 ,living in a village where little changed through the years1 but men followed the habits of their fathers1 ,jeremiah felt everything dead4 ,winter was on and the world asleep4 ,then the ,word of the ,lord came to me saying1 ,what art thou seeing1 ,jeremiah2 and ,i said1 ,i am seeing the branch of an almond tree4 ,and the ,lord said to me1 ,well hast thou seen1 for ,i am awake over ,my ,word to perform it4 ,the ,hebrew for almond tree is shkdh1 which also means awakeness or watchfulness17#abi7 and the ,lord was awake or was watchful--shkdh--the difference only of a vowel4 ,in that first token of spring which a ,palestine winter affords1 the ,prophet received the sacrament of his call and of the assurance that ,god was awake6 ,that the sacrament took this form was natural4 ,that of ,isaiah of ,jerusalem was the vision of a ,throne and an ,altar4 ,that of ,ezekiel1 the exile1 shone in the stormy skies of his captivity4 ,this to the prophet of ,anathoth burst with the first blossom on his wintry fields4 ,the sense of unity in which he and his people conceived the natural and spiritual worlds came to his help2 neither in the one world nor in the other did ,god slumber4 ,god was watching4 ,the ,second ,vision needs no comment after our survey of the political conditions of the time4 ,the ,north held the forces for the fulfilling of the ,word4 ,the ,vision is followed by a charge to the ,prophet himself4 ,and the word of the ,lord came to me the second time1 ,what art thou seeing8 ,and ,i said1 ,a caldron boiling and its face is from 787 the ,north47#acj7 ,and the ,lord said unto me3-- ,out of the ,north shall evil boil forth7#aca7 ,on all that dwell in the land2 ,for behold1 ,i am calling ,all the realms7#acb7 of the ,north4 ,they shall come and each set his throne ,in the openings of the gates of ,jerusalem1 ,on all of her walls round about1 ,and every township of ,judah4 ,and ,my judgments by them7#acc7 shall ,i utter ,on the evil of those who have left ,me1 ,who have burned to other gods ,and bowed to the works of their hands4 ,but thou shalt gird up thy loins1 ,stand up and speak7#acd7 all ,i charge thee4 ,be not dismayed before them1 ,lest to their face ,i dismay thee4 ,see ,i have thee set this day ,a fenced city and walls of bronze ,to the kings and princes of ,judah1 ,her priests and the folk of the land2 ,they shall fight but master thee never1 ,for with thee am ,i to deliver-- ,rede of the ,lord47#ace7 ,jeremiah was silenced and went forth to his ministry--the ,word upon his lips and the ,lord by his side4 ,two further observations are natural4 ,first1 note the contrast between the two ,visions--the blossoming twig and the boiling caldron brewing tempests from the ,north4 ,unrelated as these seem1 they symbolise together ,jeremiah's prophesying throughout4 ,for in fact this was all blossom and storm1 beauty and terror1 tender yearning and thunders of doom--up to the very end4 ,or to state the same more deeply3 while the caldron of the ,north never ceased boiling out over his world--consuming the peoples1 his own among them1 and finally sweeping him into exile and night--he never1 for himself or for ,israel1 lost the clear note of his first ,vision1 that all was watched and controlled4 ,there is his value to ourselves4 ,jeremiah was no prophet of hope1 but he was the prophet of that without which hope is impossible--faith in ,control--that be the times dark and confused as they may1 and the world's movements ruthless1 ruinous and inevitable1 ,god yet watches and rules all to the fulfilment of ,his ,will--though how we see not1 nor can any prophet tell us4 ,second1 note how the story leaves the issue1 not with one will only1 but with two--,god's and the ,man's1 whom ,god has called4 ,his family has been discounted1 his people and their authorities1 political and religious1 are to be against him4 ,he is to stand up and speak1 ,he is not to let himself be dismayed before them1 lest ,god make him dismayed4 ,under ,god1 then1 the ,individual becomes everything4 ,here1 at the start of his ministry1 ,jeremiah has pressed upon him1 the separateness1 the awful responsibility1 the power1 of the ,single ,soul4 ,we shall see how the significance of this developed not for himself only1 but for the whole religion of ,israel4 ,lecture ,,iv4 ,,the ,,prophet ,,in ,,the ,,reign ,,of ,,josiah4 #fbg-bf-fjh ,b4,c4 ,this period of the ,prophet's career may be taken in three divisions3-- ,first1 ,his ,earliest ,oracles1 which reflect the lavish distribution of the high-places in ,judah and ,benjamin1 and may therefore be dated before the suppression of these by ,king ,josiah1 in obedience to the ,law-,book discovered in the ,temple in #fba-bj ,b4,c4 ,second1 ,his ,oracles on the ,scythians1 whose invasions also preceded that year2 with additions4 ,third1 ,oracles which imply that the enforcement of the ,law-,book had already begun1 and reveal ,jeremiah's attitude to it and to the course of the reforms which it inspired4 ,we must keep in mind that the ,prophet did not dictate his early ,oracles till the year #fjd-jc1 and that he added to them on the ,second ,roll many like words47#acf7 ,we shall thus be prepared for the appearance among them of references to the changed conditions of this later date1 when the ,scythians had long come and gone1 the ,assyrian ,empire had collapsed1 its rival ,egypt had been defeated at the ,battle of ,carchemish1 and ,nebuchadrezzar and his ,chaldeans were masters of ,western ,asia4 #a4 ,his ,earliest ,oracles4 7,,ii4 #b-;,,iv4 #d47 ,these bear few marks of the later date at which they were dictated by ,jeremiah--in fact only a probable reference to ,egypt's invasion of ,palestine in #fjh1 ,ch4 ,,ii4 #af1 and part1 if not all1 of ,ch4 ,,iii4 #f-ah4 ,the general theme is a historical retrospect--,israel's early loyalty to her ,god1 and her subsequent declension to the worship of other gods1 figured as adultery2 along with a profession of penitence by the people1 to which ,god responds by a stern call to a deeper repentance and thorough reform2 failing this1 her doom1 though vaguely described as yet1 is inevitable4 ,the nation is addressed as a whole at first in the second person singular feminine1 but soon also in the plural1 and the plural prevails towards the end4 ,the nation answers as a whole1 sometimes as ,i but sometimes also as ,we4 ,before expounding the truths conveyed by these early ,oracles it is well to translate them in full1 for though not originally uttered at the same time1 they run now in a continuous stream of verse--save for one of those 8portages0 of prose which ,i have described47#acg7 ,there is no reason for denying the whole of this passage to ,jeremiah1 whether because it is in prose or because it treats of ,northern ,israel as well as ,judah47#ach7 ,but on parts of it the colours are distinctly of a period later than that of the ,prophet4 ,all the rest of the ,oracles may be taken to be from himself4 ,duhm after much hesitation has come to doubt the genuineness of ,ch4 ,,ii4 #e-ac1 but his suspicions of deuteronomic influence seem groundless1 and even if they were sound they would be insufficient for denying the verses to ,jeremiah47#aci7 ,,ii4 #a1 #b1 ,and he said1 ,thus sayeth the ,lord37#adj7 ,i remember the troth of thy youth1 ,thy love as a bride1 ,thy following ,me through the desert1 ,the land unsown4 ,holy to the ,lord was ,israel1 #c ,first-fruit of ,his income2 ,all that would eat it stood guilty1 ,evil came on them4 ,rede of the ,lord-- ,hear the ,lord's ,word1 ,house of ,jacob1 #d ,all clans of ,israel's race6 ,thus sayeth the ,lord #e ,what wrong found your fathers in ,me1 ,that so far they broke from ,me1 ,and following after the ,bubble7#ada7 ,bubbles became4 ,nor said they3 #f ,where is the ,lord who carried us up ,from the land of ,miraim87#adb7 ,who led us through the desert1 ,land of waste and chasms1 ,land of drought and barren17#adc7 ,a land which nobody crosses1 ,nor mankind settles upon it4 ,and ,i brought you into a garden1 #g ,to feed on its fruit and its wealth4 ,but coming ye fouled ,my land1 ,my heritage turned to loathing4 ,the priests never said1 #h ,where is the ,lord8 ,they who handle the ,law knew ,me not1 ,the rulers7#add7 rebelled against ,me2 ,by ,baal the prophets did prophesy1 ,and followed the worthless4 ,so still with you must ,i strive17#ade7 #i ,and strive with your sons47#adf7 ,for cross to the isles of ,kittm and look #aj ,send to ,kedr1 and think for yourselves17#adg7 ,and see1 was ever like this8 ,have any nations7#adh7 changed their gods1 #aa ,and these no gods at all8 ,yet ,my people exchanged their7#adi7 ,glory ,for that which is worthless4 ,be heavy17#aej7 ,o heavens1 for this1 #ab ,shudder and shudder again6 ,twain the wrongs ,my people have wrought-- #ac ,me have they left1 ,the ,fount of live water1 ,to hew themselves cisterns1 ,cisterns broken1 ,that cannot hold water6 ,israel a slave6 #ad ,or house-born serf6 ,why he for a prey8 ,against him the young lions roar1 #ae ,give forth their voice1 ,and his land they lay waste1 ,burned are his towns and tenantless4 ,the sons1 too1 of ,noph and ,tapanes have forced1 #af ,have abused thee47#aea7 ,is not all this being done thee #ag ,for thy leaving of ,me87#aeb7 ,and now what to thee is the road to ,miraim17#aec7 ,nile's waters to drink8 ,or what is to thee the road to ,asshr1 #ah ,to drink of the ,river8 ,be thy scourge thine own sin1 #ai ,thy doublings convict thee6 ,know and see how sore for thyself1 ,how bitter to leave ,me6 ,but never was awe of ,me thine-- ,rede of the ,lord thy ,god47#aed7 ,from of old thou hast broken thy yoke1 #bj ,hast burst thy bonds1 ,saying1 8,i will not serve60 ,while upon every high hill1 ,and under each rustling tree1 ,harlot thou sprawlest6 ,yet a noble vine did ,i plant thee1 #ba ,wholly true seed2 ,how could'st thou change to a corrupt17#aee7 ,a wildling grape8 ,yea1 though thou scour thee with nitre1 #bb ,and heap to thee lye1 ,ingrained is thy guilt before ,me1 ,rede of the ,lord1 thy ,god47#aef7 ,how sayest thou1 8,i'm not defiled1 #bc ,nor gone after the ,baals40 ,look at thy ways in the ,valley1 ,and own thy deeds6 ,a young camel1 light o' heel17#aeg7 ,zig-zagging her tracks1 ,a heifer1 schooled to the desert-- #bd ,in the heat of her lust1 ,snapping the wind in her passion1 ,who is to turn her8 ,none that would seek her need strain them1 ,in her month they shall find her4 ,save thou thy feet from the peeling1 #be ,thy throat from thirst6 ,but thou sayest1 8,no use67#aeh7 ,for with strangers ,i'm fallen in love1 ,them must ,i after60 ,like the shame of the thief when he's caught1 #bf ,shall ,israel's sons7#aei7 be shamed4 ,they and their kings and their princes1 ,their priests and their prophets7#afj7 ,who say to a stock 8,thou my ,father60 #bg ,to a stone 8,thou hast borne me60 ,their7#afa7 backs they have turned to ,me ,never their7#afb7 faces4 ,yet in time of their trouble they say 8,rise up and save us60 ,where be thy gods thou hast made thee8 #bh ,let them rise1 if so they may save thee ,in time of thy trouble2 ,for as thy townships in number17#afc7 ,so be1 ,o ,judah1 thy gods6 ,what quarrel have you against ,me8 #bi ,all you are the sinners27#afd7 ,against ,me you all have rebelled-- ,rede of the ,lord4 ,in vain have ,i smitten your sons #cj ,ye7#afe7 took not correction ,your7#aff7 sword has devoured your prophets1 ,like a ravaging lion4 ,o generation--you6--look at the ,word of the ,lord67#afg7 #ca ,have ,i been a desert to ,israel1 ,or land of thick darkness8 ,why say ,my folk 8,we are off1 ,no more to meet ,thee60 ,can a maiden forget her adorning1 #cb ,or her girdle a bride8 ,yet ,me have ,my people forgotten1 ,days without number6 ,why trimmest thou still thy ways #cc ,to seek after love8 ,therefore thou also to evil ,thy ways hast trained37#afh7 ,yea1 on thy skirts is found blood #cd ,of innocent souls1 ,not only on felons787 ,i find it ,but over all these47#afi7 ,yet thou said'st1 8,i am assoiled1 #ce ,sure ,his wrath turns from me60 ,behold ,i am going to judge thee ,for saying1 8,i'm sinless60 ,how very light dost thou take it1 #cf ,to change thy ways6 ,e'en of ,miraim shalt thou be ashamed7#agj7 ,as ashamed of ,ashshr4 ,out of this too shalt thou come #cg ,with thy hands on thy head1 ,for spurned hath the ,lord the things of thy trust1 ,not by them shalt thou prosper6 ,,iii4 #a4 ,saying3--,if a man dismiss his wife and she go from him and become another man's1 shall she return to him87#aga7 ,is that woman7#agb7 not too polluted8 ,but thou hast played the harlot with many lovers and--wouldest return unto ,me8 ,rede of the ,lord4 ,lift to the clearings thine eyes1 #b ,where not wast thou tumbled8 ,for them by the roads thou hast sate1 ,like an ,arab in desert1 ,thou hast fouled the land with thy whoredoms ,and with thy vices2 ,with thy lovers so many #c ,it has meant but thy snare47#agc7 ,the brow of a harlot was thine1 ,shame thou hadst done with4 ,but now--thou callest me 8,father1 #d ,friend of my youth60 8,bears ,he a grudge for ever1 #e ,stands on ,his guard for aye807#agd7 ,lo1 so thou hast spoken1 yet done ,ills to thine utmost4 #f4 ,and the ,lord said unto me in the days of ,josiah1 the king17#age7 ,hast thou seen what recreant ,israel did to ,me7#agf7 going up every high hill and under each rustling tree1 and there playing the harlot4 #g4 ,and ,i said1 ,after she has done all these things can she return to ,me8--and she did not return4 #h4 ,and her treacherous sister ,judah saw1 yes she saw17#agg7 that1 all because recreant ,israel committed adultery1 ,i had dismissed her and given her the bill of her divorce2 yet her sister treacherous ,judah was not afraid1 but also went and played the harlot4 #i4 ,and it came to pass that1 through the wantonness of her harlotry1 she polluted the land1 committing adultery with stones and with stocks4 #aj4 ,and yet1 for all this1 treacherous ,judah7#agh7 has not returned to ,me with all her heart1 but only in feigning47#agi7 #aa4 ,and the ,lord said to me1 ,recreant ,israel hath justified herself more than treacherous ,judah4 #ab4 ,go and call out these words toward the ,north and say1 ,turn thee to ,me17#ahj7 recreant ,israel1 ,i frown7#aha7 not upon thee2 ,for gracious am ,i 7,rede of the ,lord71 ,nor for ever bear grudge4 ,only acknowledge thy guilt1 #ac ,that defying the ,lord thy ,god1 ,thou hast scattered to strangers thy ways ,under each rustling tree1 ,and hast7#ahb7 not obeyed ,my voice-- ,rede of the ,lord4 #ad4 ,return ye backsliding children1 ,rede of the ,lord1 for ,i am your ,baal17#ahc7 and ,i will take you1 one from a city and two from a clan1 and will bring you to ion4 #ae4 ,and ,i will give you ,shepherds after ,my heart1 and they shall shepherd you with knowledge and with skill4 #af4 ,and it shall be1 when ye multiply and increase in the land in those days 7,rede of the ,lord71 they shall not again say1 8,the ,ark of the ,covenant of the ,lord60 ,it shall not come to mind1 it shall be neither remembered nor missed17#ahd7 nor shall it be made again4 #ag4 ,at that time they shall call ,jerusalem the ,throne of the ,lord and all nations shall gather to her17#ahe7 nor walk any more after the stubbornness of their evil hearts4 #ah4 ,in those days the ,house of ,judah shall walk with the ,house of ,israel1 that together they may come from the land of the ,north to the land which ,i gave their7#ahf7 fathers for a heritage4 ,but ,i7#ahg7 had declared the ,how787 #ai ,i should set thee7#ahh7 among the sons1 ,and should give thee a land of delight1 ,fairest domain of the nations4 ,and said1 ,thou would'st call ,me ,father1 ,nor from after ,me turn4 ,as a woman plays false to her fere17#ahi7 #bj ,so to ,me ye played false6 ,o ,house of ,israel1 ,rede of the ,lord4 ,hark6 #ba ,from the clearings weeping is heard1 ,wailing of ,israel's sons1 ,that they have perverted their way1 ,forgotten the ,lord their ,god4 ,return ye oft-turning children1 #bb ,let me heal your back-turnings6 8,here are we6 to ,thee we are come1 ,thou ,lord art our ,god4 8,surely the heights are a fraud #bc ,the hills and their hubbub67#aij7 8,alone in the ,lord our ,god ,is ,israel's safety4 8,the ,baal hath devoured our toil #bd ,and our sires' from their youth1 8,their flocks and their herds1 ,their sons and daughters-- 8,lie we low in our shame1 #be ,our dishonour enshroud us6 8,for to our ,god7#aia7 have we sinned1 8,we and our sires from our youth ,up to this day6 8,nor have heeded the voice ,of the ,lord our ,god40 ,israel1 if thou wilt return1 ,,iv4 #a ,return to ,me1 ,and thy loathly things put from thy mouth ,nor stray from ,my face47#aib7 ,if in truth thou swear by the life of the ,lord1 #b ,honest and straight1 ,then the nations shall bless them by ,him ,and in ,him shall they glory47#aic7 #c4 ,thus saith the ,lord to the men of ,judah and to the inhabitants of7#aid7 ,jerusalem3 ,fallow up your fallow-ground17#aie7 ,and sow not on thorns6 ,to your ,god7#aif7 circumcise ye1 #d ,off from your heart with the foreskin6 ,o men of ,judah and inhabitants of ,jerusalem ,lest ,my fury break out like fire1 ,and burn with none to quench6 ,because of the ill of your doings4 ,from his call the ,prophet went forth1 as we saw1 with a heavy sense of the responsibility and the power of the single soul1 so far as he himself was concerned2 and while we study his ministry we shall find him coming to feel the same for each of his fellow-men4 ,but in these his earliest utterances he follows his predecessors1 and especially ,hosea1 in addressing his people as a whole1 and treating ,israel as a moral unit from the beginning of her history to the moment of his charge to her4 ,he continues the figures which ,hosea had used4 ,long ago in ,egypt ,god chose ,israel for ,his child1 for ,his bride1 and led her through the desert to a fair and fruitful land of her own4 ,then her love was true4 ,the term used for it1 eedh1 is more than an affection2 it is loyalty to a relation4 ,to translate it but kindness or mercy1 as is usually done1 is wrong--troth is our nearest word4 ,i remember the troth of thy youth1 ,thy love as a bride1 ,thy following ,me through the desert1 ,the land unsown4 ,upon the unsown land there were no rival gods4 ,but in fertile ,canaan the nation encountered innumerable local deities1 the ,baalm1 husbands of the land1 begetters of its fruits and lords of its waters4 ,we conceive how tempting these ,baalm were both to the superstitious prudence of tribes strange to agriculture and anxious to conciliate the traditional powers thereof2 and to the people's passions through the sensuous rites and feasts of the rural shrines4 ,among such distractions ,israel lost her innocence1 forgot what her own ,god was or had done for her1 and ceased to enquire of ,him4 ,hence her present vices and misery in contrast with her early troth and safety4 ,hence the twin evils of the time--on the one hand the nation's trust in heathen powers and silly oscillation between ,egypt and ,assyria2 on the other the gross immoralities to which the ,baals had seduced its sons4 ,there was a double prostitution1 to gods and to men1 so foul that the young prophet uses the rankest facts in the rural life which he is addressing in order to describe it4 ,the cardinal sin of the people1 the source of all their woes is religious1 ,is not this being done thee ,for thy leaving of ,me8 ,this was so1 not only because ,he was their ancestral ,god--though such an apostasy was unheard of among the nations--but because ,he was such a ,god and had done so much for them2 because from the first ,he had wrought both with grace and with might1 while the gods they went after had neither character nor efficiency--mere breaths1 mere bubbles6 ,the nerve of the faith of the prophets was this memory--that their ,god was love and in love had wrought for ,his people4 ,the frequent expression of this by the prophets and by ,deuteronomy1 the prophetic edition of the ,law1 is the answer to those abstractions to which some academic moderns have sought to reduce the ,object of ,israel's religion--such as1 8a tendency not ourselves that makes for righteousness40 ,the ,god of ,israel was ,righteous and demanded righteousness from men2 but to begin with ,he was ,love which sought their love in return4 ,first the ,exodus then ,sinai2 first ,redemption then ,law2 first ,love then ,discipline4 ,through ,his ,deeds and ,his ,word by the prophets ,he had made all this clear and very plain4 ,what wrong found your fathers in ,me1 ,that so far they broke from ,me8 ,have ,i been a desert to ,israel1 ,or land of thick darkness8 ,why say ,my folk1 8,we are off1 ,to meet ,thee no more40 ,jeremiah has prefaced this ,divine challenge with a passionate exclamation in prose--,o ,generation--you6--look at the ,word of the ,lord6--which 7as ,i have said7 ,i like to think was added to his earlier verses when he dictated these to ,baruch4 ,cannot you see1 cannot you see8 ,he is amazed by the stupidity1 the callousness1 the abandonment with which his people from their leaders down have treated a guidance so clear1 a love so constant and yearning4 ,and again his soul sways upon the contrast between the early innocence and the present corruption of ,israel4 ,a noble vine did ,i plant thee1 ,wholly true seed1 ,how could'st thou change to a corrupt1 ,a wildling grape8 ,the sense of their terrible guilt governs him1 and of their indifference to it1 saying we are clean1 to which he answers3-- ,yea though thou scour thee with nitre ,and heap to thee lye1 ,ingrained is thy guilt before ,me-- ,rede of the ,lord4 ,yet the fervency with which he pleads the ,divine ,love reveals a heart of hunger1 if hardly of hope1 for his nation's repentance4 ,indeed apart from his own love for them he could not have followed ,hosea so closely as he does at this stage of his career1 without feeling some possibility of their recovery from even this1 their awful worst2 and his ear strains for a sign of it4 ,like ,hosea he hears what sounds like the surge of a national repentance7#aig7--was it when ,judah listened to the pleadings and warnings of the discovered ,book of the ,law and all the people stood to the ,covenant8 ,but he does not say whether he found this sincere or whether it was merely a shallow stir of the feelings4 ,probably he suspected the latter1 for in answer to it he gives not ,god's gracious acceptance1 but a stern call to a deeper repentance and to a thorough trenching of their hearts4 ,fallow up the fallow-ground1 ,sow not on thorns6 ,to your ,god7#aih7 circumcise ye1 ,off from your heart with the foreskin6 ,lest ,my wrath break out like the fire1 ,and burn with none to quench47#aii7 ,jeremiah has been called the blackest of pessimists1 and among his best-known sayings some seem to justify the charge3-- ,can the ,ethiop change his skin1 ,or the leopard his spots8 ,then also may ye do good1 ,who are wont to do evil47#bjj7 ,and again1 ,false above all is the heart1 ,and sick to despair1 ,who is to know it8 ,but to his question came the answer3-- ,i1 the ,lord1 searching the heart1 ,and trying the reins1 ,to give to each man as his ways1 ,as the fruit of his doings47#bja7 ,in this answer there is awfulness but not final doom4 ,the affirmation of a man's dread responsibility for his fate implies1 too1 the liberty to change his ways4 ,in the dim mystery of the heart freedom is clear4 ,similarly1 and even more plainly1 is this expressed in the earlier call to break up the fallow-ground4 ,this implies that beneath those surfaces of the national life1 whether of callous indifference on the one hand or of shallow feeling on the other1 there is soil which1 if thoroughly ploughed1 will be hospitable to the good seed and fit to bring forth fruits meet for repentance4 ,human nature even at its worst has tracts other than those on which there has been careless sowing among thorns1 moral possibilities below those of its abused or neglected surfaces4 ,let us mark this depth1 which the ,prophet's insight has already reached4 ,much will come out of it2 this is the matrix of all developments by himself and others of the doctrine of man and his possibilities under ,god4 ,and for all time the truth is valid that many spoiled or wasted lives are spoiled or wasted only on the surface2 and that it is worth while ploughing deeper for their possibilities47#bjb7 ,in what form the deep ploughing required was at first imagined by the ,prophet we see from the immediately following ,oracles4 #b4 ,oracles on the ,scythians4 7,with some others3 ,,iv4 #e-,,vi4 #bi47 ,the invasion of ,western ,asia by the ,scythians happened some time between #fbg and #fbj ,b4,c47#bjc7 ,the following series of brief poems unfold the panic actually caused1 or to the ,prophet's imagination likely to be caused1 in ,judah by the advance of these marauding hordes1 and clearly reflect their appearance and manner of raiding4 ,it is indeed doubtful that ,judah was visited by the ,scythians1 who appear to have swept only the maritime plain of ,palestine4 ,and once more we must remember that when the ,prophet dictated his early ,oracles to ,baruch for the second time in #fjd1 and added to them many more like words17#bjd7 the impending enemy from the ,north was no longer the ,scythians but ,nebuchadrezzar and his ,chaldeans2 for this will explain features of the poems that are not suited to the ,scythians and their peculiar warfare1 which avoided the siege of fortified towns but kept to the open country and the ruin of its villages and fields4 ,jeremiah does not give the feared invaders a name4 ,the ,scythians were utterly new to his world2 yet their name may have occurred in the poems as originally delivered and have been removed in #fjd1 when the ,scythians were no longer a force to be reckoned with47#bje7 #a4 ,as it has reached us1 the ,first ,scythian ,song1 ,ch4 ,,iv4 #e-h1 opens with the general formula-- ,proclaim in ,judah and ,jerusalem1 ,make heard and say6 which may be the addition of a later hand1 but is as probably ,jeremiah's own2 for the capital1 though not likely to be besieged by the ,scythians1 was just as concerned with their threatened invasion as the country folk1 to whom1 in the first place1 the lines are addressed4 ,the trump or horn of the first line was the signal of alarm1 kept ready by the watchman of every village1 as ,amos and ,joel indicate47#bjf7 ,strike up the trump through the land1 ,,iv4 #e;b ,call with full voice1 ,and say1 ,sweep together and into ,the fortified towns4 ,hoist the signal towards ion1 #f ,pack off and stay not6 ,for evil ,i bring from the ,north ,and ruin immense4 ,the ,lion is up from his thicket1 #g ,mauler of nations2 ,he is off and forth from his place1 ,thy land7#bjg7 to lay waste2 ,that thy townships be burned ,with none to inhabit6 ,gird ye with sackcloth for this1 #h ,howl and lament1 ,for the glow of the wrath of the ,lord ,turns not from us4 ,these lines are followed by a verse with an introduction to itself1 and therefore too separate from the context1 and indeed too general to have belonged to so vivid a song3-- #i4 ,and it shall be in that day--,rede of the ,lord-- ,the heart of the king shall perish1 ,and the heart of the princes1 ,and the priests shall be aghast ,and the prophets dismayed6 ,and this is followed by one of the sudden protests to ,god1 which are characteristic of ,jeremiah3-- #aj4 ,and ,i said1 ,ah ,lord ,god1 surely ,thou hast wholly deceived this people and ,jerusalem saying1 8,peace shall be yours10 while the sword strikes through to the life6 #b4 ,the ,second ,scythian ,song is like the first1 prefaced by a double address1 which there is no reason to deny to ,jeremiah4 ,jerusalem is named twice in the song1 and naturally1 since the whole land is threatened with waste and the raiders come up to the suburbs of the capital4 ,the ,prophet speaks1 but as so often the ,voice of the ,lord breaks through his own and calls directly to the city and people 7though the last line of verse #ab may be a later addition74 ,on the other hand1 the ,prophet melts into his people2 their panic and pangs become his4 ,this is one of the earliest instances of ,jeremiah's bearing of the sins of his people and of their punishment4 ,,iv4 #aa4 ,at that time it was said to this people and to ,jerusalem1 ,a wind off the blaze of the bare desert heights1 ,straight on the ,daughter of my people1 ,neither to winnow nor to sift1 ,in full blast it meets me4 #ab ,now will ,i speak ,my judgments upon them ,lo1 like the clouds he is mounting1 #ac ,like the whirlwind his cars6 ,swifter than vultures his horses1 ,woe1 we are undone6 ,jerusalem1 cleanse thou thy heart17#bjh7 #ad ,that thou be saved6 ,how long shalt thou harbour within thee ,thy guilty devices4 ,for hark6 ,they signal from ,dan1 #ae ,mount ,ephraim echoes disaster4 ,warn the folk1 8,they are come607#bji7 #af ,make heard o'er ,jerusalem4 ,behold17#baj7 beleaguerers 787 coming ,from a land far away2 ,they give out their voice on the townships of ,judah2 ,like the guards on her fields #ag ,they are round and upon her1 ,for ,me she defied67#baa7 ,thy ways and thy deeds have done #ah ,these things to thee4 ,this evil of thine how bitter6 ,it strikes to the heart4 ,o my bowels6 ,my bowels1 ,i writhe6 #ai ,o walls of my heart6 ,my heart is in storm upon me1 ,i cannot keep silence47#bab7 ,for the sound of the trump thou hast heard1 ,o my soul1 ,the uproar of battle4 ,ruin upon ruin is summoned1 #bj ,the land is undone6 ,suddenly undone my tents1 ,in a moment my curtains6 ,how long must ,i look for the signal #ba ,and hark for the sound of the trump6 ,yea1 fools are ,my people #bb ,nor ,me do they fear47#bac7 ,children besotted are they1 ,void of discretion4 ,clever they are to do evil1 ,to do good they know not4 #c4 ,the ,third of the ,scythian ,songs is without introduction4 ,whether the waste1 darkness1 earthquake and emptiness described are imminent or have happened is still left uncertain1 as in the previous songs4 ,the ,prophet speaks1 but as before the ,voice of ,god peals out at the end4 ,i looked to the earth1 and lo chaos1 #bc ,to the heavens1 their light was gone4 ,i looked to the hills and7#bad7 they quivered1 #bd ,all the heights were a-shuddering4 ,i looked--and behold not a man6 #be ,all the birds of heaven were fled4 ,i looked to the gardens1 lo desert1 #bf ,all the townships destroyed1 ,before the face of the ,lord1 ,the glow of ,his wrath4 ,for thus hath the ,lord said1 #bg ,all the land shall be waste ,yet full end ,i make not7#bae7 ,for this let the ,earth lament1 #bh ,and black be ,heaven above6 ,i have spoken and will not relent1 ,purposed and turn not from it47#baf7 #d4 ,the ,fourth ,scythian ,song follows immediately1 also without introduction4 ,the first four couplets vividly describe the flight of the peasantry1 actual or imagined1 before the invaders4 ,the rest seems addressed to the ,city as though being threatened she sought to reduce her foes with a woman's wiles1 only to find that it was not her love but her life they were after1 and so expired at their hands in despair4 ,all this is more suitable to the ,chaldean than to the ,scythian invasion1 and may be one of the ,prophet's additions in #fjd to his earlier ,oracles4 ,however we take it1 the figure is of ,jeremiah's boldest and most vivid4 ,the irony is keen4 ,from the noise of the horse and the bowmen1 ,,iv4 #bi ,all the land7#bag7 is in flight1 ,they are into the caves1 huddle in thickets17#bah7 ,are up on the crags4 ,every town of its folk is forsaken ,no habitant in it4 ,all is up6 ,thou destined to ruin7877#bai7 #cj ,what doest thou now8 ,that thou dressest in scarlet1 ,and deck'st thee in deckings of gold1 ,with stibium widenest thine eyes4 ,in vain dost thou prink6 ,though satyrs they utterly loathe thee1 ,thy life are they after6 ,for voice as of travail ,i hear1 #ca ,anguish as hers that beareth1 ,the voice of the daughter of ion agasp1 he spreadeth her hands3 8,woe unto me1 but it faints1 ,my life to the butchers60 ,the next poem1 ,ch4 ,v4 #a-ac1 says little of the ,scythians1 possibly only in verse #f1 but details the moral reasons for the doom with which they threatened the people4 ,it describes the ,prophet's search through ,jerusalem for an honest1 ,god-fearing man and his failure to find one4 ,hence the fresh utterance of judgment4 ,perjury and whoredom are rife1 with a callousness to chastisement already inflicted4 ,some have relegated ,jeremiah's visit to the capital to a year after #fba-bj when the deuteronomic reforms had begun and ,josiah had removed the rural priests to the ,temple47#bbj7 ,but1 as we have seen1 ,anathoth lay so near to ,jerusalem1 and intercourse between them was naturally so constant1 that ,jeremiah may well have gained the following experience before he left his village for residence in the city4 ,the position of the poem among the ,scythian ,songs1 along with the possible allusion to the ,scythians in verse #f1 suggests a date before #fbj4 ,there is no introduction4 ,range ye the streets of ,jerusalem1 ,v4 #a ,look now and know1 ,and search her broad places1 ,if a man ye can find-- ,if there be that does justice1 ,aiming at honesty4 ,that ,i may forgive them7#bba7 ,though they say1 8,as ,god liveth10 #b ,falsely7#bbb7 they swear ,,lord1 are ,thine eyes upon lies787 #c ,and not on the truth7#bbc78 ,thou hast smitten1 they ail not1 ,consumed them1 they take not correction4 ,their faces set harder than rock1 ,they refuse to return4 ,but ,i said1 8,ah1 they are the poor1 #d ,and therefore7#bbd7 the foolish6 8,they know not the ,way of the ,lord1 ,the ,rule of their ,god4 8,to the great ,i will get me1 #e ,with them let me speak4 8,for they know the ,way of the ,lord1 ,and the ,rule of their ,god40 ,ah1 together they have broken the yoke1 ,they have burst the bonds6 ,so a lion from the jungle shall smite them1 #f ,a wolf of the waste destroy1 ,the leopard shall prowl round their towns1 ,all faring forth shall be torn4 ,for many have been their rebellions1 ,profuse their backslidings4 ,how shall ,i pardon thee this-- #g ,thy children have left ,me1 ,and swear by no-gods4 ,i gave them their fill and they whored1 ,and trooped to the house of the harlot4 ,rampant7#bbe7 stallions they be1 #h ,neighing each for the wife of his friend4 ,shall ,i not visit on such1 #i ,rede of the ,lord1 ,nor on a people like this ,myself take vengeance8 ,up to her vine-rows1 destroy1 #aj ,and make7#bbf7 a full end1 ,away with her branches1 ,they are not the ,lord's4 ,for betraying they have betrayed ,me #aa ,judah and ,israel both ,rede of the ,lord ,the ,lord they have belied1 #ab ,saying 8,not ,he6 ,evil shall never come on us1 ,nor famine nor sword shall we see4 8,the prophets6 they are nothing but wind #ac ,the ,word is not with them607#bbg7 #ad4 ,therefore thus hath the ,lord of ,hosts said1 because of their speaking this word--7#bbh7 ,behold ,i am setting ,my ,word ,in thy mouth for fire1 ,and this people for wood1 ,and it shall devour them4 #e4 ,the ,fifth ,song upon the ,scythians1 ,ch4 ,v4 #ae-ag1 besides still leaving them nameless1 emphasises their strangeness to ,israel's world4 ,there was a common language in ,western ,asia1 ,aramean1 the lingua franca of traders from ,nineveh to ,memphis2 and ,jew1 ,assyrian and ,egyptian conversed in it4 ,but the tongue of these raiders from over the ,caucasus was unintelligible4 ,yet how they would set their teeth into the land6 ,mixed with the verses which thus describe them are others which suit not them but the ,chaldeans and must have been added by the ,prophet in #fjd4 ,a people so new to the ,jews might hardly have been called by ,jeremiah an ancient nation1 from of old a nation1 and in fact these phrases are wanting in the ,greek version4 ,behold1 ,i am bringing upon you ,v4 #ae ,a nation from far1 ,o house of ,israel1 ,rede of the ,lord ,an ancient nation it is1 ,from of old a nation47#bbi7 ,a nation thou knowest not its tongue1 #af ,nor canst hear what it says1 ,its quiver an open grave17#bcj7 ,all of it stalwarts47#bca7 ,it shall eat up thy harvest and bread1 #ag ,eat thy sons and thy daughters1 ,it shall eat up thy flocks and thy cattle1 ,eat thy vines and thy figs4 ,it shall beat down thy fortified towns1 ,wherein thou dost trust1 with the sword4 ,the last couplet is unsuitable to the ,scythians1 incapable as they were of sieges and avoiding fortified towns--though once they rushed ,askalon4 ,it is probably1 therefore1 another of the additions of #fjd referring to the ,chaldeans4 ,the prose which follows is certainly from the ,chaldean period1 for it was not ,scythians but ,chaldeans who threatened with exile the peoples whom they overran4 ,v4 #ah4 ,yet even in those days--,rede of the ,lord--,i will not make a full end of you4 #ai4 ,and it shall be when they say1 ,for what hath the ,lord our ,god done to us all these things8--that thou shalt say to them1 ,just as ye have left ,me and have served foreign gods in your own land1 so shall ye serve strangers in a land not yours4 ,there follows a poem1 verses #bj-ca1 that has nothing to do with the ,scythian series2 and that with the preceding prose1 with which also it has no connection1 shows us what a conglomeration of ,oracles the ,book of ,jeremiah is4 ,it seems as though the compiler1 searching for a place for it1 had seen the catch-word harvest in the previous ,scythian song and1 this one having the same word1 he had copied it in here4 ,the ,book shows signs elsewhere of the same mechanical method4 ,but like all the ,oracles this has for its theme the foolish dulness of ,israel to their ,god and ,his ,word1 and the truth that it is their crimes which are the cause of all their afflictions yet now not in history but in ,nature4 ,there is no reason to doubt that the verses are ,jeremiah's1 and nothing against our dating them in the early years of his ministry4 ,declare ye this in the ,house of ,jacob1 ,v4 #bj ,through ,judah let it be heard37#bcb7 ,hear ye now this1 people most foolish1 #ba ,and void of sense47#bcc7 ,they have eyes but they do not see1 ,ears but they hear not4 ,fear ye not ,me1 ,rede of the ,lord1 #bb ,nor tremble before ,me8-- ,who have set the sand a bound for the sea1 ,an eternal decree it cannot transgress2 ,though 7its waters77#bcd7 toss1 they shall not prevail1 ,and its rollers boom1 they cannot break over4 ,yet this people heart-hard and rebellious1 #bc ,have swerved and gone off2 ,for not with their hearts do they say1 #bd 8,now fear we the ,lord our ,god1 8,who giveth the rain in its season1 ,the early and latter2 8,and the weeks appointed for harvest ,secureth for us40 ,these have your crimes deranged1 #be ,your sins withholden your luck4 ,for scoundrels are found in ,my folk1 #bf ,who prowl with the crouch of a fowler7877#bce7 ,and set their traps to destroy1 ',tis men they would catch6 ,like a cage that is full of birds1 #bg ,their houses are filled with deceit17#bcf7 ,and so they wax wealthy and great-- #bh ,they are fat1 they are sleek6-- ,overflowing with things of evil7871 ,they defend not the right1 ,the right of the orphan to prosper1 ,nor justice judge for the needy47#bcg7 ,shall ,i not visit on these1 #bi ,rede of the ,lord1 ,nor on a people like this ,myself be avenged87#bch7 ,appalling and ghastly it is #cj ,that has come to pass in the land3 ,the prophets prophesy lies1 #ca ,the priests bear rule at their hand1 ,and ,my people--they love so to have it2 ,but what will ye do in the end8 #f4 ,in the ,sixth ,song on the ,scythians1 ,,vi4 #a-e1 which also is given without introduction1 ,jerusalem is threatened--even ,jerusalem to which in the previous songs the country-folk had been bidden to fly for shelter--and the foes are described in the attempt to rush her1 as they rushed ,askalon according to ,herodotus4 ,that they are represented as faltering and no success is predicted for them1 and also that they are called shepherds1 are signs that it is the ,scythians1 though still nameless1 who are meant in verses #c-e4 ,the next three verses1 separately introduced1 point rather to a ,chaldean invasion by their picture of besiegers throwing up a mound against the walls1 and may therefore be one of the additions to his earlier ,oracles made by the ,prophet1 when in #fjd the enemy from the ,north was clearly seen to be ,nebuchadrezzar1 with the siege-trains familiar to us from the ,assyrian and ,babylonian monuments2 upon which are represented just such a hewing of timber and heaping of mounds against a city's walls4 ,pack off1 ,o ,benjamin's sons1 ,,vi4 #a ,out of ,jerusalem6 ,strike up the trump in ,tekoa17#bci7 ,o'er ,beth-hakkrem lift up the signal6 ,for evil glowers out of the ,north1 ,and ruin immense4 ,o the charming 787 the pampered height7#bdj7 #b ,of the daughter of ion6 ,unto her shepherds are coming1 #c ,with their flocks around17#bda7 ,they pitch against her their tents1 ,each crops at his hand4 8,hallow7#bdb7 the battle against her1 ,up1 let us on by noon40 8,woe unto us6 ,the day is turning1 #d ,the shadows of evening stretch40 8,up then and on by night1 #e ,that we ruin her palaces60 ,for thus said the ,lord of ,hosts3 #f ,hew down her7#bdc7 trees and heap ,against ,jerusalem a mound2 ,woe to the ,city of ,falsehood17#bdd7 ,nought but oppression within her6 ,as a well keeps its waters fresh #g ,she keeps fresh her evil2 ,violence and spoil are heard throughout her1 ,ever before ,me sickness and wounds4 ,jerusalem1 be thou corrected1 #h ,lest from thee ,my soul doth break1 ,lest ,i lay thee a desolate waste1 ,uninhabited land4 ,here follows another and separately introduced ,oracle3-- ,thus hath the ,lord7#bde7 said3 #i ,glean1 let them glean as a vine ,israel's remnant2 ,like the grape-gleaner turn thy hand ,again to its7#bdf7 tendrils4 8,to whom shall ,i utter myself1 #aj ,and witness that they may hear8 8,lo1 uncircumcised is their ear1 ,they cannot give heed4 8,the ,word of the ,lord is their scorn1 ,no pleasure have they therein4 8,i am full of the rage of the ,lord1 #aa 8,weary with holding it back6 ,pour7#bdg7 it out on the child in the street1 ,on the youths where they gather2 ,both husband and wife shall be taken1 ,the old with the full of days4 ,their homes shall be turned to others1 #ab ,their fields and wives together1 ,when ,i stretch forth ,my ,hand ,on those that dwell in this7#bdh7 land4 ,rede of the ,lord4 ,because from the least to the greatest #ac ,all are greedy of gain1 ,right on from prophet to priest ,every one worketh lies4 ,they would heal the breach of ,my people1 #ad ,as though it were trifling1 ,saying1 8,it is well1 it is well0-- ,when--where7#bdi7 is it well8 ,were they shamed of their loathsome deeds8 #ae ,nay1 not at all ashamed6 ,they know not even to blush6 ,so they with the fallen shall fall1 ,and shall reel in the time that ,i visit1 ,rede of the ,lord4 ,still another ,oracle which gives no glimpse of the ,scythians1 but threatens a vague disaster and once more states the moral reasons for ,judah's doom4 ,its allusion to incense and sacrifices is no reason for dating it after the discovery of ,deuteronomy47#bej7 ,thus hath the ,lord said-- #af ,halt on the ways and look1 ,and ask for the ancient paths3 ,where is7#bea7 the way that is good8 ,go ye in that1 ,and rest shall ye find to your soul1 ,but they--8,we go not60 ,i raised up sentinels for you-- #ag ,heed the sound of the trump67#beb7 ,but they--8,we heed not60 ,therefore1 ,o nations1 hearken1 #ah ,and own ,my record against them 7877#bec7 ,hear thou1 ,o ,earth1 #ai ,lo1 evil ,i bring to this people1 ,the fruit of their own devices17#bed7 ,since they have not heeded ,my ,word1 ,and ,my ,law have despised4 ,to ,me what is incense that cometh from ,sheba1 #bj ,sweet-cane from a far-off land8 ,your holocausts are not acceptable1 ,nor your sacrifice pleasing4 ,therefore thus hath the ,lord said3 #ba ,behold ,i set for this people ,blocks upon which to stumble2 ,fathers and children together1 ,neighbour and friend shall perish4 ,none of the foregoing brief and separate ,oracles diverts from the moral theme of all these earlier utterances of the ,prophet1 that ,judah's afflictions1 whether from ,nature or from invaders1 are due to her own wickedness4 ,and this record even the foreign peoples are called to witness--another proof that from the first ,jeremiah had a sense of a mission to the nations as well as to his own countrymen4 #g4 ,there follows the ,seventh1 the last of the ,songs which may be referred to the ,scythian invasion1 ,ch4 ,,vi4 #bb-bf4 ,it repeats the distance from which1 in the fateful ,north1 those hordes have been stirred to their work of judgment1 their ruthlessness and terrific tumult1 the panic they produce1 and bitter mourning4 ,the usual formula introduces the verses4 #bb4 ,thus hath the ,lord said3 ,lo1 a people comes out of the ,north1 ,a nation7#bee7 astir from the ends of the earth1 ,the bow and the javelin they grasp1 #bc ,cruel and ruthless1 ,the noise of them booms like the sea1 ,on horses they ride-- ,arrayed as one man for the battle ,on thee1 ,o ,daughter of ion6 ,we have heard their fame1 #bd ,limp are our hands2 ,anguish hath gripped us1 ,pangs as of travail4 ,fare not forth to the field1 #be ,nor walk on the way1 ,for the sword of a foe1 ,terror all round6 ,daughter of ,my people1 gird on thee sackcloth #bf ,and wallow in ashes6 ,mourn as for an only-begotten1 ,wail of the bitterest6 ,for of a sudden there cometh ,the spoiler upon us47#bef7 ,this is the last of ,jeremiah's ,oracles on the ,scythians4 ,there is little or no doubt of their date--before #fba-bj4 ,what knowledge of this new people and their warfare the ,prophet displays6 ,what conscience of the ethical purpose of the ,lord of ,hosts in threatening ,judah with them6 ,yet some still refuse to credit the story of his ,call1 that from the first he heard himself appointed as a prophet to the nations47#beg7 ,this section of ,jeremiah's earlier ,oracles concludes with one addressed to himself1 ,ch4 ,,vi4 #bg-cj4 ,it describes the task assigned him during the most of his time under ,josiah1 whether before the discovery and promulgation of the ,book of the ,law in #fba-bj1 or subsequently to this while he watched the nation's new endeavour to repent and reform4 ,during the years from #fba-bj till #fjh when ,josiah was defeated and slain at ,megiddo1 there can have been but little for him to do except to follow1 as his searching eyes and detached mind alone in ,israel could follow1 the great venture of ,judah in obedience to the ,book of the ,law4 ,for this interval the outside world had ceased to threaten ,israel4 ,the ,assyrian control of her was relaxed3 the people of ,god were free1 and had their first opportunity for over a century to work out their own salvation4 ,assayer among ,my people ,i set thee17#beh7 #bg ,to know and assay their ways1 ,all of them utterly recreant1 #bh ,gadding about to slander4 ,brass and iron are all of them7871 ,wasters they be6 ,fiercely blow the bellows1 #bi ,the lead is consumed of the fire787 ,in vain does the smelter smelt1 ,their dross7#bei7 is not drawn4 8,refuse silver0 men call them1 ,for the ,lord hath refused them47#bfj7 ,to take these lines as subsequent to the institution of ,deuteronomy and expressive of the judgment of the ,prophet upon the failure of the reformation under ,josiah to reach the depth of a real repentance17#bfa7 is unnecessary4 ,the young ,jeremiah had already tested his people and in his earliest ,oracles reached conclusions as hopeless as that here4 ,at least he had already been called to test the people2 and in next section we shall see how he continued to fulfil his duty after the discovery of ,deuteronomy1 and onwards through the attempts at reformation which it inspired4 #c4 ,jeremiah and ,deuteronomy4 7,chs4 ,,vii1 ,,viii4 #h1 ,,xi47 ,we are not told when or why ,jeremiah left ,anathoth for ,jerusalem4 ,his early poem denouncing the citizens7#bfb7 reveals a close observation of their morals but no trace of the reforms begun by ,josiah soon after #fba ,b4,c4 ,some therefore hold that he had settled in the ,city before that year47#bfc7 ,anathoth1 however1 lay so near ,jerusalem that even from his boyhood ,jeremiah must have been familiar with the life and trade of the capital2 and as his name is not mentioned in connection with the discovery of the ,law-,book on which the reforms were based1 and neither he nor his biographer speaks of that discovery1 it is probable that as yet he had not entered upon residence in the ,temple-precincts4 ,a natural occasion for the migration of his family and himself would be upon ,josiah's disestablishment of the rural sanctuaries and provision for their priests beside the priests of the ,temple47#bfd7 ,in any case we find ,jeremiah henceforth in ,jerusalem1 delivering his ,words in the gateways or courts of the ,temple to all classes of the citizens as well as to the country-folk1 who under the new laws of worship thronged more than ever the ,city and her great ,shrine4 ,there is general agreement that the ,book of the ,law discovered by the ,temple-priests in #fba-bj was our ,book of ,deuteronomy in whole or in part--more probably in part1 for ,deuteronomy has been compiled from at least two editions of the same original1 and the compilation may not have been made till some time later4 ,many of its laws1 including some peculiar to itself1 have been woven out of more than one form1 and there are two ,introductions to the ,book1 each hortatory and historical and each covering to some extent the same ground as the other4 ,we cannot tell how much of this compilation was contained in the discovered ,book of the ,law4 ,but this ,book included certainly first the laws of worship peculiar to ,deuteronomy1 because the reforms which it inspired carried out these laws1 and probably second some of the denunciations which precede or follow the laws1 for such would explain the consternation of the ,king when the ,book was read to him47#bfe7 ,deuteronomy is fairly described as a fresh codification of the ancient laws of ,israel in the spirit of the ,prophets of the ,eighth ,century4 ,the ,book is not only ,law but ,prophecy1 in the proper sense of this word1 and a prophetic interpretation of ,israel's history4 ,it not only restates old and adds new laws but enforces the basal truths of the prophets1 and in this enforcement breathes the ethical fervour of ,amos and ,isaiah as well as ,hosea's tenderness and his zeal for education4 ,deuteronomy has three cardinal doctrines3 ,the ,one ,god1 ,the ,one ,altar1 and ,the ,one ,people4 ,first1 ,the ,one ,god4 ,though slightly tinged with popular conceptions of the existence of other gods17#bff7 the monotheism of the ,book is strenuously moral and warmly spiritual4 ,the ,god of ,israel is to be served and loved because ,he is ,love--the ,one and ,only ,god not more by ,his ,righteousness and ,his ,power than by ,his ,grace1 manifest as all three have been throughout ,his dealings with ,israel4 ,the worship of other gods is forbidden and so is every attempt to represent ,himself in a material form4 ,his ritual is purged of foolish1 unclean and cruel elements4 ,witchcraft and necromancy are utterly condemned4 ,second--and this is original to ,deuteronomy--,the ,one ,altar1 at that time an inevitable corollary both to the need for purity in the worship of ,god and to the truth of ,his ,unity4 ,the long license of sacrifices at a multitude of shrines had resulted not only in the debasement of ,his worship1 but in the popular confusion of ,himself with a number of local deities47#bfg7 ,the removal of the high-places1 the concentration of sacrifice upon ,one ,altar had1 by the bitter experience of centuries1 become a religious and an ethical necessity4 ,third1 ,the ,one ,people4 ,save for possible proselytes from the neighbouring heathen1 ,israel is alone legislated for--a free nation owning no foreign king as it bows to no foreign deity1 but governing itself in obedience to the revealed ,will of its own ,god4 ,this ,will is applied to every detail of its life in as comprehensive a system of national religion as the world has known4 ,and thus next to devotion to the ,deity comes pride in the nation4 ,because of their possession of the ,divine ,law ,israel are the righteous people and wise above all others4 ,the patriotism of the ,book must have been one cause of its immediate acceptance by the people1 when ,josiah brought it before them and upon it they made ,covenant with their ,god4 ,throughout the ,book treats the nation as a moral unit4 ,it enforces indeed justice as between man and man4 ,it gives woman a higher position than is assumed for her by other ,hebrew codes4 ,it cares for the individual poor1 stranger1 debtor and dependent priest with a humanity all its own1 and it exhorts to the education of children4 ,above all it forbids base thoughts as well as base deeds4 ,yet1 while thus enforcing the elements of a searching personal morality1 ,deuteronomy deals with the individual only through his relations to the nation and the national worship4 ,the ,book has no promise for the individual beyond the grave4 ,nor is there pity nor charity for other peoples nor any sense of a place for them in the ,divine ,providence4 ,there is no missionary spirit nor hope for mankind outside of ,israel4 ,further it is due to the almost exclusively national outlook and interest of the ,book that it has no guidance or comfort to offer for another element of personal experience--question and doubt4 ,while it illustrates from the nation's history the purifying discipline of suffering because of sin it says nothing of the sufferings of righteous individuals1 but by the absoluteness of its doctrines of morality and ,providence suggests1 if indeed it does not inculcate1 the dogma that right-doing will always meet with prosperity and wrong-doing with pain and disaster--a dogma which provoked the thoughtful to scepticism1 as we shall see with ,jeremiah himself4 ,again1 the fact that the ,book1 while superbly insistent upon justice1 holiness and humanity1 lays equal emphasis on a definite ritual1 with ,one ,altar and an exclusive system of sacrifices1 tempted the popular mind to a superstitious confidence in these institutions4 ,and while it was of practical advantage to have the principles of the prophets reduced to a written system1 which could be enforced as public law and taught to the young--two ends on which the authors of ,deuteronomy are earnestly bent--there was danger of the people coming thereby to trust rather in the letter than in the spirit of the new revelation4 ,both these dangers were soon realised4 ,as ,dr4 ,a4 ,b4 ,davidson has said1 8,pharisism and ,deuteronomy came into the world on the same day40 99 99 99 99 99 ,such was the ,book discovered in the ,temple in #fba-bj and accepted as ,divine by ,king and ,nation4 ,modern efforts to connect ,jeremiah with its discovery and introduction to the ,monarch1 and even with its composition1 may be ignored4 ,had there been a particle of evidence for this1 it would have been seized and magnified by the legalists in ,israel1 not to speak of those apocryphal writers who foist so much else on ,jeremiah and ,baruch47#bfh7 ,that they have not even attempted this is proof--if proof were needed--that ,jeremiah1 the youthful son of a rural family1 and probably still unknown to the authorities in the ,capital1 had nothing whatever to do either with the origins1 or with the discovery1 of the ,book of the ,law or with its presentation to the ,king by the priests of the ,temple4 ,yet so great a discovery1 so full a volume of truth poured forth in a style so original and compelling1 cannot have left unmoved a young prophet of the conscience and heart of ,jeremiah47#bfi7 ,that he was in sympathy with the temper and the general truths of ,deuteronomy we need not doubt4 ,as for its ethics1 its authors were of the same school as himself and among their teachers they had the same favourite1 ,hosea4 ,in his earliest ,oracles ,jeremiah had expressed the same view as theirs of ,god's constant and clear guidance of ,israel and of the nation's obstinacy in relapsing from this4 ,his heart1 too1 must have hailed the ,book's august enforcement of that abolition of the high places and their pagan ritual1 which he had ventured to urge from his obscure position in ,anathoth4 ,nor did he ever throughout his ministry protest against the substitute which the ,book prescribed for those--the concentration of the national worship upon a single sanctuary4 ,on the contrary in a later ,oracle he looks for the day when that shall be observed by all ,israel and the watchmen on ,mount ,ephraim shall cry1 ,rise1 let us up to ion1 ,to the ,lord our ,god67#bgj7 ,on the other hand1 the emphasis which ,deuteronomy equally lays upon ethics and upon ritual1 and its absolute doctrines of morality and ,providence were bound to provoke questions in a mind so restlessly questioning as his4 ,then there was the movement of reform which followed upon the appeal of the ,book to the whole nation4 ,jeremiah himself had called for a national repentance and here1 in the people's acceptance of the ,covenant and consent to the reforms it demanded1 were the signs of such a repentance4 ,no opposition appears to have been offered to those reforms4 ,the ,king who led them was sincere2 a better monarch ,judah never knew1 and his reign was signalised by ,jeremiah at its close as a reign of justice when all was well4 ,yet can we doubt that the ,prophet1 who had already preached so rigorous a repentance and had heard himself appointed by ,god as the tester of ,his people1 would use that detached position jealously to watch the progress of the reforms which the nation had so hurriedly acclaimed and to test their moral value8 ,in modern opinion of ,jeremiah's attitude to the discovered ,law-,book there are two extremes4 ,one is of those who regard him as a legalist and throughout his career the strenuous advocate of the ,book and the system it enforced4 ,the other is of those who maintain that he had no sympathy with legal systems or official reforms1 and that the passages in the ,book of ,jeremiah which allege his assent to1 and his proclamation of1 the ,deuteronomic ,covenant1 or represent him as using the language of ,deuteronomy1 are not worthy of credit47#bga7 ,of these extremes we may say at once that if with both we neglect the twofold character of ,deuteronomy--its emphasis now on ethics and now on ritual--and again1 if with both we assume that ,jeremiah's attitude to the ,law-,book and to the reforms it inspired never changed1 then the evidences for that attitude offered by the ,book of ,jeremiah are inconsistent and we may despair of a conclusion4 ,but a more reasonable course is open to us4 ,if we keep in mind the two faces of ,deuteronomy as well as the doubtful progress for many years of the reforms started by it1 and if we also remember that a prophet like all the works of ,god was subject to growth2 if we allow to ,jeremiah the same freedom to change his purpose in face of fresh developments of his people's character as in the ,parable of the ,potter he imputes to his ,god2 if we recall how in #fjd the new events in the history of ,western ,asia led him to adapt his earlier ,oracles on the ,scythians to the ,chaldeans who had succeeded the ,scythians as the expected ,doom from the ,north--then our way through the evidence becomes tolerably clear1 except for the difficulty of dating a number of his undated ,oracles4 ,what we must not forget is the double1 divergent intention and influence of ,deuteronomy1 and the fact that ,josiah's reformation1 though divinely inspired1 was in its progress an experiment upon the people1 whose mind and conduct beneath it ,jeremiah was appointed by ,god to watch and to test4 ,these considerations prepare us first for the story in ,ch4 ,,xi4 #a-h of ,jeremiah's fervent assent to the ethical principles of ,deuteronomy and of the charge to him to proclaim these throughout ,judah2 and then for his later attitude to the written ,law1 to the ,temple and to sacrifices4 ,,xi4 #a4 ,the ,word which came to ,jeremiah from the ,lord1 saying3 #b4 ,hear thou7#bgb7 the words of this ,covenant1 and speak them to the men of ,judah1 and to the inhabitants of ,jerusalem4 #c4 ,and thou shalt say to them1 ,thus saith the ,lord1 the ,god of ,israel3 #d4 ,cursed be the man who hears not the words of this ,covenant1 which ,i commanded your fathers in the day that ,i brought them out of the land of ,egypt1 out of the iron-furnace1 saying1 ,hearken to ,my ,voice and do7#bgc7 according to all that ,i command you1 and ye shall be to ,me a people1 and ,i will be ,god to you2 #e in order to establish the oath which ,i sware unto your fathers1 to give them a land flowing with milk and honey1 as at this day4 #f4 ,and ,i answered and said1 ,amen1 ,o ,lord6 #g4 ,and the ,lord said unto me1 ,proclaim7#bgd7 these words in the cities of ,judah and in the streets of ,jerusalem1 saying1 #h ,hear ye the words of this ,covenant and do them1 but they did them not47#bge7 ,the story has its difficulties4 ,it is undated2 it is followed by verses #i-ag1 apparently from the reign of ,jehoiakim2 what the ,prophet is called to hear and gives his solemn assent to is generally described as this ,covenant2 and in verses #g and #h there is what may be a mere editorial addition since the ,greek ,version omits it1 which has led some to assert the editorial character of the whole4 ,but for the reasons given above1 there is no cause to doubt the substantial truthfulness of the story1 unless with ,duhm we were capable of believing that ,jeremiah never spoke in prose1 nor can be conceived as1 at any time in his life the advocate of what was a legal as well as a prophetic book4 ,of the first of these assertions we have already disposed27#bgf7 the second is met by the fact that what ,jeremiah was called to assent to was not a legal programme but a spiritual covenant1 of which ethical obedience alone was stated as the condition4 ,in ,josiah's reign what else could this ,covenant mean than the ,covenant set forth in the recently discovered ,book of the ,law and solemnly avouched by the whole people87#bgg7 ,that its essence was spiritual and ethical is expressed in the ,deuteronomic phrases which follow1 and the quotation of these is most relevant to the occasion4 ,nor do the recollections1 the command and the promise which they convey go beyond what ,jeremiah had already enforced in his earlier ,oracles47#bgh7 ,therefore we may believe that1 as recorded1 ,jeremiah heard in the heart of ,deuteronomy the call of ,god1 that he uttered his ,amen to it2 and that1 from his experience of the evils of the high-places1 he felt obliged1 as he also records1 to proclaim this ,covenant throughout ,judah47#bgi7 ,in the same chapter as the charge to the ,prophet concerning this ,covenant there is mention of a conspiracy against his life by the men of ,anathoth1 ,,xi4 #ba4 ,some suppose that these were enraged by his support of reforms which abolished rural sanctuaries like their own4 ,but his earlier denunciations of such shrines1 delivered independently of ,deuteronomy1 had been enough to rouse his fellow-villagers against him as a traitor to their local interests and pieties4 ,another address1 ,,vii4 #a-ae1 said to have been delivered to all ,judah1 rebukes the people for their false confidence in the ,temple and their abuse of it1 and threatens its destruction4 ,editorial additions may exist in both the ,hebrew and ,greek texts of this address1 but it contains phrases non-deuteronomic and peculiar to ,jeremiah1 while its echoes of ,deuteronomy were natural to the occasion4 ,except for a formula or two1 ,i take the address to be his own4 ,nor am ,i persuaded by the majority of modern critics that it is a mere variant of the ,temple address reported in ,ch4 ,,xxvi as given in the beginning of the reign of ,jehoiakim4 ,why may ,jeremiah not have spoken more than once on the same theme to the same1 or a similar effect8 ,moreover1 the phrase ,we are delivered6 ,,vii4 #aj1 which does not recur in ,,xxvi1 suits the conditions before1 rather than those after1 the ,battle of ,megiddo4 ,for parallel with the increased faith in the ,temple1 due mainly to the people's consciousness of their obedience to the ,law-,book1 was their experience of deliverance from the ,assyrian yoke4 ,i am inclined1 therefore1 to refer ,,vii4 #a-ae to the reign of ,josiah1 rather than with ,,xxvi to that of ,jehoiakim47#bhj7 ,but1 whatever be its date1 ,,vii4 #a-ae is relevant to our present discussion4 ,,vii4 #b1 #c4 ,hear ye the ,word of the ,lord1 all ,judah67#bha7 ,thus saith the ,lord1 the ,god of ,israel--,better your ways and your doings that ,i may leave you to dwell in this ,place4 #d4 ,put not your trust on lying words17#bhb7 saying to yourselves17#bhc7 8,the ,temple of the ,lord1 ,the ,temple of the ,lord1 ,the ,temple of the ,lord--#e are those607#bhd7 ,but if ye thoroughly better your ways and your doings1 if ye indeed do justice between a man and his fellow1 #f and oppress not the sojourner1 the orphan1 and the widow1 and shed not innocent blood in this ,place1 nor go after other gods to your hurt1 #g then ,i shall leave you to abide in this ,place in the land which ,i gave to your fathers from of old for ever4 #h4 ,behold1 you put your trust on lying words that cannot profit4 #i4 ,what8 ,steal1 murder1 fornicate1 swear falsely1 and burn7#bhe7 to ,baal1 and go after other gods whom ye knew not1 #aj yet come and stand before ,me in this ,house upon which ,my ,name has been called and say 8,we are delivered0--in order to work all these abominations6 #aa4 ,is it a robbers' den that ,my7#bhf7 ,house upon which ,my ,name has been called has become in your eyes8 ,i also1 behold ,i have seen it--,rede of the ,lord4 #ab4 ,for go now to ,my ,place which was in ,shiloh1 where at first ,i caused ,my ,name to dwell1 and see what ,i did to it because of the wickedness of ,my people ,israel4 #ac4 ,and now because of your doing of all these deeds ,rede of the ,lord1 though ,i spake unto you rising early and speaking1 but ye hearkened not1 and ,i called you1 but ye did not answer17#bhg7 #ad ,i shall do to the ,house on which ,my ,name has been called in which you are trusting1 and to the ,place which ,i gave to you and to your fathers1 as ,i did to ,shiloh4 #ae4 ,and ,i shall cast you out from before ,my ,face as ,i cast out7#bhh7 your brethren1 all the seed of ,ephraim4 ,in this address there is nothing that contradicts ,deuteronomy4 ,the sacredness with which the ,book had invested the ,one ,sanctuary is acknowledged4 ,but the people have no moral sense of that sacredness4 ,their confidence in the ,temple is material and superstitious1 fostered1 we may believe1 by the peace they were enjoying and their relief from a foreign sovereignty1 as well as by their formal observance of the institutions which the ,book prescribed4 ,what had been founded to rally and to guide a spiritual faith they turned into a fetish and even to an 8indulgence0 for their wickedness4 ,the ,house1 in which ,isaiah had bent beneath the seraphs' adoration of the ,divine ,holiness1 and1 confessing his own and his people's sin1 had received from its altar the sacrament of pardon and of cleansing1 was by this generation not only debased to a mere pledge of their political security but debauched into a shelter for sins as gross as ever polluted their worship upon the high places4 ,so ready1 as in all other ages1 were formality and vice to conspire with each other6 ,jeremiah scorns the people's trust in the ,temple as utterly as he had scorned their trust 7it is the same word7 in the ,baals or in ,egypt and ,assyria4 ,the change in the pivot of their false confidence is to be marked4 ,so much at least had ,deuteronomy effected--shifting their trust from foreign gods and states to something founded by their own ,god1 yet leaving it material1 and unable to restrain them from bringing along with it their old obdurate vices4 ,whether1 then1 this address was delivered in ,josiah's reign or early in ,jehoiakim's it affords no reason for our denying it to ,jeremiah4 ,as ,god's tester of the people he has been watching their response to the ,revelation they had accepted1 and has proved that their obedience was to the letter of this and not to its spirit1 that while they superstitiously revered its institutions they shamelessly ignored its ethics4 ,for just such vices as they still practised ,god ,himself must take vengeance4 ,as those had deranged the very seasons and were leading to the overthrow of the state17#bhi7 no one could hope that the ,temple would escape their consequences4 ,and there was that precedent of the destruction of ,israel's first sanctuary in ,shiloh1 the ruins of which1 as we have seen1 lay not far from ,jeremiah's home at ,anathoth47#bij7 ,another ,oracle1 ,,xi4 #ae1 #af1 also undated1 seems1 like the last passage1 best explained as delivered by ,jeremiah while he watched during the close of ,josiah's reign the hardening of the people's trust in their religious institutions and felt its futility2 or alternatively when that futility was exposed by the defeat at ,megiddo4 ,it has1 however1 been woven by some hand or other into a passage reflecting the revival of the ,baal-worship under ,jehoiakim 7verse #ag2 its connection with the prose sentence preceding is also doubtful74 ,copyists have wrought havoc with the ,hebrew text1 but as the marginal note of our ,revisers indicates1 the sense may be restored from the ,greek4 ,my ,beloved is1 of course1 ,israel4 ,what has ,my ,beloved to do in ,my house1 ,,xi4 #ae ,working out mischief8 ,vows1 holy flesh6 ,can such things turn ,calamity from thee2 ,or by these thou escape87#bia7 ,flourishing olive1 fair with fruit1 #af ,god called thy name4 ,to the noise of a mighty roaring ,he sets her on fire-- ,blasted her branches6 ,the first of these verses repeats the charge of ,,vii4 #b-aa3 the people use the ,temple for their sins4 ,the word rendered mischief is literally devices1 and the meaning may be intrigues hatched from their false ideas of the ,temple's security4 ,but the word is mostly used of evil devices and here the ,greek has abomination4 ,as with their ,temple so with their vows and sacrifices4 ,all are useless because of their wickedness4 ,the nation must be punished4 ,the second verse may well have been uttered after the defeat at ,megiddo1 or may be a prediction on the eve of that disaster to the branches of the nation1 which the nation as a whole survived4 ,this leads to another and more difficult question4 ,jeremiah has spoken doom on the ,temple and the ,nation2 has he come to doubt the ,law-,book itself or any part of it8 ,as to that there are two passages one of which speaks of a falsification of the ,law by its guardians1 while the other denies the ,divine origin not only of the deuteronomic but of all sacrifices and burnt offerings4 ,even before the discovery of the ,law-,book the young prophet had said of those who handle the ,law that they did not know the ,lord47#bib7 ,and now in an ,oracle1 apparently of date after the discovery1 he charges the scribes with manipulating the ,law1 the ,torah1 so as to turn it to falsehood4 ,the ,oracle is addressed to the people of whom he has just said that they do not know the ,rule1 the ,mishpa1 of the ,lord4 ,how say you1 8,we are the ,wise1 ,,viii4 #h ,the ,law of the ,lord is with us40 ,but lo1 the falsing pen of the scribes ,hath wrought it to falsehood4 ,torah1 literally direction or instruction1 is either a single law or a body of law1 revealed by ,god through priests or prophets1 for the religious and moral practice of men4 ,here it is some traditional or official form of such law1 for which the people have rejected the ,word of the ,lord--,his living ,word by the prophets of the time 7verse #i74 ,put to shame are the wise1 #i ,dismayed and taken4 ,lo1 they have spurned the ,word of the ,lord-- ,what wisdom is theirs8 ,was this ,torah oral or written8 ,and if written was it the discovered ,book of the ,torah1 which in part at least was our ,deuteronomy8 ,so far as the text goes the original ,torah may have been either oral or written1 and the scribes have falsified it1 by amplification or distortion17#bic7 either when reducing it for the first time to writing or when copying and editing it from an already written form4 ,this leaves open these further questions4 ,if written was the ,torah the very ,book of the ,torah discovered in the ,temple in #fba-bj8 ,and if so did the falsification affect the whole or only part of the ,book8 ,to these questions some answer ,no1 on the ground of ,jeremiah's assent to this ,covenant1 and the command to him to proclaim it47#bid7 ,others answer ,yes2 in their view ,jeremiah was opposed to the deuteronomic system as a whole1 or at least to the detailed laws of ritual added to the prophetic and spiritual principles of the ,book47#bie7 ,another possibility is that ,jeremiah had in view those first essays in writing of a purely priestly law-book1 which resulted during the ,exile in the so-called ,priests' ,code now incorporated in the ,pentateuch4 ,in our ignorance both of the original form of ,deuteronomy and of the extent and character of the activity of the scribes during the reign of ,josiah we might hesitate to decide among these possibilities were it not for the following address which there is no good reason for denying to ,jeremiah4 ,,vii4 #ba4 ,thus saith the ,lord17#bif7 ,your burnt offerings add to your sacrifices and eat flesh7#big76 #bb4 ,for ,i spake not with your fathers nor charged them1 in the day that ,i brought them forth from the land of ,egypt1 concerning burnt-offering and sacrifice4 #bc4 ,but with this ,word ,i charged them1 saying1 ,hearken to ,my ,voice1 and ,i shall be to you ,god1 and ye shall be to ,me a people1 and ye shall walk in every way that ,i charge you1 that it may be well with you4 ,whether from ,jeremiah or not1 this is one of the most critical texts of the ,old ,testament because while repeating what the ,prophet has already fervently accepted17#bih7 that the terms of the deuteronomic ,covenant were simply obedience to the ethical demands of ,god1 it contradicts ,deuteronomy and even more strongly ,leviticus1 in their repeated statements that in the wilderness ,god also commanded sacrifices4 ,the issue is so grave that there have been attempts to evade it4 ,none1 however1 can be regarded as successful4 ,that which would weaken the ,hebrew phrase1 rightly rendered concerning by our versions1 into for the sake of or in the interest of 7as if all the speaker intended was that animal sacrifice was not the chief end or main interest of the ,divine legislation7 is doubtful philologically1 nor meets the fact that all the ,hebrew codes assign an indispensable value to sacrifice4 ,inadmissible also is the suggestion that the phrase means concerning the details of1 for ,deuteronomy and especially ,leviticus emphasise the details of burnt-offering and sacrifice4 ,nor is the plausible argument convincing that the ,prophet spoke relatively1 and meant only what ,samuel meant by ,obedience is better than sacrifice1 or ,hosea by ,the ,knowledge of ,god is more than burnt-offerings47#bii7 ,nor are there grounds for thinking that the ,prophet had in view only the ,ten ,commandments2 while finally to claim that he spoke in hyperbole is a forlorn hope of an argument4 ,in answer to all these evasions it is enough to point out that the question is not merely that of the value of sacrifice1 but whether during the ,exodus the ,god of ,israel gave any charge concerning sacrifice2 as well as the fact that others than ,jeremiah had either explicitly questioned this or implicitly denied it4 ,when ,amos1 in ,god's ,name repelled the burnt-offerings of his generation he asked1 ,did ye bring unto ,me sacrifices and offerings in the wilderness forty years1 ,o ,house of ,israel8 and obviously expected a negative answer4 ,and the following passages only render more general the truth that ,israel's ,god has no pleasure at any time in the sacrifices offered to ,him1 with the institution of which--the natural inference is--,he can have had nothing to do4 ,will the ,lord be pleased with thousands of rams or with ten thousands of rivers of oil4 ,shall ,i give my first-born for my transgression1 the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul8 ,he hath declared to thee1 ,o man1 what is good3 and what doth the ,lord require of thee but to do justly1 and to love mercy1 and to walk humbly with thy ,god4 ,and these two utterances in the ,psalms3 ,shall ,i eat the flesh of bulls or drink the blood of goats8 ,offer unto ,god thanksgiving and pay thy vows to the ,most ,high2 and ,thou desirest not sacrifice else would ,i give it1 ,thou delightest not in burnt-offering1 ,the sacrifices of ,god are a broken spirit47#cjj7 ,for the accuracy of these assertions or implications by a succession of prophets and psalmists there is a remarkable body of historical evidence4 ,the sacrificial system of ,israel is in its origins of far earlier date than the days of ,moses and the ,exodus from ,egypt4 ,it has so much1 both of form and meaning1 in common with the systems of kindred nations as to prove it to be part of the heritage naturally derived by all of them from their ,semitic forefathers4 ,and the new element brought into the traditional religion of ,israel at ,sinai was just that on which ,jeremiah lays stress--the ethical1 which in time purified the ritual of sacrifice and burnt-offering but had nothing to do with the origins of this4 ,therefore it is certain first that ,amos and ,jeremiah meant literally what they stated or implicitly led their hearers to infer--,god gave no commands at the ,exodus concerning burnt-offerings and sacrifices--and second that historically they were correct4 ,but1 of course1 their interest in so saying was not historical but spiritual4 ,their aim was practical--to destroy their generation's materialist belief that animal sacrifice was the indispensable part of religion and worship4 ,still his way of putting it involves on the part of ,jeremiah a repudiation of the statements of ,deuteronomy on the subject4 ,so far1 then1 ,jeremiah opposed the new ,book of the ,law47#cja7 ,but with all this do not let us forget something more4 ,while thus anticipating by more than six centuries the abolition of animal sacrifices1 ,jeremiah1 by his example of service and suffering1 was illustrating the substitute for them--the human sacrifice1 the surrender by man himself of will and temper1 and if need be of life1 for the cause of righteousness and the salvation of his fellow-men4 ,the recognition of this in ,jeremiah by a later generation in ,israel led to the conception of the suffering ,servant of the ,lord1 and of the power of ,his innocent sufferings to atone for sinners and to redeem them4 99 99 99 99 99 ,this starts a kindred point--and the last--upon which ,jeremiah offers1 if not a contradiction1 at least a contrast and a supplement to the teaching of ,deuteronomy4 ,we have noted the absoluteness--or idealism--of that ,book's doctrines of ,morality and ,providence2 they leave no room for certain problems1 raised by the facts of life4 ,but ,jeremiah had bitter experience of those facts1 and it moved him to state the problems to ,god ,himself4 ,he owns the perfect justice of ,god2 but this only makes his questioning more urgent4 ,too righteous art ,thou ,o ,lord1 ,,xii4 #a ,that with ,thee ,i should argue1 ,yet cases there are ,i must speak to ,thee of3 ,the way of the wicked--why doth it prosper1 ,and the treacherous all be at ease8 ,thou hast planted them1 yea they take root1 #b ,they get on1 yea they make fruit2 ,near in their mouths art ,thou1 ,but far from their hearts4 ,we shall have to deal with these questions and ,god's answer to them1 when in a later lecture we analyse ,jeremiah's religious experience and struggles4 ,here we only note the contrast which they present to ,deuteronomy--a contrast between the ,man and the ,system1 between ,experience and ,dogma1 between the ,actual and the ,ideal4 ,and1 as we now see1 it was the ,system and the ,dogma that were defective and the ,man and his ,experience of life that started1 if not for himself yet for a later generation1 pondering his experience1 the solution of those problems1 which against the deuteronomic teaching he raised in brave agony to ,god's own face4 ,such serious differences between ,jeremiah and ,deuteronomy--upon the ,law1 the ,temple1 the ,sacrifices1 and ,doctrines of ,providence and ,morality--suggest an important question with regard to the methods of ,divine ,revelation under the ,old ,covenant4 ,do they not prove that among those methods there were others than vision or intuition springing from the direct action of the ,spirit of ,god upon the spirits of individual men8 ,are they not instances of the processes by which to this day in the ,providence of ,god truth is sifted and ultimately beaten out--namely debate and controversy between different minds or different schools of thought1 between earnest supporters of various and often hostile opinions in neither of which lies the whole of the truth8 ,the evidence for ,revelation by ,argument which the ,book of ,jeremiah affords is not the least of its contributions to the history and philosophy of religion4 ,lecture ,v4 ,,under ,,jehoiakim4 #fjh-eig-h ,b4,c4 #a4 ,from ,megiddo to ,carchemish1 #fjh-fje4 ,josiah's faithful reign1 and with it all thorough efforts to fulfil the ,national ,covenant17#cjb7 came to a tragic close on the field of ,megiddo--the ,flodden of ,judah4 ,the year was #fjh ,b4,c4 ,medes and ,chaldeans together had either taken1 or were still besieging1 ,nineveh2 and ,pharaoh ,ncoh17#cjc7 eager to win for ,egypt a share of the crumbling ,assyrian ,empire1 had started north with a great army4 ,marching by the coast he first took ,gaza1 and crossing by one of the usual passes from ,sharon to ,esdraelon17#cjd7 found himself opposed near ,megiddo by a ,jewish force led by its king in person4 ,the ,chronicler tells us that ,ncoh sought to turn ,josiah from his desperate venture3 ,what have ,i to do with thee8 ,i am come not against thee but against the ,house with which ,i am at war4 ,god hath spoken to speed me2 forbear from ,god who is with me1 lest ,he destroy thee47#cje7 ,but ,josiah persisted4 ,the issue of so unequal a contest could not be doubtful4 ,the ,jewish army was routed and ,josiah himself immediately slain47#cjf7 ,at first sight1 the courage of ,josiah and his small people in facing the full force of ,egypt seems to deserve our admiration1 as much as did the courage of ,king ,albert and his nation in opposing the faithless invasion of ,belgium by the ,germans aiming at ,france4 ,there was1 however1 a difference4 ,ncoh was not invading ,judah1 but crossing ,philistine territory and a ,galilee which had long ceased to be ,israel's4 ,some suppose that since the ,assyrian hold upon ,palestine relaxed1 ,josiah had gradually occupied all ,samaria4 ,if this be so1 was he now stirred by a gallant sense of duty to assert ,israel's ancient claim to ,galilee as well8 ,we cannot tell47#cjg7 ,but what we may confidently assume is that1 having fulfilled by thirteen years of honest reforms his own part of the terms of the ,covenant1 ,josiah believed that he could surely count on the ,divine fulfilment of the rest1 and that some miracle would bring to a righteous king and people victory over the heathen1 however more powerful the heathen might be4 ,he was only thirty-nine years of age4 ,his servants carried his body from the field in a chariot to ,jerusalem1 bringing him back1 as we may realise1 to a people stricken with consternation4 ,their trust in the ,temple was shaken--they were not delivered67#cjh7 ,in the circumstances they did their feeble best by raising to the vacant throne ,josiah's son1 ,shallum1 as ,jehoahaz1 the ,lord hath taken hold4 ,but the new name proved no omen of good4 ,in three months ,ncoh had the youth in bonds at ,riblah1 in the land of ,hamath1 that he might not reign in ,jerusalem1 and afterwards took him to ,egypt4 ,of this fresh sorrow ,jeremiah sang as if it had drowned out the sorrow of ,megiddo-- ,weep not for the dead1 ,,xxii4 #aj ,nor bemoan him1 ,but for him that goeth away weep sore1 ,for he cometh no more1 ,nor seeth the land of his birth4 ,jehoahaz died in ,egypt4 ,the next ,king1 ,jehoiakim1 another of ,josiah's sons1 was set on the throne by ,ncoh1 who also exacted a heavy tribute4 ,what national disillusion6 ,the hopes falsely kindled upon the letter of ,deuteronomy lay quenched on ,megiddo2 and the faithful servant of the ,covenant had1 in spite of its promises as men would argue1 been defeated and slain in the flower of his life4 ,judah had been released from the ,assyrian yoke1 only to fall into the hands of another tyrant1 her new king his creature1 and her people sorely burdened to pay him4 ,the result was religious confusion4 ,in at least a formal obedience to the deuteronomic laws of worship1 the people of the land continued to resort to the ,temple fasts and festivals47#cji7 ,but resenting the failure of their ,god to grant victory numbers relapsed into an idolatry as rank as that under ,ahaz or ,manasseh27#caj7 while others1 more thoughtful but not less bewildered1 conceived doubts of the worth of righteousness4 ,and these tempers were embittered by the cruel selfishness of the new monarch and his reckless injustice4 ,to the taxes required for the tribute to ,egypt he added other exactions in order to meet his extravagance in enlarging and adorning his palace4 ,the crime1 with which ,jeremiah charges him in the following lines1 is one to which small kings in the ,east have often been tempted by their contact with civilisations richer than their own4 ,on ,judah ,jehoiakim imposed the cruel corve1 which in our day ,ismail ,pasha imposed upon ,egypt4 ,woe to who builds his house by injustice1 ,,xxii4 #ac ,his storeys by wrong1 ,who forces his fellows to serve for nothing1 ,and pays not their wage4 ,who saith17#caa7 #ad ,i will build me an ampler house ,and airier storeys1 ,widen my windows1 panel with cedar1 ,and paint with vermilion1 ,wilt thou thus play the king1 #ae ,fussing with cedar8 ,thy sire1 did not he eat and drink1 ,and do justice and right1 ,and judge for the poor and the needy8 #af ,then was it well67#cab7 ,was not this how to know ,me8-- ,rede of the ,lord4 ,but thine eyes and thy heart are on nought #ag ,save thine own spoil1 ,and on shedding of innocent blood1 ,doing outrage and murder4 ,josiah had enjoyed what was enough for him in sober1 seemly parallel to his faithful discharge of duty2 his son was luxurious1 unscrupulous1 bloody1 and withal petty--fussing with cedar1 and cutting up the ,prophet's roll piece by piece with a pen-knife6 ,jeremiah and ,baruch's sarcastic notes on ,jehoiakim find parallels in ,victor ,hugo's 8,chtiments0 of ,napoleon ,,iii43 8l'infiniment petit1 monstreux et feroce20 8,voici de l'or1 viens pille et vole 444 voici du sang1 accours1 viens boire1 petit1 petit60 ,,xxii4 #ah4 ,therefore1 thus saith the ,lord of ,jehoiakim1 son of ,josiah1 ,king of ,judah4 ,mourn him they shall not1 8,woe brother60 8,woe sister60 ,nor beweep him1 8,woe ,lord60 ,or 8,woe ,highness60 ,with the burial of an ass shall they bury him1 #ai ,dragged and flung out-- ,out from the gates of ,jerusalem4 ,such a prophet to such a king must have been intolerable1 and through the following years ,jeremiah was pursued by the royal hatred4 ,there were other and more poisonous enemies4 ,we have found him1 from the first1 steadily seeing through1 and stoutly denouncing the great religious orders--the priests1 natural believers in the ,temple1 with a belief1 since ,deuteronomy came into their hands1 more dogmatic and arrogant than ever2 and the professional prophets with their shallow optimism that all was well for ,judah1 and that her ,god could never bring upon her the doom which ,jeremiah threatened in ,his ,name4 ,not ,he6 was their answer to him4 ,these two classes were in conspiracy1 deluding themselves and the people2 in their trust upon the letter of the ,law1 they had no sense1 as he told them1 of ,the ,living ,god47#cac7 ,roused by his scorn they watched for an occasion to convict and destroy him47#cad7 ,this he bravely gave by making1 in obedience to ,god's call1 public prediction of the ruin of the ,temple4 ,it is uncertain whether ,jeremiah did so only once1 as many think who read in ,chs4 ,,vii and ,,xxvi reports of the same address1 or whether1 as ,i am inclined to believe1 the former chapter reports an address delivered under ,josiah1 and the latter the repetition of its substance in the beginning of the reign of ,jehoiakim47#cae7 ,however this be1 ,ch4 ,,xxvi alone relates the consequences of his outspoken courage4 ,it represents the priests and the prophets as quoting his sentence upon the ,temple in absolute terms2 though both reports1 in the form in which they have reached us1 render his own delivery of it as conditional upon the nation's refusal to repent and to better their ways47#caf7 ,this1 of course1 was ever their way2 they were ready distorters4 ,,xxvi4 #a4 ,in the beginning of the reign of ,jehoiakim1 son of ,josiah1 came this word from the ,lord4 #b4 ,thus saith the ,lord1 ,stand in the court of the ,lord's ,house and speak unto all ,judah1 all who come in to worship in the ,lord's ,house1 all the words that ,i have charged thee to speak to them2 keep back not a word4 #c4 ,peradventure they will hearken and turn every man from his evil way1 and ,i shall relent of the evil which ,i am purposing to do to them because of the evil of their doings4 #d4 ,and thou shalt say1 ,thus saith the ,lord3 ,if ye will not obey ,me to walk in ,my ,law1 which ,i have set before you1 #e to hearken to the words of ,my servants1 the prophets whom ,i am sending to you1 rising early and sending--but ye have not hearkened--#f then shall ,i render this ,house like ,shiloh and this ,city a thing to be cursed of all nations of the earth4 #g4 ,and the priests and the prophets and all the people heard ,jeremiah speaking these words in the ,house of the ,lord4 #h4 ,and it was1 when ,jeremiah finished speaking all that the ,lord had charged him to speak to all the people1 that the priests and the prophets7#cag7 laid hold on him saying1 ,thou shalt surely die6 #i4 ,because thou hast prophesied in the ,name of the ,lord saying1 ,as ,shiloh this ,house shall be1 and this ,city shall be laid waste without a dweller4 ,and all the people were gathered to ,jeremiah in the ,house of the ,lord4 #aj4 ,when the princes of ,judah heard of these things they came up from the king's house to the ,house of the ,lord and took their seats in the opening of the ,new ,gate of the ,lord's ,house47#cah7 #aa4 ,then said the priests and the prophets to the princes and to all the people--,sentence of death for this man6 ,for he hath prophesied against this ,city as ye have heard with your ears4 #ab4 ,and ,jeremiah said to the princes and to all the people1 ,the ,lord hath sent me to prophesy against this ,house and against this ,city all the words which ye have heard4 #ac4 ,so now better your ways and your doings1 and hearken to the ,voice of the ,lord1 that the ,lord may relent of the evil which ,he hath spoken against you4 #ad4 ,but as for me1 here am ,i in your hand6 ,do to me as is good and right in your eyes4 #ae4 ,only know for sure that if ye put me to death ye will be bringing innocent blood upon yourselves1 and upon this ,city and upon her inhabitants2 for in truth the ,lord did send me unto you to speak in your ears all these words4 #af4 ,and the princes and all the people said to the priests and the prophets1 ,not for this man be sentence of death1 because in the ,name of the ,lord our ,god hath he spoken to us4 #ag4 ,then arose some of the elders of the land and said to all the assembly of the people4 #ah4 ,there was ,micaiah the ,morasthite in the days of ,hezekiah1 king of ,judah1 and he said to all the people of ,judah1 ,thus saith the ,lord3 ion like a field shall be ploughed1 ,and ,jerusalem be heaps1 ,and the mount of the ,house a mound of the jungle4 #ai4 ,did ,hezekiah and all ,judah put him to death8 ,did they not fear the ,lord and soothe the ,lord's face1 and the ,lord relented of the evil ,he had uttered against them4 ,yet we are about to do a great wrong upon our own lives4 ,several of its features lift this story to a place among the most impressive in the ,old ,testament4 ,the priests and prophets on the one side and the princes on the other both use the phrase1 that ,jeremiah spoke in the ,name of the ,lord4 ,but the former quote it ironically1 or in indignation at the ,prophet's claim1 while the princes are obviously impressed by his sincerity and apparently their impression is shared by the people4 ,there could be no firmer measure of the pitch of personal power to which ,jeremiah has at last braced himself4 ,the promise of his ,call is fulfilled4 ,sceptical1 fluid and shrinking as he is by nature1 he stands for this hour at least1 a strong wall and a fortress1 by his clear conscience1 his simple courage1 and his full surrender to whatever be in store for him4 ,how bravely he refuses to conciliate them6--,i am in your hand1 do to me as is right in your eyes4 ,again1 there is proof of a popular tradition and conscience in ,israel more sound than those of the religious authorities of the nation4 ,the people remembered what their priests and prophets forgot or ignored1 and through their elders gave utterance to it on the side of justice4 ,in agreement with them were the princes1 the lay leaders of the nation4 ,to ecclesiastics of every age and race this is a lesson1 to give heed to 8the common sense0 and to the public instinct for justice4 ,and on that day in ,jerusalem these were called forth by the ability of the people1 commoners and nobles alike1 to recognise a real ,prophet1 an authentic ,speaker-for-,god at once when they heard him4 ,the danger that ,jeremiah faced and the source from which it sprang are revealed by the fate which befell another denouncer of the land in the ,name of the ,lord4 ,of him1 the narrator uses a form of the verb to prophesy different from that which he uses of ,jeremiah1 thus guarding himself from expressing an opinion as to whether the man was a genuine prophet4 ,this is a further tribute to the moral effect of ,jeremiah's person and word4 ,,xxvi4 #bj4 ,there was also a man who took upon him to prophesy in the ,name of the ,lord1 ,urijahu1 son of ,shemajahu1 from ,kiriath-jearim1 and he prophesied7#cai7 against this land1 according to all the words of ,jeremiah4 #ba4 ,and king ,jehoiakim7#cbj7 and all the princes heard of his words and they sought7#cba7 to put him to death2 and ,urijahu heard and fearing fled and went into ,egypt4 #bb4 ,and the king sent men to ,egypt47#cbb7 #bc4 ,and they took forth ,urijah thence and brought him to the king1 and slew him with the sword1 and cast his corpse into the graves of the sons of the people4 #bd4 ,but the hand of ,ahikam1 the son of ,shaphan1 was with ,jeremiah so as not to give him into the hand of the people to put him to death4 ,the one shall be taken and the other left6 ,we are not told why1 after the verdict of the princes and the people1 ,ahikam's intervention was needed4 ,yet the people were always fickle1 and the king who is not mentioned in connection with ,jeremiah's case1 but as we see from ,urijah's watched cruelly from the background1 was not the man to be turned by a popular verdict from taking vengeance on the ,prophet who had attacked him4 ,ahikam1 however1 had influence at court1 and proved friendly to ,jeremiah on other occasions47#cbc7 ,all this was in the beginning of the reign of ,jehoiakim4 ,before we follow ,jeremiah himself through the rest of that malignant and disastrous reign1 during which the steadfastness that his personality had achieved was again to be shaken1 we must understand the progress of the great events which directed his own conduct and gradually determined the fate of his people4 ,in #fbe ,b4,c4 the successor of ,asshurbanipal upon the tottering throne of ,assyria had found himself compelled to acknowledge ,nabopolassar the ,chaldean as nominally viceroy1 but virtually king1 of ,babylon47#cbd7 ,the able chief of a vigorous race1 ,nabopolassar bided his time for a vaster sovereignty1 and steadily this came to him4 ,the ,medes1 twice baffled in their attempts on ,nineveh17#cbe7 made terms with him for a united assault on the ,assyrian capital and for the division of its empire4 ,to that assault ,nineveh fell in #fab or #fjf17cbf7 and with her fall ,assyria disappeared from among the ,northern ,powers4 ,whatever part of the derelict empire the ,medes may have secured1 ,mesopotamia remained with the ,chaldeans who doubtless claimed as well all its provinces south of the ,euphrates4 ,but1 as we have seen1 ,ncoh of ,egypt had already overrun these and battle between him and the ,chaldeans became imminent4 ,their armies met in #fje-d at ,carchemish on ,the ,river4 ,ncoh was defeated by ,nebuchadrezzar1 son of ,nabopolassar1 and driven south to his own land4 ,egypt had failed2 and the northern caldrons1 as ,jeremiah from the first predicted1 again boiled with the fate of ,judah and her neighbours4 ,the ,foe1 though no longer the ,scythian of his early expectations1 was still out of the ,north4 ,by #fjb1 if not before1 ,nebuchadrezzar1 having succeeded his father as ,king of ,babylon1 carried his power to the coasts of the ,levant and the ,egyptian border4 ,judah was his vassal1 and for three years ,jehoiakim paid him tribute1 but then defaulted1 probably because of promises from ,egypt after the fashion of that restless power4 ,as if not yet ready to invade ,judah in force1 ,nebuchadrezzar let loose upon her1 along with some of his own ,chaldeans1 troops of ,moabites1 ,ammonites and ,arameans4 ,soon afterwards ,jehoiakim died and was succeeded by his son ,jehoiachin1 a youth of eighteen1 who appears to have maintained his father's policy2 for in #eih1 if not #eig1 ,nebuchadrezzar came up against ,jerusalem1 which forthwith surrendered1 and the king1 his mother and wives1 his courtiers and statesmen were carried into exile1 with the craftsmen and smiths and all who were apt for war2 none remained save the poorest of the people of the land47#cbg7 ,throughout these convulsions of her world1 this crisis in the history of ,judah herself1 ,jeremiah remains the one constant1 rational1 and far-seeing power in the national life4 ,but at what terrible cost to himself6 ,his experience is a throng of tragic paradoxes4 ,faithful to his mission1 every effort he makes to rouse his people to its meaning is baffled4 ,his word is signally vindicated by the great events of the time1 yet each of these but tears his heart the more as he feels it bringing nearer the ruin of his people4 ,his word is confirmed1 but he is shaken by doubts of himself1 his utterance of which is in poignant contrast to his steadfast delivery of his messages of judgment4 ,no prophet was at once more sure of his word and less sure of himself2 none save ,christ more sternly denounced his people or upon the edge of their doom more closely knit himself to them4 ,it is a staggering world1 and the one man who has its secret is shaken to despair about himself4 ,yet the ,word with which he is charged not only fulfils itself in event after event but holds its distracted prophet fast to the end of his abhorred task of proclaiming it4 ,the cardinal event was ,nebuchadrezzar's victory over ,ncoh at ,carchemish in #fje or #fjd with its assurance of ,babylonian1 not ,egyptian1 supremacy throughout ,western ,asia4 ,such confirmation of the substance of ,jeremiah's prophecies of the past twenty-three years was that ,divine signal which flashed on him to reduce those prophecies to writing and have them recited to the people by ,baruch4 ,we have already followed the story in ,ch4 ,,xxxvi of how this was done7#cbh7 and of the consequences--the communication of the ,roll to the princes and by them to the king1 the king's burning of the ,roll piece by piece as he heard it read1 his order for the arrest of ,jeremiah and ,baruch1 their escape into hiding1 and their preparation of a ,second ,roll containing all the words of the ,first with many others like them4 ,we may now1 in addition1 note the following4 ,first there is the ,divine ,peradventure at the beginning of the story47#cbi7 ,it may be1 ,god says1 that the people will hear and turn from their evil ways that ,i may forgive their iniquity--a very significant perhaps when taken with the ,parable of the ,potter to which we are coming4 ,again1 the king at least understands the evil predicted by ,jeremiah to be the destruction of his land and people by the ,king of ,babylon47#ccj7 ,and again1 though some of the princes encourage the ,prophet's escape1 and urge the king not to burn the ,roll1 none are shocked by the burning47#cca7 ,evidently in #fje-d they were not so impressed with the divinity of ,jeremiah's word as they had been in #fjh4 ,then they did not speak of telling the king2 now they say that they must tell7#ccb7 him4 ,jehoiakim's malignant influence has grown1 and ,jeremiah discovers the inconstancy of the princes1 even of some friendly to himself4 ,to the same decisive year1 #fje-d1 the fourth of ,jehoiakim1 is referred an address by ,jeremiah reported in ,,xxv4 #a-aa 7with perhaps #ac;a74 ,this repeats the ,prophet's charge that his people have refused--now for three-and-twenty years--to listen to his call for repentance and reaffirms the certainty1 at last made clear by the ,battle of ,carchemish1 that their deserved doom lies in the hands of a ,northern ,power1 which shall waste their land and carry them into foreign servitude for seventy years4 ,the suggestion that this address formed the conclusion of the ,second ,roll dictated by ,jeremiah to ,baruch is suitable to the contents of the address and becomes more probable if we take as genuine the words in #ac;a1 ,thus will ,i bring upon that land all ,my words which ,i have spoken against her1 all that is written in this ,book4 ,but a curious question rises from the fact that we have two differing reports of the address47#ccc7 ,very significantly the shorter ,greek ,version contains neither the addition to the date1 that was the first year of ,nebuchadrezzar1 king of ,babylon1 nor the two statements that his was the ,northern ,power which would waste ,judah and which she should serve for seventy years 7verses #a1 #i1 #aa1 as also the similar reference in verse #ab71 all of which are inserted in the ,hebrew text but not without a sign of their being later intrusions upon it47#ccd7 ,and indeed it is inconceivable that the ,greek translator could have omitted the four references to ,nebuchadrezzar 7including that in verse #ab7 had he found them in the ,hebrew text from which he worked4 ,probably1 therefore1 ,jeremiah did not include them in the first version of his address2 and for this he had reason4 ,his purpose in the address was to declare the fulfilment of the substance of all his previous prophesying1 and this had been not that the ,chaldeans1 but that a northern power1 would prove to be the executioner of ,god's judgment upon ,judah4 ,the references to ,nebuchadrezzar were added1 possibly by ,jeremiah himself or by ,baruch1 as the ,chaldean doom steadily drew nearer4 ,the interesting thing is that the earlier version of the address survived and was used by the ,greek translator47#cce7 ,verses #ab-ad1 indicating the destruction of ,babylon in her turn after seventy years1 are1 in whole or in part1 generally taken as a post-exilic addition47#ccf7 ,omitting verse #ad1 the ,greek inserts between #ac and #ae the ,oracles on ,foreign ,nations1 which the ,hebrew postpones to ,chs4 ,,xlvi4 ff47#ccg7 ,in the uncertain state of the text of #ab-ad it is impossible to decide whether this was or was not the original position of those ,oracles4 ,the rest of the chapter1 verses #ae-ch1 is so full of expansions and repetitions1 which we may partly see from a comparison of it with the ,greek1 as well as of inconsistencies with some earlier ,oracles by ,jeremiah17#cch7 of traces of the later prophetic style and of echoes of other prophets1 that many deny any part of the miscellany to be ,jeremiah's own4 ,yet we must remember that his commission was not to ,judah alone7#cci7 but to the nations as well1 against many of which ,,xxv4 #ae-ch is directed2 and the figure of the ,lord handing to the ,prophet the cup of the wine of ,his wrath is not one which we have any reason to doubt to be ,jeremiah's4 ,sifting1 by help of the ,greek1 the ,hebrew list of nations who are to drink of the cup1 we get ,judah and ,egypt2 ,askalon1 ,gaza1 ,ekron1 and the remnant of ,ashdod2 ,dedan1 ,tema1 ,buz1 and their clipt neighbours in ,arabia2 all of whom were shaken in ,jeremiah's day by the ,chaldean terror4 ,indeed the reference to ,ashdod suits the condition of that ,philistine city in the ,prophet's time better than its restored prosperity in the post-exilic age4 ,the substance of verses #ae-bc may therefore be reasonably left to ,jeremiah4 ,verses #bd-ch are more doubtful47#cdj7 #b4 ,parables4 7,,xiii1 ,,xviii-,,xx1 ,,xxxv47 ,to the reign of ,jehoiakim are usually referred a number of symbolic actions by ,jeremiah1 the narratives of which carry no dates4 ,so far as they imply that the ,prophet was still able to move openly about ,jerusalem and the country they might be regarded as earlier than #fjd1 when he was under restraint and had to hide himself47#cda7 ,but this is not certain4 ,we are left to take them in the order in which they occur in the ,book4 ,the first is that of the waist-cloth1 ,,xiii4 #a-aa4 ,jeremiah was charged to buy a linen waist-cloth7#cdb7 and after wearing it1 but keeping it from damp1 to bury it in the cleft of a rock1 and after many days to dig it up1 when he found it rotting4 ,so had the ,lord taken ,israel to cleave to ,him as such a cloth cleaves to the loins of a man2 but separated from ,him they had likewise rotted and were good for nothing4 ,separated by what--,god's action or their own8 ,as it stands the interpretation is complicated4 ,god spoils ,israel because of their pride 7verse #i7 and ,israel spoil themselves by disobedience and idolatry 7verse #aj74 ,the complication may be due to a later addition to the text4 ,but this question is not serious4 ,neither is that of the place where ,jeremiah is said to have buried the cloth4 ,prath1 the spelling in the text1 is the ,hebrew name for the ,euphrates and so the ,greek and our own versions render it4 ,but the name has not its usual addition of ,the ,river4 ,if the ,euphrates be intended the story is hardly one of fact1 but rather a vivid parable of the saturation of the national life by heathen1 corruptive influences from ,mesopotamia47#cdc7 ,yet within an hour from ,anathoth lies the ,wady ,farah1 a name which corresponds to the ,hebrew ,prath or 7by a slight change7 ,parah2 and the ,wady1 familiar as it must have been to ,jeremiah1 suits the picture1 having a lavish fountain1 a broad pool and a stream1 all of which soak into the sand and fissured rock of the surrounding desert47#cdd7 ,that the ,wady ,farah was the scene of the parable is therefore possible1 though not certain47#cde7 ,but the ambiguity of these details does not interfere with the moral of the whole4 ,this parable is immediately followed by the ironic metaphor of the ,jars ,full of ,wine1 ,,xiii4 #ab-ad1 which ,i have already quoted47#cdf7 ,next comes the ,parable of the ,potter1 ,ch4 ,,xviii1 that might be from any part of the ,prophet's ministry1 during which he was free to move in public4 ,this parable is instructive first by disclosing one of the ways along which ,revelation reached1 and spelt itself out in1 the mind of the ,prophet4 ,he felt a ,divine impulse to go down to the house of the ,potter17#cdg7 and there ,i will cause thee to hear ,my ,words1 obviously not words spoken to the outward ear4 ,for1 as ,jeremiah watched the potter at work on his two stones17#cdh7 and saw that when the vessel he first attempted was marred he would remould the clay into another vessel as seemed good to him1 a fresh conception of the ,divine ,method with men broke upon ,jeremiah and became articulate4 ,a word from the ,lord flashed through his eyes upon his mind1 just as in his first visions of the almond-blossom and the caldron47#cdi7 ,,xviii4 #e4 ,then the ,word of the ,lord came unto me1 saying1 #f ,o ,house of ,israel1 cannot ,i do with you as this potter87#cej7 ,behold1 as the clay in the hand of the potter1 so are ye in ,my hand47#cea7 ,thus by figure and by word the ,divine ,sovereignty was proclaimed as absolutely as possible4 ,but the ,sovereignty is a real ,sovereignty and therefore includes ,freedom4 ,it is not fettered by its own previous decrees1 as some rigorous doctrines of predestination insist1 but is free to recall and alter these1 should the human characters and wills with which it works in history themselves change4 ,there is a ,divine as well as a human ,free-will4 8,god's dealing with men is moral2 ,he treats them as their moral conduct permits ,him to do407#ceb7 ,the ,predestination of men or nations1 which the ,prophet sees figured in the work of the potter1 is to ,service4 ,this is clear from the comparison between ,israel and a vessel designed for a definite use4 ,it recalls ,jeremiah's similar conception of his own predestination1 which was not to a certain state1 of life or death1 but to the office of speaker for ,god to the nations4 ,yet because the acceptance or rejection by a nation or an individual of the particular service1 for which ,god has destined them1 naturally determines their ultimate fate1 therefore this wider sense1 which predestination came to have in ,christian doctrine1 is so far also involved in the parable47#cec7 ,to the truths of the ,divine ,sovereignty and the ,divine ,freedom the parable adds that of the ,divine ,patience4 ,the potter of ,hinnom does not impatiently cast upon the rubbish which abounds there the lump of clay that has proved refractory to his design for it4 ,he gives the lump another trial upon another design4 ,if1 as many think1 the verses which follow the parable1 #g-aj1 are not by ,jeremiah himself 7though this is far from proved1 as we shall see7 then he does not explicitly draw from the potter's patience with the clay the inference of the ,divine patience with men4 ,but the inference is implicit in the parable4 ,did ,jeremiah intend it8 ,if he did1 this is proof that in spite of his people's obstinacy under the hand of ,god1 he cherished1 though he dared not yet utter1 the hope that ,god would have some fresh purpose for their service beyond the wreck they were making of ,his former designs for them and the ruin they were thereby bringing on themselves--that ,he would grant them still another chance of rising to ,his will4 ,but if ,jeremiah did not intend this inference from his parable then we may claim the parable as one more example of that of which we have already had several1 the power of this wonderful man's experience and doctrine to start in other minds ideas and beliefs of which he himself was not conscious1 or which at least he did not articulate--that power which after all is his highest distinction as a prophet4 ,i do not think1 however1 that we can deny to ,jeremiah all consciousness of what his parable implies in regard to the ,patience of the ,divine ,potter with the perverse human clay in ,his hands4 ,for we have already seen from another of the ,prophet's metaphors that under the abused and rank surface of a nation's or an individual's life he was sure of soil which by deeper ploughing would yet yield fruits meet for repentance47#ced7 ,in either case the parable is rich in ,gospel for ourselves4 ,if we have failed our ,god upon ,his first designs for us and for our service do not let us despair4 ,he is patient and ready to give us another trial under ,his hand4 ,and this not only is the lesson of more than one of our ,lord's parables1 for instance that of the fig-tree found fruitless1 but nevertheless given the chance of another year17#cee7 and the motive of ,his hopes for the publicans and harlots1 but is implied by all the ,gospel of ,his life and death for sinners4 ,in these ,he saw still possibilities worth ,his dying for4 ,but as ,christ ,himself taught1 there are1 and ethically must be1 limits to the ,divine ,patience with men4 ,of these the men of ,judah and ,jerusalem are warned in the verses which follow the parable4 ,while it is true 7verse #g ff47 that if a nation1 which ,god has said ,he will destroy1 turn from its evil1 ,he will relent1 the converse is equally true of a nation which ,he has promised to plant and build1 that if it do wrong and obey not ,he will surely repent of the good ,he had planned for it4 ,for this refractory people of ,judah ,he is already framing or moulding evil--the verb used is that of which the ,hebrew name for potter is the participle4 ,though chosen of ,god and shaped by ,his hands for high service ,israel's destiny is not irrevocable2 nay1 their doom is already being shaped4 ,yet ,he makes still another appeal to them to repent and amend their ways4 ,to this they answer3 ,no use6 we will walk after our own devices and carry out every one the stubbornness of his evil heart4 ,at least that is how ,jeremiah interprets their temper2 his people had hardened since ,megiddo and the accession of ,jehoiakim4 ,some moderns have denied these verses to ,jeremiah and taken them as the addition of a later hand and without relevance to the parable4 ,with all respect to the authority of those critics17#cef7 ,i find myself unable to agree with them4 ,they differ as to where the authentic words of the ,prophet cease1 some concluding these with verse #d others with verse #f4 ,in either case the parable is left in the air1 without such practical application of his truths as ,jeremiah usually makes to ,judah or other nations4 ,nor can the relevance of the verses be denied1 as ,cornill1 one of their rejectors1 admits4 ,nor does the language bear traces of a later date4 ,they seem to me to stand as ,jeremiah's own4 ,the ,prophet's threat of evil is still so vague1 that1 with due acknowledgment of the uncertainty of such points1 we may suppose it1 along with the ,parable of the ,potter1 to have been uttered before the ,battle of ,carchemish1 when the ,babylonian sovereignty over ,western ,asia became assured47#ceg7 ,the next in order of ,jeremiah's symbols1 ,ch4 ,,xix1 the breaking of a potter's jar past restoration1 with his repetition of doom upon ,judah1 led to his arrest1 ,ch4 ,,xx1 and this at last to his definite statement that the doom would be captivity to the ,king of ,babylon4 ,some therefore date the episode after ,carchemish1 but this is uncertain2 ,jeremiah is still not under restraint nor in hiding4 ,he is charged to buy an earthen jar and take with him some of the elders of the people and of the priests to the ,potsherd ,gate in the ,valley of ,hinnom47#ceh7 ,there1 after predicting the evils which the ,lord shall bring on the city because of her idolatry and her sacrifice of children in that ,valley down which they were looking from this gate1 he broke the jar and flung it upon the heaps of shattered earthenware from which the gate derived its name27#cei7 and returning to the ,temple repeated the ,lord's doom upon ,judah and ,jerusalem4 ,he was heard by ,pashur of the priestly guild of ,immer1 who appears to have been chief of the ,temple police1 and after being smitten was put in the stocks1 but the next day released1 probably rather because his friends among the princes had prevailed in his favour than because the mind of ,pashur had meantime changed4 ,for ,jeremiah on his release immediately faced his captor with these words3-- ,,xx4 #c4 ,the ,lord hath called thy name not ,pashur but ,magor-,missabib1 ,terror-all-round4 #d4 ,for thus saith the ,lord1 ,lo1 ,i will make thee a terror to thyself and all thy friends1 and they shall fall by the sword of their foes1 and thine own eyes shall be seeing it2 and all ,judah shall ,i give into the hand of the king of ,babylon1 and he shall carry them to exile and smite them with the sword 444 #f4 ,and thou ,pashur and all that dwell in thy house shall go into captivity and in ,babylon thou shalt die47#cfj7 ,at last ,jeremiah definitely states what ,judah's doom from the ,north is to be4 ,we wish that we knew the date of this utterance4 ,assigned by its title to the days of ,jehoiakim is another action of the ,prophet1 which is the exhibition rather of an example than of a symbol1 ,ch4 ,,xxxv4 ,the story was probably dictated by ,jeremiah to ,baruch1 for while the ,hebrew text opens it in the first person 7#b-e71 the ,greek version carries the first person throughout and the later change by the ,hebrew to the third person 7#ab and #ah7 may easily have been due to a copyist mistaking the first personal suffix for the initial letter of the name ,jeremiah47#cfa7 ,the ,rechabites1 a tent-dwelling tribe sojourning within the borders1 and worshipping the ,god1 of ,israel1 had taken refuge from the ,chaldean invasion within the walls of ,jerusalem4 ,knowing their fidelity to their ancestral habits ,jeremiah invited some of them to one of the ,temple chambers and offered them wine4 ,they refused1 for they said that their ancestor ,jehonadab ben-,rechab7#cfb7 had charged them to drink no wine1 neither to build houses1 nor sow seed nor plant vineyards4 ,whereupon ,jeremiah went forth and held them up as an example to the men of ,judah1 not because of any of the particular forms of their abstinence1 but because of their constancy4 ,here were people who remembered1 and through centuries had remained loyal to1 the precepts of an ancestor2 while ,israel had fallen from their ancient faithfulness to their ,god and ignored ,his commandments4 ,the steadfast loyalty of these simple nomads to the institutions of a far-away human father1 how it put to shame ,judah's delinquency from the commands of her ,divine ,father6 ,this contrast is in line with the others1 which we have seen ,jeremiah emphasising1 between his people's fickleness towards ,god and the obdurate adherence of the ,gentiles to their national gods1 or the constancy of the processes of nature3 the birds that know the seasons of their coming1 the unfailing snows of ,lebanon and the streams of the hills4 ,the whole story is characteristic of ,jeremiah's teaching47#cfc7 #c4 ,oracles on the ,edge of ,doom4 7,,vii4 #af-,,xviii passim1 ,,xxii1 ,,xlv47 ,from the seventh to the tenth chapters of the ,book of ,jeremiah there are a number of undated passages in prose and in verse1 which are generally held to have been included in the collection of the ,prophet's ,oracles written out by ,baruch in #fjd-c1 and of which some may have been delivered during the reign of ,josiah1 but the most of them more probably either upon its tragic close at ,megiddo in #fjh1 or under ,jehoiakim4 ,we have already considered the addresses reported in ,,vii4 #a-ae1 #ba-bg17cfd7 as well as the metrical fragments ,,vii4 #bh1 #bi1 and ,,viii4 #h1 #i47cfe7 ,there are other prose passages describing 7#a7 ,,vii4 #af-bj1 the worship of the ,queen1 or the ,host1 of ,heaven1 which had been imposed upon ,jerusalem by the ,assyrians1 and either survived the decay of their power from #fbe onwards1 or if suppressed by ,josiah in obedience to ,deuteronomy17#cff7 had been revived under ,jehoiakim2 7#b7 ,,vii4 #cj-cd1 the high-places in ,topheth1 upon which children were sacrificed1 also condemned by ,deuteronomy and recorded as destroyed by ,josiah27#cfg7 7#c7 ,,viii4 #a-c1 the desecration of the graves of ,jerusalem4 ,it is not necessary to reproduce these prose passages1 whether they be ,jeremiah's or not2 our versions of them1 ,authorised and ,revised1 are sufficiently clear4 ,but there follow1 from ,,viii4 #d onwards1 after the usual introduction1 a series of metrical ,oracles of which the following translation is offered in observance of the irregularity of the measures of the original4 ,note how throughout the ,prophet is1 as before1 testing his false people--heeding and listening are his words--finding no proof of a genuine repentance and bewailing the doom that therefore must fall upon them4 ,some of his earlier verses are repeated1 and there is the reference to the ,law1 ,,viii4 #h f41 which we have discussed47#cfh7 ,there is also a hint of exile--which1 however1 is still future4 ,in ,ch4 ,,viii1 verses #d-ab 7including the repetitions they contain7 seem a unity2 verse #ac stands by itself 7unless it goes with the preceding72 #ad1 #ae echo one of the ,scythian songs1 but the fear they reflect may be that either of an ,egyptian invasion after ,megiddo or of a ,chaldean2 #af and #ag are certainly of a northern invasion1 but whether the same as the preceding is doubtful2 and doubtful too is the connection of both with the incomparable elegy which follows--,,viii4 #ah-;,,ix4 #a4 ,for ,,ix4 #a undoubtedly belongs to this1 as the different division of the chapters in the ,hebrew text properly shows4 ,in ,ch4 ,,ix4 #b-i the ,prophet is in another mood than that of the preceding songs4 ,there the miseries of his people had oppressed him2 here it is their sins4 ,there his heart had been with them and he had made their sufferings his own2 here he would flee from them to a lodge in the desert47#cfi7 ,,ix4 #aj-ab1 is another separate dirge on the land1 burned up but whether by invaders or by drought is not clear4 ,then #ac-af is a passage of prose4 ,in #ag-bb we have still another elegy with some of the most haunting lines ,jeremiah has given us1 on war or pestilence1 or both4 ,and there follow eight lines1 verses #bc-bd1 on a very different1 a spiritual1 theme1 and then #be-bf another prose passage1 on the futility of physical circumcision if the heart be not circumcised4 ,if these be ,jeremiah's1 and there is no sign in them to the contrary1 they form further evidence of his originality as a prophet4 ,the two ,chs4 ,,viii and ,,ix are thus a collection both of prose passages and poems out of different circumstances and different moods1 with little order or visible connection4 ,are we to see in them a number of those many like words which ,jeremiah1 when he dictated his ,second ,roll to ,baruch1 added to his ,oracles on the ,first ,roll87#cgj7 99 99 99 99 99 ,the first verses are in curious parallel to ,tchekov's remarkable plaint about his own people and 8the ,russian disease0 as he calls their failing3 8,why do we tire so soon8 ,and when we fall how is it that we never try to rise again80 ,and thou shalt say to them17#cga7 ,thus saith the ,lord3 ,,viii4 #d 8,does any one fall and not get up1 ,or turn and not return807#cgb7 ,why then are this people turning #e ,persistently turning7#cgc78 ,they take fast hold of deceit1 ,refuse to return4 ,i have been heeding1 been listening-- #f ,they speak but untruth6 ,not a man repents of his evil1 ,saying1 8,what have ,i done80 ,all of them swerve in their courses ,like a plunging horse in the battle4 ,even the stork in the heavens #g ,knoweth her seasons1 ,and dove and swift and swallow ,keep time of their coming-- ,only my people1 they know not ,the ,rule7#cgd7 of the ,lord4 ,how say ye1 8,we are the wise1 #h ,with us is the ,law7#cge7 of the ,lord40 ,but1 lo1 into falsehood hath wrought it7#cgf7 ,false pen of the scribes4 ,put to shame are the wise1 #i ,dismayed and taken1 ,the ,word of the ,lord have they spurned-- ,what wisdom is theirs8 ,so to others ,i give their wives1 #aj ,their fields to who may take them1 ,for all from the least to the greatest ,on plunder are bent2 ,from the prophet on to the priest ,everyone worketh lies4 ,they would heal the breach of my people #aa ,as though it were trifling1 ,saying 8,it is well1 it is well60-- ,and well it is not6 ,were they shamed of the foulness they wrought8 #ab ,nay1 shamed not at all1 ,nor knew their dishonour6 ,so shall they fall with the falling1 ,reel in the time of their reckoning1 ,sayeth the ,lord47#cgg7 ,would ,i harvest them8--,rede of the ,lord-- #ac ,no grapes on the vine1 ,and never a fig on the fig-tree1 ,withered the leaves47#cgh7 ,for what sit we still8 #ad ,sweep together ,and into the fortified cities1 ,to perish4 ,for the ,lord our own ,god ,hath doomed us to perish1 ,hath drugged us with waters of bale-- ,to ,him7#cgi7 have we sinned4 ,hoping for peace8 #ae ',twas no good1 ,for a season of healing8 ,lo1 panic47#chj7 ,from ,dan the bruit7#cha7 has been heard1 #af ,hinnying of his horses1 ,with the noise of the neighing of his steeds ,the land is aquake4 ,he7#chb7 comes17#chc7 he devours the land and her fulness ,the city and her dwellers4 ,for behold1 ,i am sending upon you #ag ,basilisk-serpents1 ,against whom availeth no charm1 ,but they shall bite you47#chd7 ,ah6 ,that my grief is past comfort7#che7 #ah ,faints on me my heart1 ,lo1 hark to the cry of my people ,wide o'er the land47#chf7 8,is the ,lord not in ion1 #ai ,is there no king87#chg7 ,why have they vexed ,me with idols1 ,foreigners' fancies87#chh7 8,harvest is past1 summer is ended1 #bj ,and we are not saved60 ,for the breaking of the daughter of my people #ba ,i break1 ,i blacken6 ,horror hath fastened upon me ,pangs as of her that beareth47#chi7 ,is there no balm in ,gilead1 #bb ,is there no healer8 ,why do the wounds never close7#cij7 ,of the daughter of my people8 ,oh that my head were waters1 ,,ix4 #a ,mine eyes a fountain of tears1 ,that day and night ,i might weep ,for the slain of my people6 ,there follows an ,oracle in a very different mood4 ,in the previous one the ,prophet has taken his people to his heart1 in spite of their sin and its havoc2 in this he repels and would be quit of them4 ,o that ,i had in the desert #b ,a wayfarers'7#cia7 lodge6 ,then would ,i leave my people1 ,and get away from them1 ,for adulterers all they be1 ,a bundle7#cib7 of traitors6 ,their tongue they stretch #c ,like a treacherous bow1787 ,and never for truth ,use their power in the land1 ,but from evil to evil go forth ,and ,me they know not47#cic7 ,be on guard with your friends1 #d ,trust not your7#cid7 brothers1 ,for brothers are all very ,jacobs1 ,and friends gad about to defame4 ,every one cheateth his neighbour1 #e ,they cannot speak truth4 ,their tongues they have trained to falsehood1 ,they strain to be naughty-- ,wrong upon wrong1 deceit on deceit787 #f ,refusing to know ,me47#cie7 ,therefore thus saith the ,lord37#cif7 #g ,lo1 ,i will smelt them1 will test them4 ,how else should ,i do ,in face of the evil 4447#cig7787 ,of the ,daughter of ,my people8 ,a deadly7#cih7 shaft is their tongue #h ,the words of their mouth7#cii7 deceit2 ,if peace any speak to his friend ,in his heart he lays ambush4 ,shall ,i not visit for such-- #i ,rede of the ,lord-- ,nor on a nation like this ,myself take vengeance8 ,raise for the mountains a wail17#djj7 #aj ,for the meads of the pasture a dirge6 ,they are waste1 with never a man7#dja7 ,nor hear the lowing of cattle4 ,from the birds of heaven to the beasts ,they have fled1 they are gone4 ,i will make ,jerusalem heaps1 #aa ,of jackals the lair1 ,and the townships of ,judah lay waste1 ,with never a dweller4 ,who is the man that is wise #ab ,to lay this to mind1 ,as the mouth of the ,lord hath told him1 ,so to declare-- ,the wherefore the country is perished1 ,and waste as the desert1 ,with none to pass over6 #ac4 ,and the ,lord said unto me17#djb7 ,because they forsook ,my ,law which ,i set before them1 and hearkened not to ,my ,voice17#djc7 #ad but have walked after the stubbornness of their heart1 and after the ,baals1 as their fathers taught them4 #ae4 ,therefore thus saith the ,lord7#djd7 the ,god of ,israel1 ,behold ,i will give them wormwood to eat and the waters of poison to drink4 #af4 ,and ,i will scatter them among the nations1 whom neither they nor their fathers knew1 and send after them the sword till ,i have consumed them4 ,thus saith the ,lord3 #ag ,call the keening women to come1 ,and send for the wise ones1 ,that they come and make haste7#dje7 #ah ,to lift us a dirge1 ,till with tears our eyes run down1 ,our eyelids with water4 ,for hark6 from ion the voice of wailing1 #ai 8,how we are undone6 8,sore abashed we1 land who have left1 ,our homes overthrown607#djf7 ,hear1 ,o women1 the saying of the ,lord1 #bj ,your ears take in the word of ,his mouth1 ,teach the lament to your daughters ,each to her comrade the dirge3 8,for ,death has come up by our windows #ba ,and into our palaces1 ,cutting off from the streets the children ,the youths from the places27#djg7 ,and the corpses of men are fallen #bb ,as dung on the field1 ,as sheaves left after the reaper ,and nobody gathers60 ,thus saith the ,lord3 #bc ,boast not the wise in his wisdom1 ,boast not the strong in his strength1 ,boast not the rich in his riches1 ,but he that would boast in this let him boast1 #bd ,insight and knowledge of ,me1 ,that ,i am the ,lord1 who work troth1 ,judgment and justice on earth1 ,for in these ,i delight4 #be4 ,behold1 the days are coming--,rede of the ,lord--that ,i shall visit on everyone circumcised as to the foreskin4 #bf4 ,egypt and ,judah and ,edom1 the sons of ,ammon and ,moab1 and all with the corner7#djh7 clipt1 who dwell in the desert2 for all the nations are uncircumcised in their heart and all the house of ,israel4 ,which just means that ,israel1 circumcised in the flesh but not in the spirit1 are as bad as the heathen who share with them bodily circumcision4 ,ch4 ,x4 #a-af is a spirited1 ironic poem on the follies of idolatry which bears both in style and substance marks of the later exile4 ,on the other hand ,x4 #ag-bc is a small collection of short ,oracles in metre1 which there is no reason to deny to ,jeremiah4 ,the text of the first1 verses #ag-ah1 is uncertain4 ,if with the help of the ,greek we render it as follows it implies not an actual1 but an inevitable and possibly imminent1 siege of ,jerusalem4 ,the couplet in #ag may alone be original and #ah1 the text of which is reducible neither to metre nor wholly to sense1 a prose note upon it4 ,sweep in thy wares from beyond17#dji7 ,x4 #ag ,in siege that shalt sit6 #ah4 ,for thus saith the ,lord1 ,behold1 ,i will sling out them that dwell in this land17#daj7 and will distress them in order that they may find 444787 ,such is the most to be made of the fragment of which there are many interpretations4 ,the next piece1 #ai-bb1 is generally acknowledged to be ,jeremiah's4 ,it has the ring of his earlier ,oracles4 ,the ,hebrew and ,greek texts differ as to the speaker in #ai;a4 ,probably the ,greek is correct--the ,prophet or the ,deity addresses the city or nation and the ,prophet replies for the latter identifying himself with her sufferings4 ,it is possible1 however1 that the words ,but ,i said are misplaced and should begin the verse1 in which case the ,hebrew my is to be preferred to the ,greek thy adopted below4 ,if so the stoicism of #ai is remarkable4 ,woe is me for thy7#daa7 ruin1 #ai ,sore is thy7#dab7 stroke6 ,but ,i said1 ,well1 this sickness is mine7#dac7 ,and ,i must bear it6 ,undone is my tent and perished17#dad7 #bj ,snapped all my cords6 ,my sons--they went out from me ,and they are not6 ,none now to stretch me my tent ,or hang up my curtains4 ,for that the shepherds7#dae7 are brutish #ba ,nor seek of the ,lord1 ,therefore prosper they shall not1 ,all scattered their flock47#daf7 ,hark the bruit1 ,x4 #bb ,behold it comes1 ,and uproar great ,from land of the ,north1 ,to lay the cities of ,judah waste1 ,a lair of jackals4 ,as we have seen1 ,jeremiah in the excitement of alarm falls on short lines1 ejaculations of two stresses each1 sometimes as here with one longer line47#dag7 ,a quatrain follows of longer1 equal lines as is usual with ,jeremiah when expressing spiritual truths3-- ,lord ,i know6 ,not to man is his way1 #bc ,not man's to walk or settle his steps4 ,chasten me1 ,lord1 but with judgment1 #bd ,not in wrath1 lest ,thou bring me to little6 ,the last verse of the chapter is of a temper unlike that of ,jeremiah elsewhere towards other nations1 and so like the temper against them felt by later generations in ,israel1 that most probably it is not his4 ,pour out ,thy rage on the nations1 #be ,who do not own ,thee1 ,and out on the kingdoms ,who call not ,thy ,name6 ,for ,jacob they devoured and consumed1 ,and wasted his homestead7#dah7 ,another series of ,oracles1 as reasonably referred to the reign of ,jehoiakim as to any other stage of ,jeremiah's career1 is scattered over ,chs4 ,,xi-,,xx4 ,i reserve to a later lecture upon his spiritual conflict and growth those which disclose his debates with his ,god1 his people and himself--,,xi4 #ah-,,xii4 #f1 ,,xv4 #aj-,,xvi4 #i1 ,,xvii4 #ad-ah1 ,,xviii4 #ah-bc1 ,,xx4 #g-ah1 and ,i take now only such as deal with the character and the doom of the nation4 ,of these the first in the order in which they appear in the ,book is ,,xi4 #ae1 #af1 with which we have already dealt17#dai7 and the second is ,,xii4 #g-ac1 generally acknowledged to be ,jeremiah's own4 ,it is undated1 but of the invasions of this time the one it most clearly reflects is that of the mixed hordes let loose by ,nebuchadrezzar on ,judah in #fjb or in #eih47dbj7 ,the invasion is more probably described as actual than imagined as imminent4 ,god ,himself is the speaker3 ,his ,house1 as the parallel ,heritage shows1 is not the ,temple but the ,land1 ,his ,domain4 ,the sentence pronounced upon it is a final sentence1 yet delivered by the ,divine ,judge with pain and with astonishment that ,he has to deliver it against ,his ,beloved2 and this pathos ,jeremiah's poetic rendering of the sentence finely brings out by putting verse #i;a in the form of a question4 ,the ,prophet feels the ,heart of ,god as moved as his own by the doom of the people4 ,i have forsaken ,my ,house1 ,,xii4 #g ,i have left ,my ,heritage1 ,i have given the ,beloved of ,my ,soul ,to the hand of her foes4 ,my ,heritage to ,me is become #h ,like a lion in the jungle1 ,she hath given against ,me her voice1 ,therefore ,i hate her4 ,is ,my ,heritage to ,me a speckled wild-bird #i ,with wild-birds round and against her8 ,go1 gather all beasts of the field1 ,bring them on to devour4 ,shepherds so many ,my ,vineyard have spoiled #aj ,have trampled ,my ,lot-- ,my pleasant ,lot they have turned ,to a desolate desert ,they make it a waste1 it mourns1 #aa ,on ,me is the waste6 ,all the land is made desolate1 ,none lays it to heart6 ,over the bare desert heights #ab ,come in the destroyers6 ,for the sword of the ,lord is devouring ,from the end of the land1 ,and on to the end of the land1 ,no peace to all flesh47#dba7 ,wheat have they sown and reaped thorns1 #ac ,have travailed for nought1 ,ashamed of their crop shall they be ,in the heat of ,god's wrath4 ,the last eight lines are doubtfully original3 the speaker is no longer ,god ,himself4 ,there follows1 in verses #ad-ag1 a paragraph in prose1 which is hardly relevant--a later addition1 whether from the ,prophet or an editor4 ,the next metrical ,oracles are appended to the ,parables of the ,waist-cloth and of the ,jars in ,ch4 ,,xiii47#dbb7 ,we have already quoted1 in proof of ,jeremiah's poetic power1 the most solemn warning he gave to his people1 ,,xiii4 #ae1 #af47dbc7 ,at some time these lines were added to it3-- ,but if ye will not hear it3 ,,xiii4 #ag ,in secret my soul shall weep ,because of your pride1 ,and mine eyes run down with tears ,for the flock of the ,lord led captive47#dbd7 ,the next ,oracle in metre is an elegy1 probably prospective1 on the fate of ,jehoiachin and his mother ,nehushta47#dbe7 ,say to the ,king and ,her ,highness1 #ah ,low be ye seated6 ,for from your heads is come down ,the crown of your splendour4 ,the towns of the ,southland are blocked #ai ,with none to open4 ,all ,judah is gone into exile1 ,exile entire47#dbf7 ,the flock of the ,lord1 verse #ag1 comes again into the next poem1 addressed to ,jerusalem as appears from the singular form of the verbs and pronouns preserved throughout by the ,greek 7but only in #bj;b by the ,hebrew7 which to the disturbance of the metre adds the name of the city--probably a marginal note that by the hand of some copyist has been drawn into the text4 ,in verse #ba the people1 whom ,judah has wooed to be her ally but who are about to become her tyrant1 are1 of course1 the ,babylonians47#dbg7 ,lift up thine eyes and look1 ,,xiii4 #bj ,they come from the ,north6 ,where is the flock that was given thee1 ,thy beautiful flock8 ,what wilt thou say when they set #ba ,o'er thee as heads17#dbh7 ,those whom thyself wast training ,to be to thee friends8 ,shall pangs not fasten upon thee1 ,like a woman's in travail8 ,and if thou say in thine heart1 #bb ,why fall on me these8 ,for the mass of thy guilt stripped are thy skirts1 ,ravished thy limbs6 ,can the ,ethiop change his skin1 #bc ,or the leopard his spots8 ,then also may ye do good ,who are wont to do evil4 ,as the passing chaff ,i strew them #bd ,to the wind of the desert4 ,this is thy lot1 the share ,i mete thee-- #be ,rede of the ,lord-- ,because ,me thou hast wholly forgotten ,and trusted in fraud4 ,so thy skirts ,i draw over thy face1 #bf ,thy shame is exposed4 ,thine adulteries1 thy neighings1 #bg ,thy whorish intrigues2 ,on the heights1 in the field have ,i seen ,thy detestable deeds4 ,jerusalem6 ,woe unto thee6 ,thou wilt not be clean-- ,after how long yet87#dbi7 ,ch4 ,,xiv4 #a-aj is the fine poem on the ,drought which was rendered in a previous lecture47#dcj7 ,it is followed by a passage in prose1 #aa-af1 that implies a wilder 8sea of troubles10 not drought only but war1 famine and pestilence4 ,forbidden to pray for the people ,jeremiah pleads that they have been misled by the prophets who promised that there would be neither famine nor war2 and the ,lord condemns the prophets for uttering lies in ,his ,name4 ,through war and famine prophets and people alike shall perish4 ,and thou shalt say this word to them3 ,,xiv4 #ag ,let your eyes run down with tears ,day and night without ceasing1 ,for broken1 broken is the ,daughter of my people1 ,with the direst of strokes6 ,fare ,i forth to the field1 #ah ,lo the slain of the sword6 ,or come into the city ,lo anguish of famine6 ,yea1 prophet and priest go a-begging ,in a land they know not47#dca7 ,some see reflected in these lines the situation after ,megiddo1 when ,egyptian troops may have worked such evils on ,judah2 but more probably it is the still worse situation after the surrender of ,jerusalem to ,nebuchadrezzar4 ,there follows1 #ai-bb1 another prayer of the people 7akin to that following the drought1 #g-i7 which some take to be later than ,jeremiah4 ,the metre is unusual1 if indeed it be metre and not rhythmical prose4 ,hast ,thou utterly cast off ,judah1 #ai ,loathes ion ,thy soul8 ,why hast ,thou smitten us so ,that for us is no healing8 ,hoped we for peace--no good6 ,for a season of healing--lo panic6 ,we acknowledge1 ,o ,lord1 our wickedness1 #bj ,the guilt of our fathers2 to ,thee have we sinned4 ,for the sake of ,thy ,name1 do not spurn us1 #ba ,debase not the ,throne of ,thy ,glory1 ,remember1 break not ,thy ,covenant with us6 ',mongst the bubbles of the nations are makers of rain1 #bb ,or do the heavens give the showers8 ,art ,thou not ,he for whom we must wait8 ,yea1 ,thou hast created all these4 ,as the ,book now runs this prayer receives from ,god a repulse1 ,,xv4 #a-d1 similar to that which was received by the people's prayer after the drought ,,xiv4 #aj-ab1 and to that which ,hosea heard to the prayer of his generation47#dcb7 ,intercession for such a people is useless1 were it made even by ,moses and ,samuel2 they are doomed to perish by the sword1 famine and exile4 ,this passage is in prose and of doubtful origin4 ,but the next lines are in ,jeremiah's favourite metre and certainly his own4 ,they either describe or 7less probably7 anticipate the disaster of #eih4 ,god ,himself again is the speaker as in ,,xii4 #g-aa4 ,his ,patience which the ,parable of the ,potter illustrated has its limits17#dcc7 and these have now been reached4 ,it is not ,god who is to blame1 but ,jerusalem and ,judah who have failed ,him4 ,jerusalem1 who shall pity1 ,,xv4 #e ,who shall bemoan thee1 ,who will but turn him to ask ,after thy welfare8 ',tis thou that hast left ,me--,rede of the ,lord-- #f ,still going backward4 ,so ,i stretched my hand7#dcd7 and destroyed thee ,tired of relenting4 ,with a winnowing fork ,i winnowed them #g ,in the gates of the land4 ,i bereaved and destroyed my people ,because of their evil47#dce7 ,i saw their widows outnumber #h ,the sand of the seas4 ,i brought on the mother of youths787 ,destruction at noonday1 ,and let fall sudden upon them ,anguish and terrors47#dcf7 ,she that bare seven hath fainted1 #i ,breathes out her life1 ,set is her sun in the daytime ,shamed and abashed6 ,and their remnant ,i give to the sword ,in face of their foes67#dcg7 ,through the rest of ,ch4 ,,xv and through ,,xvi and ,,xvii are a number of those personal passages1 which ,i have postponed to a subsequent lecture upon ,jeremiah's spiritual struggles17#dch7 and also several passages which by outlook and phrasing belong to a later age4 ,the impression left by this miscellany is that of a collection of sayings put together by an editor out of some ,oracles by our ,prophet himself and deliverances by other prophets on the same or similar themes4 ,in pursuance of the plan ,i proposed ,i take now only those passages in which ,jeremiah deals with the character of his people and their deserved doom4 ,thus saith the ,lord-- ,,xvi4 #e ,come not to the home of mourning1 ,nor go about to lament17#dci7 ,for my ,peace ,i have swept away-- ,away from this people47#ddj7 ,nor enter the house of feasting1 #h ,to sit with them eating and drinking ,for thus saith the ,lord1 the ,god of ,israel2 #i ,lo1 ,i make to cease from this place1 ,to your eyes1 in your days1 ,the voices of joy and rejoicing1 ,the voices of bridegroom and bride4 ,there follows a passage in prose1 #aj-ac1 which in terms familiar to us1 recites the nation's doom1 their exile4 ,verses #ad1 #ae break the connection with #af ff41 and find their proper place in ,,xxiii4 #g-h1 where they recur4 ,verses #af-ah predict1 under the figures of fishers and hunters1 the arrival of bands of invaders1 who shall sweep the country of its inhabitants1 because of the idolatries with which these have polluted it4 ,there is no reason to deny these verses to ,jeremiah4 ,in #ai1 #bj we come to another metrical piece1 singing of the conversion of the heathen from their idols--the only piece of its kind from ,jeremiah--which we may more suitably consider later4 ,verse #ba seems more in place after #ah4 ,the sin of ,judah is writ ,,xvii4 #a ,with pen of iron1 ,with the point of a diamond graven ,on the plate of their heart-- ,and eke on the horns of their altars17#dda7 ,and each spreading tree1 ,upon all the lofty heights #b ,and hills of the wild ,thy substance and all thy treasures #c ,for spoil ,i give1 ,because of sin thy high places ,throughout thy borders4 ,thine heritage thou shalt surrender7#ddb7 #d ,which ,i have given thee1 ,and thy foes ,i shall make thee to serve ,in a land thou knowest not4 ,ye have kindled a fire in my wrath ,that for ever shall burn47#ddc7 ,these verses1 characteristic of ,jeremiah1 are more so of his earliest period than of his work in the reign of ,jehoiakim1 and may have been among those which he added to his ,second ,roll4 ,they are succeeded by the beautiful reflections on the man who does not trust the ,lord and on the man who does1 verses #e-h1 quoted in a previous lecture47#ddd7 ,the rest of the chapter consists of passages personal to himself1 to be considered later1 and of an exhortation to keep the ,sabbath1 verses #ai-bg1 which is probably post-exilic47#dde7 ,in ,ch4 ,,xviii the ,parable of the ,potter is followed by a metrical ,oracle which has all the marks of ,jeremiah's style and repeats the finality of the doom1 to which the nation's forgetfulness of ,god and idolatry have brought it4 ,once more the poet contrasts the constancy of nature with his people's inconstancy4 ,neither the metre nor the sense of the text is so mutilated as some have supposed4 ,therefore thus saith the ,lord3 ,,xviii4 #ac ,ask ye now of the nations1 ,who heard of the like8 ,the horror she hath grossly wrought1 ,virgin of ,israel4 ,fails from the mountain rock #ad ,the snow of ,lebnon8 ,or the streams from the hills dry up1 ,the cold flowing streams87#ddf7 ,yet ,me have ,my people forgotten1 #ae ,and burned7#ddg7 to vanity1 ,stumbling from off their ways1 ,the tracks of yore1 ,to straggle along the by-paths1 ,an unwrought road2 ,turning their land to a waste1 #af ,a perpetual hissing4 ,all who pass by are appalled1 ,and shake their heads4 ,with7#ddh7 an east wind strew them ,i shall1 #ag ,in face of the foe4 ,my back not my face shall ,i show them ,in their day of disaster4 ,personal passages follow in verses #ah-bc1 and in ,,xix-,,xx4 #f1 the ,symbol of the ,earthen ,jar and the episode of the ,prophet's arrest with its consequences1 which we have already considered17#ddi7 and then other personal passages in ,,xx4 #g-ah4 ,ch4 ,,xxi4 #a-aj is from the reign of edekiah2 #aa1 #ab are a warning to the royal house of unknown date1 and #ac1 #ad a sentence upon a certain stronghold1 which in this connection ought to be ,jerusalem1 but cannot be because of the epithets ,inhabitress of the ,vale and ,rock of the ,plain1 that are quite inappropriate to ,jerusalem4 ,this is another proof of how the editors of the ,book have swept into it a number of separate ,oracles1 whether relevant to each other or not1 and whether ,jeremiah's own or from some one else4 ,from ,chs4 ,,xxii-,,xxiii4 #h1 a series of ,oracles on the kings of ,judah1 we have had before us the elegy on ,jehoahaz1 ,,xxii4 #aj 7with a prose note on #aa1 #ab7 and the denunciation of ,jehoiakim1 #ac-ai47dej7 ,there remain the warning 7in prose7 to do judgment and justice with the threat on the king's house1 ,,xxii4 #a-e1 and the following ,oracles3-- ,,xxii4 #f4 ,for thus saith the ,lord concerning the house of the king of ,judah7#dea7-- ,a ,gilead art thou to ,me1 ,or head of ,lebnon1 ,yet shall ,i make thee a desert ,of tenantless cities4 ,i will hallow against thee destroyers1 #g ,each with his weapons1 ,they shall cut down the choice of thy cedars ,and fell them for fuel4 #h4 ,and7#deb7 nations shall pass by this city and shall say each to his mate1 ,for what hath the ,lord done thus to this great city8 #i4 ,and they shall answer1 ,because they forsook the ,covenant of the ,lord their ,god1 and bowed themselves to other gods and served them4 ,whether this piece of prose be from ,jeremiah himself or from another is uncertain and of no importance4 ,it is a true statement of his own interpretation of the cause of his people's doom4 ,the next ,oracle addressed to the nation is upon ,king ,jeconiah1 or ,koniyahu4 ,i follow mainly the ,greek4 ,up to ,lebnon and cry1 ,,xxii4 #bj ,give forth thy voice in ,bashn1 ,and cry from ,abarm7#dec7 that broken ,be all thy lovers4 ,i spake to thee in thy prosperity1 #ba ,thou saidst1 ,i hear not6 ,this was thy way from thy youth1 ,not to hark to ,my ,voice4 ,all thy shepherds the wind shall shepherd1 #bb ,thy lovers go captive4 ,then shamed shalt thou be and confounded ,for all thine ill-doing4 ,thou in ,lebnon that dwellest1 #bc ,nested on cedars1 ,how shalt thou groan7#ded7 when come on thee pangs1 ,anguish as hers that beareth4 ,as ,i live--'t is the ,rede of the ,lord-- #bd ,though ,konyahu were ,upon ,my right hand the signet1 ,thence would ,i tear him47#dee7 #be4 ,and ,i shall give thee into the hand of them that seek thy life and into the hand of them thou dreadest1 even into the hand of ,nebuchadrezzar1 king of ,babylon1 and into the hand of the ,chaldeans2 #bf and ,i will hurl thee out1 and thy mother who bare thee1 upon another land1 where ye were not born1 and there shall ye die4 #bg4 ,and to the land1 towards which they shall be lifting their soul17#def7 they shall not return4 ,is ,konyahu then despised1 #bh ,like a nauseous vessel8 ,why is he flung and cast out ,on a land he knows not8 ,land1 ,land1 ,land1 #bi ,hear the ,word of the ,lord6 ,write this man down as childless1 #cj ,a fellow 444787 ,for none of his seed shall flourish ,seated on ,david's throne1 ,or ruling still in ,judah47#deg7 ,we can reasonably deny to ,jeremiah nothing of all this passage1 not even the prose by which the metre is interrupted4 ,we have seen how natural it was for the rhapsodists of his race to pass from verse to prose and again from prose to verse4 ,nor are the repetitions superfluous1 not even that four-fold into the hand of in the prose section1 for at each recurrence of the phrase we feel the grip of their captor closing more fast upon the doomed king and people4 ,nor are we required to take the pathetic words1 the land to which they shall be lifting up their soul1 as true only of those who have been long banished4 ,for the exiles to ,babylon felt this home-sickness from the very first1 as ,jeremiah well knew4 99 99 99 99 99 ,if we are to trust the date given by its title--and no sufficient reason exists against our doing so--there is still an ,oracle of ,jeremiah1 which1 though now standing far down in our ,book1 ,ch4 ,,xlv1 belongs to the reign of ,jehoiakim1 and is properly a supplement to the story of the writing of the ,rolls by ,baruch in #fje47deh7 ,the text has suffered1 probably more than we can now detect4 ,,xlv4 #a4 ,the ,word1 which ,jeremiah the prophet spake to ,baruch1 the son of ,neriah1 while he was writing these words in a book at the mouth of ,jeremiah17#dei7 in the fourth year of ,jehoiakim1 son of ,josiah1 king of ,judah47#dfj7 #b4 ,thus saith the ,lord7#dfa7 concerning thee1 ,o ,baruch1 #c for thou didst say3-- ,woe is me6 ,woe is me67#dfb7 ,how hath the ,lord on my pain heaped sorrow6 ,i am worn with my groaning1 ,rest ,i find none6 ,thus shalt thou say to him7#dfc7 thus sayeth the ,lord3 #d ,lo1 what ,i built ,i have to destroy1 ,and what ,i planted ,i have to root up47#dfd7 ,thou1 dost thou seek thee great things8 #e ,seek thou them not1 ,for behold1 on all flesh ,i bring evil-- ,rede of the ,lord-- ,but ,i give thee thy life as a prey1 ,wheresoever thou goest4 ,the younger man1 with youth's high hopes for his people and ambitions for himself in their service--ambitions which he could honestly cherish by right both of his station in life7#dfe7 and the firmness of his character--felt his spirit spent beneath the long-drawn weight of all the ,oracles of ,doom1 which it was his fate to inscribe as final4 ,now to ,baruch in such a mood the older man1 the ,prophet1 might have appealed from his own example1 for none in that day was more stripped than ,jeremiah himself1 of family1 friends1 affections1 or hopes of positive results from his ministry2 nor was there any whose life had been more often snatched from the jaws of death4 ,but instead of quoting his own case ,jeremiah brought to his despairing servant and friend a still higher example4 ,the ,lord ,himself had been forced to relinquish ,his designs and to destroy what ,he had built and to uproot what ,he had planted4 ,in face of such ,divine surrender1 both of purpose and achievement1 what was the resignation by a mere man1 or even by a whole nation1 of their hopes or ambitions8 ,let ,baruch be content to expect nothing beyond bare life3 thy life shall ,i give thee for a prey4 ,this stern phrase is found four times in the ,oracles of ,jeremiah17#dff7 and nowhere else4 ,it is not more due to the ,prophet than to the conditions of his generation4 ,jeremiah only put into words what must have been felt by all the men of his time--those terrible years in which1 through the ,oracles quoted in this lecture1 he has shown us ,war1 ,drought1 ,famine and ,pestilence fatally passing over his land2 when ,death came up by the windows1 children were cut off from their playgrounds and youths from the squares where they gathered1 and the corpses of men were scattered like dung on the fields4 ,it was indeed a time when each survivor must have felt that his life had been given him for a prey4 ,to the hearts of us who have lived through the ,great ,war1 with its heavy toll on the lives both of the young and of the old1 this phrase of ,jeremiah brings the ,prophet and his contemporaries very near4 ,yet more awful than the physical calamities which the prophet unveils throughout these terrible years are his bitter portraits of the character of his people1 whom no word of their ,god nor any of ,his heavy judgments could move to repentance4 ,he paints a hopeless picture of society in ,jerusalem and ,judah under ,jehoiakim1 rotten with dishonesty and vice4 ,members of the same family are unable to trust each other2 all are bent on their own gain by methods unjust and cruel--from top to bottom so hopelessly false as even to be blind to the meaning of the disasters which rapidly befal them and to the final doom that steadily draws near4 ,yet1 for all the wrath he pours upon his generation and the ,divine vengeance of which he is sure1 how the man still loves and clings to them1 and takes their doom as his own6 ,and1 greatest of all1 how he reads in the heart that was in him the ,heart of ,god ,himself--the same astonishment that the people are so callous1 the same horror of their ruin1 nay the same sense of failure and of suffering under the burden of such a waste--on ,me is the waste67#dfg7 ,what ,i built ,i have to destroy6 ,except that he does not share these secrets of the ,heart of ,god1 it is of ,victor ,hugo among moderns that ,i have been most reminded when working through ,jeremiah's charges against the king1 the priests1 the prophets and the whole people of ,judah--,victor ,hugo in his ,chtiments of the monarch1 the church1 the journalists1 the courtiers and other creatures of the ,third ,french ,empire4 ,there is the same mordant frankness and satiric rage combined with the same desire to share the miseries of the critic's people in spite of their faults4 ,i have already quoted ,hugo's lines on ,napoleon ,,iii as parallel to ,jeremiah's on ,jehoiakim47#dfh7 ,here are two other parallels4 ,to ,jeremiah's description of his people being persuaded that all was well1 when well it was not1 and refusing to own their dishonour1 ,,viii4 #aa1 #ab1 take ,hugo's 8on est infme et content0 and ,et tu chantais1 en proie aux clatants mensonges ,du succs4 ,and to ,jeremiah's acceptance of the miseries of his people as his own and refusal to the end to part from them take these lines to ,france3-- ,je te demanderai ma part de tes misres1 ,moi ton fils4 ,france1 tu verras bien qu'humble tte clipse ,j'avais foi1 ,et que je n'eus jamais dans l'me une pense ,que pour toi4 ,france1 tre sur ta claie l'heure o l'on te traine ,aux cheveux1 ,o ma mre1 et porter mon anneau de ta chaine ,je le veux6 ,lecture ,,vi4 ,,to ,,the ,,end ,,and ,,after4 #eig-8 ,b4,c4 ,the few remaining years of the ,jewish kingdom ran rapidly down and their story is soon told4 ,when ,nebuchadrezzar deported ,king ,jehoiachin in #eig1 he set up in his place his uncle ,mattaniah1 a son of ,josiah by that ,hamutal1 who was also the mother of the miserable ,jehoahaz47#dfi7 ,the name of the new king ,nebuchadrezzar changed to edekiah1 ,righteousness or ,truth of ,jehovah17#dgj7 intending thus to bind the ,jew by the name of his own ,god to the oath of allegiance which he had exacted from him4 ,when ,ezekiel afterwards denounced edekiah on his revolt it was for despising the ,lord's oath and breaking the ,lord's covenant7#dga7--;a signal instance of the sanctity attached in the ancient world to an oath sworn by one nation to another1 even though it was to the humiliation of the swearer47#dgb7 ,so far as we see1 edekiah was of a temper7#dgc7 to have been content with the peace1 which the observance of his oath would have secured to him4 ,but he was a weak man1 master no more of himself than of his throne17#dgd7 distracted between a half-superstitious respect for the one high influence left to him in ,jeremiah and the opposite pressure1 first from a set of upstarts who had succeeded to the estates and the posts about court of their banished betters1 and second1 from those prophets whose personal insignificance can have been the only reason of their escape from deportation4 ,it is one of the notable ironies of history that1 while ,nebuchadrezzar had planned to render ,judah powerless to rebel again1 by withdrawing from her all the wisest and most skilful and soldierly of her population1 he should have left to her her fanatics6 ,there remained in ,jerusalem the elements--sincerely patriotic but rash and in politics inexperienced--of a 8war-party10 restless to revolt from ,babylon and blindly confident of the strength of their walls and of their men to resist the arms of the great ,empire4 ,of their nation they and their fellows alone had been spared the judgment of the ,lord and prided themselves on being the ,remnant to which ,isaiah had promised survival and security on their own land3 for they said to the ,exiles1 ,get ye far from the ,lord1 for unto us is this land given in possession47#dge7 ,through the early uneventful years of edekiah1 this stupid and self-righteous party found time to gather strength1 and in his fourth year must have been stirred towards action by the arrival in ,jerusalem of messengers from the kings of ,edom1 ,moab1 ,ammon1 ,tyre and idon1 all of them states within the scope of ,egyptian intrigues against ,babylon47#dgf7 ,for the time the movement came to nothing largely because of ,jeremiah's influence1 and edekiah is said to have journeyed to ,babylon to protest in person his continued fidelity47#dgg7 ,either then or previously ,nebuchadrezzar imposed on ,jerusalem the ,babylonian idolatry which ,ezekiel describes as invading even the ,temple47#dgh7 ,the intrigues of ,egypt persisted1 however1 and1 in #ehi or #ehh1 after the accession of ,pharaoh ,hophra17#dgi7 at last prevailed upon ,judah4 edekiah yielded to the party of revolt and ,nebuchadrezzar swiftly invested ,jerusalem4 ,roused to realities the king and all the people of ,jerusalem offered their repentance by a solemn covenant before ,god to enfranchise1 in obedience to the ,law1 those slaves who had reached a seventh year of service4 ,but when on the news of an ,egyptian advance the ,chaldeans raised their siege1 the ,jewish slave-owners broke faith and pressed back their liberated slaves into bondage47#dhj7 ,this proved the last link in the long chain of lies and frauds by which the hopelessly dishonest people fastened upon them their doom4 ,egypt again failed her dupes4 ,the ,chaldeans1 either by the terror they inspired or by an actual victory on the field1 compelled her army to retire1 and resumed the siege of ,jerusalem4 ,though ,jeremiah counselled surrender and though the city was sapped by famine and pestilence1 the fanatics--to whom1 however reluctantly1 some admiration is due--held out against the forces of ,babylon for a year and a half4 ,then came the end4 ,the walls on the north were breached4 edekiah fled by a southern gate1 upon an effort to reach the ,east of ,jordan4 ,he was overtaken on the plains of ,jericho1 his escort scattered and himself carried to ,nebuchadrezzar's head-quarters at ,riblah on the ,orontes4 ,thence1 after his sons were slain before his eyes1 and his eyes put out1 he was taken in fetters to ,babylon4 ,nebuaradan1 a high ,babylonian officer1 was dispatched to ,jerusalem to burn the ,temple1 the ,palace and the greater houses1 and to transport to ,babylon a second multitude of ,jews1 leaving only the poorest of the land to be vine-dressers and husbandmen47#dha7 ,this was in #ehf4 #a4 ,the ,release of ,hope4 7,,xxiv1 ,,xxix47 ,from these rapidly descending years a number of prophecies by ,jeremiah have come to us1 as well as narratives of the trials which he endured because of his faithfulness to the ,word of the ,lord1 and his sane views of the facts of the time4 ,as we read these prophecies and narratives several changes become clear in the position and circumstances of the ,prophet1 and in his temper and outlook4 ,signally vindicated as his words have been1 we are not surprised that to his contemporaries he has grown to be a personage of greater impressiveness and authority than before4 ,he has still his enemies but these are not found in exactly the same quarters as under ,jehoiakim4 ,instead of an implacable king1 and princes more or less respectful and friendly1 in the king he has now a friend1 though a timid and ineffective one1 while the new and inferior princes appear almost wholly against him4 ,formerly both priests and prophets had been his foes1 but now only the prophets are mentioned as such1 and at least one priest is loyal to him47#dhb7 ,inwardly again1 he has no more of those debates with ,god and his own soul1 which had rent him during the previous years2 only once does doubt escape from his lips in prayer47#dhc7 ,clearest of all1 his hope has been released1 and in contrast with his prophesying up to the surrender of ,jerusalem in #eig1 but in full agreement with his enduring faith in ,god's ,freedom and ,patience17#dhd7 he utters not a few predictions of a future upon their own land for both ,israel and ,judah4 ,this greatest of the changes which appear is due partly to the fact that while the man's reluctant duty has been to pronounce the doom of exile upon his people1 that doom has been fulfilled1 and his spirit1 which never desired it17#dhe7 is free to range beyond its shadows4 ,to the clearness into which he rises he is helped1 under belief in the ,divine ,grace1 by the truth obvious to all but fanatics that peace and order were possible for that shaken world only through submission to ,nebuchadrezzar's firm government1 including as this did a policy comparatively lenient to the ,jewish exiles4 ,but there was another and stronger reason why ,jeremiah should at last turn himself to a ministry of hope1 however sternly he must continue to denounce the ,jews left in ,jerusalem and ,judah4 ,the catastrophe of #eig largely separated the better elements of the nation1 which were swept into exile1 from the worse which remained in the land4 ,it is this drastic sifting1 ethically one of the most momentous events in the history of ,israel1 with which ,jeremiah's earliest ,oracle under edekiah is concerned1 ,ch4 ,,xxiv4 ,once more the ,word of the ,lord starts to him from a vision1 this time of two baskets1 one of good the other of bad figs1 which the ,lord1 he says1 caused me to see3 a vision which ,i take to be as physical and actual as those of the almond-rod and the caldron upon his call1 or of the potter at his wheel1 though others interpret it as imaginative like the visions of ,amos47#dhf7 ,note how easily again the ,prophet passes from verse to prose4 ,the verse is slightly irregular4 ,the stresses of the four couplets are these--#c #c2 #d #c2 #d #c2 #c #c--to which the following version only approximates4 ,,xxiv4 #c4 ,and the ,lord said to me1 ,what art thou seeing1 ,jeremiah8 ,and ,i said1 ,figs1 the good figs very good1 and the bad very bad1 which for their7#dhg7 badness cannot be eaten4 #d4 ,and the ,word of the ,lord came unto me1 #e saying1 ,thus saith the ,lord1 the ,god of ,israel-- ,like unto these good figs ,i look on the exiles of ,judah1 ,whom away from this place ,i have sent ,to the ,chaldeans' land for 7their7 good4 ,for good will ,i fix ,mine eye upon them1 #f ,and bring them back to this land1 ,and build them and not pull them down1 ,and plant them and not pluck up4 #g4 ,and ,i will give them a heart to know ,me1 that ,i am the ,lord1 and they shall be for a people unto ,me1 and ,i will be to them for ,god1 when they turn to me with all their heart4 #h4 ,but like the bad figs which cannot be eaten for their7#dhh7 badness--thus saith the ,lord--so ,i give up edekiah1 king of ,judah1 and his princes and the remnant of ,jerusalem1 the left in this land17#dhi7 with them that dwell in the land of ,egypt47#dij7 #i4 ,and ,i will set them for consternation7#dia7 to all kingdoms of the earth1 a reproach and a proverb1 a taunt and a curse1 in all places whither ,i drive them4 ,and ,i will send among them the sword1 the famine and the pestilence1 till they be consumed from off the ground which ,i gave to them47#dib7 ,we cannot overestimate the effect upon ,jeremiah himself1 and through him and ,ezekiel upon the subsequent history of ,israel's religion1 of this drastic separation in #eig of the exiles of ,judah from the remnant left in the land4 ,after suffering for years the hopelessness of converting his people1 the ,prophet at last saw an ,israel of whom hope might be dared4 ,it was not their distance which lent enchantment to his view for he gives proof that he can descry the dross still among them1 despite the furnace through which they have passed47#dic7 ,but the banished were without doubt the best of the nation1 and now they had 8dreed their weird10 gone through the fire1 been lifted out of the habits and passions of the past1 and chastened by banishment--pensive and wistful as exile alone can bring men to be4 ,we also have come out of the ,great ,war with the best of us gone1 and feel the contrast between their distant purity1 out of great tribulation1 and the unworthiness of those who are left4 ,but neither to ,jeremiah nor to any of his time was such inspiration possible as we draw from our brave1 self-sacrificing dead4 ,no confidence then existed in a life beyond the grave4 ,jeremiah himself can only weep for the slain of his people4 ,his last vision of them is of corpses strewn on the field like sheaves left after the reaper which nobody gathers1 barren of future harvests2 and the last word he has for them is1 they went forth and are not47#did7 ,but that separated and distant ,israel has for the ,prophet something at least of what the cloud of witnesses by which we are encompassed means for us4 ,there was quality in them1 quality purified by suffering and sacrifice1 more than enough to rally the conscience of the nation from which they had been torn4 ,for the ,prophet himself they released hope1 they awoke the sense of a future1 they revived the faith that ,god had still a will for ,his people1 and that by ,his patient ,grace a pure ,israel might be re-born4 ,if the vision of the ,figs reveals the ethical grounds of ,jeremiah's new hope for ,israel1 his ,letter to the ,exiles1 ,,xxix4 #a-bc1 discloses still another ground on which that hope was based--his clear and sane appreciation of the politics of his time4 ,and it adds a pronouncement of profound significance for the future of ,israel's religion1 that the sense of the presence of ,god1 faith in ,his ,providence and ,grace1 and prayer to ,him were independent of ,land and ,temple4 ,from the subsequent fortunes of the exiles we know what liberal treatment they must have received from ,nebuchadrezzar4 ,they were settled by themselves2 they were not1 as in ,egypt of old1 hindered from multiplying2 they were granted freedom to cultivate and to trade1 by which many of them gradually rose to considerable influence among their captors4 ,all this was given to ,jeremiah to foresee and to impress upon the first exiles4 ,but it meant that their exile would be long4 ,it is proof of the change in the ,prophet's position among his people7#die7 that his ,letter was carried to ,babylon by two ambassadors from the ,king of ,judah to ,nebuchadrezzar1 and evidently with the consent of edekiah himself4 ,the text of the ,letter and of its title1 originally no doubt from ,baruch's memoirs1 has been considerably expanded1 as is clear not only from the brevity of the ,greek version1 but from the superfluous formulas and premature insertions which the ,hebrew and the ,greek have in common4 ,following others ,i have taken verses #e-g as metre2 and if this is right we have a fresh instance of ,jeremiah's passing from metre to prose in the same discourse4 ,the metrical character of #e-g is not certain4 ,its couplets run on the following irregular scheme of stresses3 #c #d1 #b #c1 #c #c1 #c #b 7871 #c #d1 #c #d--the last line as so often in a strophe being a long one47#dif7 ,,xxix4 #a4 ,these are the words of the ,letter which ,jeremiah sent from ,jerusalem unto the remnant of the elders of the exiles1 #c by the hand of ,eleasah1 son of ,shaphan1 and ,gemariah1 son of ,hiliah1 whom edekiah1 king of ,judah1 sent to ,babylon unto the king of ,babylon saying1 #d ,thus saith the ,lord1 the ,god of ,israel1 unto the exiles whom ,i have exiled from ,jerusalem37#dig7 ,build houses and settle ye down1 #e ,plant gardens and eat of their fruit1 ,take ye wives1 #f ,and beget sons and daughters4 ,take wives to your sons1 ,give your daughters to husbands1 ,to beget sons and daughters17#dih7 ,and increase7#dii7 and do not diminish4 ,and seek ye the peace of the land17#ejj7 #g ,to the which ,i have banished you1 ,and pray for it unto the ,lord1 ,for in her peace your peace shall be4 #h4 ,for thus saith the ,lord1 ,let not the prophets in your midst deceive you1 nor your diviners1 nor hearken to the dreams they 787 dream4 #i4 ,for falsehood are they prophesying unto you in ,my ,name2 ,i have not sent them47#eja7 #aj4 ,for thus saith the ,lord1 ,so soon as seventy years be fulfilled for ,babylon1 ,i will visit you and establish ,my ,word toward you by bringing you7#ejb7 back to this place4 ,for ,i am thinking about you-- #aa ,rede of the ,lord-- ,thoughts not of evil but peace ,to give you a ,future and ,hope4 ,ye shall pray ,me1 and ,i will hear you1 #ab ,seek ,me and find2 #ac ,if ye ask ,me with all your heart ,i shall be found of you4 #ad ,by omitting all of verses #ab-ad that is not given by the ,greek we get these eight lines in approximately ,jeremiah's favourite ,qinah-measure4 ,the ,greek also lacks verses #af-bj1 which irrelevantly digress from the exiles to the guilt and doom of the ,jews in ,jerusalem1 and which it is difficult to think that ,jeremiah would have put into a letter to be carried by two of these same ,jews47#ejc7 ,verse #ae goes with #ba-bc17ejd7 a separate message to the exiles which we shall treat in the following section4 #b4 ,prophets and ,prophets4 7,,xxiii4 #i-cb1 ,,xxvii-,,xxix1 etc47 ,jeremiah's ,letter to the ,exiles had its consequences4 ,first1 there was their claim to have prophets of the ,lord among themselves1 which in our text immediately follows the ,letter as if part of it1 ,,xxix4 #ae1 #ba-bc1 but which is probably of a somewhat later date4 ,,xxix4 #ae4 ,because ye have said1 ,the ,lord hath raised us up prophets in ,babylon1 #ba thus saith the ,lord concerning ,ahab son of ,kolaiah and concerning edekiah son of ,maaseiah17#eje7 ,behold ,i am to give them into the hand of the king of ,babylon and to your eyes shall he slay them4 #bb4 ,and of them shall a curse be taken up by all the exiles of ,judah who are in ,babylon saying1 8,the ,lord set thee like edekiah and like ,ahab1 whom the king of ,babylon roasted7#ejf7 in the fire60 #bc4 ,because they have wrought folly in ,israel and committed adultery with their neighbours' wives1 and in ,my ,name have spoken words which ,i commanded them not4 ,i am ,he who knoweth and am witness--,rede of the ,lord4 ,and1 second1 another of the 8prophets0 among the exiles sent to ,jerusalem a protest against ,jeremiah's ,letter1 ,,xxix4 #bd-bi4 ,this passage1 especially in its concise ,greek form1 which as usual is devoid of the repetitions of titles and other redundant phrases in the ,hebrew text1 bears the stamp of genuineness4 ,,xxix4 #bd4 ,and unto ,shemaiah the ,nehemalite thou shalt say37#ejg7 #be;b4 ,because thou hast sent in thine own name a letter to ephaniah1 son of ,maaseiah1 the priest17#ejh7 saying1 #bf ,the ,lord hath appointed thee priest1 instead of ,jehoiada the priest1 to be overseer in the ,house of the ,lord for every man that is raving and takes on himself to be a prophet1 that thou shouldest put him in the stocks and in the collar4 #bg4 ,now therefore why hast thou not curbed ,jeremiah of ,anathoth1 who takes on himself to prophesy unto you8 #bh4 ,hath he not sent to us in ,babylon saying1 8,it7#eji7 is long6 ,build ye houses and settle down1 and plant gardens and eat their fruit40 #bi4 ,and ephaniah read this letter in the ears of ,jeremiah2 #cj and the ,word of the ,lord came to ,jeremiah saying1 #ca ,send to the exiles saying3 ,thus saith the ,lord concerning ,shemaiah the ,nehemalite1 ,because ,shemaiah hath prophesied unto you1 although ,i did not send him1 and hath led you to trust in a lie2 #cb therefore thus saith the ,lord1 ,behold ,i am about to visit upon ,shemaiah and upon his seed2 there shall not be a man to them in your midst to see the good which ,i am going to do you47#eaj7 ,in one respect ,jeremiah has not changed4 ,his denunciation of individuals who oppose the ,word of the ,lord by himself is as strong as ever1 and still more dramatically than in the case of ,shemaiah it appears in his treatment of the prophets within ,jerusalem1 who flouted his counsels of subjection to ,nebuchadrezzar1 ,chs4 ,,xxvii-,,xxviii4 ,in this narrative or narratives 7for the whole seems compounded of several1 perhaps not all referring to the same occasion7 the differences between the ,greek and ,hebrew texts are even more than usually great4 ,the ,greek again attracts our preference by its freedom from superfluous titles1 repetitions and redundances1 and is probably nearer than the ,hebrew to the original of ,baruch's ,memoirs of the ,prophet4 ,but it is obviously not complete1 missing out clauses1 the presence of which is implied by subsequent ones47#eaa7 ,the following is the substance of what ,baruch reports4 ,it was the fourth year of edekiah1 #eic1 when messengers from the neighbouring nations came to ,jerusalem to intrigue under ,egyptian influence for revolt against ,babylon4 ,jeremiah was commanded to make a yoke of bars and thongs1 and having put it on his neck to charge the messengers to tell their masters-- ,,xxvii4 #d4 ,thus saith the ,lord of ,hosts1 the ,god of ,israel3 #e ,i have made the ,earth by ,my great power and ,mine outstretched arm1 and ,i give it unto whom it seems right to ,me4 #f4 ,so now ,i have given all these lands7#eab7 into the hand of ,nebuchadrezzar1 king of ,babylon1 to serve him17#eac7 and even the beasts of the field to serve him4 #h4 ,and it shall be that the nation and kingdom1 which will not put their neck into the yoke of the king of ,babylon1 with the sword and with the famine7#ead7 shall ,i visit them--,rede of the ,lord--till they be consumed at his hand 7874 #i4 ,but ye1 hearken ye not to your prophets1 nor to your diviners1 nor to your dreamers17#eae7 nor to your soothsayers1 nor to your sorcerers1 who say1 8,ye shall not serve the king of ,babylon02 #aj for they prophesy a lie unto you1 to the result of removing you far from your own soil4 #aa4 ,but the nation which brings its neck into the yoke of the king of ,babylon and serves him1 ,i will let it rest on its own soil and it shall till this and abide within it4 ,this is followed by a similar ,oracle to edekiah himself1 #ab-ae1 and by another1 #af-bb1 to the priests concerning a matter of peculiar anxiety to them4 #af4 ,thus saith the ,lord1 ,hearken ye not to the words of the7#eaf7 prophets1 who prophesy to you saying1 ,behold1 the vessels of the ,lord's ,house shall be brought back from ,babylon2 for a lie are they prophesying to you4 ,i have not sent them47#eag7 #ah4 ,but if prophets they be1 and if the ,word of the ,lord is with them1 let them now plead with ,me that the vessels left in the ,house of the ,lord come not to ,babylon4 #ai4 ,yet thus saith the ,lord concerning the residue of the vessels1 #bj which the king of ,babylon did not take when he carried ,jeconiah into exile from ,jerusalem1 #bb unto ,babylon shall they be brought--,rede of the ,lord4 ,the ,hebrew text concludes with a prophecy of the restoration of the vessels1 which had it been in the original the ,greek translators could hardly have omitted1 and which is therefore probably a post factum insertion4 ,not only1 then1 were the sacred vessels taken away in #eig to remain in ,babylon1 but such as were still left in ,jerusalem would also be carried thither4 ,it is possible that this address is now out of place and should follow the next chapter1 ,,xxviii1 which deals only with the vessels carried off in #eig4 ,like the ,hebrew the ,greek text gives ,,xxviii a separate introduction which dates it in the fifth month of the fourth year of edekiah1 but omits the ,hebrew statement that the year was the same as that of the events and words recorded in ,,xxvii4 ,the extent of the differences between the ,hebrew and ,greek continues to be at least as great as before17#eah7 as a comparison will show between the ,authorised ,version and the following rendering which adheres to the ,greek4 ,jeremiah was still wearing his symbolic yoke of wood and thongs in the ,temple1 when his prediction that the sacred vessels would not be restored was flatly contradicted and with as much assurance that the contradiction was from the ,god of ,israel1 as ,jeremiah's assurance about his own words4 ,the speaker was like himself from the country of ,benjamin1 from ,gibeon near ,anathoth1 ,hananiah son of ,azzur1 who said-- ,,xxviii4 #b4 ,thus saith the ,lord1 ,i have broken7#eai7 the yoke of the king of ,babylon6 #c4 ,within two years ,i will bring back to this place the vessels of the ,house of the ,lord1 #d and ,jeconiah and all the exiles of ,judah that went to ,babylon2 for ,i will break the yoke of the king of ,babylon4 #e4 ,then said ,jeremiah to ,hananiah1 before the priests and all the people7#ebj7 standing in the ,house of the ,lord--yes1 #f ,jeremiah said17#eba7 ,amen6 ,the ,lord do so6 ,the ,lord establish the words thou hast prophesied1 by bringing back the vessels of the ,lord's ,house and all the exiles from ,babylon to this place6 #g4 ,only hear1 ,i pray thee1 the ,word of the ,lord which ,i am about to speak in thine ears and in the ears of all the people4 #h4 ,the prophets who have been before me and thee from of old1 they prophesied against many lands and against great kingdoms of war and of famine 787 and pestilence47#ebb7 #i4 ,the prophet who prophesies of peace 7it is only7 when the word7#ebc7 comes to pass that the prophet is known7#ebd7 whom in truth the ,lord hath sent4 #aj4 ,then ,hananiah7#ebe7 took the bars off the neck of ,jeremiah and brake them4 #aa4 ,and ,hananiah spake before all the people saying3 ,thus saith the ,lord1 ,even so will ,i break the yoke of the king of ,babylon within two years7#ebf7 from off the necks of all the nations4 ,and ,jeremiah went his way4 #ab4 ,then came the ,word of the ,lord to ,jeremiah1 after ,hananiah had broken the bars from off his neck1 saying1 #ac ,go tell ,hananiah1 ,thus saith the ,lord3 ,thou hast broken the bars of wood but ,i will7#ebg7 make in their stead bars of iron4 #ad4 ,for thus saith the ,lord1 ,an iron yoke have ,i put upon the necks of all these nations1 that they may serve the king of ,babylon4 #ae4 ,and ,jeremiah said to ,hananiah17#ebh7 ,the ,lord hath not sent thee1 but thou leadest this people to trust in a lie4 #af4 ,therefore thus saith the ,lord1 ,behold1 ,i am about to dispatch thee from off the face of the ground--this year thou shalt die4 #ag4 ,and he was dead7#ebi7 by the seventh month4 ,all praise to ,baruch for his concise and vivid report1 and to the ,greek translator who has reproduced it6 ,the editors of the ,hebrew text have diluted its strength4 ,with this narrative we are bound to take the section of the ,book entitled ,of the ,prophets1 ,,xxiii4 #i-cb4 ,the text is in parts uncertain1 and includes obvious expansions4 ,these removed1 we can fairly distinguish a continuous metrical form up to #bi1 with the exception perhaps of #be-bg4 ,the metre is sometimes irregular enough to raise the suggestion7#ecj7 that the whole is rhetorical prose1 between which and metre proper it is often hard1 as we have seen1 to draw the line4 ,but we have also learned how often and how naturally irregular1 when the subject requires it1 ,jeremiah's metres tend to become4 ,so ,i have ventured1 with the help of the ,greek1 to render the whole as metre1 in which form are parts beyond doubt4 ,verses #ah and #cj-cb are in prose1 and both1 but more probably the former1 may be later additions1 as are #ai1 #bj1 and clauses in #i1 #aj4 ,there is no reason against taking the remainder as ,oracles by ,jeremiah himself4 ,no dates are given them2 they probably come from various stages of his ministry1 for he early found out the false prophets1 and his experience of them and their errors lasted to the end4 ,but probably this collection of the ,oracles was made under edekiah2 that ,baruch gathered it still later is not so likely4 ,of the prophets3-- ,,xxiii4 #i ,broken my heart within me1 ,all pithless my bones4 ,i'm become like a drunken man ,like a wight overcome with wine47#eca7 ,of adulterers the land is full #aj ,their course it is evil17#ecb7 ,their might not right4 ,for prophet and priest alike #aa ,are utterly godless47#ecc7 ,e'en in ,my ,house their evil ,i find-- ,rede of the ,lord4 ,therefore their way shall they have #ab ,in slippery places1 ,thrust shall they be into darkness7#ecd7 ,and fall therein1 ,when ,i bring calamity on them1 ,the year of their visitation4 ,in ,samaria's prophets ,i saw the unseemly1 #ac ,by ,baal they prophesied47#ece7 ,in ,jerusalem's prophets ,i see the horrible-- #ad ,adultery1 walking in lies4 ,they strengthen the hands of ill-doers1 ,that none from his wickedness turns4 ,to ,me they are all like ,sodom1 ,like ,gomorra her7#ecf7 dwellers6 ,therefore thus saith the ,lord37#ecg7 #ae ,behold1 ,i will feed them with wormwood1 ,and drug them with poison47#ech7 ,for forth from ,jerusalem's prophets ,godlessness starts o'er the land4 ,thus saith the ,lord of ,hosts #af ,hearken not to the words of the prophets ,they make them bubbles17#eci7 ,a vision from their hearts they speak1 ,not from the mouth of the ,lord4 ,saying to the scorners of ,his7#edj7 ,word #ag 8,peace shall be yours20 ,to all who follow their stubborn hearts 8,no evil shall reach you60 #ah4 ,for who hath stood in the council of the ,lord and hath seen ,his ,word8 ,who hath attended and heard87#eda7 ,i have not sent the prophets1 #ba ,of themselves they run4 ,i have not spoken to them1 ,they do the prophesying4 ,if they had stood in ,my ,council1 #bb ,and heard ,my ,words1 ,my people they would have been turning7#edb7 ,from7#edc7 the wrong of their doings4 ,i am a ,god who is near #bc ,not a ,god who is far47#edd7 ,can any man hide him in secret #bd ,and ,i not see him8 ,is it not heaven and earth that ,i fill8-- ,rede of the ,lord4 ,i have heard what the prophets say #be ,who preach in ,my ,name1 ,falsely saying1 8,i have dreamed1 ,i have dreamed1 ,i have dreamed407#ede7 ,will the heart of the prophets turn17#edf7 #bf ,who prophesy lies8 ,and in their prophesying 444 7877#edg7 ,the deceit of their heart1 ,who plan that ,my people forget ,my ,name7#edh7 #bg ,through the dreams they tell1 ,just as their fathers forgot ,my ,name through ,baal4 ,the prophet with whom is a dream #bh ,let him tell his7#edi7 dream2 ,but he with whom is ,my ,word1 ,my ,word let him speak in truth4 ,what has the straw with the wheat87#eej7 --,rede of the ,lord-- ,my ,word1 is it not7#eea7 like fire #bi ,and the hammer that shatters the rock8 #cj4 ,therefore1 ,behold1 ,i am against the prophets--,rede of the ,lord--who steal ,my ,words each from his mate4 #ca4 ,behold1 ,i am against the prophets who fling out their tongues and rede a ,rede47#eeb7 #cb4 ,behold1 ,i am against the prophets of false dreams who tell them and lead ,my people astray by their falsehood and extravagance7#eec7--not ,i have sent them or charged them1 nor of any profit whatsoever are they to this people47#eed7 ,we have now all the material available for judgment upon ,jeremiah's life-long controversy with the other prophets4 ,his message and theirs were diametrically opposite4 ,but both he and they spoke in the name of the same ,god1 the ,god of their nation4 ,both were convinced that they had ,his ,mind4 ,both were sure that their respective predictions would be fulfilled4 ,each repudiated the other's claim to speak in the name of their nation's ,god4 ,with each it was an affair of strong1 personal convictions1 which we may grant1 in the case of some at least of ,jeremiah's opponents1 to have been as honest as his4 ,at first sight it may seem hopeless to analyse such equal assurances1 based apparently on identical grounds1 with the view of discovering psychological differences between them2 and as if we must leave the issue to the course of events to which both parties confidently appealed4 ,even here the decision is not wholly in favour of the one as against the others4 ,for ,jeremiah's predictions in the ,name of the ,lord were not always fulfilled as he had shaped them4 ,the northern executioners of the ,divine ,judgment upon ,judah were not the ,scythians as he at first expected2 and--a smaller matter--,jehoiakim was not buried with the burial of an ass1 dragged and flung out from the gates of ,jerusalem1 but slept with his fathers47#eee7 ,yet these are only exceptions4 ,jeremiah's prophesying was in substance vindicated by history1 while the predictions of the other prophets were utterly belied4 ,this is part of ,jeremiah's meaning when he says1 ,of no profit whatsoever are they to this people47#eef7 ,what were the grounds of the undoubted difference8 ,on penetrating the similar surfaces of ,jeremiah's and the prophets' assurances we find two deep distinctions between them--one moral and one intellectual4 ,we take the moral first for it is the deeper4 ,both ,jeremiah and the prophets based their predictions on convictions of the character of their ,god4 ,but while the prophets thought of ,him and of ,his relations to ,israel from the level of that tribal system of religion which prevailed throughout their world1 and upon that low level concluded that ,yahweh of ,israel could not for any reason forsake ,his own people but must avert from them every disaster however imminent2 ,jeremiah was compelled by his faith in the holiness and absolute justice of ,god to proclaim that1 however close and dear ,his age-long relations to ,israel had been and however high ,his designs for them1 ,he was by ,his ,nature bound to break from a generation which had spurned ,his ,love and ,his ,law and proved unworthy of ,his designs1 and to deliver them for the punishment of their sins into the hands of their enemies47#eeg7 ,what else can ,i do8 ,jeremiah hears ,god say4 ,the opposing prophets reply1 ,not ,he6 ,this is the ground of his charge against them1 that they plan to make the people forget the ,name1 the revealed ,nature and ,character1 of ,god1 just as their fathers forgat ,him through ,baal17#eeh7 confusing ,his ,nature with that of the lower1 local god47#eei7 ,this ethical difference between ,jeremiah and the prophets is clear beyond doubt2 it was profound and fundamental4 ,there went with it of course the difference between their respective attitudes to the society of their time--on the one side his acute conscience of the vices that corrupted the people1 on the other their careless temper towards those vices4 ,they would heal the hurt of the daughter of my people lightly1 saying it is well1 it is well when well it is not1 and in their prophesying there was no call to repentance47#efj7 ,moreover1 though this may not have been true of all of them1 some both in ,jerusalem and among the exiles were partakers of other men's sins2 for ,jeremiah charges them with the prevailing immoralities of the day--adultery and untruth4 ,instead of turning ,judah from her sins1 they were the promoters of the godlessness that spread through the land47#efa7 ,though we have only ,jeremiah's--or ,baruch's--word for this1 we know how natural it has ever been for the adherents1 and for even some of the leaders1 of a school devoid of the fundamental pieties to slide into open vice4 ,jeremiah's charges are therefore not incredible4 ,but the grounds of the difference between ,jeremiah and the other prophets were also intellectual4 ,jeremiah had the right eye for events and throughout he was true to it4 ,just as he tells us how the will of ,god was sometimes suggested to him by the sight of certain physical objects--the almond-blossom that broke the winter of ,anathoth1 the boiling caldron1 or the potter at his wheel--so the sight of that in which the physical and spiritual mingled1 the disposition and progress of the political forces of his world1 made clear to him the particular lines upon which the ethically certain doom of ,judah would arrive4 ,he had the open eye for events and allowed neither that horror of his people's ruin1 of which he tells us his heart was full1 nor any other motive of patriotism1 nor temptations to the easier life that had surely been his by flattery and the promise of peace to his contemporaries1 to blind him to the clear and just reading of his times1 to which ,god's ,word and his faith in the ,divine character had opened his vision4 ,on the contrary the other prophets1 to take them at their best1 were blinded by their patriotism1 blinded by it even after ,carchemish and when the grasp of ,babylon was sensibly closing upon ,judah--even after the first captivity and when the siege of ,jerusalem could only end in her downfall and destruction4 ,nothing proved sufficient to open such eyes to the signs of the times4 ,making allowance1 then1 for the fact that we depend for our knowledge of the controversy upon the record of only one of the parties to it1 and imputing to the other prophets the best possible1 we are left with these results3 that as proved by events the truth was with ,jeremiah's word and not with that of his opponents1 and that the causes of this were his profoundly deeper ethical conceptions of ,god working in concert with his unwarped understanding of the political and military movements of his time4 ,to this were allied other differences between ,jeremiah and the prophets who were against him4 ,along with the priests they clung to tradition1 to dogma1 to things that had been true and vital for past generations but were no longer so for this one1 which turned exhausted truths into fetishes4 ,to all these he opposed the ,word of the ,living ,god1 ,who spoke to the times and freely acted according to the character and the needs of the present generation4 ,again1 the other prophets do not appear to have attached any conditions to their predictions2 these they delivered as absolute and final4 ,in contrast1 not merely were ,jeremiah's prophecies conditional but the conditions were in harmony with their fundamentally moral spirit4 ,his doctrine of ,predestination was 7as we have seen7 subject to faith in the ,freedom of the ,divine ,sovereignty1 and therefore up to the hopeless last he repeated his calls to repentance1 so that ,god might relent of the doom ,he had decreed1 and save ,his people and ,his land to each other4 ,further1 despite his natural outbursts of rage ,jeremiah showed patience with his opponents1 the patience which is proof of the soundness of a man's own convictions4 ,he believed in 8the liberty of prophesying10 ,the prophet with whom is a dream ,let him tell his dream1 ,and he with whom is ,my ,word1 ,my ,word let him speak in truth6 ,jeremiah had no fear of the issue being threshed out between them4 ,the wheat would be surely cleared from the straw47#efb7 ,that is a confidence which attracts our trust4 ,in the strength of it ,jeremiah was enabled to pause and reflect on the apparently equal confidence which he encountered in his opponents1 and to give this every opportunity to prove itself to him before he repeated his own convictions4 ,i cannot think1 as many do1 that his words to ,hananiah were sarcastic2 and when ,hananiah broke the yoke on ,jeremiah's shoulders1 and it is said1 ,but ,jeremiah went his way1 this was not in contempt but to think out the issue between them47#efc7 ,nor do ,i feel sarcasm in his wish that his opponents' predictions of the return of the sacred vessels from ,babylon might be fulfilled47#efd7 ,his brave calm words to the prophets and priests who sought his life in the ,temple in #fjd7efe7 bear similar testimony4 ,all these are the marks of an honest1 patient and reflective mind which weighs opinions opposite to its own4 ,further still1 ,jeremiah had to his credit that of which his opponents appear to have been devoid4 ,as we have seen no prophet was less sure of himself1 or more reluctant to discharge the duties of a prophet4 ,everywhere he gives evidence of being impelled by a force not his own and against his will47#eff7 ,but the other prophets show no sign of this accrediting reluctance4 ,they eagerly launch forth on their mission2 fling about their tongues1 and rede a ,rede of the ,lord47#efg7 ,they give no impression of a force behind them4 ,jeremiah says that they run of themselves and prophesy of themselves1 they have not been sent47#efh7 ,we still keep in mind that we owe the accounts of them to ,jeremiah and ,baruch1 their opponents4 ,but our own experience of life enables us to recognise the portraits presented to us1 as of characters found in every age3 pushful men1 who have no doubts of their omniscience1 but1 however patriotic or religious or learned1 leave upon their contemporaries no impression of their being driven by another force than themselves1 and whose opinions either are belied by events1 or melt into the air4 ,one point remains4 ,in answering ,hananiah ,jeremiah adduced the example of the acknowledged prophets of the past as being always prophets of doom1 so that the presumption was in favour of those who still preached doom2 yet he allowed that if any prophet promised peace1 and peace came to pass1 he also might be known as genuine4 ,that was sound history1 and in the circumstances of the day it was also sound sense4 #c4 ,the ,siege4 7,,xxi1 ,,xxxii-,,xxxiv1 ,,xxxvii1 ,,xxxviii47 ,history has no harder test for the character and doctrine of a great teacher than the siege of his city4 ,instances beyond the ,bible are those of ,archimedes in the siege of ,syracuse1 #bab ,b4,c41 ,pope ,innocent the ,first in that of ,rome by ,alaric1 #dag ,a4,d41 and ,john ,knox in that of ,st4 ,andrews by the ,french1 #aedg4 ,a siege brings the prophet's feet as low as the feet of the crowd4 ,he shares the dangers1 the duties of defence1 the last crusts4 ,his hunger1 and1 what is still keener1 his pity for those who suffer it with him1 may break his faith into cowardice and superstition4 ,but if faith stands1 and common-sense with it1 his opportunities are high4 ,his powers of spiritual vision may prove to be also those of political and even of military foresight1 and either inspire the besieged to a victorious resistance1 or compel himself1 alone in a cityful of fanatics1 to counsel surrender4 ,a siege can turn a prophet or quiet thinker into a hero4 ,the ,old ,testament gives us three instances--,elisha's brave visions during the ,syrian blockade of ,dothan and siege of ,samaria2 ,isaiah1 upon the solitary strength of his faith1 carrying ,jerusalem inviolate through her siege by the ,assyrians2 and now a century later ,jeremiah1 with a more costly courage1 counselling her surrender to the ,babylonians4 ,the records of the ,prophet's activity and sufferings during the siege are so curiously scattered through the ,book and furnished with such headlines as to leave it clear that they were added at different times and possibly from different sources4 ,some of them raise the question whether or not they are doublets4 ,three1 ,,xxi4 #a-aj1 ,,xxxiv4 #a-g1 ,,xxxvii4 #c-aj1 bear pronouncements by ,jeremiah that the city must surrender or be stormed and burned4 ,of these the first and third each gives as the occasion of the pronouncement it quotes1 edekiah's mission of two men to the ,prophet4 ,several critics regard these missions as identical4 ,but can we doubt that during that crisis of two years the distracted king would send more than once for a ,divine word8 ,and for this what moments were so natural as when the ,chaldeans were beginning the siege1 ,,xxi4 #d1 and when they raised it1 ,,xxxvii4 #e8 ,that one of the two messengers is on each occasion the same affords an inadequate reason--and no other exists--for arguing that both passages are but differently telling the same story47#efi7 ,nor have any grounds been offered for identifying the occasion of either passage with that of ,,xxxiv4 #a-g4 ,thus we have three separate deliverances from ,jeremiah to the king1 each with its own vivid phrases and distinctive edge4 ,the first1 ,,xxi #a-aj1 was given as the ,chaldeans closed upon ,jerusalem but the ,jews were not yet driven within the walls47#egj7 edekiah sent ,pashur and ephaniah to inquire if by a miracle the ,lord would raise the siege4 ,the grim answer came that the ,lord ,himself would fight the besieged1 till they died of pestilence and the survivors were slaughtered by ,nebuchadrezzar--,i7#ega7 shall not spare nor pity them--which is proof that this ,oracle was uttered before the end of the siege1 when the survivors were not slain but deported4 ,the people are advised to desert to the enemy--counsel which we shall consider later4 ,the second1 ,,xxxiv4 #a-g1 records a pronouncement unsought by the king but evoked from ,jeremiah by the progress of the ,chaldean arms1 which had overrun all ,judah save the fortresses of ,jerusalem1 ,lachish and ,azekah4 ,its vivid genuineness is further certified by its unfulfilled promise of a peaceful death for edekiah4 ,the following is mainly after the ,greek4 ,,xxxiv4 #b;b4 ,thus saith the ,lord3 ,this city shall certainly be given into the hand of the king of ,babylon1 and he shall take it and burn it with fire4 #c4 ,and thou shalt not escape but surely be taken and delivered into his hand2 and thine eyes shall look into his eyes1 and his mouth speak with thy mouth17#egb7 and to ,babylon shalt thou come4 #d4 ,yet hear the ,lord's ,word1 ,o edekiah1 king of ,judah6 #e4 ,thus saith the ,lord17#egc7 ,in peace shalt thou die1 and as the burnings7#egd7 for thy fathers who reigned before thee so shall they burn for thee1 and with 8,ah lord60 lament thee4 ,i have spoken the ,word--,rede of the ,lord4 ,the miserable king1 how much worse was in store for him than even ,jeremiah was given to foresee6 ,duhm 7to our surprise1 as ,cornill remarks7 agrees that the passage is from ,baruch2 but only in order to support the precarious thesis that ,baruch knew nothing of edekiah's being afterwards blinded and that the reports of this7#ege7 sprang from unfounded rumour4 ,the third pronouncement to edekiah1 ,,xxxvii4 #c-aj17egf7 was made when the king sent ,jehucal and ephaniah to seek the ,prophet's prayers1 after the ,chaldeans had raised the siege in order to meet the reported ,egyptian advance to the relief of ,jerusalem4 ,,xxxvii4 #g4 ,thus saith the ,lord3 ,thus say ye to the king of ,judah who sent you to inquire of ,me17#egg7 ,behold1 ,pharaoh's army1 which is coming forth to help you1 shall return to the land of ,egypt4 #h4 ,and the ,chaldeans shall come back and fight against this city and take it and burn it with fire4 #i4 ,for7#egh7 thus saith the ,lord3 ,deceive not yourselves saying1 ,the ,chaldeans shall surely go off from us2 they shall not go4 #aj4 ,even though ye smote the whole host of the ,chaldeans that are fighting with you1 and but wounded men were left1 yet should these rise1 each in his tent17#egi7 and burn this city with fire4 ,it is very remarkable how the spiritual powers of the ,prophet endowed him with these sound views of the facts of his time1 and of their eventualities whether in the political or in the military sphere4 ,for nearly forty years he had foretold judgment on his people out of the ,north3 for eighteen at least he had been sure that its instrument would be ,nebuchadrezzar and he had foreseen the first deportation of the ,jews to ,babylonia4 ,now step by step through the siege he is clear as to what must happen--clear that the ,chaldeans will invest the city1 clear when they raise the investment that they will beat off the ,egyptian army of relief and return1 clear that resistance to them is hopeless1 and will but add thousands of deaths by famine and pestilence before the city is taken and burned and its survivors carried into exile--all of which comes to pass4 ,but this political sagacity and military foresight have their source in moral and spiritual convictions--the ,prophet's assurance of the character and will of ,god1 his faith in the ,divine ,government not of a single nation but of all the powers of the world1 and his belief that a people is saved and will endure for the service of mankind1 neither because of past privileges nor by the traditions in which it trusts1 nor by adherence to dogmas however vital these have been to its fathers1 nor even by its passionate patriotism and its stubborn gallantry in defence of land and homes1 but only by its justice1 its purity1 and its obedience to ,god's will4 ,these are the spiritual convictions which alone keep the ,prophet's eyes open and his heart steadfast through the fluctuations of policy and of military fortune that shake his world1 and under the agony of appearing to be a traitor to his country and of preaching the doom of a people whom he loves with all his soul4 ,the case of ,john ,knox affords a parallel to that of the ,hebrew prophet4 ,he told the garrison and citizens of ,st4 ,andrews1 when besieged by the ,french1 that 8their corrupt life could not escape punishment of ,god and that was his continued advertisement from the time he was called to preach0 among them4 8,when they triumphed of their victory 7the first twenty days they had many prosperous chances7 he lamented and ever said #8,they saw not what he saw6' ,when they bragged of the force and thickness of their walls1 he said1 #8,they should be but egg-shells6' ,when they vaunted #8,england will rescue us6' he said1 #8,ye shall not see them1 but ye shall be delivered into your enemies' hands and shall be carried to a strange country6' 0 that is ,france4 ,all of which came to pass1 as with ,jeremiah's main predictions47#ehj7 ,the second of ,jeremiah's pronouncements given above is followed by the story of the besieged's despicable treatment of their slaves1 ,,xxxiv4 #h-bb2 based on a memoir by ,baruch1 but expanded4 ,both the ,hebrew and the shorter ,greek offer in parts an uncertain text1 and add this problem that their story begins with a covenant to proclaim a ,liberty7#eha7 for the ,hebrew slaves in general1 while the words which they attribute to ,jeremiah limit it to the emancipation1 in terms of a particular law1 of those slaves who had completed six years of service 7verse #ad747ehb7 ,but neither this nor the other and smaller uncertainties touch the substance of the story47#ehc7 ,as the siege began the king and other masters of slaves in ,jerusalem entered into solemn covenant to free their ,hebrew slaves1 obviously in order to propitiate their ,god1 and also some would assert 7though unsupported by the text7 in order to increase their fighting ranks2 but when the siege was raised they forced their freedmen back to bondage3 8a deathbed repentance with the usual sequel on recovery407#ehd7 ,this is the barest exposure among many we have of the character of the people with whom ,jeremiah had to deal1 and justifies the hardest he has said of their shamelessness4 ,,xxxiv4 #ag4 ,therefore thus saith the ,lord3 ,ye have not obeyed ,me by proclaiming a ,liberty each for his countryman4 ,behold ,i am about to proclaim for you a ,liberty--to the sword1 to the famine and to the pestilence1 and ,i will set you a consternation to all kingdoms of the earth4444 #ba4 ,and edekiah1 king of ,judah1 and his princes will ,i give into the hands of their foes1 the king of ,babylon's host that are gone up from you4 #bb4 ,behold1 ,i am about to command--,rede of the ,lord--and bring them back to this city and they shall storm and take it and burn it with fire1 and the townships of ,judah will ,i make desolate and tenantless4 ,are we not in danger of the guilt of a similar perjury to the men who fought for us in the ,great ,war1 and for whom we have not yet fulfilled all the promises made to them by our governors8 ,about this time the ill-treatment of ,jeremiah1 which had ceased on edekiah's accession1 was resumed4 ,the narrative1 or succession of narratives1 of this begins at ,,xxxvii4 #aa1 and continues to ,,xxxix4 #ad1 with interruptions in ,,xxxix4 #a1 #b1 #d-ac4 ,save for a few expansions1 the whole must have been taken from ,baruch's memoirs4 ,except for the omission of ,,xxxix4 #d-ac1 the differences of the ,greek from the ,hebrew are unimportant1 consisting in the usual absence of repetitions of titles1 epithets and names4 ,the siege being raised1 ,jeremiah was going out by the ,north gate of the city to ,anathoth to claim or to manage7#ehe7 some property there1 when he was arrested by the captain of the watch1 and charged with deserting4 ,he denied this1 but was taken to the princes1 who flogged him and flung him into a vault in the house of ,jonathan1 the ,secretary4 ,after many days he was sent for by the king who asked1 ,is there ,word from the ,lord8 ,there is1 he replied1 and1 as if drumming a lesson into a stupid child's head1 repeated his message1 ,thou shalt be delivered into the hand of the ,king of ,babylon4 ,he asked what he had done to be treated as he had been1 and1 by contrast1 where were the prophets who had said that the ,babylonians would not come to ,judah--his irony was not yet starved out of him6--and begged not to be sent back to the vault4 ,the king committed him to the ,court of the ,guard1 where at least he was above ground1 could receive visitors1 and was granted daily a loaf from the ,bakers' ,bazaar while bread lasted in the city47#ehf7 ,yet through his bars he still defied his foes and they were at him again1 quoting to the king two ,oracles which he had uttered before and apparently was repeating to those who resorted to him in the ,guard-,court4 ,,xxxviii4 #a4 ,and ,shephatiah1 ,mattan's son1 ,gedaliah ,pashur's son1 ,jucal ,shelamiah's son1 and ,pashur ,malchiah's son17#ehg7 heard the words ,jeremiah was speaking about the people37#ehh7 #b 8,thus saith the ,lord1 ,he that abides in this city shall die by the sword1 the famine or the pestilence1 but he that goes forth to the ,chaldeans shall live--his life shall be to him for a prey but he shall live407#ehi7 #c4 8,thus7#eij7 saith the ,lord3 ,this city shall surely be given into the hand of the king of ,babylon's host and they shall take it40 ,verse #b is rejected by ,duhm and ,cornill partly on the insufficient ground that verses #b and #c have separate introductions and therefore could have had originally no connection4 ,but in quoting two utterances of the ,prophet for their cumulative effect it was natural to prefix to each his usual formula4 ,duhm's and ,cornill's real motive1 however1 is their repugnance to admitting that ,jeremiah could have advised desertion from the city4 ,so ,duhm equally rejects ,,xxi4 #i1 of which ,,xxxviii4 #b is but an abbreviation2 while ,cornill seeks to save ,,xxi4 #i by reading it as a summons to the whole people to surrender and so distinguishes it from ,,xxxviii4 #b1 advice to individuals to desert4 ,i fail to follow this distinction4 ,the terms used are as individual in the one verse as in the other2 if the one goes the other must also4 ,but need either go8 ,duhm's view is that both are from a later period1 when there was no longer a native government in ,judah1 reverence for the monarchy was dead1 and the common conscience of ,jewry was not civic but ecclesiastical6 ,this is ingenious1 but far from convincing4 ,there are no grounds either for denying these verses to ,jeremiah1 or for reading his advice to go forth to the ,chaldeans as meant otherwise than for the individual citizens4 ,was such advice right or wrong8 ,the question is much debated4 ,the two ,german scholars just quoted find it so wrong that they cannot think of it as ,jeremiah's4 ,but in that situation and under the convictions which held him1 the ,prophet could not have spoken differently4 ,he knew1 and soundly knew1 not only that the city was doomed and that her rulers who persisted in defending her were senseless1 if gallant1 fanatics1 but also that they had forfeited their technical legitimacy4 ,to talk to-day of duty1 civil or military1 to such a perjured ,government does not even deserve to be called constitutional pedantry1 for it has not a splinter of constitutionalism to support it4 edekiah held his vassal throne only by his oath to his suzerain of ,babylon and when he broke that oath his legitimacy crumbled47#eia7 ,of right ,divine or human there was none in a government so forsworn and self-disentitled1 besides being so insane1 as that of the feeble king and his frantic masters1 the princes4 ,for ,jeremiah the only ,divine right was ,nebuchadrezzar's4 ,but to the conviction that edekiah and the princes were not the lawful lords of ,judah1 we must add the pity of the ,prophet as he foresaw the men1 women and children of his people done to useless death by the cruel illusions of their illegitimate governors4 ,calvin is right1 when1 after a careful reservation of the duties of private citizens to their government at war1 he pronounces that 8,jeremiah could not have brought better counsel0 to the civilians and soldiers of ,jerusalem47#eib7 ,and it is no paradox to say that the ,prophet's sincerity in giving such advice is sealed by his heroic refusal to accept it for himself and resolution to share to the end what sufferings the obstinacy of her lords was to bring on the city4 ,nor1 be it observed1 did he bribe his fellow citizens to desert to the enemy by any rich promise4 ,he plainly told them that this would leave a man nothing but bare life--his life for a prey4 ,it would1 however1 be most irrelevant to deduce from so peculiar a situation1 and from the ,divine counsels applicable to this alone1 any sanction for 8pacificism0 in general1 or to set up ,jeremiah as an example of the duty of deserting one's government when at war1 in all circumstances and whatever were the issues at stake4 ,we might as well affirm that the example of the man1 who rouses his family to flee when he finds their home hopelessly on fire1 is valid for him whose house is threatened by burglars4 ,isaiah inspired resistance to the ,assyrian besiegers of ,jerusalem in his day with as ,divine authority as ,jeremiah denounced resistance to the ,chaldean besiegers in his4 ,nor can we doubt that our ,prophet would have appreciated the just1 the inevitable revolt of the ,maccabees against their pagan tyrants1 which is divinely praised in the ,epistle to the ,hebrews as a high example of faith4 ,it is one thing to deny allegiance1 as ,jeremiah did1 to a government that had broken the oath on which alone its rights were founded1 and the keeping of which was the sole security for 8the stability of the times40 ,it is another and very different thing to refuse1 on alleged grounds of conscience1 to follow one's government when it lifts the sword against a people who have broken their oath1 and mobilises its subjects in defence of justice and of the freedom of weaker nations1 imperilled by that perjury4 ,but the princes seem to have honestly believed that ,jeremiah was guilty of treason1 and said to the king-- ,,xxxviii4 #d4 ,let this man1 we pray1 be put to death forasmuch as he weakens the hands of the men of war left to the city and the hands of all the people by speaking such words to them1 for this man is seeking not the welfare of this people but the hurt4 #e4 ,and the king said1 ,behold he is in your hand2 for the king was not able to do anything against them47#eic7 #f4 ,so they took ,jeremiah and cast him into the cistern of ,malchiah the king's son1 in the ,court of the ,guard2 and they let down ,jeremiah with cords4 ,in the cistern there was no water1 only mire1 and ,jeremiah sank in the mire4 ,the story which follows is one of the fairest in the ,old ,testament1 ,,xxxviii4 #g-ac47eid7 ,when no others seem to have stirred to rescue the ,prophet--unless ,baruch had a hand in what he tells and is characteristically silent about it--,ebed-melech1 a negro eunuch of the palace1 sought the king where he then was7#eie7 and charged the princes with starving ,jeremiah to death47#eif7 ,the king at once ordered him to take three7#eig7 men and rescue the ,prophet4 ,the thoughtful negro1 perhaps prompted by the women of the palace1 procured some rags and old clouts from a lumber room1 told ,jeremiah to put them under his arm-pits to soften the roughness of the ropes1 and so drew him gently from the mire and he was restored to the ,guard-,court4 ,ebed-melech had his reward in the ,lord's promise to save him from the men whom he had made his foes by his brave rescue of their prey47#eih7 ,once more1 as we might expect1 the restless king sent for ,jeremiah47#eii7 ,shaken by his terrible experiences the ,prophet1 before he would answer1 asked if the king would put him to death for his answer or act on his advice4 ,the king swore not to hand him over to the princes2 so ,jeremiah promised that if edekiah would give himself up to the ,chaldeans he and his house would be spared and the city saved4 ,the king--it is another credible trait in this weak character--feared that the ,chaldeans would deliver him to the mockery of those ,jews who had already deserted to them4 ,jeremiah sought to reassure him1 again urged him to surrender1 and then burst out with the vision--an extraordinarily interesting phase of prophetic ecstasy--of another mockery which the king would suffer from his own women if he did not yield but waited to be taken captive4 ,,xxxviii4 #ba4 ,but if thou refuse to go forth this is the thing the ,lord has given me to see3 #bb4 ,behold all the women1 that are left in the king of ,judah's house17#fjj7 brought forth to the princes of the king of ,babylon and saying1 ,they set thee on and compelled thee1 ,the men of thy peace2 ,now they have plunged thy feet in the swam ,they turn back from thee67#fja7 ,the verse is in ,jeremiah's favourite measure1 and its figures spring immediately from his experience4 ,the mire can hardly have dried on him1 into which he had been dropped1 but at least his friends had pulled him out of it2 the king had been forced into far deeper mire by his own counsellors1 and they were leaving him in it6 ,the nervous king jibbed from the vision without remark and begged ,jeremiah not to tell what had passed between them1 but1 if asked1 to say that he had been supplicating edekiah not to send him back to the house of ,jonathan2 which answer the ,prophet obediently gave to the inquisitive princes and so quieted them3 the matter was not perceived4 ,he has been blamed for prevaricating4 ,on this point ,calvin is as usual candid and sane4 8,it was indeed not a falsehood1 but this evasion cannot wholly be excused4 ,the ,prophet had an honest fear2 he was perplexed and anxious--it would be better to die at once than be thus buried alive in the earth4444 ,yet it was a kind of falsehood4 ,he confesses that he did as the king charged him and there is no doubt that he had before him the king's timidity4444 ,he cannot be wholly exempted from blame4 ,in short1 we see how even the servants of ,god have spoken evasively when under extreme fear40 ,the prophets were men of like passions with ourselves4 ,by now ,jeremiah had aged1 and was strained by the flogging1 the darkness1 the filth and the hunger he had suffered4 ,can we wonder at or blame him8 ,but with what authenticity does its frankness stamp the whole story6 ,with most commentators ,i have treated ,ch4 ,,xxxviii as the account of a fresh arrest of ,jeremiah and a fresh interview between him and edekiah4 ,i see1 however1 that ,dr4 ,skinner takes the whole chapter to be 8a duplication407#fjb7 ,he considers it a general improbability that two such interviews1 as ,,xxxvii4 #ag-ba and ,,xxxviii4 #ad-bg relate1 8should have taken place in similar circumstances within so short a time40 ,yet the king was just the man to appeal to the ,prophet time after time during the siege4 ,the similarities in the two stories are natural because circumstances were more or less similar at the various stages of such a siege2 but the differences are more significant4 ,the vivid details of ,,xxxviii attest it as the account of an event and of sayings subsequent to those related in ,,xxxvii4 ,the ,prophet's precaution1 before he would answer1 in getting a pledge that he would not be put to death nor handed over to the princes1 as he had already been1 and his consent for edekiah's sake1 as well as for his own1 to prevaricate to the princes are features not found in the other reports of such interviews1 but intelligible and natural after the terrible treatment he had suffered4 ,dr4 ,skinner1 too1 admits that the two accounts may be read as of different experiences of the ,prophet1 8if we can suppose that the offence with which he is charged in ,,xxxviii4 #a ff4 could have been committed while he was a prisoner in the court of the guard20 but this appears to ,dr4 ,skinner as 8hardly credible40 ,yet the incidents related in ,,xxxii4 #f-ae show not only that it is credible but that it actually happened4 ,in the ,east such imprisonment does not prevent a prisoner1 though shackled1 from communicating with his friends and even with the gaping crowd outside his bars1 as ,i have seen more than once4 ,in the ,court of the ,guard ,jeremiah remained till the city was taken47#fjc7 ,he regained communication with his friends2 and it is not surprising to have as from this time several sayings by him1 or to discover from them that his heart1 no longer confined to reiterating the certain doom of the city1 was once more released to the hope of a future for his people1 hope across which the shadow of doubt appears to have fallen but once4 ,his guard-court prophecies form part of that separate collection1 ,chs4 ,,xxx-,,xxxiii1 to which the name ,the ,book of ,hope has been fitly given4 ,of these chapters ,,xxx and ,,xxxi1 without date1 imply that the city has already fallen and the exile of her people is complete4 ,but ,,xxxii and ,,xxxiii are assigned to the last year of the siege and to the ,prophet's confinement to the guard-court4 ,there is now general agreement that ,,xxxii4 #a-e 7or at least #c-e7 are from a later hand1 which correctly dates the story it introduces but attributes ,jeremiah's imprisonment to edekiah instead of to the princes1 and even seems to confound edekiah with ,jehoiachin2 and second that the story itself1 of a transaction between ,jeremiah and his cousin regarding some family property1 is genuine1 dictated by the ,prophet to ,baruch before or after the end of the siege4 ,some reject as later all the rest of the chapter3 a long prayer by ,jeremiah and the ,lord's answer to it1 both of which are full of deuteronomic phrases4 ,yet that an editor should have made so large an addition to the book without genuine material to work from is hardly credible2 while it is characteristic of ,jeremiah to have fallen into the doubt his prayer reveals1 and this doubt would naturally be followed by a ,divine answer4 ,but such original elements it is not possible to discriminate exactly from the expansions by which they have been overlaid47#fjd7 ,,xxxii4 #f4 ,and ,jeremiah said1 ,the ,word of the ,lord came to me saying1 #g ,behold1 ,hanamel son of ,shallum thine uncle is coming to thee to say1 ,buy thee my field in ,anathoth1 for thine is the right of redemption to buy it4 #h4 ,and ,hanamel son of my uncle came to me in the guard-court and said1 ,buy my field that is ,anathoth1 for the right of inheritance is thine and thine the redemption2 buy it for thyself4 ,then ,i knew that it was the ,lord's ,word4 #i4 ,so ,i bought the field from ,hanamel mine uncle's son and weighed to him seventeen silver shekels4 #aj4 ,and ,i subscribed the deed and sealed it and took witnesses1 weighing the money in the balances4 #aa4 ,and ,i took the deed of sale1 both that which was sealed and that which was open17#fje7 #ab and ,i gave it to ,baruch son of ,neriah1 son of ,maseiah1 in the sight of ,hanamel mine uncle's son1 and in sight of the ,jews sitting in the guard-court4 #ac4 ,and in their sight ,i charged ,baruch1 saying1 #ad ,thus saith the ,lord of ,hosts3 ,take this deed of sale which is sealed1 and this deed which is open1 and put them in an earthen vessel that they may last many days4 #ae4 ,for thus saith the ,lord1 ,houses and fields and vineyards shall yet again be bought in this land4 #af4 ,now after ,i had given the deed of sale to ,baruch1 ,neriah's son1 ,i prayed to the ,lord saying1 ,ah ,lord 444 787 #bd behold the mounts2 they are come to the city to take it1 and the city shall be given into the hands of the ,chaldeans who are fighting against it1 because of the sword and the famine and the pestilence2 and what ,thou hast spoken is come to pass1 and1 lo1 ,thou art seeing it4 #be4 ,yet ,thou saidst to me1 ,buy thee the field for money1 so ,i wrote the deed and sealed it and took witnesses--whereas the city is to be given into the hands of the ,chaldeans6 ,the tone of the expostulating ,jeremiah is here unmistakable2 and 7as ,i have said7 a ,divine answer to his expostulations must have been given him1 though now perhaps irrecoverable from among the expansions which it has undergone1 verses #bf-dd4 ,two things are of interest3 the practical carefulness of this great idealist1 and the fact that the material basis of his hope for his country's freedom and prosperity was his own right to a bit of property in land4 ,let those observe1 who deny to such individual rights any communal interest or advantage4 ,jeremiah at least proves how a small property of his own may help a prophet in his hope for his country and people4 ,all this is followed in ,ch4 ,,xxxiii by a series of oracles under the heading ,the ,word of the ,lord came to ,jeremiah a second time while he was still shut up in the guard-court4 ,because verses #ad-bf are lacking in the ,greek and could not have been omitted by the translator had they been in the original text1 and because they are composed partly of mere echoes of ,jeremiah and partly of promises for the ,monarchy and ,priesthood not consonant with his views of the institutions of ,israel1 they are very generally rejected4 ,so are #b and #c because of their doubtful relevance and their style1 that of the great prophet of the end of the ,exile4 ,the originality of #a and #d-ac has also been denied4 ,the question is difficult4 ,but there is no reason to doubt that the editor had good material for the data in #a1 or that under the ,hebrew text1 which as it stands in #d1 #e is impossible7#fjf7 and throughout #f-ac has been much expanded1 there is something of ,jeremiah's own4 ,verses #d and #e reflect the siege in progress1 though if the date in verse #a be correct we must take torn down as future4 ,in #f-ac are promises of the restoration of the ruined city1 of peace and stability1 of the return of the exiles both of ,judah and ,israel and of their forgiveness2 ,jerusalem shall again be a joy1 and the voices of joy1 of the bridegroom and bride1 and of worship in the ,temple1 shall again be heard2 shepherds and their flocks shall be restored throughout ,judah and the ,negeb4 ,it would be daring to deny to the ,prophet the whole of this prospect4 ,the city was about to be ruined1 its houses filled with dead2 the land had already been ravaged4 ,his office of doom was discharged2 it is not unnatural to believe that his great soul broke out with a vision of the hope beyond for which he had taken so practical a pledge4 ,that is all we can say2 some of the details of the prospect can hardly be his47#fjg7 ,jerusalem fell at last in #ehf and ,jeremiah's imprisonment in the guard-court was over47#fjh7 #d4 ,and ,after4 7,,xxx1 ,,xxxi1 ,,xxxix-,,xliv47 ,there are two separated accounts of what befel ,jeremiah when the city was taken4 ,ch4 ,,xxxix4 #c1 #ad tells us that he was fetched from the guard-court by ,babylonian officers17#fji7 and given to ,gedaliah1 the son of his old befriender ,ahikam1 to be taken home47#faj7 ,at last6--but for only a brief interval in the life of this homeless and harried man4 ,when a few months later ,nebuaradan arrived on his mission to burn the city and deport the inhabitants ,jeremiah is said by ,ch4 ,,xl to have been carried off in chains with the rest of the captivity as far as ,ramah1 where1 probably on ,gedaliah's motion1 ,nebuaradan released him and he joined ,gedaliah at ,mipah47#faa7 ,it is unfortunate that we take our impressions of ,nebuchadrezzar from the late ,book of ,daniel instead of from the contemporary accounts of his policy by ,jeremiah1 ,baruch and ,ezekiel4 ,a proof of his wisdom and clemency is here4 ,while deporting a second multitude to ,babylonia in the interests of peace and order1 he placed ,judah under a native governor and chose for the post a ,jew of high family traditions and personal character4 ,all honour to ,gedaliah for accepting so difficult and dangerous a task6 ,he attracted those ,jewish captains and their bands who during the siege had maintained themselves in the country17#fab7 and advised them to acknowledge the ,chaldean power and to cultivate their lands1 which that year fortunately produced excellent crops4 ,at last there was peace1 and the like-minded ,governor and ,prophet must together have looked forward to organising in ,judah the nucleus at least of a restored ,israel4 ,to this quiet interval1 brief as it tragically proved1 we may reasonably assign those ,oracles of ,hope which it is possible to recognise as ,jeremiah's among the series attributed to him in ,chs4 ,,xxx1 ,,xxxi4 ,no chapters of the book have been more keenly discussed or variously estimated47#fac7 ,yet at least there is agreement that their compilation is due to a late editor who has arranged his materials progressively so that the whole is a unity27#fad7 that many of these materials are obviously from the end of the exile in the style then prevailing2 but that among them are genuine ,oracles of ,jeremiah recognisable by their style4 ,these are admitted as his by the most drastic of critics4 ,it is indeed incredible that after such a crisis as the destruction of the ,holy ,city and the exile of her people1 and with the new situation and prospect of ,israel before him1 the ,prophet should have had nothing to say4 ,and the most probable date for such utterances of hope as we have now to consider is not that of his imprisonment but the breathing-space given him after #ehf1 when the ,jewish community left in ,judah made such a promising start47#fae7 ,from its measure and vivid vision the first piece might well be ,jeremiah's2 but it uses ,jacob1 the later literature's favourite name for ,israel1 which ,jeremiah does not use1 and 7in the last two verses7 some phrases with an outlook reminiscent of the ,second ,isaiah4 ,the verses describe a day when the world shall again be shaken1 but out of the shaking ,israel's deliverance shall come4 ,the sound of trembling we hear1 ,,xxx4 #e ,dread without peace4 ,enquire now and look ye1 #f ,if men be bearing8 ,why then do ,i see every man7#faf7 ,with his hands on his loins8 ,all faces are changed1 and ,livid become47#fag7 ,for great is that day1 #g ,none is there like it1 ,with a time of trouble for ,jacob4 ,yet out of it saved shall he be4 ,it shall come to pass on that day-- #h ,rede of the ,lord-- ,i will break their7#fah7 yoke from their7#fai7 neck1 ,their7#fbj7 thongs ,i will burst2 ,and strangers no more shall they serve17#fba7 ,but serve the ,lord their ,god1 #i ,and ,david their king1 ,whom ,i will raise up for them4 ,the next piece is more probably ,jeremiah's1 as even ,duhm admits2 verses #aj and #aa which precede it are not given in the ,greek4 ,healless to me is thy ruin1 #ab ,sick is thy wound1 ,not for thy sore is remede1 #ac ,no closing 7of wounds7 for thee6 ,forgot thee have all thy lovers1 #ad ,thee they seek not4 ,with the stroke of a foe ,i have struck thee1 ,a cruel correction4 ,why criest thou over thy ruin1 #ae ,thy healless pain8 ,for the mass of thy guilt1 thy sins profuse ,have ,i done to thee these4 ,if these ,qnah quatrains are not ,jeremiah's1 some one else could match him to the letter and the very breath4 ,they would fall fitly from his lips immediately upon the fulfilment of his people's doom4 ,less probably his are the verses which follow and abruptly add to his stern rehearsal of judgment on ,judah the promise of her deliverance1 even introducing this with a therefore as if deliverance were the certain corollary of judgment--a conclusion not to be grudged by us to the faith of a later believer2 for it is not untrue that the sinner's extremest need is the occasion for ,god's salvation47#fbb7 ,yet the sudden transition feels artificial1 and lacks1 be it observed1 what we should expect from ,jeremiah himself1 a call to the doomed people to repent4 ,note1 too1 the breakdown of the metre under a certain redundancy1 which is not characteristic of ,jeremiah4 ,therefore thy devourers shall all be devoured1 #af ,and all thine oppressors4 ,all shall go off to captivity2 ,thy spoilers for spoil shall be ,and all that upon thee do prey1 ,i give for prey4 ,for new flesh ,i shall bring up upon thee1 #ag ,from thy wounds ,i shall heal thee27#fbc7 ,outcast they called thee1 ,o ion1 ,whom none seeketh after4 ,the rest of the chapter is even less capable of being assigned to ,jeremiah4 ,more of ,jeremiah's own ,oracles are readily recognised in ,ch4 ,,xxxi4 ,i leave to a later lecture the question of the authenticity of that on ,the ,new ,covenant and of the immediately preceding verses27#fbd7 while the verses which close the chapter are certainly not the ,prophet's4 ,but ,i take now the rest of the chapter1 verses #a-bh4 ,the first of these may be editorial1 the link by which the compiler has connected ,chs4 ,,xxx and ,,xxxi2 yet there is nothing to prevent us from hearing in it ,jeremiah himself4 ,,xxxi4 #a4 ,at that time--,rede of the ,lord--,i shall be ,god to all the families7#fbe7 of ,israel1 and they shall be a people to ,me4 ,a poem follows which metrically and in substance bears every mark of being ,jeremiah's4 ,the measure is his favourite ,qnah1 and the memory of the ,lord's ancient love for ,israel1 which had stirred the youth of the ,prophet17#fbf7 revives in his old age and is the motive of his assurance that ,israel will be restored4 ,it is of ,ephraim as well as of ,judah that he thinks1 indeed of ,ephraim especially4 ,we have seen how the heart of this son of ,anathoth-in-,benjamin was early drawn to the exiles from that province on which the northward windows of his village looked out47#fbg7 ,now once more he was in ,benjamin's territory1 at ,ramah and at ,mipah1 with the same northward prospect4 ,naturally his heart went out again to ,ephraim and its banished folk4 ,of the priestly tribe as ,jeremiah's family were1 their long residence in the land of ,benjamin must have infected them with ,benjamin's sense of a closer kinship to ,ephraim1 the son of ,joseph1 the son of ,rachel1 than to ,judah1 the son of ,leah4 ,and there was1 in addition1 the influence of neighbourhood4 ,if blood be thicker than water it is equally true that watered blood is warmed to affection by nearness of locality and closeness of association47#fbh7 ,it is questionable whether the opening couplet quotes the deliverance of ,israel from ,egypt as a precedent for the future return of the northern tribes from captivity1 described in the lines that follow2 or whether this return is at once predicted by the couplet1 with the usual prophetic assurance as though it had already happened4 ,if we take the desert as this is taken in ,hosea ,,ii4 #ad1 we may decide for the latter alternative4 ,grace have they found in the desert1 ,,xxxi4 #b ,the people escaped from the sword2 ,while ,israel makes for his rest from afar ,the ,lord appears to him7#fbi73 #c 8,with a love from of old ,i have loved thee1 ,so in troth ,i 7now7 draw thee47#fcj7 8,i will rebuild thee1 and built shalt thou be1 #d ,maiden of ,israel6 8,again thou shalt take7#fca7 thee thy timbrels ,and forth to the merrymen's dances4 8,again shall vineyards be planted7#fcb7 #e ,on the hills of ,samaria1 8,planters shall surely plant them787 ,and forthwith enjoy7#fcc7 7their fruit74 8,for comes the day when watchmen are calling #f ,on ,ephraim's mountains3 8,rise1 let us go up to ion1 ,to the ,lord our ,god40 ,the everyday happiness promised is striking4 ,here speaks again the man1 who1 while ruin ran over the land1 redeemed his ancestral acres in pledge of the resettlement of all his people upon their own farms and fields4 ,he is back in the country1 upon the landscapes of his youth1 and in this fresh prospect of the restoration of ,israel he puts first the common joys and fruitful labours of rural life1 and only after these the national worship centred in ,jerusalem4 ,cornill denies this last verse to ,jeremiah1 feeling it inconsistent with the ,prophet's condemnation of the ,temple and the ,sacrifices47#fcd7 ,but that condemnation had been uttered by ,jeremiah because of his contemporaries' sinful use of the ,house of ,god1 whereas now he is looking into a new dispensation4 ,how could he more signally clinch the promise of that reunion of ,israel and ,judah1 for which all his life he had longed1 than by this call to them to worship together8 ,the next verses are not so recognisable as ,jeremiah's1 unless it be in their last couplet4 ,the rest rather reflect the ,return from ,exile as on the point of coming to pass1 which happened long after ,jeremiah's time2 and they call the nation ,jacob1 the name favoured by prophets of the end of the ,exile4 ,ring out with joy for ,jacob1 #g ,shout for 787 the head of the nations17#fce7 ,publish ye1 praise ye and say1 ,the ,lord hath saved ,his7#fcf7 people1 ,the ,remnant of ,israel6 ,behold from the ,north ,i bring them1 #h ,and gather from ends of the earth2 ,their blind and their lame together1 ,the mother-to-be and her who hath borne4 ,in concourse great back they come hither4 ,with weeping forth did they go17#fcg7 #i ,with consolations7#fch7 ,i bring them1 ,i lead them by7#fci7 streams of water1 ,on an even way1 ,they stumble not on it7#fdj7 ,for a father ,i am become to ,israel1 ,and my first-born is ,ephraim6 ,this couplet may well be ,jeremiah's2 but whether it should immediately follow verse #f is doubtful4 ,the next lines are hardly his1 bearing the same marks of the late exile as we have seen in verses #g-i;a4 ,hear1 ,o nations1 the ,word of the ,lord1 #aj ,and declare on the far-away isles7#fda73 ,who hath scattered ,israel will gather1 ,and guard as a shepherd his flock4 ,for the ,lord hath ransomed ,jacob #aa ,and redeemed from the hand of the stronger than he4 ,they are come and ring out on ,mount ion1 #ab ,radiant7#fdb7 all with the wealth of the ,lord1 ,with the corn1 the new wine1 the fresh oil1 ,the young of the flock and the herd2 ,till their soul becomes as a garden well-watered1 ,nor again any more shall they pine4 ,then rejoice in the dance shall the maidens1 #ac ,the youths and the old make merry47#fdc7 ,when their mourning ,i turn to mirth7#fdd7 ,and give them joy from their sorrow4 ,when ,i richly water the soul of the priests17#fde7 #ad ,and ,my folk with ,my bounty are filled-- ,rede of the ,lord4 ,the next poems no one denies to ,jeremiah2 they are among the finest we have from him4 ,and how natural that he should conceive and utter them in those quiet days when he was at1 or near1 ,ramah1 the grave of the mother of the people47#fdf7 ,he hears her century-long travail of mourning for the loss of the tribes that were sprung from her ,joseph1 aggravated now by the banishment of her ,benjamin2 but hears too the promise that her travail shall be rewarded by their return4 ,the childless old man has the soul of mother and father both--now weeping with the comfortless ,rachel and now1 in human touches unmatched outside the ,parable of the ,prodigal1 reading into the heart of ,god the same instinctive affections1 to which1 in spite of himself1 every earthly father is stirred by the mere mention of the name of a rebellious and wandered son4 ,the most vivid details are these3 after ,i had been brought to know1 which might also be translated after ,i had been made to know myself and so anticipate when he came to himself of our ,lord's ,parable2 ,i smote on my thigh1 the gesture of despair2 and in #bj;a the very human attribution to the ,deity of surprise that the mere name of ,ephraim should move ,him to affection1 which recalls both in form and substance the similar question attributed to the ,lord in ,,xii4 #i4 ,there is no reason to try1 as some do1 to correct in the poems their broken measures1 for these both suit and add to the poignancy and tenderness which throb through the whole47#fdg7 ,hark1 in ,ramah is heard lamentation #ae ,and bitterest weeping1 ,rachel beweeping her children1 ,and will not be comforted17#fdh7 ,for they are not4 ,thus saith the ,lord3 #af ,refrain thy voice from weeping1 ,and from tears thine eyes1 ,for reward there is for thy travail-- ,they are back from the land of the foe6 ,and hope there is for thy future1 #ag ,thy sons come back to their border47#fdi7 ,i have heard1 ,i have heard #ah ,ephraim bemoaning1 8,thou hast chastened me1 chastened ,i am1 ,like a calf untrained4 8,turn me ,thyself1 and return ,i will1 ,for ,thou art my ,god4 8,for after ,i had turned away 7877#fej7 #ai ,i repented 444 787 8,and after ,i was brought to know17#fea7 ,i smote on my thigh4 8,i am shamd1 yea and confounded1 ,as ,i bear the reproach of my youth407#feb7 ,is ,ephraim ,my dearest son17#fec7 #bj ,a child of delights8 ,that as oft as against him ,i speak ,i must think of him still4 ,my bowels for him are yearning1 ,pity him ,i must6--,rede of the ,lord4 ,set thee up way-marks1 #ba ,plant thyself guide-posts6 ,put to the highway thy heart1 ,the way that thou wentest4 ,come back1 ,o maiden of ,israel1 #bb ,back to thy towns here4 ,how long to drift hither and thither1 ,thou turn-about daughter6 ,for the ,lord hath created a new thing on earth1 ,a female shall compass a man47#fed7 ,the next small poem1 when we take from it certain marks of a later date is possibly ,jeremiah's1 though this is not certain2 to the previous ,oracles on ,ephraim it naturally adds one upon ,judah4 ,thus saith the ,lord37#fee7 #bc ,once more shall they speak this word4 ,in ,judah's land and her towns1 ,when ,i turn again their captivity3 8,the ,lord thee bless1 homestead of justice607#fef7 ,in ,judah and all her towns shall be dwelling #bd ,tillers and they that roam with flocks1 ,for ,i have refreshed the7#feg7 weary soul1 #be ,and cheered every soul that was pining4 ,on this ,i awoke and beheld1 #bf ,and sweet unto me was my sleep47#feh7 ,behold1 are coming the days-- #bg ,rede of the ,lord-- ,when ,israel and ,judah7#fei7 ,i sow ,with the seed of man and of beast2 ,and it shall be1 as ,i was wakeful upon them #bh ,to tear down and do evil17#ffj7 ,so wakeful on them will ,i be1 ,to build and to plant-- ,rede of the ,lord4 ,these prophecies of the physical restoration of ,israel and ,judah are fitly followed by two1 in what is rather rhythmical prose than verse1 which define the moral and spiritual aspects of the new dispensation2 both laying stress on individual responsibility1 the one in ethics1 #bi1 #cj1 the other in religion1 #ca ff41 the proclamation of ,the ,new ,covenant4 ,they are no doubt ,jeremiah's3 we shall take them up in the last lecture4 ,the time of relief and fair promise1 out of which we have supposed that the ,prophet conceived and uttered the preceding ,oracles1 came to a sudden and tragic close with the assassination of the good governor ,gedaliah by the fanatic ,ishmael4 ,had this not happened we can see from those ,oracles on what favourable lines the restoration of ,judah might have proceeded under the co-operation of ,gedaliah and ,jeremiah1 and how after so long and heart-breaking a mission of doom to his people the ,prophet might at last have achieved before his eyes some positive part in their social and political reconstruction2 for certainly he had already proved his practical ability as well his power of far vision4 ,but even such sunset success was denied him1 and once more his people crumbled under his hand4 ,god provided some better thing for him in the spiritual future of ,israel1 to which he must now pass through still deeper sacrifice and humiliation47#ffa7 ,ishmael1 against whom the noble ,gedaliah would take no warning1 was one of those fanatics with whom the ,jewish nation have been cursed at all crises in their history47#ffb7 ,the motive for his crime was the same as had inspired the fatal defence of ,jerusalem1 a blind passion against the ,chaldean rule4 ,having slain ,gedaliah he attempted to remove the little remnant at ,mipah to the other side of ,jordan but was overtaken by a force under ,gedaliah's lieutenant1 ,johanan-ben-,kareah1 and his captives were recovered4 ,fearing the wrath of the ,chaldeans for the murder of their deputy1 the little flock did not return to ,mipah but moved south to ,gidroth7#ffc7-;,chimham near ,bethlehem1 broken1 trembling1 and uncertain whether to remain in their land or to flee from it47#ffd7 ,the ,prophet was the one hope left to them1 and like edekiah they turned to him in their perplexity for a word of guidance from the ,lord4 ,with his usual deliberation he took ten days to answer1 laying the matter before the ,lord in prayer2 studying1 we may be sure1 the actual facts of the situation 7including what he already knew to be the people's hope of finding security in ,egypt7 and carefully sifting out his own thoughts and impulses from the convictions which his prayers brought him from ,god4 ,the result was clear3 the people must abide in their land and not fear the ,chaldeans1 who under ,god's hand would let them be2 but if they set their faces for ,egypt1 the sword which they feared would overtake them4 ,this was ,god's ,word2 if they broke their promise to obey it1 they would surely die47#ffe7 ,with shame we read the rest of the story4 ,jeremiah had well discerned7#fff7 that those of his countrymen1 who had been deported in #eig1 were the good figs of his vision and those who remained the bad4 ,the latter were of the breed that had turned ,temple and ,sacrifice into fetishes1 for as such they now treated the ,prophet1 the greatest whom ,god ever sent to ,israel4 ,covetous of having him with them they eagerly asked him for a ,word of the ,lord1 promising to obey it1 in the expectation of their kind that it would be according to their own ignorant wishes2 but when it declared against these1 they scolded ,jeremiah as disappointed barbarians do their idols1 and presuming on his age as a weakness1 complained that he had been set against them by ,baruch1 a philo-,chaldean who would have them all carried off to ,babylon6 ,so ,baruch also--all praise to him--held the same sane views of the situation as his ,prophet and as that wise governor ,gedaliah4 ,in spite of their promise they refused to obey the ,word of the ,lord1 fled for ,egypt carrying with them ,jeremiah and ,baruch1 and reached the frontier town of ,tahpanhes4 ,how it must have broken the ,prophet's heart67#ffg7 ,but not his honesty or his courage6 ,at ,tahpanhes he set before the fugitives one of those symbols which had been characteristic of his prophesying4 ,he laid great stones in the entry of the house of the ,pharaoh and declared that ,nebuchadrezzar would plant his throne and spread his tapestries upon them1 when he came to smite ,egypt1 assuming that land as easily as a shepherd dons his garment2 and after breaking the obelisks of its gods and burning their temples he would safely depart from it47#ffh7 ,so far the narrative runs clearly1 but in ,ch4 ,,xliv1 the last that is written of ,jeremiah1 the expander has been specially busy47#ffi7 ,the chapter opens1 verses #a-ad1 with what purports to be an ,oracle by ,jeremiah concerning1 not the little band which had brought him down with them1 but all the ,jews which were dwelling in the land of ,egypt1 at ,migdol and ,tahpanhes17#fgj7 on the northern frontier1 and in the land of ,pathros1 or ,upper ,egypt4 ,it is not said that these came to ,tahpanhes to receive the ,oracle4 ,yet the arrival of a company fresh from ,judah and her recent awful experiences must have stirred the ,jewish communities already in ,egypt and drawn at least representatives of them to ,tahpanhes to see and to hear the newcomers4 ,if so1 it would be natural for ,jeremiah to expound the happenings in ,judah1 and the ,divine reasons for them4 ,no date is given for the ,prophet's ,oracle4 ,this need not have been uttered for some time after he reached ,egypt1 when he was able to acquaint himself with the conditions and character of his countrymen in their pagan environment1 and learn in particular how they had fallen away like their fathers to the worship of other gods4 ,such indeed is the double theme of the words attributed to him4 ,he is made to say that ,jerusalem and ,judah are now desolate because of their people's wickedness1 and especially their idolatry1 in stubborn disobedience to the repeated ,word of their ,god by ,his prophets2 surely a similar punishment must befall the ,jews in ,egypt1 for they also have given themselves to idols4 ,but so awkwardly and diffusely is the ,oracle reported to us that we cannot doubt that1 whatever its original form was1 this has been considerably expanded4 ,at least we may be sure that ,jeremiah uttered some ,oracle against the idolatry of the ,jews in ,egypt1 for in what follows they give their answer4 ,from verse #ae the story and the words it reports become--with the help of the briefer ,greek version and the elision of manifest additions in both the ,hebrew and the ,greek texts7#fga7--more definite4 ,either both the men whom ,jeremiah addressed and their women1 or1 as is textually more probable1 the women alone answered him in the following remarkable terms4 ,these run in rhythmical prose1 that almost throughout falls into metrical lines1 which the ,english reader may easily discriminate for himself4 ,,xliv4 #af4 ,the word which thou hast spoken to us in the ,name of the ,lord6--we will not hearken to thee6 #ag4 ,but we shall surely perform every word1 which has gone forth from our mouth37#fgb7 to burn to the ,queen of ,heaven and pour her libations1 as we and our fathers did1 our kings and our princes1 in the cities of ,judah and streets of ,jerusalem1 and had fulness of bread1 and were well and saw no evil4 #ah4 ,but since we left off to burn to the ,queen of ,heaven1 and to pour her libations1 we have lacked everything and been by the sword and the famine consumed4 #ai4 ,and7#fgc7 while we were burning to the ,queen of ,heaven and poured her libations1 did we make her cakes7#fgd7 and pour her libations without our husbands8 ,this was a straight challenge to the prophet1 returning to him the form of his own argument4 ,as he had traced the calamities of ,judah to her disobedience of ,yahweh1 they traced those which hit themselves hardest as women to their having ceased to worship ,ashtoreth4 ,what could ,jeremiah answer to logic formally so identical with his own8 ,the first of the answers attributed to him1 verses #bj-bc1 asserts that among their other sins it was their worship of the ,queen of ,heaven1 and not1 as they said1 their desisting from it1 which had worked their doom4 ,but this answer is too full of deuteronomic phrasing for the whole of it to be the ,prophet's2 if any of it is genuine this can only be part of the obviously expanded opening1 #ba1 #bb;a4 ,the real1 the characteristic answers of ,jeremiah are the others3 to the women reported in verses #bd1 #be1 and to all the ,jews in ,egypt #bf-bh2 in which respectively he treats the claim of the women ironically1 and leaves the issue between his word and that of his opponents to be decided by the event4 ,these answers also have been expanded1 but we may reasonably take the following to be original47#fge7 ,note how they connect in verse #bd with verse #ai4 ,i again follow the ,greek4 ,,xliv4 #bd4 ,and ,jeremiah said to the people and to the women1 #be ,hear the ,word of the ,lord1 ,thus saith the ,lord1 ,israel's ,god3 ,ye women7#fgf7 have said with your mouths ,and fulfilled with your hands1 8,we must indeed perform our vows1 ,which we have vowed1 8,to burn to the ,queen of ,heaven1 ,and to pour her libations60 ,indeed then establish your words7#fgg7 ,and perform your vows6 ,jeremiah 8adds this by way of irony407#fgh7 ,having thus finished with the women1 he adds an ,oracle to the ,jews in general4 #bf4 ,therefore hear the ,word of the ,lord all ,judah1 who are settled in the land of ,egypt3 ,by ,my great ,name ,i swear1 ,sayeth the ,lord1 ,that ,my ,name shall no more be called ,by the mouth of a man of ,judah-- ,saying1 8,as liveth the ,lord60-- ,in all the land of ,egypt4 ,lo1 ,i am wakeful upon you #bg ,for evil and not for good47#fgi7 ,and the remnant of ,judah shall know1 #bh;b ,whose is the word that shall stand47#fhj7 ,these are the last words we have from him1 and up to these last he is still himself--broken-hearted indeed and disappointed in the ultimate remnant of his people--but still himself in his honesty1 his steadfastness to the truth and his courage2 still himself in his irony1 his deliberateness and his confident appeal to the future for the vindication of his word4 ,so he disappears from our sight4 ,how pathetic that even after his death he is not spared from spoiling but that the last clear streams of his prophesying must run out1 as we have seen1 in the sands of those expanders6 ,lecture ,,vii4 ,,the ,,story ,,of ,,his ,,soul4 ,in this ,lecture ,i propose to gather up the story of the soul of the man1 whose service1 and the fortunes it met with1 we have followed over the more than forty years of their range4 ,the interest of many great lives lies in their natural and fair development3 the growth of gift towards occasion1 the beckoning of occasion when gift is ripe1 the sympathy between a man and his times1 the coincidence of public need with personal powers or ambition--the zest of the race and the thrill of the goal4 ,with ,jeremiah it was altogether otherwise4 #a4 ,protest and ,agony4 7,i1 ,,iv4 #aj1 #ai1 ,,vi4 #aa1 ,,xi4 #ah-,,xii4 #f1 ,,xv4 #aj-,,xvi4 #i1 ,,xvii4 #ad-ah1 ,,xviii4 #ah-bc1 ,,xx4 #g-ah47 ,if1 as is possible1 the name ,jeremiah means ,yahweh hurls or shoots forth1 it fitly describes the ,prophet's temper1 struggles and fate4 ,for he was a projectile1 fired upon a hostile world with a force not his own1 and on a mission from which1 from the first1 his gifts and affections recoiled and against which he continued to protest4 ,on his passage through the turbulence of his time he reminds us of one of those fatal shells which rend the air as they shoot1 distinct even through the roar of battle by their swift1 shrill anguish and effecting their end by their explosion4 ,jeremiah has been called ,the ,weeping ,prophet1 but that is mainly because of the attribution to him of ,the ,book of ,lamentations1 which does not profess to be his and is certainly later than his day4 ,not weeping1 though he had to weep1 so much as groaning or even screaming is the particular pitch of the tone of this ,prophet4 ,as he says himself1 ,for as oft as ,i speak ,i must shriek1 ,and cry 8,violence and ,spoil607#fha7 ,his first word is one of shrinking1 ,i cannot speak1 ,i am too young47#fhb7 ,the voice of pain and protest is in most of his ,oracles4 ,he curses the day of his birth and cries woe to his mother that she bare him4 ,he makes us feel that he has been charged against his will and he hurtles on his career like one slung at a target who knows that in fulfilling his commission he shall be broken--as indeed he was4 ,lord1 ,thou beguiled'st me1 and beguiled ,i let myself be1 ,thou wast too strong for me1 ,thou hast prevailed47#fhc7 ,power was pain to him2 he carried ,god's ,word as a burning fire in his heart47#fhd7 ,if the strength and the joy in which others rise on their gifts ever came to him they quickly fled4 ,isaiah1 the only other prophet comparable1 accepts his mission and springs to it with freedom4 ,but ,jeremiah1 always coerced1 shrinks1 protests1 craves leave to retire4 ,so that while ,isaiah's answer to the call of ,god is ,here am ,i1 send me1 ,jeremiah's might have been 8,i would be anywhere else than here1 let me go40 ,he spent much of himself in complaint and in debate both with ,god and with his fellow-men3 ,mother6 ,ah me6 ,as whom hast thou borne me8 ,a man of quarrel and of strife ,to the whole of the land-- ,all of them curse me47#fhe7 ,nor did he live to see any solid results from his work4 ,his call was ,to root up1 pull down and destroy1 ,to build and to plant47#fhf7 ,if this represents the ,prophet's earliest impression of his charge1 the proportion between the destructive and constructive parts of it is ominous2 if it sums up his experience it is less than the truth4 ,though he sowed the most fruitful seeds in the fields of ,israel's religion1 none sprang in his lifetime4 ,for his own generation he built nothing4 ,sympathetic with the aims and the start of the greatest reform in ,israel's history1 he grew sceptical of its progress and had to denounce the dogmas into which the spirit of it hardened4 ,a king sought his counsel and refused to follow it2 the professional prophets challenged him to speak in the ,name of the ,lord and then denied ,his ,word2 the priests were ever against him1 and the overseer of the ,temple put him in the stocks4 ,though the people came to his side at one crisis1 they rejected him at others and fell back on their formalist teachers1 and the prophets of a careless optimism4 ,though he loved his people with passion1 and pled with them all his life1 he failed to convince or move them to repentance--and more than once was forbidden even to pray for them4 ,he was charged not to marry nor found a family nor share in either the griefs or the joys of society4 ,his brethren and his father's house betrayed him1 and he was stoned out of ,anathoth by his fellow-villagers4 ,though he could count on a friend or two at court1 he had to flee into hiding4 ,king edekiah1 who felt a slavish reverence for his word1 was unable to save him from imprisonment in a miry pit1 and he owed his deliverance1 neither to friend nor countryman1 but to a negro eunuch of the palace4 ,even after the fall of ,jerusalem1 when his prophecies were vindicated almost to the letter1 he failed to keep a remnant of the nation in ,judah2 and his word had no influence with the little band which clung to him as a fetish and hurried him to ,egypt4 ,there1 with his back to the brief ministry of hope that had been allowed him1 he must take up again the task of denunciation which he abhorred2 and this is the last we hear of him4 ,it was the same with individuals as with the people as a whole4 ,we may say that with few exceptions1 whomever he touched he singed1 whomever he struck he broke--a man of quarrel and strife to the whole land1 all of them curse me4 ,and he cursed them back4 ,when ,pashhur put him in the stocks ,jeremiah called him ,magor ,missabib1 ,terror-all-round1 for lo1 ,i will make thee a terror to thyself and to all thy friends1 they shall fall by the sword and thou behold it47#fhg7 ,nothing satisfied his contempt for ,jehoiakim1 but that dying the king should be buried with the burial of an ass47#fhh7 ,even for edekiah1 to whom he showed some tenderness1 his last utterance was of a vision of the weak monarch being mocked by his own women47#fhi7 ,his irony1 keen to the end1 proves his detachment from all around him4 ,his scorn for the bulk of the other prophets is scorching1 and his words for some of them fatal4 ,of ,shemaiah1 who wrote of the captives in ,babylon letters of a tenor opposite to his own1 he said he shall not have a man to dwell among this people47#fij7 ,when the prophet ,hananiah contradicted him1 he foretold1 after carefully deliberating between his rival's words and his own1 that ,hananiah would die1 and ,hananiah was dead within a few months47#fia7 ,he had no promise for those whom he counselled to desert to the enemy save of bare life2 nor anything better even for the best of his friends3 ,seekest thou great things for thyself8 ,seek them not6 ,only thy life will ,i give thee for a prey in all places whither thou goest47#fib7 ,the following are the full texts from which the foregoing summary has been drawn and most of which ,i have reserved for this ,lecture4 ,,iv4 #aj4 ,then said ,i1 ,ah ,lord ,yahweh1 ,verily ,thou hast deceived this people and ,jerusalem1 saying ,there shall be peace6--whereas the sword striketh to the life6 ,o my bowels6 ,my bowels1 ,i writhe6 #ai ,o the walls of my heart6 ,my heart is in storm upon me1 ,i cannot keep silence6 ,i am filled with the rage of the ,lord1 ,,vi4 #aa ,worn with holding it in6 ,pour it out on the child in the street1 ,where the youths draw together4 ,the following refers to the conspiracy of his fellow-villagers against him4 ,the ,lord let me know and ,i knew it1 ,,xi4 #ah ,then ,i saw through7#fic7 their doings2 ,but ,i like a tame lamb had been1 #ai ,unwittingly7#fid7 led to the slaughter4 ,on me they had framed their devices 8,let's destroy the tree in its sap47#fie7 ,cut him off from the land of the living1 ,that his name be remembered no more40 ,o ,lord1 ,thou ,who righteously judgest1 #bj ,who triest the reins and the heart1 ,let me see ,thy vengeance upon them1 ,for to ,thee ,i have opened7#fif7 my cause4 #ba4 ,therefore thus saith the ,lord of the men of ,anathoth1 who are seeking my7#fig7 life1 saying1 ,thou shalt not prophesy in the ,name of the ,lord1 that thou die not by our hands37#fih7 ,lo1 ,i am to visit upon them6 #bb ,their7#fii7 youths shall die by the sword1 ,their sons and their daughters by famine1 ,till no remnant be left them4 #bc ,for evil ,i bring on the men of ,anathoth1 ,the year of their visitation4 ,mother6 ,ah me6 ,,xv4 #aj ,as whom7#gjj7 hast thou borne me8 ,a man of strife and of quarrel ,to the whole of the land4 ,i have not lent upon usury1 nor any to me1 ,yet all of them curse me4 ,amen17#gja7 ,o ,lord6 ,if ,i be to blame7871 #aa ,if ,i never besought ,thee1 ,in the time of their trouble and straits1 ,for the good of my foes4 ,is the arm on my shoulder iron #ab ,or brass my brow87#gjb7 ,thou hast known it17#gjc7 ,o ,lord4 #ae ,think on and visit me6 ,avenge me on them that pursue me1 ,halt not ,thy wrath4 ,know that for ,thee ,i have borne reproach ,from them who despise7#gjd7 ,thy words4 #af ,end them67#gje7 ,thy word's my delight ,and the joy of my heart ,for ,thy ,name has been calld upon me1 ,lord of ,hosts6 ,i have not sat in their company #ag ,jesting and merry47#gjf7 ,because of ,thy hand alone ,i sit1 ,for with rage ,thou hast filled me4 ,why is my pain perpetual1 #ah ,my wound past healing8 ,art ,thou to be a false stream to me1 ,as waters that fail8 ,this to ,him on ,whom he had called as ,the ,fountain of ,living ,water6 ,therefore thus saith the ,lord3 #ai ,if thou wilt turn1 then shall ,i turn thee1 ,that before ,me thou stand2 ,and if thou bring forth the dear from the vile1 ,as ,my ,mouth thou shalt be4 ,then may those turn to thee1 ,but not thou to them4 ,for to this people ,i set thee #bj ,an impassable wall47#gjg7 ,when they fight thee they shall not prevail1 ,with thee am ,i to deliver17#gjh7 ,and deliver thee ,i shall from the power of the wicked1 #ba ,from the hand of the cruel redeem thee4 ,thou7#gji7 shalt not take a wife-- ,,xvi4 #b ,rede of the ,lord-- ,nor shall sons nor daughters be thine ,within this place4 ,for thus hath the ,lord said3 #c ,as for the sons and the daughters ,born in this place1 ,as for their mothers who bore them ,and their fathers who gat them ,throughout this land4 ,painfullest deaths shall they die #d ,unmourned1 unburied1 ,be for dung on the face of the ground1 ,consumed by famine and sword4 ,and their corpses shall be for food ,to the birds of the heaven and beasts of the earth47#gaj7 ,thus saith the ,lord3 #e ,come not to the house of mourning1 ,nor go about to lament17#gaa7 ,because ,my ,peace ,i have swept ,away from this people47#gab7 ,for them shall none lament1 #f;b ,nor gash nor make themselves bald2 ,neither break bread7#gac7 to the mourner17#gad7 #g ,for the dead to console him1 ,nor pour him7#gae7 the cup of condolement ,for his father or mother4 ,come thou not to the house of feasting1 #h ,to sit with them eating and drinking4 ,for thus saith the ,lord of ,hosts17#gaf7 #i ,the ,god of ,israel3 ,lo1 ,i shall stay from this place1 ,in your days1 to your eyes1 ,the voices of joy and of gladness1 ,the voices of bridegroom and bride4 ,follows1 in #aj-ac1 the moral reason of all this--the people's leaving of their ,god--and the doom of exile4 ,heal me ,o ,lord1 and ,i shall be healed1 ,,xvii4 #ad ,save me and saved shall ,i be47#gag7 ,lo1 there be those1 who keep saying to me4 #ae 8,where is the ,word of the ,lord8 ,pray let it come60 ,but ,i have not pressed 444 787 #af ,nor for evil7#gah7 kept at ,thee1 ,nor longed for the woeful day1 ,thyself dost know4 ,whatever came forth from my lips ,to ,thy face it was4 ,be not a 7cause of7 dismay to me1 #ag ,my ,refuge in evil days4 ,shamed be my hunters1 but shamed not ,i1 #ah ,dismayed1 but dismayed not ,i4 ,bring ,thou upon them the day of disaster ,and break them twice over6 ,,xviii4 #ah4 ,and they said1 ,come and let us devise against ,jeremiah devices1 for the ,law7#gai7 shall not perish from the priest1 nor ,counsel from the wise1 nor the ,word from the prophet4 ,come let us smite him with the tongue and pay no heed to any of his words4 ,o ,lord1 unto me give ,thou heed1 #ai ,and hark to the voice of my plea67#gbj7 ,shall evil be rendered for good1 #bj ,that they dig a pit for my life87#gba7 ,o remember my standing before ,thee1 ,to bespeak their good-- ,to turn ,thy fury from off them4 ,give therefore their sons to famine1 #ba ,and spill them out to the sword4 ,let their wives be widows and childless ,and their men be slain of death-- ,and smitten their youths by the sword in battle4 ,may crying be heard from their homes1 #bb ,as a troop comes sudden upon them6 ,for a pit have they dug to catch me1 ,and hidden snares for my feet4 ,but ,thou1 ,o ,lord1 hast known #bc ,their counsels for death against me4 ,pardon ,thou not their iniquities17#gbb7 ,nor blot from ,thy ,presence their sins27#gbc7 ,but let them be tumbled before ,thee ,deal with them in time of ,thy wrath4 ,verses #ba-bc are rejected by ,duhm and ,cornill1 along with ,,xi4 #bb;b1 #bc1 ,,xii4 #c;b1 ,,xvii4 #ah for no textual or metrical reasons1 but only because these scholars shrink from attributing to ,jeremiah such outbursts of passion3 just as we have seen them for similarly sheer reasons of sentiment refuse to consider as his the advice to desert to the enemy47#gbd7 ,yet they admit inconsistently the genuineness of ,,vi4 #aa1 ,,xi4 #bj1 ,,xv4 #ae47gbe7 ,lord1 ,thou beguiledst me1 and beguiled ,i let myself be1 ,,xx4 #g ,too strong for me1 ,thou hast conquered1 ,a jest ,i have been all the day1 ,every one mocks me4 ,as oft as ,i speak ,i must shriek1 #h ,crying 8,violence and spoil40 ,yea1 the ,word of the ,lord is become my reproach ,all day a derision4 ,if ,i said1 ,i'll not mind ,him7#gbf7 #i ,nor speak in ,his name17#gbg7 ,then in my heart 'tis a burning fire1 ,shut up in my bones4 ,i am worn away with refraining1 ,i cannot hold on47#gbh7 ,for ,i hear the whispering of many1 #aj ,terror all round6 8,denounce1 and let us denounce him10 --,and these my familiars6-- ,keep ye watch for him tripping1 ,perchance he'll be fooled1 8,and we be more than enough for him1 ,and get our revenge40 ,yet the ,lord ,he is with me1 #aa ,mighty and ,terrible6 ,so they that hunt me shall stumble ,and shall not prevail4 ,put to dire shame shall they be ,when they fail to succeed4 ,be their confusion eternal1 ,nor ever forgotten6 ,o ,lord17#gbi7 ,who triest the righteous1 #ab ,who lookest to the reins and the heart1 ,let me see ,thy vengeance upon them1 ,for to ,thee ,i have opened my cause47#gcj7 ,cursed be the day1 ,,xx4 #ad ,whereon ,i was born6 ,the day that my mother did bare me1 ,be it unblessed6 ,cursed be the man who carried the news1 #ae ,telling my father1 8,a man child is born to thee60 ,making him glad4 ,be that man as the cities the ,lord overthrew1 #af ,and did not relent1 ,let him hear a shriek in the morning1 ,and at noon-tide alarms2 ,that he slew me not in7#gca7 the womb1 #ag ,so my mother had been my grave1 ,and great for ever her womb6 ,for what came ,i forth from the womb8 #ah ,labour and sorrow to see1 ,that my days in shame should consume4 ,considering the passion of these lines1 it is not surprising that they are so irregular47#gcb7 ,some have attributed the aggravations1 at least1 of this rage to some fault in the man himself4 ,they are probably right4 ,the prophets were neither vegetables nor machines but men of like passions with ourselves4 ,jeremiah may have been by temper raw and hasty1 with a natural capacity for provoking his fellows4 ,that he felt this himself we may suspect from his cry to his mother1 that he had been born to quarrel4 ,his impatience1 honest though it be1 needs stern rebuke from the ,lord47#gcc7 ,even with ,god ,himself he is hasty47#gcd7 ,there are signs throughout1 navely betrayed by his own words1 of a fluid and quick temper1 both for love and for hate4 ,for so original a poet he was at first remarkably dependent on his predecessors4 ,the cast of his verse is lyric and subjective2 and for all its wistfulness and plaint is sometimes shrill with the shrillness of a soul raw and too sensitive about herself4 ,his strength as a poet may have been his weakness as a man--may have made him1 from a human point of view1 an unlikely instrument for the work he had to do and the force with which he must drive--painfully swerving at times from his task1 and at others rushing in passion before the power he hated but could not withstand4 ,so probable an opinion becomes a certainty when we turn to ,god's words to him4 ,be not dismayed lest ,i make thee dismayed and ,i set thee this day a fenced city and wall of bronze47#gce7 ,for these last imply that in himself ,jeremiah was something different4 ,god does not speak thus to a man unless ,he sees that he needs it4 ,it was to his most impetuous and unstable disciple that ,christ said1 ,thou art ,peter1 and on this rock will ,i build4 ,yet while his own temper thus aggravated his solitude and his pain we must also keep in mind that neither among the priests1 the prophets and the princes of his time1 nor in the kings after ,josiah1 did ,jeremiah find any of that firm material which under the hands of ,isaiah rose into bulwarks against ,assyria4 ,the nation crumbling from within was suffering from without harder blows than even ,assyria dealt it4 ,these did not weld but broke a people already decadent and with nothing to resist them save the formalities of religion and a fanatic gallantry4 ,the people lost heart and care4 ,he makes them use more than once a phrase about themselves in answer to his call to repent3 ,no'ash1 ,no use6 ,all is up6 ,probably this reflects his own feelings about them4 ,he was a man perpetually baffled by what he had to work with4 ,poet as he was he had the poet's heart for the beauties of nature and of domestic life3 for birds and trees and streams1 for the home-candle and the sound of the house-mill1 for children and the happiness of the bride1 and the love of husband and wife2 and he was forbidden to marry or have children of his own or to take part in any social merriment--in this last respect so different from our ,lord4 ,was it unnatural that his heart broke out now and then in wild gusts of passion against it all8 ,there is another thing which we must not forget in judging ,jeremiah's excessive rage4 ,we cannot find that he had any hope of another life4 ,absolutely no breath of this breaks either from his own ,oracles or from those attributed to him4 ,here and now was his only chance of service1 here and now must the visions given him by ,god be fulfilled or not at all4 ,in the whole book of ,jeremiah we see no hope of the resurrection1 no glory to come1 no gleam even of the martyr's crown4 ,i have often thought that what seem to us the excess of impatience1 the rashness to argue with ,providence1 the unholy wrath and indignation of prophets and psalmists under the ,old ,covenant1 are largely to be explained by this1 that as yet there had come to them no sense of another life or of judgment beyond this earth4 ,when we are tempted to wonder at ,jeremiah's passion and cursing1 let us try to realise how we would have felt had we1 like him1 found our one service baffled1 and the single possible fulfilment of our ideals rendered vain4 ,all of which shows the difference that ,christ has made4 #b4 ,predestination4 7,i1 ,,xviii1 etc47 ,yet though such a man in such an age ,jeremiah is sped through it with a force1 which in spite of him never fails and which indeed carries his influence to the end of his nation's history4 ,what was the powder which launched this grim projectile through his times8 ,part at least was his faith in his predestination1 the bare sense that ,god ,almighty meant him from before his beginning for the work1 and was gripping him to it till the close4 ,this alone prevailed over his reluctant nature1 his protesting affections1 and his adverse circumstance4 ,before in the body ,i built thee1 ,i knew thee1 ,before thou wast forth from the womb1 ,i had put thee apart1 ,i have set thee a prophet to the nations4 ,from the first and all through it was ,god's choice of him1 the knowledge of himself as a thought of the ,deity and a consecrated instrument of the ,divine ,will1 which grasped this unbraced and sensitive creature1 this alternately discouraged and impulsive man1 and turned him1 as we have seen1 into the opposite of himself4 ,the writers of the ,old ,testament give full expression to the idea of predestination1 but what they understand by it is not what much of ,jewish and ,christian theology has understood4 ,in the ,old ,testament predestination is not to character or fate1 to salvation or its opposite1 to eternal life or eternal punishment1 but to service1 or some particular form of service1 for ,god and man4 ,the ,great ,evangelist of the ,exile so defines it for ,israel as a whole3 ,israel an eternal purpose of ,god for the enlightenment and blessing of mankind4 ,and this faith is enforced on the nation1 not for their pride nor to foster the confidence that ,god will never break from them1 but to rouse their conscience1 and give them courage when they are feeble or indolent or hopeless of their service4 ,so with ,jeremiah in regard both to his own predestination and that of his people4 ,in his ,parable of the ,potter 7as we have seen7 it is for service as vessels that the clay is moulded2 ,god is revealed not as predestining character or quality1 but as shaping characters for ends for which under ,his hand they yield suitable qualities4 ,the parable illustrates not arbitrariness of election nor irresistible sovereignty but a double freedom--freedom in ,god to change ,his decrees for moral reasons1 freedom on man's part to thwart ,god's designs for him4 ,in further illustration of this remember again the wonderful words1 ,be thou not dismayed before them1 lest ,i make thee dismayed2 if thou wilt turn1 then shall ,i turn thee4 ,to work upon man ,god needs man's own will4 ,from imagining the ,deity as sheer absolute will1 to which the experience of the resistless force behind his own soul must sometimes have tempted him1 ,jeremiah was further guarded by his visions of the ,divine working in ,nature4 ,he is never more clear or musical than when singing of the regularity1 faithfulness and reasonableness of this4 ,with such a ,creator1 such a ,providence1 there could be neither arbitrariness nor caprice4 ,having this experience of ,god's ways with man it was not possible for ,jeremiah to succumb to those influences of a strong unqualified faith in predestination which have often overwhelmed the personalities of its devotees4 ,someone has talked of 8the wine of predestination10 and history both in the ,east and in the ,west furnishes cases of men so drugged by it as to lose their powers of will1 reason and heart1 and become either apathetic unquestioning slaves of fate1 or violent and equally unquestioning dogmatists and tyrants--the soul-less instruments of a pitiless force4 ,god overpowers them3 ,he is all and they are nothing4 ,it was far otherwise with ,jeremiah1 who realised and preserved his individuality not only as against the rest of his people but as against ,god ,himself4 ,his earlier career appears from the glimpses we get of it to have been1 if not a constant1 yet a frequent struggle with the ,deity4 ,he argues against the ,divine calls to him4 ,and even when he yields he expresses his submission in terms which almost proudly define his own will as over against that of ,god3 ,lord thou beguiledst me1 and ,i let myself be beguiled1 ,thou wast stronger than ,i and hast conquered4 ,the man would not be mastered1 but if mastered is not crushed4 ,he questions each moment of his own sufferings1 each moment of his people's oncoming doom4 ,he debates with ,god on matters of justice4 ,he wrestles things out with ,god and emerges from each wrestle not halt and limping like ,jacob of old1 but firm and calm1 more clear in his mind and more sure of himself--as we see him at last when the full will of ,god breaks upon his soul with the ,battle of ,carchemish and he calmly surrenders to his own and his people's fate4 ,that is how this prophet1 by nature so fluid1 and so shrinking stands out henceforth a fenced city and a wall of bronze over against the whole people of the land3 the one unbreakable figure in the breaking-up of the state and the nation4 ,we perceive the method in ,god's discipline of such a soul4 ,he sees his servant's weakness and grants him the needful athletic for it1 by wrestling with him ,himself4 ,we may here take in full the remarkable passage1 part of which we have already studied47#gcf7 ,too ,righteous art ,thou1 ,o ,lord1 ,,xii4 #a ,that with ,thee ,i should argue4 ,yet cases there are ,i must speak with ,thee of3-- ,the way of the wicked--why doth it prosper1 ,and the treacherous all be at ease8 ,thou did'st plant them1 yea they take root1 #b ,they get on1 yea they make fruit2 ,near in their mouths art ,thou1 ,but far from their reins4 ,but me1 ,o ,lord1 ,thou hast known17#gcg7 #c ,and tested my heart with ,thee2 ,drag them out like sheep for the shambles1 ,to the day of slaughter devote them4 ,thou hast run with the foot and they wore thee-- #e ,how wilt thou vie with the horse8 ,if in peaceful country thou can'st not trust1 ,how wilt thou do in the rankness of ,jordan8 ,for even thy brothers1 the house of thy father1 #f ,even they have betrayed thee4 ,even they have called after thee loudly1 ,trust them not1 though they speak thee fair47#gch7 ,the rankness or luxuriance of ,jordan is the jungle on both sides of the river1 in which the lions lie4 ,this then is all the answer that the wearied and perplexed servant gets from his ,lord4 ,the troubles of which he complains are but the training for still sorer4 ,the only meaning of the checks and sorrows of life is to brace us for worse4 ,it is the strain that ever brings the strength4 ,life is explained as a graded and progressively strenuous discipline1 the result of it a stronger and more finely tempered soul4 ,but this surely suggests the questions3 ,is that the whole result8 ,is the soul thus to be trained1 braced and refined1 only at last to be broken and vanish8 ,these are natural questions to the ,lord's answer1 but ,jeremiah does not put them4 ,unlike ,job he makes no start1 even with this stimulus1 to break through to another life4 #c4 ,sacrifice4 ,but in thus achieving his individuality over against both his nation and his ,god1 ,jeremiah accomplished only half of the work he did for ,israel and mankind4 ,it is proof of how great a prophet we have in him that he who was the first in ,israel to realise the independence of the single self in religion should also become the supreme example under the ,old ,covenant of the sacrifice of that self for others1 that he should break from one type of religious solidarity only to illustrate another and a nobler1 that the prophet of individuality should be also the symbol if not the conscious preacher of vicariousness4 ,this further stage in ,jeremiah's experience is of equally dramatic interest1 though we cannot always trace the order of his utterances which bear witness to it4 ,there must often have come to him the temptation to break loose from a people who deserved nothing of him1 but cruelly entreated him1 and who themselves were so manifestly doomed4 ,once at least he confesses this4 ,o that ,i had in the wilderness ,,ix4 #b ,a wayfarers' lodge6 ,then would ,i leave my people1 ,and get away from them2 ,for adulterers all of them be1 ,a bundle of traitors4 ,they stretch their tongues #c ,like a falsing bow1 ,and never for truth ,use their power in the land4 ,but from evil to evil go forth ,and ,me they know not67#gci7 ,well might the ,prophet wish to escape from such a people--worn out with their falsehood1 their impurity1 and their senseless optimism4 ,yet it is not solitude for which he prays but some inn or caravanserai where he would have been less lonely than in his unshared house in ,jerusalem1 sitting alone because of the wrath of the ,lord4 ,his desire is to be set where a man may see all the interest of passing life without any responsibility for it1 where men are wayfarers only and come and go like a river on whose bank you lie1 and help you to muse and perhaps to sing but never touch the heart or the conscience of you4 ,it is the prayer of a poet sick of being a prophet and a tester4 ,jeremiah was weary of having to look below the surface of life1 to know people long enough to judge them with a keener conscience than their own and to love them with a hopeless and breaking heart that never got an answer to its love or to its calls for repentance--wearied with watching habit slowly grow from ill to ill1 old truths become lies or at the best mere formalities1 prophets who only flattered1 priests to bless them1 and the people loving to have it so47#gdj7 ,o to have no other task in life than to watch the street from the balcony6 ,but our prayers often outrun themselves in the utterance and ,jeremiah's too carried with it its denial4 ,my people--that ,i might leave my people--this1 it is clear from all that we have heard from him1 his heart would never suffer him to do4 ,and so gradually we find him turning with deeper devotion to the forlorn hope of his ministry1 his fate to feel his judgment of his people grow ever more despairing1 but his love for them deeper and more yearning4 ,from the year of ,carchemish onward he appears not again to have tried or prayed to escape4 ,through the rest of the reign of ,jehoiakim they persecuted him to the edge of death4 ,prophets and priests called for his execution4 ,he was stoned1 beaten and thrust into the stocks4 ,the king scornfully cut up the roll of his prophecies2 and the people following their formalist leaders rejected his word4 ,with the first captivity under ,jehoiakim all the better classes left ,jerusalem1 but he elected to remain with the refuse4 ,when in the reign of edekiah the ,chaldeans came down on the city and ,jeremiah counselled its surrender he was again beaten and was flung into a pit to starve to death4 ,when he was freed and the besiegers gave him the opportunity1 he would not go over to them4 ,even when the city had fallen and her captors hearing of his counsel offered him security and a position in ,babylonia1 he chose instead to share the fortunes of the little remnant left in their ruined land4 ,when they broke up it was the worst of them who took possession of his person and disregarding his appeals hurried him down to ,egypt4 ,there1 on alien soil and among countrymen who had given themselves to an alien religion1 the one great personality of his time1 who had served the highest interests of his nation for forty years1 reluctant but unfaltering1 and whose scorned words1 every one1 had been vindicated by events1 is with the dregs of his people swept from our sight4 ,he had given his back to the smiters and his cheeks to them who plucked out the hair2 he had not hidden his face from the shame and the spitting4 ,he was a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief4 ,he was taken from prison and from judgment and cut off from the land of the living2 and they made his grave with the wicked1 though he had done no violence neither was deceit in his mouth4 ,it is the second greatest sacrifice that ,israel has offered for mankind4 ,if ,jeremiah thus of his own will suffered with his people1 and to the bitter end with the worst of them1 was he also conscious of suffering for them8 ,after his death1 when the full tragedy of his life came home to his people's heart1 the sense of the few suffering for the many1 the righteous for the sinners1 began to be articulate in ,israel--remarkably enough1 let us remember1 in the very period when owing to the break-up of the nation the single soul came to its own and belief in the responsibility of every man for his own sins also emerged and prevailed4 ,of the influence of the example of ,jeremiah's spiritual loneliness1 combined with his devotion to his sinful people1 in developing these doctrines of individualism and self-sacrifice for others there can be no doubt4 ,the stamp of his sufferings is on every passage in that exilic work 8,isaiah0 ,,xl-,,lxvi1 which presents the ,suffering ,servant of the ,lord and declares the atoning virtues of ,his ,agonies and ,death4 ,but it is not clear that ,jeremiah ever felt anything of this about himself2 if he did so he has refrained from uttering it4 ,yet he must have been very near so high a consciousness4 ,his love and his pity for his sinful people were full4 ,he can hardly have failed to descry that his own spiritual agonies which brought him into so close a personal communion with ,god would show to every other man the way for his approach also to the ,most ,high and ,holy and his reconciliation with his ,god4 ,again he was weighed down with his people's sins2 he bore on his heart the full burden of them4 ,he confessed them4 ,the shame which the people did not feel for them1 he felt2 and he painted the curse upon them in words which prove how deeply the iron had entered his own soul4 ,he had a profound sense of the engrained quality of evil17#gda7 the deep saturation of sin1 the enormity of the guilt of those who sinned against the light and love of ,god47#gdb7 ,a fallacy of his day was that ,god could easily and would readily forgive sin1 that the standard ritual might at once atone for it and comfortable preaching bring the assurance of its removal4 ,he denied this1 and affirmed that such things do not change character2 that no wash of words can cleanse from sin1 no sacraments1 however ancient1 can absolve from guilt47#gdc7 ,that way only strict and painful repentance can work2 repentance following the deep searching of the heart by the ,word and the ,judgments of ,god and the agony of learning and doing ,his ,will47#gdd7 ,to its last dregs he drank the cup of the ,lord's wrath upon ,his false and wilful nation2 he suffered with them every pang of the slow death their sins had brought upon them4 ,and yet he was most conscious of his own innocence when most certain of his fate4 ,the more he loyally gave himself to his mission the more he suffered and the nearer was he brought to death4 ,the tragedy perplexed him1 ,why is my pain perpetual1 ,my wound past healing87#gde7 ,the only reply he heard from heaven was the order to stand fast1 for ,god was with him to deliver--but that more troubles awaited him4 ,and beyond this what is there to answer the staggering ,prophet save that if a man have the ,divine gifts of a keener conscience and a more loving heart than his fellows1 there inevitably comes with such gifts the obligation of suffering for them4 ,every degree in which love stands above her brethren means pain and shame to love though as yet she bear no thorn or nail in her flesh4 ,this spiritual distress ,jeremiah felt for the people long before he shared with them the physical penalties of their sins4 ,just there--in his keener conscience1 in his hot shame for sins not his as if they were his1 in his agony for his people's estrangement from ,god and in his own constantly wounded love--lay his real substitution1 his vicarious offering for his people4 ,did ,jeremiah ever conceive the far-off fulness of the travail thus laid upon his soul1 the truth that this vicarious agony of a righteous man for the sins of others is borne by ,god ,himself8 ,to that question we have only fragments of an answer4 ,in his discourses1 both earlier and later1 when he talks directly in the ,name of the ,deity--when the ,deity speaks in the first person--the words breathe as much effort and passion as when ,jeremiah speaks in his own person4 ,the ,prophet is very sure that his ,god is ,love1 and he hears that love utter itself in tones of yearning for the love of men1 and even of agony for their sin and misery4 ,there is1 too1 a singular prayer of his which is tense with the instinct1 that ,god would surely be to ,israel what ,jeremiah had resolved and striven to be--not a far-off ,god who occasionally visited or passed through ,his people1 but ,one in their midst sharing their pain2 not indifferent1 as he fears in another place17#gdf7 to the shame that is upon them1 but bearing even this4 ,the prayer which ,i mean is the one in ,,xiv4 #h1 #i1 which recalls not only the terms but the essence of ,jeremiah's longing to escape from his people1 and lodge afar with wayfaring men1 aloof and irresponsible4 ,o ,hope of ,israel1 ,his ,saviour ,in time of trouble4 ,why be like a passenger through the land1 ,or the wayfaring guest of a night8 ,yet ,lord ,thou art in our midst1 ,do not forsake us47#gdg7 ,i may be going too far in interpreting the longing and faith that lie behind these words4 ,but they come out very fully in later prophets who explicitly assert that the ,divine ,nature does dwell with men1 shares their ethical warfare and bears the shame of their sins4 ,and the truth of it all was manifested past doubt in the ,incarnation1 the ,passion and the ,cross of the ,son of ,god4 ,but whether ,jeremiah had instinct of it1 as ,i have ventured to think from his prayer1 or had not1 he foreshadowed1 as far as mere man can1 the sufferings of ,jesus ,christ for men--and this is his greatest glory as a prophet4 ,lecture ,,viii4 ,,god1 ,,man ,,and ,,the ,,new ,,covenant4 ,we have followed the career of ,jeremiah from his call onwards to the end1 and we have traced his religious experience with its doubts1 struggles1 crises1 and settlement at last upon the things that are sure3 his debates with ,god and strifes with men1 which while they roused him to outbursts of passion also braced his will1 and stilled the wilder storms of his heart4 ,there remains the duty of gathering the results of this broken and gusty1 yet growing and fruitful experience3 the truths which came forth of its travail1 about ,god and ,man and their relations4 ,and in particular we have still to study the ideal form which ,jeremiah1 or 7as some questionably argue7 one of his disciples1 gave to these relations3 the ,new ,covenant1 new in contrast to ,god's ancient ,covenant with ,israel as recorded and enforced in the ,book of ,deuteronomy4 #a4 ,god4 ,among the surprises which ,jeremiah's own ,oracles have for the student is the discovery of how little they dwell upon the transcendent and infinite aspects of the ,divine ,nature4 ,on these ,jeremiah adds almost nothing to what his predecessors or contemporaries revealed4 ,return to his original visions and contrast them with those1 for example1 of ,isaiah and ,ezekiel4 ,isaiah's vision was of the ,lord upon a ,throne1 high and lifted up1 surrounded by ,seraphim crying to one another1 ,holy1 ,holy1 ,holy is the ,lord of ,hosts6 the whole earth is full of ,his ,glory6 ,and their voices rocked the ,temple and filled it with smoke4 ,here are a ,presence1 ,awful ,majesty1 ,infinite ,holiness and ,glory1 blinding the seer and crushing his heart contrite4 ,or take the inaugural vision of ,ezekiel--the storm-wind out of the ,north1 the vast cloud1 the fire infolding itself1 the brightness round about and out of the midst thereof as the colour of amber2 the rush and whirl of life that followed1 wheels and wings and rings full of eyes2 and over this the likeness of a firmament of the colour of the terrible ice and the sound of wings like the noise of many waters1 as the ,voice of the ,almighty and above the firmament a ,throne and on the ,throne the ,appearance of a ,man1 the ,appearance of the likeness of the ,glory of the ,lord4 ,and ,i1 when ,i saw it1 fell upon my face4 ,in the inaugural visions of ,jeremiah there is none of this ,awfulness--only ,what art thou seeing ,jeremiah8 the branch of an almond tree 444 a caldron boiling4 ,that was characteristic of his encounters and intercourse with the ,deity throughout4 ,they were constant and close1 but in them all we are aware only of a ,voice and an ,argument4 ,there is no ,throne1 no ,appearance1 no ,majesty1 no overwhelming sense of ,holiness and ,glory1 no rush of wings nor floods of colour or of song47#gdh7 ,jeremiah takes for granted what other prophets have said of ,god4 ,but the ,deity whose ,power and ,glory they revealed is his ,familiar4 ,the ,lord talks with ,jeremiah as a man with his fellow4 ,for this there were several reasons1 and first the particular quality of the ,prophet's imagination4 ,his native powers of vision were not such as soar1 or at any rate easily soar1 to the sublime4 ,he was a lyric poet and his revelations of ,god are subjective and given to us by glimpses in scattered verses1 which1 however intimate and exquisite1 have not the adoring wonder of his prophetic peers4 ,again there were the startled recoil of his nature from the terrible office of a prophet in such times1 and those born gifts of questioning and searching which fitted him for his allotted duty as ,tester of his people17#gdi7 but which he also turned upon the ,providence and ,judgments of the ,lord ,himself47#gej7 ,his religious experience1 as we have seen1 was largely a struggle with the ,divine ,will1 and it left him not adoring but amazed and perplexed4 ,such wrestling man's spirit has to encounter like ,jacob of old in the dark1 and if like the ,patriarch it craves the ,name1 which is the ,nature1 of ,that with which it struggles1 all the answer it may get is another question1 ,wherefore askest thou after ,my ,name8 ,morning may break1 as it broke on ,jacob by ,jabbok with the assurance of blessing or as on ,jeremiah with a firmer impression of the ,will not his own2 but no strength is left to glory in the ,nature behind the ,will4 ,there is a horrified breathlessness about his lines-- ,thou wast stronger than ,i and hast conquered1 ,the ,lord is with me as a ,mighty and ,terrible47#gea7 ,from his struggles he indeed issues more sure of ,god and finally more trustful in ,him1 as is testified by his fair song on the beauty and fruitfulness of faith1 beginning ,blessed the wight that trusts in the ,lord1 ,and the ,lord is his trust47#geb7 ,but even here is none of the awe and high wonder which fall upon ,israel through other prophets4 ,lyrist as he is and subjective1 ,jeremiah dwells not so much upon the attributes of ,god on which faith rests as upon the effects of faith in man4 ,again by the desperate character of the times he was starved of hope1 the hope by which the ,apostle says we are saved1 which not only braces the will but clears the inner eyes of men and liberates the imagination4 ,as the years went on he was ever more closely bound to the prediction of his people's ruin1 and1 when this came1 to the sober counsel to accept their fate and settle down to a long exile in patience for the ,lord's time of deliverance4 ,as we have seen1 his intervals of release from so grim a ministry were brief1 and his ,oracles of a bright future but few4 ,even in these he does not rise1 like the ,evangelist of the ,exile whom he inspired1 to exultation in the ,almighty ,power of ,god or to visions of vast spaces of the ,divine ,providence1 or of ,israel's service wide as the world4 ,his happy peasant-heart is content to foresee his restored people tending their vineyards again1 enjoying their village dances and festivals1 and sharing with their long divided tribes the common national worship upon ion47#gec7 ,like those of all the prophets ,jeremiah's most immediate convictions of ,god are that ,he has done1 and is always doing or about to do1 things47#ged7 ,from the first ,yahweh of ,israel had been to the faith of his people a ,god of ,deeds4 ,he delivered them from ,egypt1 led them through the desert1 ever ready to avenge them on any who molested them1 and ,he had brought them to a land of delight47#gee7 ,by his creative and guiding ,word1 always clear and potential17#gef7 ,he had planted them and built them up to be a nation4 ,these were the proofs of ,him--ever operative1 effective and victorious both over their foes and over every natural obstacle which their life encountered4 ,and being the ,living ,god ,he still works and is ready to work1 would ,his people only seek where67#geg7 ,he is awake1 watching over ,his ,word to perform it and controlling the nations47#geh7 ,it is ,he who has made the earth and gives it to whom ,he will17#gei7 who prepares the destroyers of ,his people1 who calls for the kingdoms of the ,north1 even for the far ,scythians beyond the edge of the world1 to execute ,his purposes47#gfj7 ,he brings the ,king of ,babylon against ,jerusalem1 and recalls the ,chaldeans to their interrupted siege of the city1 gives it into their hands and ,himself banishes its people47#gfa7 ,he moulds the nations for his own ends1 and if they fail ,him1 decrees their destruction47#gfb7 ,his ,word builds and plants but also pulls up and tears down47#gfc7 ,he is always near to guide or to argue with nations and individuals1 and to give directions and suggestions of practical detail to ,his servants for the interpretation and fulfilment of ,his purposes47#gfd7 ,it was all this activity and effectiveness1 with their sure results in history1 which distinguished ,him from other gods1 the gods of the nations1 who were ineffective1 or as ,jeremiah puts it unprofitable--no-gods1 nothings and do-nothings1 the work of men's hands1 lies or frauds1 and mere bubbles47#gfe7 ,on this line ,jeremiah's monotheism marks a notable advance2 for alongside of faith in the ,divine ,unity and ,sovereignty there had lingered even in ,deuteronomy a belief in the existence of other gods47#gff7 ,with ,jeremiah every vestige of this superstition is gone1 and other gods consigned to limbo once and for all4 ,yet ,jeremiah's monotheism1 like that of all the ,hebrew prophets1 is even more due to convictions of the character of the ,god of ,israel4 ,we have seen how he dwells on the ,divine ,love1 faithful and yearning for love in return1 pleading and patient even with its delinquent sons and daughters27#gfg7 but equal to this is his emphasis on the righteousness of the ,most ,high1 by all ,his deeds working troth1 justice1 and judgment on the earth1 which are ,his delight and the knowledge of which is man's only glory47#gfh7 ,he demands from ,his people not sacrifices1 which ,he never commanded to their fathers1 nor vows but a better life1 justice between man and man1 and care for the weak and the innocent47#gfi7 ,to know ,him is to do justice and right47#ggj7 ,because the present generation have fallen away from these1 and practise and love falsehood1 slander1 impurity1 treacherous and greedy violence1 therefore ,god1 being justice and truth1 must judge and condemn them3 ,what else can ,i do87#gga7 ,the ethical necessity of the doom of the people is clear to the ,prophet from a very early stage of his ministry17#ggb7 and throughout1 though his heart struggles against it4 ,but1 if possible1 even more abhorrent to ,god than these sins against domestic and civic piety in themselves1 is the fact that they are committed in the very face of ,his ,love and despite all its pleading4 ,with ,jeremiah as with ,hosea the sin against love is the most hopeless and unpardonable1 and this people have sinned it to the utmost4 ,as a woman is false to her fere1 ,have ye been false to me47#ggc7 ,hence most deeply springs the ,wrath of the ,lord1 a ,wrath on which ,jeremiah broods and explodes more frequently and fiercely than any other prophet3 ,i am full of the rage of the ,lord2 the glow of ,his wrath2 take the cup of the wine of this fury at ,my hand and give all nations to whom ,i send thee to drink of it2 the fierce anger of the ,lord shall not turn until ,he have executed it47#ggd7 ,and ,he does execute it4 ,god's ,wrath breaks out in ,his spurning of ,his nation1 in the hot names ,he calls it1 adulteress and harlot1 and in hating it47#gge7 ,he will not relent nor pardon it1 nor listen to prayer for it47#ggf7 ,he says1 ,i must myself take vengeance upon them4 ,i shall not spare nor pity them47#ggg7 ,they will reel in the day of their visitation4 ,he will feed them with wormwood and drug them with poison2 ,he will suddenly let fall on them anguish and terrors2 ,he will take ,his fan and winnow them out in the gates of the land and as the passing chaff strew them on the wind of the desert2 the garden-land withers to wilderness and its cities break down at ,his presence and before ,his fierce anger2 ,he will make ,jerusalem heaps and cast out the people before ,his face4 ,he will give them to be tossed among the nations for a consternation1 a reproach and a proverb1 for a taunt and a curse1 in all places whither ,he drives them3 and will send after them the sword1 the famine1 and the pestilence till they be consumed47#ggh7 ,the modern mind deems arbitrary such immediate linking of physical and political disasters with the ,wrath of ,god against sin4 ,but we have to ponder the following4 ,the ,prophet was convinced of the ethical necessity of that ,wrath and of its judgments on ,judah--he was convinced before they came to pass and he predicted them accurately1 from close observation of the political conditions of his world and the character of his people4 ,granted these and ,god's essential and operative justice1 the connection was natural3 ,what else can ,i do8 ,it was clear that ,judah both deserved and needed punishment and equally clear that the boiling ,north held the potentialities of this1 which were gradually shaping and irresistibly approaching4 ,moreover1 as ,jeremiah insists1 and as the history both of nations and individuals has frequently illustrated1 there is a natural sequence of disaster upon wrong-doing4 ,be thy scourge thine own sin6 ,thy ways and thy deeds have done to thee these things4 ,is it ,me they provoke1 saith the ,lord1 ,is it not themselves to the confusion of their faces8 ,wherefore have these things come upon thee8--for the mass of thy wickedness47#ggi7 ,as ,st4 ,paul says the wages of sin1 not the judge's penalty on sin but the thing it naturally earns1 is death4 ,now one of ,jeremiah's most acute and convincing experiences as the ,tester of his people17#ghj7 is his observation of how all this worked out upon his own generation4 ,not only were the war1 the pestilence1 and the captivity1 which were about to fall upon ,jerusalem1 directly and obviously due to the perjury and stupid pride of her rulers2 but1 as he more subtly saw1 the immorality of the whole people had been disabling them1 for years before1 from meeting these or any disasters except as sheer punishment without place for repentance4 ,their previous troubles had failed to sober or humble them or rouse them4 ,they would not accept correction1 he says of them more than once47#gha7 ,to the ,prophet's warnings that ,god will judge them1 they answer carelessly or defiantly ,not ,he6 ,instead of yielding to the power which lies in all adversity to cleanse the heart and brace the will they became incapable of shame1 indifferent to consequences1 and so past praying for47#ghb7 ,and in this they were fortified by the specious dreams and lies of their false prophets1 continued to sin1 and so fell to their doom1 abashed at last but unassoilable47#ghc7 ,if at any time they were startled by disaster1 this found them too enfeebled even for repentance by their habitual insincerity or self-indulgence2 which made them incapable of truth even under pain1 and of a real conversion to ,god47#ghd7 ,all this is discovered to us by the eyes and the mouth of ,jeremiah4 ,what in it is arbitrary8 ,the record is awful1 nothing like it in literature4 ,yet every step is real4 ,we follow a master of observation4 ,but perhaps the chief glory of our ,prophet is that while thus delivering1 as no other prophet so fully or so ethically does1 the just wrath of ,god upon sin1 he reveals at the same time that ,his people's sin costs ,god more pain than anger4 ,this no doubt ,jeremiah learned through his own heart4 ,as we have seen1 with his whole heart he loved the people whom he was called to test and expose1 and that heart was wracked and torn by thoughts of the ,doom which he had to pronounce upon them4 ,so also1 he was given to feel1 was the heart of their ,god4 ,in the following questions there is poignant surprise2 an insulted1 a wounded love beats through them4 ,what wrong found your fathers in ,me1 ,that so far they broke from ,me8 ,have ,i been a desert to ,israel1 ,or land of thick darkness8 ,why say my folk1 8,we are off1 ,no more to meet ,thee60 ,can a maiden forget her adorning ,or her girdle the bride8 ,yet ,me have ,my people forgotten ,days without number47#ghe7 ,so1 too1 when the deserved doom threatens1 and in hate ,he has cast off ,his heritage1 ,his love still wonders how that can be-- ,is ,my heritage to ,me a speckled wild-bird ,with the wild-birds round and against her8 ,is ,israel a slave1 ,or house-born serf8 ,why he for a prey87#ghf7 ,all the desolation of ,judah is on ,him alone3 no man lays it to heart1 upon ,me is the waste47#ghg7 ,and what we have seen to be the most human touch of all1 the surprise of an outraged father at feeling1 beneath ,his wrath against a prodigal son1 the instincts of the ancient love which no wrath can quench1 ,is ,ephraim ,my dearest son1 ,the child of delights8 ,that as oft as against him ,i speak ,i must think of him still67#ghh7 ,that these instincts are so scattered rather increases their cumulative effect4 ,thus whether upon the ,wrath or upon the ,love of ,god ,jeremiah speaks home to the heart of his own1 and of our own and of every generation which loves lies and lets itself be lulled by them4 ,sin1 he says1 is no fiction nor a thing to be lightly taken47#ghi7 ,time for repentance is short2 doom comes quickly4 ,habits of evil are not carelessly parted with1 but have their long and necessary consequences moral and physical4 ,no wash of words nor worship nor sacrament can cleanse the heart or redeem from guilt4 ,it is not the flagrant sinner whom he chiefly warns1 but those who harden themselves softly4 ,and--very firmly this--forgiveness is not easily granted by ,god nor cheaply gained by men2 ,god has not only set our sins before ,his face but carries them on ,his heart4 ,and therefore1 in view both of the ,just ,wrath of the ,most ,high and of ,his suffering ,love1 only repentance can avail1 the repentance which is not the facile mood offered by many in atonement for their sins1 but arduous1 rigorous and deeply sincere in its anguish4 ,all of which carries our prophet1 six centuries before ,christ came1 very far into the fellowship of ,his sufferings4 ,i have already spoken sufficiently of ,jeremiah's other original contributions to theology1 on the ,freedom and the ,patience of the ,providence of ,god1 and his hope that ,god would be to ,israel what the prophet had bravely tried to be--no transient guest but a dweller in their midst47#gij7 ,the titles for ,god which we may assume to have first come from himself are few1 perhaps only three3 ,the ,fountain of ,living ,waters1 the ,hope of ,israel and the ,saviour thereof in time of trouble1 and ,hasidh1 or ,loyal-in-,love17#gia7 a term elsewhere applied only to men4 ,sometimes1 but not nearly so often as the copyists of our ,hebrew text have made him do1 he uses the title ,yahweh of ,hosts1 doubtless in the other prophets' sense of the forces of history and of the ,universe 7the original meaning having been the armies of ,israel71 sometimes he borrows the deuteronomic ,yahweh thy ,god1 or a similar form4 ,but most often 7as the ,greek faithfully shows us7 it is simply the personal name ,yahweh 7,jehovah7 by which he addresses or describes the ,deity3 significant of the long struggle between them as individuals4 ,passing now from the world of nations to the world of nature we observe how little the genuine ,oracles of ,jeremiah have to tell us of the ,divine ,power over this2 yet the little is proclaimed with as firm assurance as of ,god's control of the history of mankind4 ,both worlds are ,his3 the happenings in the one are the sacraments1 the signs and seals1 of ,his purposes and tempers towards the other3 the winter blossom of the almond1 of ,his wakefulness in a world where all seems asleep2 the sun by day and the moon and stars by night1 of ,his everlasting faithfulness to ,his own47#gib7 ,all things in nature obey ,his rule though ,his own people do not2 it is ,he who rules the stormy sea and can alone bring rain4 ,even the stork in the heavens ,knoweth her seasons1 ,and dove1 swift and swallow ,keep time of their coming4 ,but ,my people--they know not ,the ,rule of the ,lord4 ,i have set the sand as a bound for the sea1 ,an eternal decree that cannot be crossed4 ,are there makers of rain 'mong the bubbles of the heathen8 ,art ,thou not ,he8 444 all these ,thou hast made47#gic7 ,after all neither ,nature nor the courses of the ,nations but the single human heart is the field which ,jeremiah most originally explores for visions of the ,divine ,working and from which he has brought his most distinctive contributions to our knowledge of ,god4 ,but that leads us up to the second part of this lecture1 his teaching about man4 ,before beginning that1 however1 we must include under his teaching about ,god1 two elements of this to which his insight into the human heart directly led him4 ,first this great utterance of the ,divine ,omnipresence3 ,i am a ,god who is near1 ,not a ,god who is far4 ,can any man hide him in secret1 ,and ,i not see him8 ,do ,i not fill heaven and earth8-- ,rede of the ,lord47#gid7 ,these verses have been claimed as the earliest expression in ,israel of the ,divine ,omnipresence47#gie7 ,amos1 however1 had given utterance to the same truth though on a different plane of life47#gif7 ,second1 and partly in logical sequence from the preceding1 but also stimulated by thoughts of the best of ,judah7#gig7 banished to a long exile1 ,jeremiah was the first in ,israel to assure his people that the sense of ,god's presence1 faith in ,his ,providence1 ,his ,grace1 and ,prayer to ,him were now free both of ,temple and ,land--as possible on distant and alien soil1 without ,ark or ,altar1 as they had been with these in ,jerusalem4 ,see his ,letter to the ,exiles1 and recall all that lay behind it in his predictions of the ruin of the ,temple1 and abolition of the ,ark1 and in his rejection of sacrifices47#gih7 ,to ,deuteronomy exile was the people's punishment2 to ,jeremiah it is a fresh opportunity of grace4 #b4 ,man and the ,new ,covenant4 ,in the earliest ,oracles of ,jeremiah nations are the human units in religion1 ,israel as a whole the object of the ,divine affection and providence4 ,to his age worship was the business of the nation3 public reverence for symbols and institutions1 and rites in which the individual's share was largely performed for him by official representatives4 ,the prophets1 and ,jeremiah himself at first1 dealt with the people as a moral unity from the earliest times to their own4 ,the ,lord had loved and sought1 redeemed and tended them as a nation4 ,as a nation they fell away from ,him and now they were wholly false to ,him4 ,when ,jeremiah first urges them to return1 it is of a public and general repentance that he speaks1 as ,deuteronomy had done2 and when his urgency fails it is their political disappearance which he pronounces for doom4 ,but when the rotten surface of the national life thus broke under the ,prophet he fell upon the deeper levels of the individual heart1 and not only found the native sinfulness of this to be the explanation of the public and social corruption but discovered also soil for the seed-bed of new truths and new hopes4 ,among these there is none more potent than that of the immediate relation of the individual to ,god4 ,jeremiah never lost hope of the ultimate restoration of ,israel4 ,nevertheless the individual aspects of religion increase in his prophesying1 and though it is impossible to trace their growth with any accuracy because of the want of dates to many of his ,oracles1 we may be certain that as he watched under ,josiah the failure of the national movements for reform1 inspired by ,deuteronomy1 and under ,jehoiakim and edekiah the gradual breaking up of the nation1 and still more as his own personal relations with the ,deity grew closer1 ,jeremiah thought and spoke less of the nation and more of the individual as the object of the ,divine call and purposes4 ,one has travelled by night through a wooded country1 by night and on into the dawn4 ,how solid and indivisible the dark masses appear and how difficult to realise as composed of innumerable single growths1 each with its own roots1 each by itself soaring towards heaven4 ,but as the dawn comes up one begins to see all this4 ,the mass breaks2 first the larger1 more lonely trees stand out and soon every one of the common crowd is apparent in its separate strength and beauty4 ,it seems to me as ,i travel through the ,book of ,jeremiah that here also is a breaking of dawn--but they are men whom it reveals4 ,there is a stir of this even in the earliest ,oracles2 for the form of address to the nation which has begun with the singular ,thou changes gradually to ,you1 and not ,israel but ye men of ,israel are called to turn to their ,god47#gii7 ,as the ,prophet's indictments proceed his burden ceases to be the national harlotry4 ,he arraigns separate classes or groups17#hjj7 and then1 in increasing numbers1 individuals3 brother deceiving brother and friend friend2 adulterers each after the wife of his neighbour2 the official bully ,pashhur1 ,jehoiakim the atrocious and petty in contrast to his sire the simple and just ,josiah1 the helpless and ridiculous edekiah1 the bustling and self-confident ,hananiah7#hja7--with the fit word and in sharp irony ,jeremiah etches them separately1 in the same vividness as the typical figures of the harlot watching for her prey like the ,arab robber in the desert1 the fowler crouching to fling his net1 the shepherds failing to keep their scattered flocks1 the prophets who fling about their tongues and rede a rede of the ,lord47#hjb7 ,jeremiah has answered the call to him to search for the man1 the men beneath the nation47#hjc7 ,then there are his readings of the heart of man into which he more deeply thought than any other prophet of ,israel3 his revelation of the working of ,god in the soul of man1 its ,searcher1 its only ,guide and ,strength2 his stress upon individual responsibility and guilt1 and on the one glory of man being his knowledge of ,god and the duty of every man to know ,god for himself and not through others2 and his song of the beauty of the personal life rooted in faith1 evergreen and yielding its fruit even in seasons of drought4 ,such passages increase in the ,oracles of ,jeremiah4 ,not ceasing to be the patriot1 the civic conscience of his people1 he busies himself more with the hearts1 the habits1 the sins and the duties towards ,god of its individuals4 ,like ,christ he takes the deaf apart from the multitude and talks to him of himself4 ,o ,lord1 ,who triest the righteous1 ,who seest the reins and the heart47#hjd7 ,false above all is the heart1 ,sick to despair1 ,who is to know it8 ,i1 the ,lord1 searching the heart ,and trying the reins1 ,to give to each man as his ways1 ,as the fruit of his doings47#hje7 ,can any man hide him in secret ,and ,i not see him87#hjf7 ,in those days they shall say no more3 ,the fathers have eaten sour grapes and the teeth of the children are set on edge4 ,but every one shall die for his own iniquity1 every man that eateth sour grapes his teeth shall be set on edge47#hjg7 ,speak to all ,judah all the words ,i have charged thee4444 ,peradventure they will hearken and turn every man from his evil way47#hjh7 ,he that would boast in this let him boast1 ,insight and knowledge of ,me47#hji7 ,lord1 ,i know--not to man is his way1 ,not man's to walk or settle his steps47#haj7 ,blessed the man that trusts in the ,lord ,and the ,lord is his trust6 ,he like a tree shall be planted by water1 ,that stretches its roots to the stream2 ,unafraid at the coming of heat1 ,his leaf shall be green2 ,sans care in the season of drought ,he fails not in yielding his fruit47#haa7 ,the individual soul rooted in faith and drawing life from the ,fountain of ,living ,water1 independent of all disaster to the nation and famine on earth--could not be more beautifully drawn4 ,now all this advance by ,jeremiah from the idea of the nation as the human unit in religion--,deuteronomy's ideal and at first his own--to the individual as the direct object of the ,divine ,grace and ,discipline was promoted1 we have seen1 by the dire happenings of the time1 the unworthy conduct of the people1 their abandonment by ,god1 the ruin of the ,state and of the national worship--which cut off individuals from all political and religious associations1 leaving to each 7in ,jeremiah's repeated phrase7 only his life1 or his soul1 for a prey47#hab7 ,but all these could have furthered the advance but little unless ,jeremiah had felt by bitter experience his own soul searched and re-searched by ,god-- ,but ,thou1 ,lord1 hast known me1 ,thou seest and triest my heart towards ,thee--7#hac7 unless through doubt and struggle he himself had won into the confidence of an immediate and intimate knowledge of ,god4 ,at his call he had learned how a man could be ,god's before he was his mother's or his nation's--,god's own and to the end answerable only to ,him4 ,he had proved his solitary conscience under persecution4 ,he had known how personal convictions can overbear the traditions of the past and the habits of one's own generation--how ,god can hold a single man alone to ,his ,will against his nation and all its powers1 and vindicate him at last to their faces4 ,in all this lay much of the vicarious service which ,jeremiah achieved for his own generation2 what he had won for himself was possible for each of them4 ,and sure it is that the personal piety which henceforth flourished in ,israel as it had never flourished before1 weaving its delicate tendrils about the ruins of the state1 the city and the altar1 and 7as the ,psalms show7 blooming behind the shelter of the ,law like a garden of lilies within a fence of thorns1 sprang from seeds in ,jeremiah's heart1 and was watered by his tears and the sweat of his spiritual agonies4 99 99 99 99 99 ,we are now come to a confluence of the streams we have been tracing--the prophecy of the ,new ,covenant4 ,this occupies no incongruous place1 following hard as it does upon that of the eating of sour grapes--individual inspiration upon individual responsibility4 ,but we cannot off-hand accept it as ,jeremiah's own2 the critical questions which have been with us from the beginning embarrass us still4 ,the collection of ,oracles to which that of the ,new ,covenant belongs1 ,chs4 ,,xxx1 ,,xxxi1 was not made till long after ,jeremiah's time2 it includes1 as we have seen1 several of exilic or post-exilic origin47#had7 ,but so do other chapters of the ,book1 in which nevertheless genuine prophecies of ,jeremiah are recognised by virtually all modern critics4 ,the context therefore offers no prejudice against the authenticity of the prophecy of the ,new ,covenant1 ,,xxxi4 #ca-cd4 ,but the form and the substance of this have raised doubts1 so honest and reluctant as to deserve our consideration4 ,duhm starts his usual objection that the passage is in prose and a style characteristic of the late expanders of the ,book4 ,we may let that go1 as we have done before1 as by itself inconclusive27#hae7 the prophecy may not have come directly from ,jeremiah's mouth but through the memory of a reporter of the ,prophet1 ,baruch or another4 ,more deserving of consideration is the criticism which ,duhm1 with great unwillingness1 makes of the terms and substance of the prophecy4 ,he objects to the term covenant3 a covenant is a legal contract and could hardly have been chosen for the frame of his ideal by so pronounced an anti-legalist as ,jeremiah4 ,the passage 8promises a new ,covenant--not a new ,torah but only a more inward assimilation of the ,torah by the people1 and emphasises the good results which this will have for them but betrays no demand for a higher kind of religion4 ,if one does not let himself be dazzled by the phrases new covenant and write it on the heart then the passage tells us of the relation of the individual no more than ,deuteronomy has already regarded as possible1 ,,xxx4 #aa ff41 and desirable1 ,,vi4 #f-h3 namely1 that every man should be at home in the ,law and honestly follow it40 ,he continues3 8it is impossible for me to hold any longer to the ,jeremian origin of the passage4 ,i find in it only the effusion of one learned in the ,scriptures who regards as the highest ideal1 that every one of the ,jewish people should know the ,law by heart40 ,but in his resolve 8not to let himself be dazzled0 has not ,duhm gone to the opposite extreme and seriously under-read the whole spirit of the passage--besides showing as usual undue apprehensiveness of the presence in the text of a legalist at work87#haf7 ,the choice of the term covenant for the frame of his ideal was not unnatural to ,jeremiah nor irrelevant to his experience and teaching4 ,formally the term may mean a legal contract2 but it is open to a prophet or a poet to use any metaphor for his ideals and transform its mere letter by the spirit he puts into it2 and after all covenant is only a metaphor for a relation which was beyond the compass of any figure to express4 ,yet it was a term classical in ,israel and most intelligible to the generation whom ,jeremiah was addressing4 ,its associations1 especially as he had recalled them17#hag7 had been those not of the ,law but of ,love4 ,it was not a contract or bargain but an approach by ,god to ,his people1 an offer of ,his ,grace1 a statement of ,his ,will and accompanied by manifestations of ,his ,power to redeem them4 ,one might as well charge ,jesus with legalism in adopting a term sanctioned by ,god ,himself1 and so historical1 sacred and endeared to the national memory4 ,nor need ,torah1 or ,law1 be taken as ,duhm takes it in its sense of the legal codes of ,israel1 but in its wider meaning of the ,divine instruction or revelation4 ,further the epithet ,new applied to ,covenant was most relevant to the ,prophet's and his people's recent sense of the failure of the ancient covenant1 as restated and enforced in ,deuteronomy4 ,in spite of the excitement caused by the discovery of the ,book in which it was written1 and the recital of its words throughout the land1 the ,old ,covenant had failed to capture the heart of the people or to secure from them more than the formal and superstitious observance of the letter of its ,torah4 ,was it not a natural antithesis to predict that ,his ,torah would be set by ,god in their inward parts and written on their hearts8 ,how else 7will ,duhm tell us87 than by such phrases could the ,prophet have described an inward and purely spiritual process8 ,to say as ,duhm does that the phrases only mean that common men would learn the ,law of ,god 8by heart0 7auswendig71 is1 whoever their author may have been1 to travesty his meaning4 ,finally1 all the phrasing of the ,new ,covenant is in harmony with the rest of the ,prophet's teaching4 ,he had spoken of ,god's will to give ,his people a new heart to know ,him27#hah7 he had taught religion as the individual's direct knowledge of ,god27#hai7 he had won this himself from ,god directly without help from his parentage1 his fellow-prophets or priests or any others2 he had most bitterly known also how weak the word of one man is to teach his countrymen this knowledge and that it can only come by the inward operation of ,god ,himself upon their spirits2 and he had made as clear as ever prophet did that ,god's pardon for sin was the first1 the necessary preliminary to ,his other gifts4 ,nor is the fact that the ,new ,covenant is to be a national one alien to his teaching3 ,jeremiah never lost hope of his nation's survival and restoration4 ,thus the passage on the ,new ,covenant brings together all the strands of ,jeremiah's experience and doctrine and hopes1 shaken free from the political debris of the times1 into one fair web under a pattern familiar and dear to the people4 ,the weaving1 it is true1 is none of the deftest1 but whether this is due to the aged ,jeremiah's failing fingers or to the awkwardness of a disciple1 the stuff and its dyes are all his own4 ,lo1 days are coming--,rede of the ,lord--when ,i will make with the ,house of ,israel and with the ,house of ,judah a ,new ,covenant1 not like the ,covenant which ,i made with their fathers in the day that ,i took them by their hand to bring them forth from the land of ,egypt1 which ,my ,covenant they brake and ,i rejected them7#hbj7--,rede of the ,lord4 ,but this is ,my7#hba7 ,covenant which ,i will make with the sons7#hbb7 of ,israel after those days--,rede of the ,lord--,i will set ,my ,law in their inward part and on their heart will ,i write it1 and ,i will be to them a ,god1 and they shall be to ,me a people4 ,and they shall teach no more every man his neighbour and every man his brother saying1 ,know thou7#hbc7 the ,lord6 ,for they shall all know ,me from the least even to the greatest27#hbd7 for ,i will forgive their guilt and their sin will ,i remember no more4 ,this is1 as has been said1 a prophecy of ,christianity which has hardly its equal in the ,old ,testament47#hbe7 ,it is the ,covenant which ,jesus ,christ the ,son of ,god accepted for ,himself and all men and sealed with ,his own blood4 ,and yet not even in this prophecy of ,jeremiah1 in which the individual soul is made to feel that ,god created it not for its family nor its state nor its church but only for ,himself1 is there any breath of a promise for it after death4 ,the ,prophet's eyes are still sealed to that future4 ,the soul must be content that her strength and peace and hope are with ,god4 ,appendix ,i4 ,,medes ,,and ,,scythians 7,,pp4 #gc1 #aaj74 ,it is very difficult1 if not impossible1 to give a correct account of the national and racial movements which1 along with the moral conditions in ,judah1 called forth ,jeremiah's ,oracles of judgment in the years immediately following his call in #fbg-fbf ,b4,c4 ,but the following facts are well founded4 ,in or about #fbe the ,medes were defeated in an attack upon ,assyria and their king ,phraortes was killed1 but at the same time ,asshurbanipal died1 and his weaker successor was compelled to recognize the virtual independence of ,nabopolassar1 the ,chaldean in ,babylon4 ,cyaxares 7#fbd-ehe71 the son of ,phraortes1 soon after his succession to his father--say between #fbd and #fbj--led a second ,median assault upon ,assyria and besieged ,nineveh1 but had to retire because of the onset from the north of the ,scythians1 the ,ashguzai of the ,assyrian monuments1 probably the ,ashkenaz or ,ashkunza 787 of the ,old ,testament4 ,and then it was not for some years that ,cyaxares felt himself strong enough by his alliance with ,nabopolassar for a third ,median invasion of ,assyria which culminated in the capture and destruction of ,nineveh4 ,the ,assyrians appear to have been in touch with the ,ashguzai for over a century and for a shorter time probably in alliance with them2 which alliance was the cause of the ,scythian advance to the relief of ,nineveh from its siege by the ,medes circa #gbd-gbj 7see ,winckler ,die ,keilinschriften v4 das alte ,testament1 #crd ed41 pp4 #ajj ff474 ,about the same time must be dated the ,scythian advance through ,western ,asia to the borders of ,egypt1 which ,herodotus 7,i4 #ajc-ajd1 ,,iv4 #a7 reports4 ,professor ,n4 ,schmidt 7,enc4 ,bibl41 art4 8,scythians07 supposes that this advance was due to the same ,scythian-,assyrian alliance1 in order to preserve the ,assyrian territories from the arms of ,psamtik of ,egypt1 who had since #fci been besieging ,ashdod2 and he holds that this hypothesis explains the absence of any record of violence by the ,scythians on their southern campaign1 except at ,ashkelon4 ,this precarious hypothesis apart1 we have the facts that no ,biblical chronicler records any invasion of ,judah and ,benjamin by the ,scythians1 and yet that the early ,oracles of ,jeremiah1 generally attributed to the alarms which the advance of such barbarian hordes would excite in ,judah1 do closely fit the ,scythians 7with a few exceptions that may be due to the prophet's adaptation in #fjd of his earlier ,oracles to the new enemy out of the north1 the ,chaldeans74 ,there1 are1 however1 modern writers who claim that the ,oracles in question were originally composed not in view of the ,scythian1 but of the ,chaldean invasion of ,palestine4 ,so ,george ,douglas 7,the ,book of ,jeremiah1 ,london1 ,hodder ,stoughton1 #aijc71 who1 while assigning ,jeremiah's call to #fbg1 relegates the two visions and all the ,oracles in the first part of the book to the years following ,jehoiakim's accession to the ,jewish throne in #fjh2 cp4 ,winckler1 ,geschichte ,israels1 ,i4 pp4 #aab f4 and ,f4 ,wilke 7,alttestamentliche studien ,r4 ,kittel zum #fj ,geburtstag dargebracht1 #aiac71 quoted by ,john ,skinner1 ,prophecy and ,religion1 pp4 #db f4 n4 #b4 ,this would be an easy solution but for the insuperable objections to it that the ,oracles in question far more closely fit the ,scythian1 than the ,chaldean1 invasion2 and that ,jer4 ,i4 #b1 as distinctly covers prophecies of ,jeremiah in the days of ,josiah as v4 #c does his prophesying under ,jehoiakim4 ,,postscript4 ,the date of ,nineveh's fall has hitherto been accepted as #fjg-fjf ,b4,c4 ,but in ,july of this year 7#aibc7 ,mr4 ,c4 ,j4 ,gadd described to the ,british ,academy a ,babylonian tablet1 which dates the fall in the fourteenth year of ,nabopolassar's reign in ,babylon4 ,this year was #fab ,b4,c41 if it be right to reckon the reign from #fbf-be ,b4,c42 but as remarked above1 p4 #age1 ,nabopolassar became in that year officially not king but only viceroy4 ,dependent as ,i was on a newspaper summary of ,mr4 ,gadd's lecture ,i could therefore do no more than offer for the fall of ,nineveh the alternative dates1 #fab and #fjf2 see above p4 #age and compare p4 #afb4 ,appendix ,,ii4 ,,necoh',s ,,campaign 7,,pp4 #afb1 #afc74 ,in addition to the accounts in the ,books of ,kings and ,chronicles of ,pharaoh ,ncoh's advance into ,asia in pursuance of his claim for a share of the crumbling ,assyrian ,empire there are two independent records3 7#a7 ,jeremiah ,,xlvii4 #a--;and ,pharaoh smote ,gaza--a headline 7with other particulars7 wrongly prefixed by the ,hebrew text1 but not by the ,greek1 to an ,oracle upon an invasion of ,philistia not from the south but from the north 7see above1 pp4 #ac1 #fa72 7#b7 by ,herodotus1 ,,ii4 #aei1 who says that 8,ncoh 7,neks7 making war by land on the ,syrians defeated them at ,magdolos and after the battle took ,kadtis1 a great city of ,syria40 ,magdolos is probably ,megiddo1 unless it stands for ,megdel1 which1 as well as ,rumman 7 ,hadad-rimmon1 the scene of the mourning for ,josiah1 ,zech4 ,,xii4 #aa7 lies near ,megiddo4 ,if1 as is usually held1 ,kadtis be ,gaza1 ,herodotus has reversed the proper order of ,ncoh's two actions2 but ,kadtis also suggests hak-,kdsh1 the holy1 an epithet of ,jerusalem 7,jerusalem1 ,i4 #bgj7 which would suit ,herodotus' order1 for it was after ,megiddo that ,ncoh became master of ,jerusalem and ,judah4 ,the suggestion1 though worth mentioning1 is doubtful2 the epithet is late1 exilic and post-exilic2 and ,herodotus' phrase took ,kadtis is hardly equivalent to became paramount there as ,ncoh became paramount in ,jerusalem4 ,,index ,,of ,,texts4 ,genesis-- xlix4 #bg2 #fi ,exodus-- xxi4 #a-f2 #bce ,leviticus-- vi4 #e2 #aeb xix4 #bg2 #bjf xxvi4 #cd f42 #h ,numbers-- xxx4 #b1 #ab2 #cac ,deuteronomy-- iv4 #ai2 #acf1 #aie xvii4 #c2 #aie xviii4 #f2 #ace xxxii4 #ac2 #bbb ,judges-- i4 #af2 #aic iv4 #ag2 #aid v4 #d2 #bbb #bd2 #aid xi4 #cf2 #cac ,i4 ,samuel-- x4 #b2 #cjb xv4 #f2 #aic #bb2 #aef ,i4 ,kings-- ii4 #bf f42 #fg ,,ii4 ,kings-- x4 #ae1 #bc2 #aic xxii4 #ab ff42 #agd #bj2 #bei xxiii4 #e1 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predestination1 #cce2 sacrifice of self1 #cda2 foreshadowing the sufferings of ,christ for men1 #cdi2 revelations of ,god subjective1 #ceb2 a ,god of deeds1 #ced2 ,jeremiah's monotheism1 #cef2 brooding on the wrath of the ,lord1 #ceh2 the love of ,god1 #cfa2 the ,divine power in nature1 #cfe2 man and the new covenant1 #cfg2 readings of the heart of man1 #cgj2 the individual as the direct object of the ,divine grace and discipline1 #cgb2 the prophecy of the new covenant1 #cgd4 ,jeremiah 7,book of71 #i2 questions of authorship1 #ai2 the ,rolls1 #bc2 ,exilic and ,post-,exilic additions1 #bi2 poetical passages1 #ca2 critical text1 #aef2 evidence for revelation by argument1 #afa4 ,jerusalem1 #aac1 #abe2 invested by ,nebuchadrezzar1 #bcd2 ,temple and ,palace burned1 #bce2 ,jeremiah's activity and sufferings during the siege1 #bfg2 his pronouncements of surrender1 #bfg4 ,job1 ,book of1 #di4 ,johanan-ben-,kareah1 #cjh4 ,josiah1 #ge1 #afb1 etc4 ,knox1 ,john1 #bff1 #bgb4 ,knig1 #ade4 8,kurzer ,hand-,commentar10 #ch4 ,lees1 ,dr4 ,john3 8,the ,german ,lyric10 #cc1 #db4 ,love1 the ,divine1 #ajf1 #cdh1 #cef1 etc4 ,lowth1 ,bishop3 8,de ,sacra ,poesi ,hebrorum10 #cc4 ,magor-,missabib1 #aib4 ,man and the new covenant1 #cfg4 ,marti1 #aee1 #ahd4 ,mc,curdy1 #aaa4 ,mc,fadyen1 ,j4 ,e41 #ahd1 #bbb4 ,megiddo1 battle of1 #afc4 ,metrical ,questions1 vii1 #cb-ec and passim4 ,mispah1 #bib1 #cjh4 ,misraim 7,egypt71 #id1 etc4 ,nabopolassar1 #age4 ,nebuchadrezzar1 #aaj1 #abf1 #age1 #bib1 etc4 ,nebusaradan1 #bce1 #bia1 #bib4 ,ncoh1 #afc1 #age1 #chd4 ,nineveh1 ,fall of1 #afb1 #afc1 #age1 #chc4 ,nineveh1 #age4 ,noph 7,memphis71 #id1 #caa4 ,omnipresence1 the ,divine1 #bef1 #cff4 ,oracles on the ,edge of ,doom1 #fj1 #aie4 ,parable of the ,potter1 #hb1 #ahe4 ,parables1 #ahc4 ,pashhur1 #aia4 ,pathros1 #caa4 ,patience1 the ,divine1 #ahg-ahi1 #bag1 #bcg4 ,peake1 ,prof41 #adf1 #adg1 #ahd1 #bbb1 #bfh1 #bgc1 #bgd1 #bgi1 #bhg1 #bic1 #cab1 #cge4 ,predestination1 #gh1 #ahf1 #cce4 ,prophets4 ,personality of the1 #c2 see also #bde-bff4 ,qnah 7metre71 #cg1 #ci1 #dd1 #bdd1 #bhc1 #bie1 #big1 etc4 ,queen1 or ,host1 of ,heaven1 #aie1 #bcd1 #cac1 #cad4 ,ramah1 #gj1 #bib1 #big1 #cjc4 ,rechabites1 the1 #aic4 ,renan1 #cjh4 ,rothstein1 #bbb1 #bid1 #cab4 ,sacrifice1 #acj1 #aeb1 #aee-aei1 #bii1 #cda4 ,saintsbury1 ,george3 8,history of ,english ,prosody10 #cf4 ,schmidt1 ,professor1 #bd1 #be1 #aaa1 #chb4 ,schweich ,lectures1 #cd4 ,scythians1 the1 #gc1 #hb1 #aaj1 #cha4 edekiah1 #bcb1 and passim to #bhb4 ,shakespeare1 #cf1 #dg4 ,shiloh1 #gb1 #adi1 #agj4 ,skinner1 ,rev4 ,john1 ,d4,d43 his 8,prophecy and ,religion1 ,studies in the ,life of ,jeremiah10 #g1 #ajc1 #aaa1 #abi1 #acc1 #ade1 #adf1 #aff1 #afi1 #aha1 #aij1 #bbb1 #bbg1 #bcg1 #bfh1 #bgi1 #bhd1 #bib1 #cjg1 #cge1 #chc4 ,slavery1 #bce2 proposed emancipation1 #bgc4 ,smith1 ,h4 ,p41 #adg4 ,smith1 ,w4 ,robertson1 #ae1 #aei4 ,snouck ,hurgronje3 8,mekka10 #cg4 ,stade1 ,b41 #bfg4 ,tahpanhes 7,daphne71 #id1 #caj1 #caa4 ,tchekov1 #aih4 ,thackeray1 ,st4 ,john3 his 8,the ,septuagint and ,jewish ,worship10 #ad4 ,thomson1 ,rev4 ,w4 ,r41 #aaa1 #adj1 #adf1 #bfh4 ,torah1 the1 #aec1 etc4 ,urijahu1 #agc4 ,wady ,farah1 #ahd4 ,wellhausen1 #e1 #adf4 ,winckler3 8,a4,t4 ,untersuchungen10 #adb1 #agf1 #chb1 #chc4 ,,footnotes #a ,a4 ,b4 ,davidson4 #b ,a4 ,b4 ,davidson4 8,without ,jeremiah10 says ,wellhausen1 8the ,psalms could not have been composed40 #c ,cp4 e4g4 ,jer4 xi4 #ai1 with ,is4 liii4 #g2 and see ,grotius1 8,annotata ad ,vetus ,testamentum10 on ,is4 lii-liii2 ,cornill1 8,das ,buch ,jeremia erklrt10 pp4 #aa-ab2 ,john ,skinner1 8,prophecy and ,religion10 p4 #cea4 #d ,,ii4 ,chron4 xxxvi4 #ba 7with a reference to ,lev4 xxvi4 #cd1 #ce7 and #bb1 #bc1 the latter repeated in ,ezra i4 #a-b4 ,duhm1 indeed1 but on insufficient grounds1 thinks the former citation1 because of its reference to ,leviticus1 cannot be from our ,book of ,jeremiah but is from a ,midrash unknown to us2 yet the chronicler's was the very spirit to associate a ,levitical provision with ,jer4 xxix4 #aj2 cp4 xxv4 #i-ab4 ,the other quotation ,duhm refers to some part of ,is4 xl4 ff4 7xliv4 #bh87 as though this had at one time been attributed to ,jeremiah4 #e ,in the ,apocrypha proper1 7#a7 8,baruch0 to which is attached 7#b7 8,the ,epistle of ,jeremy0 warning the ,jews of ,babylon in general and conventional terms against idolatry4 ,apocalyptic writings1 7#c7 8,apocalypse of ,baruch10 7#d7 7#e7 and 7#f7 three other 8,apocalypses of ,baruch10 7#g7 8,the ,rest of the ,words of ,baruch10 or 8,paralipomena ,jeremi10 7#h7 8,prophecy of ,jeremiah40 ,for particulars of these see 8,encyclopdia ,biblica10 arts4 8,apocalyptic ,literature0 7,r4 ,h4 ,charles71 and 8,apocrypha0 7,m4 ,r4 ,james74 #f ,following ,hitzig1 ,c4 ,j4 ,ball 78,the ,prophecies of ,jeremiah0 in 8,the ,expositor's ,bible10 #ahij1 pp4 #aj ff47 refers ,pss4 xxiii1 xxvi-xxviii to ,jeremiah1 and it is possible that in particular the personal experiences in ,ps4 xxvii are reflections of those of the prophet4 ,but such experiences were so common in the history of the prophets and saints of ,israel as to render the reference precarious4 #g ,it has been calculated that the ,greek has #bgjj words fewer than the ,hebrew1 i4e4 about #abj verses or from four to five average chapters4 #h ,e4g4 ii4 #ai1 #bi2 iii4 #a2 v4 #d;a2 viii4 #af1 #ba2 xxxii4 #ab1 etc4 #i n'um ,yahweh3 utterance or oracle of ,jehovah4 #aj ,e4g4 the words at his mouth1 xxxvi4 #ag2 xxxviii4 #af4 #aa ,e4g4 ,jerusalem in viii4 #e1 and in xxxvi4 #bb the ninth month4 #ab ,e4g4 ii4 #a-b2 xxv4 #a;b2 xxvii4 #a2 xlvii4 #a2 l4 #a4 #ac ,e4g4 viii4 #aj;ab-#ab2 x4 #f-h2 xi4 #g1 #h2 xvii4 #a-d 7perhaps omitted by the ,greek1 because partly given already in xv4 #ac1 #ad72 xxv4 #ah and a curse as at this day2 xxvii4 #a1 #g1 #ab;b1 #ac1 #ad;a1 #ag1 #ah;b1 clauses in #ai1 #bj1 the whole of #ba1 and #bb;b2 xxix4 #ad1 #af-bj2 xxx4 #aj1 #aa 7 xlvi4 #bg f471 #ae;a1 #bb2 xxxiii4 #ad-bf2 xxxix4 #d-ac2 xvi4 #bf2 xlvii4 #a 7except to the ,philistines72 xlviii4 #de-dg2 lii4 #bh-cj4 #ad ,e4g4 i4 #aj1 #ag1 #ah2 ii4 #ag1 #ai2 vii4 #bh;b2 xii4 #c2 xiv4 #d1 etc4 #ae ,verse #ad is not found in the ,greek4 #af ,in his ,schweich ,lectures on 8,the ,septuagint and ,jewish ,worship0 7for the ,british ,academy1 #aiba7 ,mr4 ,st4 ,john ,thackeray presents clear evidence from the different vocabularies in the ,greek ,version that this ,version was the work of two translators1 the division between whom is at ,ch4 xxix4 verse #g4 ,the dividing line cuts across the ,greek arrangement of the chapters1 which sets the ,oracles on ,foreign ,nations in the centre of the ,book4 ,this shows that it was not the translators who placed them there1 but that the translators found the arrangement in the ,hebrew ,,ms4 from which they translated4 ,further1 he thinks that the division of the ,book into two parts was not made by the translators1 but already existed in their ,hebrew exemplar4 ,for this the ,hebrew text gives two evidences3 7#a7 the titles of the ,oracles1 7#b7 the colophons appended to two of them4 ,the titles are some long1 some short4 ,in the ,hebrew order the ,oracles with long titles are mixed up with those with short1 but in the ,greek order the six with long titles come together first and are followed by the five with short4 ,there are two colophons--one to the ,moab ,oracle1 the other to the ,babylon ,oracle2 but the ,moab ,oracle stands last in the ,greek order and the ,babylon ,oracle last in the ,hebrew order4 ,from all this two conclusions are drawn3 7#a7 when the titles were inserted the chapters were arranged as in the ,greek1 which1 therefore1 was the original arrangement2 7#b7 they afford ,hebrew evidence for a break or interruption in the middle of the ,oracles--the longer titles cease about the end of ,part ,i of the ,greek ,version1 which therefore follows a division of the ,book into two parts that already existed in the ,hebrew original from which it was made4 ,the ,hebrew editor who amplified the titles had apparently only ,part ,i before him4 #ag ,e4g4 ,graf 78,der ,prophet ,j4 erklrt10 #ahfb71 ,george ,douglas 78,the ,book of ,jeremiah10 #aijc7 for the ,hebrew2 and ,workman 78,the ,text of ,jeremiah10 #ahhh7 for the ,greek4 ,for a judicial comparison of the two editions1 resulting much in favour of the ,greek1 see ,w4 ,r4 ,smith1 8,the ,o4,t4 in the ,jewish ,church10 ,lectures ,,iv and ,v4 #ah 8,the ,hebrew is qualitatively superior to the ,greek1 but quantitatively the ,greek is nearer the original4 ,this judgment is general1 admitting many exceptions1 and each passage has to be considered by itself40--,a4 ,b4 ,davidson4 ,cp4 ,duhm1 8,das ,buch ,jer410 p4 xxii4 #ai ,oracles on the ,king1 xxii4 #a-xxiii4 #h and on the ,prophets1 xxiii4 #i-dj4 #bj ,the ,oracles under ,jehoiakim1 chs4 vii-x1 before those on the enforcement of ,deuteronomy under ,josiah xi4 #f-h4 #ba ,the ,oracle for ,baruch1 dated in the fourth year of ,jehoiakim1 #fjd ,b4,c41 is not given till ch4 xlv1 a long way off from ch4 xxxvi to which it belongs by date and subject1 and only after chs4 xl-xliv1 the story of ,jeremiah's life after the fall of ,jerusalem4 #bb ,so far as it is common to the ,hebrew and the ,greek4 #bc ,the end of is wanting in the ,greek4 #bd ,chs4 xl-xliv4 ,and between them the title and its supplement ignore the ,oracles which ,jeremiah uttered under ,josiah after the thirteenth year of the ,king1 perhaps iii4 #f-ah1 and certainly xi4 #a-e1 #f-h4 #be ,ch4 lii4 #bf ,e4g4 iii4 #f-ah2 ix4 #bc-bf with x4 #a-af2 xxi4 #aa-ab with 7probably7 #ac-ad4 #bg ,e4g4 ii4 #bf2 v4 #ac2 x4 #aa1 the last written in ,aramaic4 #bh ,cp4 xxiii4 #g1 #h with xvi4 #ad1 #ae1 and xxx4 #bc1 #bd with xxiii4 #ai1 #bj4 #bi x4 #a-af2 xvii4 #ai-bg 7on the ,sabbath--unlike ,jeremiah1 who did not lay stress on single laws but very like post-exilic teaching1 e4g4 ,neh4 xiii and ,is4 lviii71 possibly xxiii4 #a-h2 xxv4 #ab-ad 7the obviously late as at this day in verse #ah and verse #bf;b are omitted by the ,greek74 #cj ,parts of xxx and xxxi1 especially xxxi4 #g-ad1 the spirit of which is so much that of the ,eve of the ,return from ,exile and the style so akin to that of the ,great ,prophet of that ,eve that some take it as dependent on his prophecies4 #ca xlvi-li1 especially on ,moab1 xlviii4 #dj-dg1 which is based on the earlier prophecy1 ,is4 xv-xvi2 on ,edom1 xlix4 #g-bb1 based on ,obadiah2 ,elam1 xlix4 #cd-ci2 and the long prophecy on ,babylon1 l4 #a-eh1 which reflects like ,is4 xl4 ff4 the historical situation just before the ,medes overthrew ,babylon1 and expresses an attitude towards the latter very different from ,jeremiah's own fifty years earlier4 ,the compiler1 or an editor of the ,book1 has 7li4 #fj7 erred in attributing this long prophecy to ,jeremiah4 ,in all these there may be genuine nuclei4 #cb ,ch4 lii4 #cc ,so ,greek1 ,hebrew has ,israel4 #cd ,n4 ,schmidt in the 8,encyclopdia ,biblica40 #ce ,professor ,schmidt1 in the article already quoted1 takes this to mean only that ,jeremiah 8retouched under fresh provocation0 the contents of the first ,roll4 ,this interpretation would imply that words means nouns1 verbs1 adjectives and so forth1 whereas words can only carry the same sense as it carries in the rest of the ,book1 viz4 whole ,oracles or ,discourses4 ,note the phrase words like them1 viz4 like the words or ,oracles on the first ,roll4 #cf ,cp4 ,a4 ,b4 ,davidson1 8,jeremiah10 in ,hastings1 8,b4,d410 ii4 #ebb4 #cg ,schmidt1 op4 cit4 #ch xlv4 #e4 #ci ,chs4 i41 xi41 #a-h1 #ah-xii4 #f2 xiii4 #a-ag2 xviii4 #a-ab4 #dj ,chs4 xxiv1 xxviii1 xxxii 7except for the introductory verses #a-e74 #da 8,de ,sacra ,psi ,hebrorum10 #agec4 #db ,writing of the early ,german lyric1 ,dr4 ,john ,lees says in his volume on 8,the ,german ,lyric0 7,london1 ,dent ,sons1 #aiad73 8,in regard to the length of the lines1 their number1 and the arrangement of the rhymes1 the poet has absolute freedom in all three classes20 and again of the ,volkslied 8there is no mechanical counting of syllables2 the variation in the number of accented and unaccented syllables is the secret of the verse40 ,and he quotes from ,herder on the ,volkslieder3 8songs of the people 444 songs which often do not scan and are badly rhymed40 #dc ,dalman1 8,palstinischer ,diwan40 #dd ,saintsbury1 8,history of ,english ,prosody10 vol4 ii4 #ec1 #ed4 #de ,snouck ,hurgronje1 8,mekka10 vol4 ii4 #fb4 #df 8,kurzer ,hand-,commentar10 #aija2 and 8,das ,buch ,jeremia10 a translation1 #aijc4 #dg 8,das ,buch ,jeremia10 #aije1 p4 xlvi4 #dh ,e4g4 ,sievers1 8,metrische ,studien10 in the 8,transactions of ,saxon ,society of the ,sciences10 vol4 xxi 7which relies too much on the ,massoretic or ,canonical text72 ,erbt1 8,jeremia u4 seine ,zeit10 p4 #bih2 ,giesebrecht1 8,jeremia's ,metrik10 iii4 ff42 ,karl ,budde's relevant pages in his 8,geschichte der althebrischen ,litteratur10 #aijf reached me after ,i had expressed the views ,i have given above4 ,they agree in the main with these views4 #di ,certainly the evidence of both the ,hebrew text and the ,versions are against it1 and the sense supports the text4 ,more than once when sharp questions or challenges are thrown out1 we have very appropriately two parallel lines of two accents each instead of the usual ,qnah couplet of three and two3 e4g4 ii4 #ad and iii4 #e4 ,see below1 pp4 #df ff4 ,compare the variety of metres1 which ,schiller employs to such good effect in his 8,song of the ,bell0--a variety in beautiful harmony with that of the different aspects of life on which he touches2 and see above1 p4 #cf1 on the irregularity of metre in ,heine's ,nordseebilder4 #ej ,ch4 xxix4 #ea ,op4 cit41 p4 xii4 #eb ,chs4 i1 xi and xxxi4 #ec 8,it is an understatement of the case to say that the folk-song has been a source of inspiration4 ,in the very greatest lyricists we simply find the folk-song in a new shape3 it has become more polished and artistic1 and it has been made the instrument of personal lyrical utterance40--,john ,lees1 ,m4,a41 ,d4,litt41 8,the ,german ,lyric0 7,london1 etc41 ,dent ,sons1 #aiad74 #ed ,and in particular sins against the fundamental principle of parallelism1 e4g4 in iv4 #c1 where even with the help of part of an obvious title to the ,oracle he gets only three lines and supposes the fourth to be lost2 and though the sense-parallelism is generally within a couplet he divides it between the last line of his first couplet and the first of his second4 ,again1 if we keep in mind what is said above 7p4 #ce7 of the recurrence in ,hebrew poems of longer1 heavier lines at intervals--especially at the end of a strophe or a poem1 we must feel a number of ,duhm's emendations to be not only unnecessary but harmful to the effectiveness of the verse4 #ee ,pointing with ,patah-,sheva for ,tsere4 #ef ,pointing with ,chireq-,patah-,sheva-,sheva4 #eg ,hebrew adds poor4 #eh ,so ,duhm after the ,greek2 see p4 #ig1 n4 #c4 #ei ,after the ,greek4 #fj ,by differently arranging the ,hebrew consonants1 see p4 #aag4 ,other arrangements are possible4 ,greek omits destined to ruin4 #fa ,hebrew and ,greek have this couplet in the reverse order4 #fb ii4 #ad-ag4 #fc xxxi4 #ae4 #fd ,while ,duhm and ,giesebrecht reduce the text to the exact ,qnah form1 ,erbt correctly reads it as varied by lines of four accents4 #fe ,after ,duhm who reads 7cp4 viii4 #f7 and transfers it to the following line4 #ff ,see below1 p4 #ib4 #fg ,so ,greek4 #fh ,so ,greek2 ,hebrew adds their ,god4 #fi ,hebrew adds and is cut off4 #gj ,the ,hebrew makm must here as elsewhere be given as equivalent to the ,arabic makm 7literally like the ,hebrew standing-place but7 generally sacred site4 #ga ,after ,duhm4 #gb ,hebrew adds the ,lord our ,god2 not in the ,greek4 #gc ,so ,greek and ,vulg42 ,hebrew has he shall not see4 #gd xiii4 #ab-ad4 ,the above rendering follows the ,greek version4 #ge ,a ,hebrew idiom1 literally don't1 knowing1 we know8 #gf ,this couplet is wanting in the ,greek4 #gg ,so rightly ,duhm after the ,greek4 #gh ,hebrew uselessly adds in the land4 #gi ,so ,duhm1 reading gr for gr4 #hj ,hebrew adds1 and will make visitation on their sins1 which the ,greek omits4 #ha ix4 #ag f41 #ba f42 see also pp4 #bje1 #bjf4 #hb xiii4 #ae-af4 #hc ,so the ,greek4 #hd iv4 #aa-ac1 #ae-ag4 ,the text and so the metre of #af1 #ag are uncertain4 ,for besiegers ,duhm proposes by the change of one letter to read panthers1 to which in v4 #f ,jeremiah likens the same foes4 ,skinner1 leopards4 ,see below1 p4 #aad4 #he ,lit4 ,because of the feebleness of their hands4 #hf xv4 #e-i4 #hg ,greek2 in both cases ,hebrew adds the ,lord4 #hh ,see previous note4 #hi ,this verse is uncertain2 for ,hebrew read with the ,greek 4 ,for another arrangement see above1 p4 #ea4 #ij ,so ,greek2 ,hebrew omits sound4 #ia ,this line is uncertain4 #ib ,greek4 #ic ,so ,greek2 ,hebrew omits this line4 #id 7#a7 ,jeremiah of ,libnah1 father of ,hamutal1 ,,ii4 ,kings xxiii4 #ca2 xxiv4 #ah2 7#b7 ,jeremiah1 father of ,jaazaniah1 the ,rechabite1 ,jer4 xxxv4 #c2 7#c7 ,jeremiah the prophet1 son of ,hiliah4 #ie ,not to be confounded with the temple-priest1 ,hiliah1 who was concerned with the finding of the ,law4 #if ,i4 ,kings ii4 #bf f4 #ig ,duhm1 p4 #c4 #ih ,jer4 i4 #e4 #ii ii4 #bc1 #bd2 iv4 #aa2 v4 #f2 viii4 #g1 #bb4 #ajj ,gen4 xlix4 #bg4 #aja iv4 #c4 #ajb ,is4 x4 #bh-cb4 #ajc xxxi4 #ae4 #ajd ,hab4 iii4 #g4 #aje ,see below on ch4 iii4 #ajf vii4 #ab-ae2 xxvi4 #f4 #ajg iv4 #ae4 #ajh i4 #ajc-ajg 7after ,hecatus74 #aji ,see ,appendix ,i--,medes and ,scythians4 #aaj 8,jerusalem10 ii4 #bfc1 #bfd4 #aaa ,micah vi4 #h4 #aab xxii4 #ae1 #af4 #aac 8,jerusalem10 ii4 #aad ,though not in every case1 for ,anathoth itself is but the plural of the ,syrian goddess ,anath1 as ,ashtaroth is the plural of ,astart or ,astarte4 #aae ii4 #bh2 xi4 #ac4 #aaf iii4 #b4 #aag i4 #e4 #aah ,luke i4 #gf4 #aai ,see ,lecture vii4 #abj ii4 #ah4 #aba ,see his seven ,scythian songs below1 pp4 #aaj ff4 #abb xviii4 #abc xxxvi4 #b1 a clause which ,duhm merely on the grounds of his theory is obliged to regard as a later intrusion1 though it bears no marks of being such4 #abd ,so ,cornill after the ,greek4 #abe xx4 #g4 #abf ,hebrew adds the redundant to pull down2 ,greek omits4 #abg ,duhm2 see above1 p4 #dj4 #abh ,this is clear from other passages1 v4 #ad2 xviii4 #g-aj1 etc4 #abi ,ball happily translates wake-tree4 #acj ,the text reads1 its face is from the face of northwards1 which some would emend to its face is turned northwards1 i4e4 the side on which it is blown upon and made to boil4 ,boiling or bubbling1 lit4 blown upon1 fanned4 #aca ,after the ,greek2 ,hebrew has be opened4 #acb ,hebrew has races and kingdoms and adds ,rede of the ,lord4 #acc ,read with points ,chireq and ,qamets4 #acd ,hebrew adds to them2 ,greek omits4 #ace ,the last three couplets are uncertain4 ,in v4 #ah ,hebrew adds a basalt pillar and1 after bronze1 against all the land4 #acf xxxvi4 #cb2 see pp4 #bb ff4 #acg ,p4 #cg4 #ach ,see pp4 #dj f41 #gb4 #aci ,see p4 #da4 #adj ,so simply the ,greek2 the ,hebrew1 ,and the word of the ,lord came unto me saying1 ,go and proclaim in the ears of ,jerusalem saying1 not only betrays an editorial redundancy1 but what follows is addressed not to ,jerusalem but to all ,israel4 ,here if anywhere the ,greek has the original4 ,jeremiah begins thus to dictate to ,baruch4 #ada ,hebrew kebel breath4 #adb ,egypt4 #adc ,so ,greek4 #add ,lit4 shepherds4 #ade ,hebrew adds ,rede of the ,lord4 #adf ,some ,hebrew ,,mss4 and ,vulgate4 #adg ,cyprus ,kittim and ,kedr1 an ,arab tribe1 are the extremes of the world then known to the ,jews4 #adh ,so ,greek4 #adi ,hebrew marg4 my4 #aej ,or heave 7,ball71 lit4 be aghast but the ,hebrew is alliterative1 shomm shamam4 #aea ,this couplet is after the ,greek1 ,hebrew has browsed on thy skull for forced4 ,noph ,memphis1 ,egypt's capital2 ,tapanes ,daphne on the ,egyptian road to ,palestine4 ,either #ad-ai or more probably #af alone is one of ,jeremiah's additions to his earlier ,oracles after ,egypt's invasion of ,palestine in #fjh4 #aeb ,so ,greek2 ,hebrew adds1 when he led thee by the way4 #aec ,miraim ,egypt4 #aed ,these last four lines follow the ,greek4 #aee ,so ,duhm by a better division of words4 #aef ,so the ,greek4 #aeg ,the ,hebrew al seems to combine here its two meanings of swift and trifling4 #aeh ,hebrew no' ash2 with ,greek delete the second no4 #aei ,so ,greek4 #afj ,the insertion 7by a copyist87 of this formula rather weakens the connection4 #afa ,so some ,versions4 #afb ,greek adds and as the number of streets in ,jerusalem they burn to ,baal2 cp4 xi4 #ac4 #afc ,so ,greek4 #afd ,greek4 #afe ,greek4 #aff ,greek the4 #afg ,prose1 probably a later insertion when the prophet dictated his ,oracles4 ,see pp4 #dg f4 #afh ,the text of this quatrain is corrupt1 the rendering above makes use of the versions4 #afi ,the text of this verse too is uncertain4 ,for skirts ,greek has hands2 to innocent ,hebrew adds needy4 ,some read the second couplet though thou did'st not catch them breaking in1 but because of all these1 i4e4 thy sins against ,me1 thou did'st murder them4 #agj ,or balked4 #aga ,greek4 #agb ,greek2 ,hebrew land4 #agc ,so ,duhm after the ,greek4 ,hebrew is impossible4 #agd ,the two ,hebrew verbs in this couplet1 naar and shamar mean to keep 7or maintain7 and to watch2 they are usually transitive and 7in the sense here intended7 are followed by a noun1 anger or wrath1 which ,english versions supply here4 ,but its absence from both the ,hebrew and ,greek texts leads us to take the verbs as intransitive1 as is the case with naar in ,new-,hebrew4 #age ,verses #f-ah1 in prose break the connection both of style and meaning between #e and #ai and cannot in whole be ,jeremiah's or from his period4 ,this is especially true of #af-ah which assume the destruction of the ,ark and the ,exile of ,judah as well as of ,israel as already actual4 ,but the passage probably contains genuine fragments from ,jeremiah4 #agf ,so ,greek4 #agg ,so one ,hebrew ,,ms4 and ,syriac4 #agh ,hebrew adds her sister4 #agi ,hebrew adds ,rede of the ,lord4 #ahj ,so ,greek4 #aha ,lit4 make not ,my face to fall4 #ahb ,greek2 ,hebrew ye have4 #ahc ,that is ,lord and ,husband4 #ahd ,so ,greek4 #ahe ,hebrew adds to the ,name of the ,lord to ,jerusalem4 #ahf ,so ,greek2 ,hebrew your2 after ,north ,greek has and from all lands4 #ahg ,in antithesis to verse #e of which it is the immediate sequel both in sense and metre4 #ahh ,feminine1 i4e4 ,judah was a daughter1 and a son's portion was designed for her4 #ahi ,so finely ,ball4 #aij ,the riotous festivals on the high-places4 #aia ,hebrew adds the ,lord4 #aib ,this couplet after the ,greek4 #aic ,i agree with ,cornill and ,skinner that these two verses are a later addition4 ,the answer to the people's confession comes in verses #c and #d4 #aid ,so some ,hebrew ,,mss4 and versions4 #aie ,hebrew nir lake nr2 also in ,english the noun and verb are the same--to fallow or fallow up to break or plough up4 #aif ,so ,greek and other versions4 #aig iii4 #bb;b1 #be2 ,hos4 v4 #ae-vi4 #c4 #aih ,so ,greek4 #aii iv4 #c1 #d4 #bjj xiii4 #bc4 #bja xvii4 #i1 #aj4 #bjb ,see further1 ,lecture viii4 #bjc ,see above1 p4 #gc4 #bjd xxxvi4 #cb4 #bje ,on the subject of this paragraph see the appendix on 8,the ,medes and ,scythians40 ,the following may be consulted3 ,n4 ,schmidt in 8,enc4 ,bibl40 on 8,jeremiah0 and 8,scythians20 ,driver1 8,the ,book of the ,prophet ,jeremiah10 p4 #ba2 ,j4 ,r4 ,gillies1 8,jeremiah1 the ,man and ,his ,message10 pp4 #fc ff41 who thinks that the ,scythians did invade ,judah1 and ,w4 ,r4 ,thomson1 8,the ,burden of the ,lord10 pp4 #df ff41 who thinks they did not4 ,a thorough study of the question will be found in ,skinner's 8,prophecy and ,religion1 ,studies in the ,life of ,jeremiah10 ch4 iii4 ,the case against the ,scythians being the enemy from the ,north that ,jeremiah describes is best presented by ,j4 ,f4 ,mc,curdy in 8,history1 ,prophecy1 and the ,monuments10 vol4 ii4 pp4 #cie ff4 #bjf ,amos iii4 #f2 ,joel ii4 #a4 #bjg ,greek the earth4 #bjh ,the text adds from evil1 one wonders if ,jerusalem was added in #fjd2 without it the line is regular4 #bji ,after the ,greek4 #baj ,so ,syr41 transferred from previous couplet4 #baa ,metre and meaning of #af and #ag uncertain4 ,for beleaguerers 787 ,duhm reads panthers or leopards2 cp4 v4 #f4 #bab ,duhm after ,greek renders1 ,my soul is in storm1 my heart throbs4 #bac ,greek2 ,hebrew know4 #bad ,greek2 ,hebrew adds lo6 #bae ,probably a later addition4 #baf ,the order of verbs in this couplet is that of the ,greek4 #bag ,so ,greek2 ,hebrew city1 a change possibly made after the fall of ,jerusalem4 #bah ,so ,greek4 #bai ,text uncertain2 this reading is derived by differently dividing the consonants--bah no' ash for bahen 'sh4 #bbj ,p4 #acd4 #bba ,greek2 ,hebrew her4 ,the clause seems an addition4 #bbb ,hebrew adds therefore4 #bbc ,so ,duhm after the ,greek2 p4 #dh1 n4 #b4 #bbd ,so ,greek4 #bbe ,the text is uncertain1 the ,hebrew margin and versions pointing to an untranslatable original4 #bbf ,the text has make not1 but this is inconsistent with the context1 and not seems a later addition4 #bbg ,hebrew adds1 thus be it done them2 ,greek omits4 #bbh ,hebrew has ,god after ,lord and your for their4 #bbi ,this couplet the ,greek lacks4 #bcj ,eloquent of death3 ,ps4 v4 #i4 #bca ,for these four lines the ,greek has only ,a nation thou hearest not its tongue1 all of them mighty4 #bcb ,hebrew adds saying4 #bcc ,lit4 with no heart1 the seat not only of feeling1 but of the practical intelligence4 #bcd ,something like this has obviously slipped from the text4 #bce ,text uncertain4 #bcf ,either with the spoils or with the victims thereof4 #bcg ,the text of the whole verse is uncertain4 ,greek omits things of evil and to prosper4 #bch ,or take vengeance ,myself4 #bci ,hebrew bitk'a ti'2 a play upon words4 #bdj ,after the ,greek2 the ,hebrew text is corrupt4 #bda ,transferred from the next line to suit the metre4 #bdb ,the ,hebrew idiom for starting a campaign or a siege1 which was formally sanctioned by a religious rite4 #bdc ,so some ,,mss4 #bdd ,so ,greek3 ,hebrew1 ,she is a city to be visited4 #bde ,hebrew adds of ,hosts4 #bdf ,so ,greek4 #bdg ,it is difficult to discriminate in these lines between the ,lord and the ,prophet as speakers4 ,if the ,greek ,i will pour is correct1 the ,prophet still speaks1 otherwise the ,lord who began in verse #i and was followed by the ,prophet in #aj and #aa;a1 resumes in #aa;b4 #bdh ,so ,greek4 #bdi ,ibid4 #bej ,hans ,schmidt1 quoted by ,dr4 ,skinner1 does so1 and takes it as the earliest evidence of ,jeremiah's opposition to ,deuteronomy1 and ,dr4 ,skinner in his ,chapter 8,in the ,wake of the ,reform10 says it is almost certainly post-deuteronomic4 ,i am not convinced4 ,see below1 p4 #acc4 #bea ,greek mark ye4 #beb ,see above1 p4 #aab4 #bec ,text both of ,greek and ,hebrew uncertain2 the above is adapted from the ,greek4 #bed ,greek has backslidings4 #bee ,hebrew adds great1 which ,greek omits4 #bef ,greek you4 #beg ,see above1 pp4 #gi ff4 #beh ,hebrew adds1 a fortress1 obviously borrowed by some scribe from other appointments by ,god of ,jeremiah1 e4g4 i4 #ah4 ,for ways in next line ,duhm by change of a letter reads value4 #bei ,greek and ,targ4 read their evil for the evil ones of the ,hebrew4 #bfj ,the general meaning is clear1 the details obscure for the text is uncertain4 ,driver's note is the most instructive4 ,in refining1 the silver was mixed with lead and the mass1 fused in the furnace1 had a current of air turned upon it2 the lead oxidising acted as a flux1 carrying off the alloy or dross4 ,but in ,israel's case the dross is too closely mixed with the silver1 so that though the bellows blow and the lead is oxidised1 the dross is not drawn and the silver remains impure4 #bfa ,as ,erbt 78,jeremia u4 seine ,zeit07 and ,skinner 7p4 #afj7 do4 #bfb v4 #a-h1 see p4 #aai4 #bfc ,so ,duhm4 #bfd ,deut4 xviii4 #f1 ,,ii ,kings xxiii4 #h1 #i4 #bfe ,on this and the following paragraphs see the writer's 8,deuteronomy0 in the ,cambridge ,bible for ,schools4 #bff ,deut4 iv4 #ai4 #bfg ,see above1 pp4 #gf1 #ajd ff4 #bfh ,see p4 #h4 #bfi ,cp4 ,thomson1 op4 cit41 p4 #fa4 #bgj xxxi4 #f4 #bga ,these two extremes are represented by ,winckler and ,duhm respectively4 #bgb ,sing4 as partly in ,greek and wholly in ,syriac4 #bgc ,with ,greek omit them of the ,hebrew text4 #bgd ,hebrew adds all4 #bge ,as above1 ,greek omits all of the ,hebrew verses #g1 #h except the last clause which follows naturally on verse #f4 #bgf ,see above1 pp4 #dj ff4 #bgg ,this consideration seems to dispose of ,knig's claim that ,jeremiah here maintains the ,sinai-,covenant 7with the ,decalogue7 in opposition to the ,moab-,covenant set forth in ,deuteronomy4 ,how could the former be defined in the time of ,josiah as this ,covenant or described in ,deuteronomic phrases8 ,see also ,g4 ,douglas1 8,book of ,jeremiah10 p4 #aef4 #bgh ,dr4 ,skinner 7op4 cit41 p4 #ajj7 thinks that 8the accumulation of distinctively ,deuteronomic phrases and ideas in verses #d1 #e implies a dependence on that book which savours strongly of editorial workmanship40 ,but if this ,covenant be the ,deuteronomic1 as he admits1 what more natural than to state it in ,deuteronomic terms1 expressive as these are only of its spiritual essence8 ,i would also refer to what ,i have said on p4 #da as to the effect on the ,prophet of the new and haunting style of ,deuteronomy4 #bgi ,dr4 ,skinner's authoritative support to the substance of the thesis maintained above is very welcome1 strengthened as it is by the point which he makes in the first of the following sentences3 8,the deliberate invention of an incident1 which had no point of contact in the authentic record of his life1 is a procedure of which no assured parallel is found in the book4 ,we must at least believe that a trustworthy tradition lies behind the passage in ch4 xi2 and the conclusion to which it naturally points is that ,jeremiah was at first strongly in favour of the law of ,deuteronomy1 and lent his moral support to the reformation of ,josiah0 7pp4 #ajb-c74 ,wellhausen1 8,isr4 u4 ,jdische ,gesch40 7#ahid1 p4 #ig73 8,an der ,einfhrung des ,deuteronomiums hatte er mitgewirkt1 zeitlebens eiferte er gegen die illegitimen ,altre in den ,stdten ,judas4444 ,aber mit den ,wirkungen der ,reformation war er keineswegs zufrieden40 ,so too ,j4 ,r4 ,gillies1 8,jeremiah10 p4 #aac1 and ,w4 ,r4 ,thomson1 8,the ,burden of the ,lord10 p4 #ff2 and virtually so1 ,peake1 i4 #aa-ad4 #bhj ,so1 too1 ,h4 ,p4 ,smith1 8,o4,t4 ,history10 p4 #bgh1 n4 #b2 while ,duhm1 ,giesebrecht1 ,davidson1 ,driver1 ,gillies1 ,peake and ,skinner all take vii4 #a-ae and xxvi4 to refer to the same occasion early in ,jehoiakim's reign4 ,duhm and ,skinner remark on an apparently incoherent association of ,place 7 ,holy ,place7 and ,land in vii4 #c-g4 ,the clause about the ,land may be a later addition4 ,yet in verses #ac-ae 7the substance of which ,skinner admits to be genuine7 the destruction of the ,holy ,place and ejection of the people from the ,land are both threatened4 #bha ,so simply the ,greek2 the longer ,hebrew title1 verses #a1 #b may be an expansion by an editor1 who took vii4 #a-ae as reporting the same speech as xxvi4 #a ff4 ,in verse #c ,hebrew reads ,lord of ,hosts4 #bhb ,greek adds for they will be absolutely of no avail to you4 #bhc ,so ,syriac4 #bhd ,or there they are6--plural because of the complex of buildings4 #bhe ,it is doubtful whether this verb1 meaning in earlier ,hebrew to make any burnt offering was already confined to its later meaning1 to burn incense4 #bhf ,so ,greek4 #bhg ,much within these brackets is lacking in the ,greek4 #bhh ,hebrew all4 #bhi ,verses #i1 #be1 #bi1 etc4 #bij ,see above1 p4 #gb4 #bia ,vows1 so ,greek1 but ,lucian fat pieces 7,lev4 vi4 #e72 by these thou escape1 so ,greek1 ,hebrew then mightest thou rejoice4 #bib ii4 #h1 see above1 p4 #ib4 #bic ,cp4 the similar charge of ,christ against the scribes4 #bid xi4 #a ff42 so ,giesebrecht on viii4 #h4 #bie ,marti1 ,gesch4 der ,isr4 ,religion1 #aed1 #aff2 ,duhm1 and especially ,cornill1 in loco4 #bif ,hebrew adds of ,hosts1 the ,god of ,israel4 #big ,the former were not1 the latter were in part1 eaten by the worshipper2 but it does not matter if now he eats them all alike6 #bih xi4 #a ff43 above1 pp4 #adc ff4 #bii ,sam4 xv4 #bb1 ,hos4 vi4 #f4 ,those who take the passage relatively also quote ,paul's words that ,christ sent him not to baptize but to preach the gospel1 #a ,cor4 i4 #ag4 #cjj ,amos v4 #be2 ,micah vi4 #f-h2 ,ps4 l4 #ac1 #ad2 li4 #af1 #ag4 #cja ,see ,robertson ,smith1 8,the ,o4,t4 in the ,jewish ,church10 #bnd ed41 #bjc1 #bie 7#ahib71 and ,edghill1 8,the ,evidential ,value of ,prophecy0 7#aijd71 #bgd1 one of the best works on the ,o4,t4 in our time4 #cjb ,,ii4 ,chron4 xxxv4 #bj1 when he had set the ,temple again in order4 #cjc ,or ,nechoh or ,neco as in our own versions3 ,heb4 or 4 #cjd 8,h4 ,g4 ,h4 ,l410 p4 #aea4 #cje ,,ii4 ,chron4 xxxv4 #ba4 ,this may be only the reflection of later ,jewish piety on so perplexing a disaster2 but it rings like fact4 #cjf ,,ii4 ,king xxiii4 #bi1 as soon as he saw him4 ,for other records of ,ncoh's northward march see ,appendix ,,ii4 #cjg ,the idea that ,josiah fought ,ncoh1 as an ,assyrian vassal 7,benzinger on ,,ii4 ,kings xxiii4 #bh-cj7 is1 of course1 quite improbable1 even if ,nineveh did not fall till #fjf4 ,but if the latest datum is correct that ,nineveh fell in #fab 7see ,appendix ,i7 it is utterly groundless4 #cjh ,see above1 p4 #adi4 #cji xxvi4 #b1 xxxvi4 #i4 #caj ,whether the sacrifices of children in ,hinnom had been resumed1 vii4 #ca ff41 is uncertain2 yet this passage may well belong to ,jehoiakim's reign4 #caa ,greek omits and renders the following ,i and my by thou and his4 #cab ,using the ,greek1 ,duhm1 ,cornill and ,skinner render this quatrain thus3-- ,did not thy father eat and drink1 ,and do himself well8 ,yet he practised justice and right1 ,judged the cause of the needy and poor4 #cac ii4 #h1 #ca1 v4 #cj1 #ca1 vi4 #ac1 #ad1 #ai1 etc42 see pp4 #ajf1 #aed1 etc4 #cad xx4 #aj4 #cae ,see above1 pp4 #adg ff4 #caf ,many take the conditional clauses in vii and xxvi to be later insertions 7e4g4 ,skinner1 #afi f474 ,but it was natural to the malice of his foes to distort ,jeremiah's conditional1 into an absolute1 threat1 and in xxvi4 #ac he corrects them4 ,my translation follows the ,greek version1 and omits the ,hebrew additions which are found in our ,english versions4 #cag ,both text and versions add here and all the people2 but this may be the careless insertion of a copyist1 for in what follows the people are with ,jeremiah4 #cah ,so #cd ,,mss41 and ,syr4 ,vulg4 and ,targ4 #cai ,hebrew adds against this city and4 #cbj ,hebrew adds and all his mighty men4 #cba ,so ,greek2 ,hebrew the king sought4 #cbb ,hebrew adds a name 7,el-nathan1 son of ,ackbor7 and repeats4 #cbc ,,ii4 ,kings xxii4 #ab ff42 ,jer4 xxxix4 #ad1 xl4 #e1 #f4 #cbd ,the designations of the title differ2 what is stated above was probably the fact4 #cbe ,see ,appendix ,i4 #cbf ,as vividly described1 or predicted1 by ,nahum2 see the writer's 8,twelve ,prophets10 vol4 ii42 on the date see ,appendix ,i4 #cbg ,,ii4 ,kings xxiv4 #a-af4 ,the chronology of the end of ,jehoiakim's reign is uncertain4 ,most have held that the three years of his tribute were his last years1 #fjj-eih4 ,but ,winckler 78,a4,t4 ,untersuchungen10 #ha ff47 gives good reasons for preferring #fje-c4 #cbh ,see above1 pp4 #bb ff4 ,our versions render the ,hebrew correctly1 but the following emendations may be made from the ,greek3 ,verse #a1 for this word 444 from the ,lord read the word of the ,lord came unto me2 #b1 for ,israel read ,jerusalem2 #bb1 omit in the ninth month1 unnecessary after #i2 #ca1 omit their iniquity1 for upon them read upon him1 and for men read land1 of ,judah2 #cb1 for ,jeremiah took read ,baruch took and omit and gave it to ,baruch the scribe the son of ,neriah1 and also the words king of ,judah and in the fire4 #cbi xxxvi4 #c4 #ccj xxxvi4 #bi2 cp4 xxv4 #i f4 #cca xxxvi4 #ai1 #bd4 #ccb ,such is the force of the ,hebrew idiom in the last clause of xxxvi4 #af2 for the different attitude of the princes in #fjh see pp4 #agj ff4 #ccc ,the ,hebrew text is accurately rendered by our ,english ,versions2 the following are the principal points on which the ,greek differs from it3 ,verse #a1 both ,greek and ,latin lack that was the first year of ,nebuchadrezzar1 king of ,babylon2 in verse #b ,greek lacks ,jeremiah the prophet and all1 and in verse #c the word of the ,lord hath come to me and but ye have not hearkened4 ,in verse #f for ,i will do you no hurt ,greek reads to your hurt4 ,again1 ,greek lacks in #g saith the ,lord1 in #h of ,hosts1 in #i saith the ,lord and to ,nebuchadrezzar the king of ,babylon ,my servant1 and for all the families it reads a family2 and in #aa lacks this1 a desolation1 these and the king of ,babylon1 substituting for the last two shall serve among the nations4 #ccd ,e4g4 the preposition to before ,nebuchadrezzar in verse #i which does not construe4 #cce xxv4 #a-ad has been denied to ,jeremiah by ,schwally 78,z4,a4,t4,w410 viii4 #agg ff47 and ,duhm1 but their arguments are answered by ,giesebrecht and ,cornill in loco2 see1 too1 ,gillies1 #aie-h1 #bjb1 and ,skinner1 #bdj f4 #ccf ,see ,davidson in ,hastings' 8,d4,b410 ii4 #egd1 ,driver and ,gillies in loco4 #ccg ,see above1 p4 #ad4 #cch ,e4g4 cp4 #bf with #i and both with i4 #ae4 #cci ,as ,duhm asserts2 see above1 pp4 #gi ff4 #cdj ,the above paragraph on xxv4 #ae-ch is based on ,giesebrecht's careful analysis of the passage4 #cda xxxvi4 #e1 #ai1 #bf4 #cdb ,worn next the skin2 not girdle which came over the other garments4 ,see 8,enc4 ,bibl410 article 8,girdle40 #cdc ,so virtually ,cornill1 who1 indifferent as to whether the story is one of fact or of imagination1 emphasises the choice of the ,euphrates as its essential point1 compares ii4 #ah1 to drink of the waters of the ,river1 and dates the story in the earliest years of ,jeremiah's ministry4 ,on the other hand ,erbt1 who also reads ,euphrates1 interprets the story as one of actual journeys thither by ,jeremiah4 #cdd ,i visited it in #aija and #aijd1 a most surprising oasis6 #cde ,prath or ,parah ,farah was first suggested by ,ewald 78,prophets of the ,o4 ,t410 ,eng4 trans1 iii4 #aeb71 quoting ,schick 78,ausland10 #ahfg1 #egb-d71 by ,birch 78,p4,e4,f4,q410 #ahhj1 #bce71 and by ,marti 78,z4,d4,p4,v410 #ahhj1 #aa71 and has been accepted by many--,cheyne1 ,ball1 ,mc,fadyen1 ,peake1 etc4 #cdf ,see above1 p4 #ee4 #cdg ,in the valley of ,hinnom1 where were potteries and above them a city-gate ,harsith 7probably7 ,potsherds2 in the upper valley broken pottery is still crushed for cement2 lower down traces of ancient potteries appear1 and there is the traditional site of the ,potter's ,field1 ,matt4 xxvii4 #g4 #cdh ,so literally the term rendered wheel1 ,a4,v4 ,it was of two discs1 originally of stone1 but later of wood1 of which in earlier times the upper alone revolved and the lower and larger was stationary1 but later both revolved by the potter's foot4 ,see 8,enc4 ,bibl410 article 8,pottery40 #cdi ,see above1 pp4 #hd f4 #cej ,hebrew adds ,rede of the ,lord4 #cea ,hebrew adds ,house of ,israel4 #ceb ,a4 ,b4 ,davidson4 #cec ,to this we return in dealing with ,jeremiah's religious experience4 ,see below1 ,lecture vii4 #ced ,see above1 p4 #aji on iv4 #c4 #cee ,luke xiii4 #f ff4 ,other parables or actual incidents illustrating either the possibilities of characters commonly deemed hopeless or the fresh chances given them by ,god's grace1 are found in ,matt4 xviii4 #bc f41 ,luke vii4 #ci f4 7the woman who was a sinner7 and xix4 7,zacchus74 #cef ,cornill in loco1 ,skinner1 pp4 #afb f41 both of them in fine passages on the teaching of the parable1 the former exposing the superficiality of ,duhm's impulsive judgment upon it4 ,cornill finds that the genuine words of ,jeremiah close with verse #d2 ,skinner1 ,erbt and ,gillies 7p4 #aeh7 continue them to #f4 #ceg ,but see next page4 #ceh xix4 #a ff4 ,the ,greek connects this incident with the preceding by reading then for the ,hebrew thus1 and with many ,hebrew ,,mss4 adds to saith the ,lord the phrase to me1 making ,jeremiah himself the narrator4 ,in xix4 #d read with ,greek whom neither they nor their fathers knew1 and the kings of ,judah have filled1 etc4 ,throughout ,greek lacks phrases which are probably later additions to ,hebrew2 but these are not important4 #cei ,see p4 #ahe1 n4 #b4 #cfj ,the above is mainly from the ,greek4 ,the following is a significant instance of how the knowledge of the ,bible still holds among some at least of the ,scottish peasantry4 ,a woman in a rural parish calling on her minister to complain about the harshness of the factor of the landlord said that he was a very ,magor-,missabib4 ,and it is no less significant that the minister had to consult his concordance to the ,bible to know what she meant6 #cfa ,in xxxv the differences between ,greek and ,hebrew continue to be those generally found in the ,book1 i4e4 ,greek omits the expansive formulas1 including the ,divine titles1 redundant words 7like all7 and phrases1 and corrects the wrong preposition to by the right upon 7#ag74 ,further1 it spells differently some of the proper names1 reads house for chamber 7#d bis71 a bowl for bowls 7#e71 to me for to ,jeremiah 7#ab71 and in #ah does not address the promise to the ,rechabites1 but utters it of them in the third person1 also omitting the name of ,jeremiah1 and in #ai for for ever1 lit4 all the days1 reads all the days of the land4 #cfb ,the ally of ,jehu1 ,,ii4 ,kings x4 #ae1 #bc4 ,the tribe was ,kenite1 ,i4 ,chron4 ii4 #ee4 ,the ,kenites1 according to ,jud4 i4 #af1 ,i4 ,sam4 xv4 #f1 settled in the ,south of ,judah1 but ,jonadab is found in ,north ,israel and apparently his descendants1 as fugitives before an invasion from the ,north1 came from the same quarter4 ,heber the ,kenite also dwelt on ,esdraelon1 ,jud4 iv4 #ag1 v4 #bd4 #cfc ,duhm's criticisms of it1 and rejection of some of its parts are1 even for him1 unusually arbitrary1 especially his objection to the words in verse #ac1 ,go and say to the men of ,judah and the inhabitants of ,jerusalem1 for obviously these people were not gathered in1 nor could be addressed from1 the ,temple chamber4 ,it was the people as a whole1 whose fickleness from age to age he was about to condemn2 on this verse ,duhm's remarks are1 besides being arbitrary1 inconsistent4 #cfd ,above1 pp4 #adg ff4 #cfe ,above1 pp4 #ej1 #aec f4 #cff ,deut4 iv4 #ai1 xvii4 #c2 ,,ii4 ,kings xxiii4 #e1 #ac4 ,see the present writer's 8,jerusalem10 ii41 pp4 #ahf ff41 #bfj1 #bfc4 #cfg ,deut4 xii4 #ca1 ,,ii4 ,kings xxiii4 #aj4 ,see 8,jerusalem10 ii41 pp4 #bfc f4 #cfh ,pp4 #aec f4 #cfi ,the only apparent reason for the compiler putting the two songs together is that the last verse of the one and the first verse of the other open in the same way1 ,o that ,i had 7,hebrew ,o who would give me74 #cgj xxxvi4 #cb4 #cga ,greek omits this clause4 #cgb ,apparently a common proverb4 #cgc ,hebrew adds ,jerusalem with no sense and a disturbance to the metre4 #cgd ,mishpa rule1 order1 ordinance4 #cge ,torah law1 see p4 #aed4 #cgf ,reading with ,dagesh in last letter4 #cgg ,with #aj-ab1 cp4 vi4 #ac-ae2 #aa1 #ab are wanting in ,greek4 #cgh ,hebrew adds a line of corrupt text4 #cgi ,hebrew1 the ,lord4 #chj ,so ,greek4 ,the verse is another instance of the two-stresses-to-a-line metre2 see p4 #df4 #cha ,so ,greek4 #chb ,so ,greek4 #chc ,so ,greek4 #chd ,hebrew adds ,rede of the ,lord4 #che ,after the ,greek1 ,hebrew is hopeless4 #chf ,lit41 from a land of distances1 usually taken as meaning exile4 ,but exile is not yet4 ,duhm as above4 #chg ,so ,greek4 #chh ,bubbles1 ii4 #e4 ,the couplet seems an intrusion breaking between the two parts of the people's cry4 #chi ,so ,greek4 #cij ,lit41 why cometh not up the fresh skin on4 #cia ,greek1 an uttermost4 #cib ,the ,hebrew word seems to me to be taken here rather in its primitive sense of bundle than in the later1 official meaning of assembly4 #cic ,hebrew adds ,rede of the ,lord for till now the ,prophet has spoken4 ,verse #c is difficult4 ,duhm omits most1 ,cornill all1 as breaking the metrical schemes which they think ,jeremiah invariably used4 ,but the form of the ,hebrew text--short lines of two beats each1 with one longer line--is one into which ,jeremiah sometimes falls 7see pp4 #df f474 ,like a bow so ,greek2 ,hebrew1 their bow4 ,cp4 our draw a long bow 7,ball74 #cid ,so ,syriac4 #cie ,again ,hebrew adds ,rede of the ,lord4 ,the text is uncertain4 ,hebrew1 thy dwelling is in the midst of deceit1 they refuse to know ,me4 #cif ,hebrew adds of ,hosts4 #cig ,so ,greek1 ,hebrew omits2 more seems to have dropped out4 #cih ,so ,hebrew text2 ,hebrew margin and ,greek polished4 #cii ,so ,greek4 #djj ,so ,greek4 ,hebrew1 ,i will raise and adds lamentation4 #dja ,hebrew adds passing over1 probably a mistaken transference from verse #ab4 ,greek and ,latin omit4 #djb ,so ,greek4 #djc ,hebrew uselessly adds nor walked therein4 #djd ,hebrew adds of hosts2 and this people for them4 #dje ,hebrew adds of ,hosts and consider ye which ,greek omits as well as hasten in #ah2 the text of the four lines is uncertain4 ,for us and our ,greek has you and your4 #djf ,so ,vulgate4 #djg ,hebrew has the obvious intrusion1 ,speak thus1 ,rede of the ,lord1 which ,greek lacks4 #djh ,i4e4 of their hair2 see xxv4 #bc1 xlix4 #cb4 ,herodotus says 7iii4 #h7 that some ,arabs shaved the hair above their temples2 forbidden to ,jews1 ,lev4 xix4 #bg4 #dji ,so ,greek2 ,hebrew1 the land4 ,the ,hebrew part4 sitting may like that in v4 #ah be future4 #daj ,so ,greek2 ,hebrew1 in the land at this time4 #daa ,so ,greek1 ,hebrew my4 #dab ,so ,greek1 ,hebrew my4 #dac ,so some ,greek and ,latin versions1 ,syriac and ,targ4 #dad ,greek2 ,hebrew omits4 #dae ,i4e4 ,rulers4 #daf ,hebrew1 pastures4 #dag ,see above1 pp4 #df f41 #ic4 #dah ,so1 following some ,greek ,,mss41 ,targ41 and the parallel ,ps4 lxxix4 #f1 #g4 #dai ,above1 pp4 #aeb ff4 #dbj ,p4 #agf4 ,practically all agree to this4 ,admitting its possibility1 ,duhm prefers to assign the lines to the ,scythian invasion1 against which see the reasons offered by ,cornill in loco1 who further suggests a connection between xi4 #ae1 #af and xii4 #g-ac4 ,ball1 after ,naegelsbach1 argues for a date before ,carchemish4 #dba ,the text of these four lines is hardly metrical4 #dbb ,above1 pp4 #ahc-ahe4 #dbc p4 #ei4 #dbd ,in this quatrain ,greek reads your soul1 and ,hebrew my eye and precedes this line by shall weep indeed which ,greek omits4 ,the last line is one of those longer ones with which verses or strophes often conclude 7see p4 #ce74 #dbe ,,ii4 ,kings xxiv4 #h1 #ae2 ,jer4 xxii4 #bf4 #dbf ,so ,greek4 #dbg ,see ii4 #cf1 iv4 #cj2 ,ezek4 xxiii4 #bb4 #dbh ,as heads obviously belongs to this second line of the quatrain1 from which some copyist has removed it to the fourth4 #dbi ,so ,hebrew literally4 #dcj ,pp4 #ef f4 ,the date is quite uncertain4 #dca ,the text of the first four lines is uncertain4 ,i have mainly followed the ,greek4 ,begging1 if we borrow the sense of the verb in ,syriac1 otherwise huckstering1 peddling4 #dcb ,hos4 vi4 #a-d4 #dcc ,p4 #ahi4 #dcd ,hebrew and some ,greek ,,mss4 add against thee4 #dce ,hebrew1 they turned not from their ways4 #dcf ,the text of verse #h is uncertain4 ,i have mainly followed the ,greek4 #dcg ,hebrew adds ,rede of the ,lord4 #dch ,lecture vii4 #dci ,hebrew adds nor bemoan them1 an expansion4 #ddj ,hebrew adds ,rede of the ,lord1 even kindness and compassion2 verses #f and #g are expansion4 #dda ,hebrew adds when their children remember their altars and ,asherim rightly taken by ,duhm and ,cornill as a gloss4 #ddb ,hebrew adds in thee for which some read thy hand4 #ddc ,these four verses along with the phrase ,thus saith the ,lord which follows them are lacking in ,greek4 ,this is clearly due to the oversight of a copyist1 his eye passing inadvertently from the ,lord of xvi4 #ba to the ,lord of xvii4 #e4 #ddd ,see pp4 #ec1 #ed4 #dde ,cp4 8,isaiah10 lvi4 #b-g1 lviii4 #ac1 #ad2 ,neh4 xiii4 #ae-bb4 #ddf ,a much manipulated verse6 ,mountain1 taking sadai in its archaic sense as in ,assyrian and some ,hebrew poems1 ,jud4 v4 #d1 ,deut4 xxxii4 #ac 7see the writer's 8,deut40 in the 8,camb4 ,bible for ,schools07 where it is parallel to highlands1 rock and flinty rock4 ,the following emendations of the text are therefore unnecessary1 and are more or less forced4 ,sirion 7,duhm1 ,cornill1 ,peake1 ,mc,fadyen1 ,skinner72 missurm from the rocks 7,rothstein74 ,the ,greek takes sadai as breasts and nominative to the verb3 ,do the breasts of the rock give out8--not a bad figure4 ,hill-streams reading mm harm 7,rothstein7 for the ,hebrew mam zarm strange 78 far off7 streams4 ,ewald takes zarm from zarar to rush1 press4 ,duhm reads mzarm ,northstar4 ,cornill turns the couplet to ,or do dry up from the western sea the flowing waters8 ,gillies1 the wet winds from the sea1 etc41 for which there is a suggestion in the ,greek 4 #ddg ,see p4 #adi1 n4 #a #ddh ,so some ,,mss42 the text has like4 #ddi ,pp4 #aia ff4 #dej ,pp4 #afd-afg4 #dea ,duhm's objection to this title as a mistake by an editor is groundless2 for though the following lines are addressed to the land or people as a whole1 their climax is upon the fate of the royal house1 the choice of thy cedars4 #deb ,hebrew adds many4 #dec ,greek from over the sea4 #ded ,greek1 ,syriac1 ,vulgate4 #dee ,hebrew thee4 #def ,hebrew adds to return thither2 ,greek lacks4 #deg ,in #bh-cj the ,greek1 mainly followed above in accordance with the metre1 is far shorter than the ,hebrew text4 #deh ,the reasons given by ,giesebrecht and ,duhm in loco1 by ,skinner1 p4 #cdf1 and 7more fancifully7 by ,erbt1 p4 #hf1 for impugning the date given in xlv4 #a1 and relegating the ,oracle to the close of ,jeremiah's life in exile as his last words to ,baruch1 have been answered in great detail1 and to my mind conclusively1 by ,cornill1 who points out how much more suited the ,oracle is to conditions in #fje than to those of ,baruch and ,jeremiah after #ehf4 #dei ,cornill3 the words of ,jeremiah in a book4 #dfj ,hebrew adds saying4 #dfa ,hebrew adds the ,god of ,israel4 #dfb ,so ,greek4 #dfc ,superfluous after1 not to say inconsistent with1 verse #b2 probably editorial4 #dfd ,i have to or am about to4 ,the ,hebrew addition to this couplet1 and that is the whole earth1 is probably a gloss2 it is not found in all ,greek versions4 #dfe ,his brother ,seraiah was a high officer of the king1 ch4 li4 #ei2 see also ,josephus ,x4 8,antt410 ix4 #a4 #dff ,here and xxi4 #i1 xxxviii4 #b1 xxxix4 #ah4 #dfg ix4 #c1 #g 7,how else can ,i do871 xii4 #i1 #aa1 see p4 #baa4 #dfh ,see p4 #afg4 #dfi #b ,kings xxiii4 #ca1 xxiv4 #ag2 see above1 p4 #afd4 #dgj ,the exact transliteration of the ,hebrew is idiyahu4 #dga ,ezek4 xvi4 #ei1 xvii4 #aa-ba2 especially #ae-ai4 #dgb ,ps4 xv41 who sweareth to his own hurt and changeth not4 #dgc ,josephus imputes to him 1 ,x4 8,antt40 vii4 #e4 #dgd ,no strong rod1 no sceptre to rule1 ,ezek4 xix4 #ad4 #dge ,or ye are far1 etc41 ,ezek4 xi4 #ae4 #dgf ,jer4 xxvii42 in verse #a for ,jehoiakim read edekiah4 #dgg ,jer4 li4 #ei2 though some doubt this4 #dgh ,ezek4 viii2 ,jer4 xliv4 #ag-ai and his other references to the worship of the ,queen or ,host of ,heaven may also refer to this4 #dgi ,jer4 xliv4 #cj1 ,pharaoh of xxxvii4 #e1 #g1 #aa1 ,ezek4 xxix4 #c2 ,apries1 ,herodotus ii4 #afa4 #dhj ,jer4 xxxiv4 #h-bb2 cp4 ,exod4 xxi4 #a-f1 ,deut4 xv4 #ab-ah4 #dha #b ,kings xxv4 #ba4 #dhb xxix4 #bi2 ,skinner1 p4 #bec1 doubts this4 #dhc xxxii4 #af-be4 #dhd ,see above1 pp4 #ahf-ahh4 #dhe xvii4 #af4 #dhf ,so ,driver2 ,amos vii4 #a1 #d1 #g1 viii4 #a4 #dhg ,so ,greek4 #dhh ,so ,greek and other versions4 #dhi ,greek city4 #dij ,jews who may have stirred up ,egypt against ,babylon4 #dia ,so ,greek2 ,hebrew adds for an evil1 8a corrupt repetition of the preceding word0 7,driver74 #dib ,hebrew adds and to their fathers4 #dic xxix4 #bj1 #ae1 #ba-cb1 see pp4 #bde-bdg4 #did ix4 #bb2 x4 #bj4 #die ,see above1 p4 #bcf4 #dif ,see above1 p4 #ce4 #dig ,this title has been much expanded1 as the briefer ,greek shows1 and indeed much more than it shows4 ,in #a the addition of priests and prophets is in view of #h and #ae evidently wrong4 ,the ,hebrew remnant of 7before the elders7 which ,greek lacks is difficult4 ,it seems a later addition to the text when many of the elders had died4 ,duhm's suggestion of a revolt of the early exiles and the execution of many of the elders by ,nebuchadrezzar is imaginary4 ,in verse #b we have such a needless gloss or expansion as later scribes were fond of making4 #dih ,greek omits this line4 #dii ,hebrew adds there4 #ejj ,greek2 ,hebrew city4 #eja #h and #i strike one as a premature reference to the prophets4 #ejb ,greek perhaps better your people1 for in seventy years the elders addressed must have died out4 #ejc ,duhm4 #ejd ,as even ,lucian's version shows in spite of its retaining #af-bj4 #eje ,greek lacks the names of both the fathers1 and also the last clause of ,hebrew1 #ba1 which prophesy a lie to you in ,my ,name4 #ejf ,this verb is a play on the name of ,ahab's father4 #ejg ,in ,hebrew follows in #be;a a useless editorial addition4 #ejh ,hebrew precedes this with to all the people which are in ,jerusalem and1 and follows it with and to all the priests1 additions very doubtful in view of verse #bi4 ,in ,,ii4 ,kings xxv4 #ah ephaniah is second priest4 #eji ,the time of the captivity4 #eaj ,greek lacks the unnecessary remainder4 #eaa ,the following are some details as to xxvii4 ,the ,hebrew verse #a is not given by ,greek2 ,jehoiakim is of course a copyist's error for edekiah1 as #c1 #ab1 #bj and xxviii4 #a show4 ,greek lacks the second clause of verse #e1 all #g1 several clauses of #h1 one of #aj1 from under onwards in #ab1 all #ac1 the first of #ad1 now shortly in #af 7but adds ,i have not sent them71 all #ag1 the last half of #ah1 most of #ai1 much of #bj1 all #ba1 and two clauses of #bb4 #eab ,greek the earth4 #eac ,hebrew my servant4 #ead ,hebrew adds pestilence4 #eae ,greek2 ,hebrew dreams4 #eaf ,greek2 ,hebrew your4 #eag ,so adds ,greek4 #eah ,the general differences in xxviii are3 after the ,lord ,hebrew adds of ,hosts the ,god of ,israel verses #b1 #ad2 in #aa and #ad the name ,nebuchadnezzar as in xxvii2 in #c1 #d1 #ad1 #af1 #ag unnecessary explanatory clauses or expansions2 and throughout the title the prophet to the names ,jeremiah and ,hananiah respectively4 ,of all these the ,greek is devoid2 other differences are marked in the notes to the translation4 #eai ,the prophetic perfect ,i will break1 verse #d4 #ebj ,as in xxvii4 #af ,greek puts the priests after the people4 #eba ,baruch is not well accustomed to long sentences1 therefore repeats this clause 7,duhm74 #ebb ,greek lacks the bracketed words2 famine by changing one letter of the ,hebrew for evil4 #ebc ,hebrew adds of the prophet4 #ebd ,recognised or acknowledged4 #ebe ,greek adds ,in the sight of all the people2 also gives the plural bars4 #ebf ,greek lacks these words4 #ebg ,so ,greek2 ,hebrew thou shalt4 #ebh ,hebrew adds ,hear now ,hananiah4 #ebi ,hebrew adds that year4 #ecj ,by ,giesebrecht4 #eca ,hebrew adds ,before the ,lord1 yea before ,his holy words 7,greek before ,his glorious majesty74 ,both break the connection and are unmetrical4 #ecb ,the couplet here given by ,hebrew and ,greek is too long for the verse1 breaks the connection1 and is apparently a copyist's dittography expanded by quotation from ix4 #b 7,duhm74 ,but a single line is needed4 ,helped by ,greek1 we might read and because of these mourns4 #ecc ,after ,duhm4 #ecd ,so ,syriac1 alone yielding a sound division of the lines4 #ece ,hebrew and ,greek add a line breaking metre and parallel4 #ecf ,jerusalem's 7874 #ecg ,greek adds of ,hosts concerning the prophets4 #ech ,cornill rejects this couplet1 ,i think needlessly4 #eci ,so ,greek1 cp4 ii4 #e1 p4 #ib4 #edj ,or ,my1 ,erbt and ,cornill4 #eda ,so ,greek4 ,hebrew feared and heard ,his word4 ,these clauses are not metrical and may be a later intrusion2 which #ai1 #bj certainly are1 for they find their proper place in xxx4 #bc1 #bd4 #edb ,so ,greek4 #edc ,hebrew expands1 from their evil way and4 #edd ,so ,greek affirmatively4 ,hebrew1 by putting the couplet as a question1 confuses the meaning4 ,to near it adds ,rede of the ,lord4 #ede ,so ,duhm happily takes a third repetition 7for other cases of this kind1 see vii4 #d2 xxii4 #bi7 instead of the senseless how long at the beginning of the next verse4 #edf ,giesebrecht's happy emendation4 #edg ,so ,greek4 #edh ,greek ,law4 #edi ,so ,greek4 #eej ,greek adds so ,my words4 #eea ,hebrew adds thus4 #eeb ,so lit4 or call it a ,rede2 fling out so two ,greek versions1 ,hebrew take4 #eec ,zeph4 iii4 #d4 #eed ,in #ca and #cb ,hebrew repeats ,rede of the ,lord4 ,the section which follows can hardly be ,jeremiah's4 #eee xxii4 #ai2 ,,ii4 ,kings xxiv4 #f2 just as conversely ,huldah's prophecy that ,josiah would be gathered to his fathers in peace1 ,,ii4 ,kings xxii4 #bj1 was belied at ,megiddo4 #eef xxiii4 #cb1 repeating what he has frequently said already4 #eeg ,as ,amos had more strongly put it1 ,you only have ,i known of all the families of the earth1 therefore ,i will visit upon you all your iniquities1 iii4 #b4 #eeh xxiii4 #bg4 #eei ,as we have seen2 above1 pp4 #gf1 #ajd f41 #acg4 #efj viii4 #aa2 xxiii4 #ad1 #ag1 #bb1 etc41 etc4 #efa xxix4 #bc1 xxiii4 #ad4 #efb xxiii4 #bh1 above1 p4 #beg2 cp4 xxvii4 #ah4 #efc xxviii4 #aa1 cp4 xlii4 #a-g4 #efd xxviii4 #f2 above1 p4 #bea4 #efe xxvi4 #ad1 #ae4 #eff ,see further1 ,lecture vii4 #efg xxiii4 #ca1 p4 #beh4 #efh xxiii4 #ba4 #efi ,stade's combination 7,,zatw #ahib1 #bgg ff47 of xxi4 #a1 #b2 xxxvii4 #d-aj2 xxi4 #c-aj2 xxxvii4 #aa ff4 yields a contradiction--a prayer for the raising of the siege 7xxi4 #a1 #b7 already raised 7xxxvii4 #e74 ,erbt avoids this by combining only xxi4 #a1 #b;a2 xxxvii4 #f-aj2 similarly ,gillies 7p4 #cji74 ,but1 as ,cornill says1 one cannot explain how from this form the two accounts have risen4 ,older critics 7except ,ewald7 and ,davidson1 ,giesebrecht1 ,peake1 ,thomson1 7#aif1 #aih7 and ,cornill refer the passages to different occasions4 ,skinner leaves the question in suspense 7#bei n474 ,duhm disposes of xxxvii4 #c-aj as a ,midrash legend and xxi4 #a-aj as 8a free composition0 upon it by another hand6 #egj ,probably the original tenor of verse #d1 but the text is confused by additions4 #ega ,greek2 ,hebrew he4 #egb ,greek omits this clause inadvertently4 ,the proposed reversal to thy mouth speak with his mouth 7,giesebrecht1 etc47 misses the point2 surely the captor would speak first4 #egc ,hebrew adds concerning thee1 thou shalt not die by the sword4 #egd ,of spices4 ,some ,greek versions read mournings1 and so shall they mourn for thee4 #ege xxxix4 #g2 ,,ii4 ,kings xxv4 #g4 #egf ,verses #a1 #b either belonged originally to this section1 and mark it as from another source than1 or different edition of1 ,baruch's memoirs1 or more probably were added by an editor as necessary after the preceding sections 7xxxv1 xxxvi7 from ,jehoiakim's reign4 #egg ,greek reads say thou and thee for me1 and omits you4 #egh ,so ,greek4 #egi ,greek place4 #ehj ,knox's 8,history of the ,reformation in ,scotland10 ,bk4 i4 #eha ,cp4 8declare a ,liberty of ,tender ,consciences10 ,declaration of ,breda by ,charles ,,ii4 #ehb ,a possible solution is 8that the emancipation was undertaken in obedience to the neglected law1 and that to make their action even more effective 444 they decided to emancipate all their slaves without waiting till the legal term had expired0 7,peake74 ,yet it is also possible that the reference in verses #ac1 #ad to the law1 ,deut4 xv4 #ab1 is due to an editor4 #ehc ,the chief differences between ,hebrew and ,greek are3 #h1 ,greek lacks all and the senseless unto them2 #i1 ,greek reads so that no ,jew should be a slave2 #aj1 #aa1 for ,hebrew heard 7,r4,v4 obeyed71 ,greek reads turned1 omits the last two clauses of #aj1 all of #aa save the last and in #ab1 #ac from the ,lord and ,god of ,israel2 #ad reads six for ,hebrew seven and #ae they for ye 7twice72 #af omits and brought them into subjection1 #ag1 to his brother and every man1 #ah all reference to the calf and its parts1 #bj1 #ba and into the hand of them that seek their life 7twice74 #ehd ,peake4 #ehe xxxvii4 #ab2 the phrase is obscure4 #ehf xxxvii4 #aa-ba4 #ehg ,greek omits this last named4 #ehh ,so ,greek3 ,hebrew unto all the people4 #ehi ,greek lacks to him and ,syriac the last clause4 #eij ,greek ,for thus4 #eia ,see above1 p4 #bcb4 #eib ,calvin's discriminating remarks on xxxviii4 #b1 in ,no4 cxlvii of his prelections on the ,book of ,jeremiah1 are well worth reading4 ,see1 too1 ,peake 7p4 #bd7 and ,skinner 7#bfa ff474 #eic ,so ,greek4 ,hebrew takes this clause as part of edekiah's reply3 the king is not able to do anything against you4 #eid ,greek again is devoid of the repetitions1 etc41 that overload the ,hebrew4 #eie ,hebrew adds sitting1 an obvious intrusion 7not in ,greek71 for in the siege the king would hardly hold council in the ,benjamin-,gate4 #eif ,greek reads that he charged not the princes but the king4 ,the text of #i is uncertain4 ,duhm thinks the original meant that the princes wished ,jeremiah's death so as to save bread4 #eig ,hebrew and versions thirty1 differing little from the ,hebrew for three1 which is now generally read4 #eih xxxix4 #ae-ah4 #eii xxxviii4 #ad-bh2 ,greek agrees with ,hebrew save for its usual omissions as well as secretly1 #af4 ,both read the third entry of the ,lord's ,house1 which some1 by adding a letter1 would change to entry of the ,shalishim or guards2 unnecessarily1 as ,haupt shows4 #fjj ,after the deportation of #eig4 #fja ,so ,greek2 ,hebrew reads thy feet are plunged1 and omits from thee2 #bc is a late expansion4 #fjb ,pp4 #beh-i n41 thus exceeding ,steuernagel's and ,buttenwieser's readings of parts of it as a variant of xxxvii4 #fjc xxxviii4 #bh4 #fjd ,duhm and ,cornill take as original only #f-ae2 ,giesebrecht reasonably adds #af1 ,ah ,lord ,yahweh in #ag1 #bd1 #be1 and in the main #bf-dd1 from which probably more deductions should be made than he makes4 ,gillies 7#bgj ff47 takes #af-be as later reflections on a prayer by ,jeremiah1 #bd-da as editorial1 #db-dd as bringing us back to the actual situation4 ,this is safer than ,peake's distinction of #af1 #bd-bf1 #cf-dd as genuine 7slightly qualified by his notes74 ,hebrew and ,greek throughout are the same1 save for the usual ,greek omissions1 and these are more in the narrative #a-ae 7especially #e;b1 #aa;b1 #ad these deeds with it for them and they1 while in #h for ,hebrew the redemption is thine it has thou art the elder7 than in the prayer and the divine answer 7#cj;b1 #cf captivity for pestilence1 #da visit for rejoice over74 ,in #f for ,hebrew me ,greek has ,jeremiah1 but confirms the #ast person in #h1 #i-ac1 #af1 #be1 and in #bf has me for ,hebrew ,jeremiah4 ,greek1 too1 has some of its unusual surplus3 #h ,shallum1 #ab son of1 #ai 1 #be and ,i wrote the deed and sealed it1 #cc;b still1 #dc again4 #fje ,the custom was to have one copy open for reference1 and one sealed for confirmation if the open one should be disputed4 ,to sealed ,hebrew adds the injunction and conditions4 #fjf ,the numerous emendations are purely conjectural2 the least unsatisfactory being ,cornill's3 ,the houses 444 shall be torn down against which the ,chaldeans are coming to fight with mounds and sword and to fill with the corpses of men whom ,i have smitten in my wrath1 etc4 #fjg ,one may eliminate the few words not found in ,greek1 and naturally suspect the liturgical clause in #aa4 ,some take #ac as a late expansion of #ab4 #fjh xxxviii4 #bh4 #fji ,verse #ad follows directly on verse #c4 ,the statement that ,nebuaradan was one of them is in verse #ac which belongs to the very late section1 #d-ac1 lacking in the ,greek4 #faj ,hebrew3 lit4 to the house2 ,greek omits4 #faa ,either ,neby ,samwl or ,tell-en-,nab1 both a few miles north of ,jerusalem4 ,the above exposition takes xxxix4 #c1 #ad and xl4 #a-f as supplementary4 ,but some read them as variants of the same episode1 debating which is the more reliable4 ,for a full discussion see ,skinner1 pp4 #bgb ff4 #fab ,hebrew1 the forces 7,greek1 the force7 in the field4 #fac ,the oscillations of this controversy have been recently so fully recounted 7by ,cornill and ,peake7 that it is unnecessary to repeat them here4 #fad ,whether the datum xxx4 #b1 that ,jeremiah was commanded by the ,lord to write the words spoken to him in a book1 is historical1 is uncertain4 ,it is not impossible that as he had been moved to write down his ,oracles of doom 7xxxvi7 he should now be similarly advised about these later ,oracles of hope4 ,the rejection of xxx4 #b1 by most critics1 seems to me rash4 #fae ,this in answer to ,rothstein 7,kautzsch's 8,heilige ,schrift des ,a4 ,t410 #ged71 whose upper date for them after #eig is too early1 and to ,gillies 7p4 #bch7 who refers them to the ,prophet's imprisonment4 #faf ,hebrew adds the gloss like a bearing woman4 #fag ,so ,greek1 reading for 4 #fah ,so ,greek1 ,hebrew thy4 #fai ,so ,greek1 ,hebrew thy4 #fbj ,so ,greek1 ,hebrew thy4 #fba ,after the ,greek4 #fbb ,driver4 #fbc ,hebrew adds ,rede of the ,lord4 #fbd ,lecture viii4 #fbe ,greek1 family4 #fbf iii4 #f f4 #fbg ,see p4 #gb4 #fbh ,cornill dates the poem1 8surely10 from the earliest stage of ,jeremiah's prophetic career2 but both its late place in the ,book and the reasons given above argue strongly for a date at ,mipah under ,gedaliah4 #fbi ,so ,greek4 #fcj ,or continue troth to thee4 #fca ,so ,greek2 ,hebrew deck thee with4 #fcb ,so ,greek4 #fcc ,lit make common1 i4e4 not be obliged to wait over the first four crops as required by the law1 ,lev4 xix4 #bc-be1 before having the fruit released for their own use4 ,greek reads the similar ,hebrew verb praise4 #fcd ,above1 pp4 #adi f41 #aeb1 #aee ff4 #fce ,duhm emends to on the top of the hills4 #fcf ,so ,greek and ,targ4 #fcg ,so ,greek4 #fch ,ibid4 #fci ,so ,greek4 #fdj ,it is singular how each of these three verses contains not four but five lines4 ,cornill1 by using the introduction ,thus saith the ,lord1 omitting the remnant of ,israel1 combining two pairs of lines and including the following couplet1 effects the arrangement of octastichs to which he has throughout the book arbitrarily committed himself4 ,duhm has another metrical arrangement4 #fda ,or coasts4 #fdb ,lit4 they stream upon1 ,a4,v4 flow together2 but the verb is to be taken in the same sense as in ,ps4 xxxiv4 #e were lightened and in ,is4 lx4 #e1 ,r4,v4 ,it is the liquid rippling light1 thrown up on the face from water4 #fdc ,so ,greek4 #fdd ,hebrew adds and will comfort them4 #fde ,richly lit4 with fat1 which ,greek omits but to priests adds the sons of ,levi1 an instance of how ready later hands have been to add prose glosses to the poetry4 #fdf #a ,sam4 x4 #b4 #fdg ,see above pp4 #df f4 #fdh ,hebrew and some versions add for her children4 #fdi ,greek has not the first line of this couplet1 and reads differently the second4 ,the whole seems a needless variant or paraphrase of #af4 #fej ,or turned to 7874 ,greek reads after my captivity4 #fea ,some would read was chastised4 #feb ,still have that on my conscience2 there is no need to doubt this line in whole or part as some do4 #fec ,after all that has passed6 #fed ,compass or change to 787 ,this couplet has been the despair of commentators4 ,its exilic terms1 created and female1 relieve us of it4 #fee ,hebrew adds of hosts1 ,god of ,israel4 #fef ,hebrew and ,greek add holy mount1 a late term and here irrelevant1 for it is all ,judah that is described4 #feg ,greek each4 #feh ,doubtful4 ,jeremiah had nothing to do with dreams as means of prophecy4 #fei ,hebrew adds to each the house of4 #ffj ,hebrew adds from i4 #aj 7q4v471 pluck up1 break down and destroy4 #ffa ,as ,dr4 ,skinner says1 8it was only by way of the eternal world that ,jeremiah could enter on the fruition of his hopes40 #ffb 8,that atrocious brigand0 7,renan74 #ffc ,the folds of1 as ,aquila shows that we should read ,hebrew ,geruth4 #ffd ,for the above see ch4 xli1 continuing from xl what is no doubt ,baruch's account4 #ffe ,so ch4 xlii4 ,this and xli are substantially the same in ,hebrew and ,greek1 the ,greek as usual omitting the repetitions of the ,divine ,titles and of the names of the fathers of the actors1 and a few other expansions2 and suggesting1 as ,syriac and ,vulg4 also do1 some minor corrections4 #fff xxiv4 #a ff4 #ffg xliii4 #a-g4 ,hebrew and ,greek still agree in essentials1 ,greek as usual omitting ,divine ,titles 7which the ,hebrew copyists delight in repeating71 the needless father-names and also the term proud 7or presumptuous7 in #b1 where it reads the others for the senseless ,hebrew participle saying4 ,in #f it reads remainder for children1 and household for daughters--of the king4 #ffh xliii4 #h-ac4 ,in #i for the obscure ,hebrew phrase1 ,r4,v4 in mortar in the brickwork1 ,greek reads 2 in #aj lacks ,my servant1 for ,i and ,i have reads he and thou hast2 and in #ab he shall for ,i will4 ,also in #ab for he shall array himself with the land of ,egypt as a shepherd putteth on his garment1 ,greek has he shall clear out the land as a shepherd clears his garment from lice4 ,suitable and vivid as this figure is and adopted by many moderns1 one hesitates to use it for lack of confirmation from other sources4 ,the other one is sufficient4 #ffi ,besides its usual minus ,greek omits in #a and at ,noph1 in #c and to serve and neither 444 fathers1 in #i and your own wickedness1 in #aj neither have they feared1 in my law nor1 before you and1 in #aa against you 444 all ,judah1 at least half of #ab1 in #ae unto other gods and that stood by1 in #ah and to pour out 444 unto her1 in #ai to portray her1 in #bb1 without inhabitant1 in #bc as it is this day1 in #bh mine or theirs4 ,also ,greek begins #ai1 ,and all the women answered and said1 and in #be for ye and your wives reads properly ye women4 #fgj ,hebrew adds and at ,noph 7,memphis74 #fga ,duhm1 ,rothstein1 ,cornill1 ,gillies1 etc41 eliminate from #ae as a later addition all the men who knew that their wives burned to other gods on the ground that #ai shows the women alone to be the speakers2 ,duhm1 precariously changing besides a great assembly 7by the alteration of one letter7 to with a great 7loud7 voice4 ,and these critics and ,driver1 ,giesebrecht and ,peake rightly take even all the people 444 in ,pathros as a late gloss founded on verse #a4 #fgb ,that is solemnly sworn2 ,judg4 xi4 #cf2 ,numb4 xxx4 #b1 #ab4 #fgc ,some ,greek ,,mss4 and ,syriac have and all the women answered1 an addition felt to be necessary after the mention of both men and women in #ae4 #fgd ,hebrew adds to portray her1 that is on the cakes4 #fge ,erbt first made clear the metrical form of these verses1 though ,i think too grudgingly1 and has ignored the fact that they are not one but two ,oracles4 #fgf ,so ,greek4 #fgg ,generally accepted instead of ,hebrew vows4 #fgh ,calvin4 #fgi ,the rest of #bg and #bh;a1 the destruction of all the ,jews in ,egypt1 is a prose expansion4 #fhj ,hebrew adds1 but ,greek lacks1 from me or from them4 #fha xx4 #h4 #fhb i4 #f4 #fhc xx4 #g4 #fhd vi4 #aa1 xx4 #i4 #fhe xv4 #aj2 cp4 xii4 #a4 #fhf i4 #aj1 p4 #hc4 #fhg xx4 #b ff42 see p4 #aib4 #fhh xxii4 #ah f42 see p4 #afg4 #fhi xxxviii4 #ai ff42 pp4 #bhb f4 #fij xxix4 #bd-cb4 #fia xxviii4 #ag4 #fib xlv4 #e2 p4 #bbh4 #fic ,so ,greek2 ,hebrew thou lettest me see4 #fid ,greek2 ,hebrew takes this with the next line4 #fie ,so generally read since ,hitzig2 ,hebrew has bread1 i4e4 fruit4 #fif ,others3 on ,thee ,i have rolled2 cp4 xx4 #ab4 #fig ,greek2 ,hebrew thy4 #fih ,hebrew copyists senselessly repeat1 ,thus saith the ,lord of ,hosts2 ,greek omits4 #fii ,so ,greek4 #gjj ,greek4 #gja ,greek1 meaning1 ,thy sanction to their curses4 #gjb ,the text of the last six lines is corrupt2 the above is ,duhm's reading after the ,greek4 ,see too ,j4 ,r4 ,gillies4 ,verses #ac1 #ad are out of place here1 see xvii4 #c1 #d4 #gjc ,greek omits4 #gjd ,so ,greek2 ,hebrew 7with same consonants1 but the first two transposed7 ,found were ,thy words4 #gje ,so ,greek2 ,hebrew ,i did eat them4 ,but all this bracketed quatrain breaks the connection between what precedes and verse #ag4 #gjf ,cornill after ,greek4 #gjg ,omit of bronze for the metre's sake2 it is a copyist's echo of i4 #ah4 ,cornill omits impassable instead4 #gjh ,hebrew adds ,rede of the ,lord4 #gji ,hebrew precedes this with ,and the ,word of the ,lord came unto me1 which ,greek is without1 thus closely connecting xvi4 #b ff4 with xv4 #ba4 #gaj ,in #c1 #d the bracketed lines are probably expansions of the original4 #gaa ,hebrew1 etc41 add nor bemoan them--expansion4 #gab #e;b1 #f;a are not in ,greek4 #gac ,so ,greek4 #gad ,by a change of vowels4 #gae ,so ,greek4 #gaf ,greek lacks of ,hosts4 #gag ,perhaps #ad connects with #i1 #aj4 ,the line ,for ,thou art my praise is a late addition4 #gah ,so ,aq4 ,symm4 ,syr41 reading ra'ah1 evil for ro'eh1 shepherd4 #gai ,torah1 see p4 #aed4 #gbj ,so ,greek2 ,hebrew of mine accusers4 #gba ,to this line ,greek adds have privily laid a stumbling block4 ,most regard both lines as an expansion from #bb4 #gbb ,pl42 ,so ,greek4 #gbc ,pl42 ,so ,greek4 #gbd ,above1 pp4 #bgf ff4 #gbe ,in contrast with its boldness in textual criticism a curious timidity of sentiment has set through recent ,o4,t4 scholarship in ,germany from which the older ,german scholars were free4 #gbf ,greek the name of the ,lord4 #gbg ,greek2 ,hebrew adds any more4 #gbh ,so ,greek4 #gbi ,hebrew adds of ,hosts4 #gcj ,verse #ac1 a doxology1 is probably a later addition4 #gca ,so ,greek4 #gcb ,cp4 xviii4 #bj f4 p4 #cbi4 #gcc xii4 #e2 cp4 xv4 #ai4 #gcd iv4 #aj2 p4 #cbb2 xv4 #ah4 #gce i4 #ag f42 cp4 xv4 #ai4 #gcf ,see above1 p4 #afj4 #gcg ,hebrew adds1 ,thou seest me4 #gch ,see also p4 #afj4 ,verse #d is clearly out of place here1 referring to a hardly relevant subject4 ,verse #f is less improbable an illustration of the harder troubles in store for the prophet4 ,there is no reason to doubt the genuineness of the rest3 ,thou can'st not trust1 so ,greek2 ,hebrew thou art trusting4 ,hitzig1 etc41 by changing one consonant read thou art fleeing4 ,rankness lit4 pride or extravagance4 ,if verse #f is original1 the date of the whole is early4 #gci ,see above1 p4 #bjb4 #gdj v4 #ca2 p4 #abe4 #gda ii4 #bb f42 xiii4 #bc2 xvi4 #ab2 xvii4 #a2 etc4 #gdb ii4 #aa-ac1 #bb1 #be1 #ca f4 #gdc ii4 #ce2 v4 #ca2 vii4 #d-aa1 #ba ff42 xi4 #ae2 xiv4 #ab4 #gdd iv4 #c1 #d2 vii4 #c ff4 etc4 #gde xv4 #ah4 #gdf ,debase not the throne of ,thy ,glory1 xiv4 #ba4 #gdg xiv4 #h1 #i2 see p4 #eg4 #gdh x4 #a-af is a later writer's2 see p4 #bjg4 #gdi vi4 #bg2 see pp4 #acb1 #acc4 #gej xii4 #a ff41 etc4 #gea xx4 #g1 #aa4 #geb xvii4 #g f42 p4 #ed4 #gec ,see above1 p4 #bii4 #ged ,shortly before his death1 ,professor ,a4 ,b4 ,davidson said to me1 8,these prophets were terribly one-idea'd men0--their one idea being that the ,lord was about to do something4 #gee ii41 iii4 passim4 #gef ii4 #ca4 #geg ii4 #h2 ,where is the ,lord8 #geh i4 #ab ff4 #gei xxvii4 #e4 #gfj xxii4 #g2 i4 #ae2 iv4 #f2 v4 #ae1 etc4 #gfa xxii4 #be f42 xxiv4 #h ff42 xxv4 #i2 xxvii4 #f2 xxxii4 #c2 xxxiv4 #b1 #bb4 #gfb xviii4 #a-aa4 #gfc i4 #i f42 etc4 #gfd ii4 #i2 xii4 #a ff42 xiii4 #a2 xviii4 #a2 xix4 #a1 xxiv4 #a f42 xxvii4 #b2 xxxii4 #f2 xxxv4 #b2 xxxvi4 #b1 #bh4 #gfe ii4 #e1 #aa2 viii4 #ai 7872 xiv4 #bb2 xvi4 #ai1 #bj2 xviii4 #ae2 xxxii4 #cj 7871 etc4 ,bubble1 ,hebrew hebel1 lit4 breath1 usually rendered vanity by our versions4 #gff ,deut4 iv4 #ai reconciles the two by saying that ,yahweh had assigned the gods to their respective nations4 #gfg ,above1 pp4 #ahg ff42 ii4 #i1 #ca f42 iii4 #ab1 #ai2 etc4 #gfh ix4 #bd2 cp4 v4 #a ff41 etc4 #gfi vii4 #c ff42 xxvi4 #ac4 ,see above1 pp4 #aee ff4 #ggj xxii4 #ae f4 #gga ix4 #g2 cp4 ii4 #i1 #ce2 v4 #g-i1 #be4 #ggb ,not from the very earliest2 ii4 and iii4 utter pleadings rather than condemnations4 #ggc iii4 #a ff41 #bj4 #ggd vi4 #aa2 iv4 #h1 #bf2 xxv4 #ae2 xxx4 #bd 7also1 but out of place in xxiii4 #bj72 cp4 xiii4 #ab-ad4 #gge ii4 #bj2 iii4 #c1 #f ff41 #bj2 xii4 #h4 #ggf iv4 #bh2 v4 #g2 vii4 #af2 xi4 #ad2 xv4 #a ff4 #ggg v4 #i1 #bi2 ix4 #i2 xxi4 #g4 #ggh vi4 #ae2 viii4 #ab2 ix4 #ae 7xxiii4 #ae72 xv4 #g1 #h2 xiii4 #bd2 xviii4 #ag2 vi4 #bf2 ix4 #aa2 vii4 #ae2 xxiv4 #i1 #aj4 #ggi ii4 #ai2 iv4 #ah2 vii4 #ai2 xiii4 #bb4 #ghj vi4 #bg-cj2 pp4 #acb ff4 #gha ii4 #cj1 v4 #c4 #ghb ii4 #be2 xviii4 #ab2 vi4 #ae2 viii4 #ab2 xi4 #ad2 xiv4 #aa4 #ghc v4 #ca2 xiii4 #be2 xviii4 #aa ff42 xxiii4 #ad-ag2 xxvii4 #i2 xxviii4 #ae4 #ghd iii4 #ba-be1 a vain confession of sin by the people which meets only with a sterner call from ,god 7iv4 #c-d2 see pp4 #ajb f41 #ajg f47 and was1 as the subsequent years proved1 ineffective2 cp4 xviii4 #ae4 #ghe ii4 #e1 #ca1 #cb4 #ghf xii4 #g-i2 ii4 #ad4 #ghg xii4 #aa2 cp4 ,gen4 xlviii4 #g4 #ghh xxxi4 #bj4 #ghi ,i shall judge thee for saying 8,i am guiltless03 ii4 #ce4 #gij ,above1 pp4 #ahf ff41 #cdh4 #gia ii4 #ac2 xiv4 #h2 xvii4 #ac2 iii4 #ab4 #gib i4 #aa f42 xxxi4 #ce f4 #gic viii4 #g2 v4 #bb 7xxxi4 #ce72 xiv4 #bb 7after the ,greek72 cp4 iii4 #c2 v4 #bd4 #gid xxiii4 #bc f42 above1 p4 #bef4 #gie ,by ,smend4 #gif ,amos ix4 #b ff4 #gig ,see above1 pp4 #bch-bda4 #gih xxix4 #d-ac2 cp4 vii4 #ad1 #ba ff42 iii4 #af2 and see above1 pp4 #adc-aei4 #gii ,see above1 pp4 #ij ff4 #hjj v4 #a-e2 viii4 #h1 scribes and wise2 and prophets and priests continually4 #hja ix4 #d f42 v4 #g f42 xx4 #c f42 xxii4 #ac-ah2 xxxviii4 #bb2 xxviii4 #ae f4 #hjb iii4 #b2 v4 #bf2 x4 #ba2 xxiii4 #ca4 #hjc v4 #a4 #hjd xi4 #bj2 xx4 #ab4 #hje xvii4 #i f4 #hjf xxiii4 #bd4 #hjg xxxi4 #bi f4 #hjh xxvi4 #b f4 #hji ix4 #bd4 #haj x4 #bc4 #haa xvii4 #g f42 above1 p4 #ed4 #hab ,see above1 pp4 #bbg-bbi4 #hac xii4 #c4 #had ,above1 pp4 #bic ff4 ,this was rightly perceived by earlier critics of last century1 ,movers1 ,de ,wette1 ,hitzig1 etc41 who mostly assigned as a date the end of the exile and read the influence of the ,second ,isaiah upon any ,jeremian material that the chapters may contain4 ,in spite of objections by ,graf their thesis was reaffirmed and expanded by ,stade 7,gesch4 ,isr4 i4 #fdc7 and by ,smend 7,lehrbuch der ,a4,t4 ,religionsgeschichte1 #ahic71 who denied that any part of xxx1 xxxi was from ,jeremiah1 on grounds both of alleged inconsistencies with ,jeremiah's teaching1 and of the representations of ,judah with her people restored and her cultivation resumed4 ,but since ,smend criticism has been more discriminating2 admitting post-exilic elements and consequently a late age for the whole collection but reserving for our ,prophet various passages3 ,giesebrecht1 xxxi4 #b-f1 #ae-bj1 #bg-cd2 ,duhm1 xxx4 #ab-ae1 xxxi4 #b-f1 #ae-bb;a2 ,erbt1 xxxi4 #b-f1 #ae-ag1 #ah-bj2 ,cornill1 xxxi4 #b-e1 #i;b1 #ae-bb;b1 #ca-cd2 ,j4 ,r4 ,gillies1 xxxi4 #b-f1 #ae-bj1 #bi f41 #ca;b1 #cc;b1 #cd2 ,peake1 xxxi4 #b-f1 #ae-bb1 #ca-cd2 ,skinner1 xxxi4 #b-f1 #ae f41 #ah-bj1 #ba f41 #bi f41 #ca-cd4 #hae ,above1 pp4 #cf f41 #dj-db1 #di-eb1 #ia4 #haf ,above1 pp4 #dj1 #ia1 #adb1 #ade4 #hag xi4 #a ff41 etc4 #hah xxiv4 #g4 #hai ix4 #bd2 cp4 viii4 #g;b1 etc4 #hbj ,so ,greek1 ,latin and ,syriac2 ,hebrew though ,i was an husband to them4 #hba ,so one ,greek version4 #hbb ,so some ,,mss4 #hbc ,so ,greek and ,latin4 #hbd ,hebrew adds1 ,rede of the ,lord4 #hbe ,giesebrecht4