Chapters Local Metaphors in Jeremiah 1-24: Plant Imagery
CHAPTERS LOCAL METAPHORS IN JEREMIAH 1-24: PLANT IMAGERY
In this chapter, I examine the cognitive and creative value of local metaphors in Jeremiah 1-24. The delineation of the conceptual domain to which given local metaphors belong is a prerequisite for understanding their cognitive and creative value, as this very domain is usually not explicitly articulated in the given text. Therefore, I suggest and discuss one such domain, or frame of refer ence, in light of which I will consider local metaphors that YHWH and the prophet employ in Jeremiah 1-24. I thereby explore their cognitive orientation as reflected in their use of figurative language. I have proposed that the overall framework of Jeremiah 1-24 is a royal lawsuit model in which YHWH appears in his heavenly court, condemning and proclaiming the punishment of Judah and Jerusalem for forsaking their covenantal obligations. While YHWH and Jeremiah employ a variety of images and figures in this framework, there is one kind of imagery that recurs throughout their discourse and that is the imagery of plant and horticulture Qer 1:10; 2:3, 7, 21; 4:3-4, 17; 5:10, 14; 6:9; 8:13; 9:21; 11:16-17, 19; 12:2, 10; 17:5-8; 21: 14; 22:6-7; 23:5; ch. 24). For example, YHWH and Jeremiah refer to the people of Judah and Jerusalem as vine-trees ("noble vines" 2:21), olive trees ("verdant olive tree, fair with choice fruit" 11: 16), and fig trees ("these good figs" 24:5; cf. 8: 13), the land of Israel as God's vineyard ("my vineyard" 12: 10; cf. also 'mi:, "vineyard" in 2: 7), and the royal palace in Jerusalem as the summit of the Lebanon forest ("You [= the royal house) are to me [like) Gilead, the summit of Lebanon!" 22:6). The function of these plant images is usually understood to be illustra tive or emotive, making the destruction scene more vivid and engaging so as to appeal to the emotions of the audience. 1 However, the striking frequency of
1 For instance, Lundbom understands the image of "a choice vine" turning into "a strange vine" in Jer 2:21 as one of the "array of vivid metaphors" that are intended
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their occurrence, their particular distribution, and their possible interrelated ness have not received scholarly attention. In this chapter, I discuss these plant and horticultural images in Jeremiah 1-24 as part of the conceptual complex of the royal model, namely, Israel as God's "royal garden." As I see it, this is part of the biblical concept through which to perceive events in history. It is through this metaphorical concept that the two protagonists, YHWH and Jeremiah, perceive the signifi cance of the destruction and restoration of Judah and Jerusalem in Jeremiah 1-24. For better understanding, I first delineate the basic idea of the divine garden within the broader context of biblical literature, in particular, its com mon use in the Bible for portraying the vicissitudes of person (king or people) or institution (city or kingdom). I next examine if and how we can read the plant images in Jeremiah 1-24 in light of this concept. As stated in the introduction to this study, Greenstein's three exegetical principles for unpacking poetic metaphors-namely, the consideration of the "ramifications," "specific concept," and "intertextual function" of a given metaphor-can substantially enhance the interpretation of local metaphors in Jeremiah. 2 Therefore, I also employ them in the following discussion and ex plore the ramifications, specific concept, and/or intertextual function of the plant metaphors whenever pertinent.
Divine Garden Imagery-An Outline
The divine garden is a mythopoetic concept widely attested in the ancient Near East.' It is usually described as a bejeweled garden where luxuriant trees grow by the stream of living waters, and where only immortals can dwell. 4 This gar-
to "give lucidity to the enormity of evil within the nation and the destruction that will come as a result" (Jeremiah, 1: 127). 2 See pp. 17-18 above. 'See Howard N. Wallace, "Garden of God," ABD 2:906-7, and more thor oughly, Wallace, The Eden Narrative (HSM 32; Atlanta, Ga.: Scholars Press, 1985), and the works cited there. For an exhaustive analysis of the Eden motif, see T. Stordalen, Echoes of Eden: Genesis 2-3 and Symbolism of the Eden Garden in Biblical Hebrew Literature (CBET 25; Leuven: Peeters, 2000). 4 This garden is usually assumed by scholars to be located on the "cosmic mountain." For the relationship between the divine garden and the cosmic mountain