DOCSLIB.ORG

Jeremiah Among the Prophets

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Jeremiah Among the Prophets chapter 2 Jeremiah Among the Prophets Marvin A. Sweeney 1 One of the great advances of modern scholarship on the prophets was Gerhard von Rad’s recognition that each of the Major Prophets of the HB was based in a distinctive theological tradition that defined its theological message.1 Isaiah was rooted in the Davidic/Zion tradition;2 Jeremiah was based in the tradi- tion of Mosaic Torah;3 and Ezekiel was rooted in the Zadokite priestly tradi- tion.4 Von Rad did not posit any such foundational theological tradition for the Book of the Twelve Prophets – he followed Protestant tradition in reading the Twelve as twelve discrete prophetic books, but similar proposals might be posed in relation to the Twelve.5 A second great advance has now emerged in the early twenty-first century, that is, the concern with intertextuality and the inherently dialogical character of biblical literature. Such work is based in the perspectives of literary theo- rists, such as Mikhail Bakhtin, who pointed to the intertextual character of all literature, whether such intertextuality be defined in relation to the deliberate authorial citation of one piece of literature in another; the intertextual rela- tionship between two pieces of literature that are put into relationship by later readers of the texts; or the inherent intertextual relationship among all litera- ture.6 Emanuel Levinas refines contemporary understanding of intertextuality 1 Gerhard von Rad, Old Testament Theology, Volume II: The Theology of Israel’s Prophetic Traditions, tr. D.M.G. Stalker (New York: Harper and Row, 1965), 33–49. 2 Von Rad, Old Testament Theology II, 147–75, 238–62, 278–300. 3 Von Rad, Old Testament Theology II, 188–219. 4 Von Rad, Old Testament Theology II, 220–37. 5 Marvin A. Sweeney, The Twelve Prophets, BO (Collegeville: Liturgical, 2000), esp. xv–xlii; Sweeney, “Sequence and Interpretation in the Book of the Twelve,” in Form and Intertextuality in Prophetic and Apocalyptic Literature, FAT 45 (Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck, 2005), 175–88. 6 M.M. Bakhtin, The Dialogic Imagination, ed. M. Hulquist, tr. C. Emerson and M. Homlmquist (Austin: University of Texas, 1981). For introductions to intertextuality in the field of bibli- cal studies, see Patricia Tull, “Rhetorical Criticism and Intertextuality,” in To Each its Own Meaning: An Introduction to Biblical Criticism and their Application, ed. S.L. McKenzie and S.R. Haynes (Louisville: Westminster John Knox, 1999), 156–80; Barbara Green, Mikhail © koninklijke brill nv, leiden, 2018 | doi:10.1163/9789004373273_003 Jeremiah Among the Prophets 27 by pointing to the dialogical character of all literature, that is, any literary work may be read in conversation with any other work of literature, whether such dialog is recognized by later readers or not.7 Each prophetic book has its own distinctive outlook, but they address common sets of concerns. This paper focuses on the book of Jeremiah and its intertextual and dialogical relationship with itself and with the other prophetic books. Insofar as Jeremiah appears in two major forms in the Bible, discussion begins with a comparison of the very different MT and LXX forms of the book. Discussion then turns to Jeremiah’s dialog with the other major books, including Isaiah, Ezekiel, and the Twelve Prophets. Issues include the hermeneutical perspective of each prophetic book; their understandings of the relationship between Yhwh and the nations Israel and Judah; the status of the Davidic monarchy; the role of the Jerusalem Temple; and the role of foreign nations. 2 Jeremiah appears in two very distinctive forms, viz., the Masoretic Hebrew text of Jeremiah (MT-Jeremiah) and the Septuagint Greek text of Jeremiah (LXX- Jeremiah). MT-Jeremiah is a far more expansive text that is approximately one- eighth longer than the Septuagint Greek form. The macrostructures of the two forms vary markedly. The first issue to note is the different form and conceptualization of Jer 1–10 in the MT and LXX versions of the book.8 MT-Jeremiah 1–10 includes major macrostructural markers in MT-Jer 1:1–3, 2:1, and 7:1, which demarcate MT-Jer 1–6 and 7–10 as the first two major units of the book. MT-Jeremiah 1–6 includes four constituent sub-units, including the superscription in MT- Jer 1:1–3; the commissioning of the prophet in MT-Jer 1:4–10; signs concerning Bakhtin and Biblical Scholarship: An Introduction, SemeiaSt 38 (Atlanta: Society of Biblical Literature, 2000); Carol Newsom, The Book of Job: A Contest of Moral Imaginations (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2003); Carleen R. Mandolfo, Daughter Zion Talks Back: A Dialogic Theology of the Book of Lamentations, SemeiaSt 58 (Atlanta: Society of Biblical Literature, 2007). 7 Emmanuel Levinas, Totality and Infinity: An Essay on Exteriority, tr. A. Lingis (Pittsburgh: Duquense University Press, 1969); see also Tamar Cohn Eskenazi et al., eds., Levinas and Biblical Studies, SemeiaSt 43 (Atlanta: Society of Biblical Literature, 2003). 8 Marvin A. Sweeney, “Differing Perspectives in the LXX and MT Versions of Jeremiah 1–10,” in Reading Prophetic Books: Form, Intertextuality, and Reception in Biblical and Post-Biblical Literature, FAT 89 (Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck, 2014), 135–53..
Load more

Recommended publications
  • A Bibliography of the Writings of Gerhard Franz Hasel
    Andm University Seminu? Studis, Autumn 1996, No.2,169-186. Copyright @ 1996 by Andrews University Press. A BIBLIOGRAPHY OF THE WRITINGS OF GERHARD FRANZ HASEL MICHAELG. HASEL Doctoral Candidate University of Arizona BOOKS The Remnant: The History and Theology of the Remnant Idea fiom Genesis to Isaiah. Berrien Springs: Andrews University Press, 1972; 2d ed., 1974; 3d rev. ed., 1980. Old Testament Theology: Basic Issues in the Current Debate. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1972; rev. 2d ed., 1975; rev. and expanded 3d ed., 1982, 1985; rev., expanded and enlarged 4th ed., 1991. Translations: Korean: Hyondae Kuycsk Sinbak ui Tonghyang. Seoul, Korea: Christian Literature Society, 1984. Portuguese: Teologia do Antigo Testamento: Quest6es fundamentais no debate atual. Rio de Janeiro: Conven~20Batista Brasileira, 1987. Indonesian, 1986. Jonah: Messenger of the Ehenth Hour. Mountain View, CA: Pacific Press, 1976. New Testament 7heolog-y: Basic Issues in the Current Debate. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1978. Translations: Korean: Hyondae Shinyak Sinhak ui Tongbyang. Seoul: Christian Literature Society, 1982. Portuguese: Teologia do Novo Testamento: Quest6es fundamentais no debate at&. Rio de Janeiro: Conven~iioBatista Brasileira, 1988. Interpretagdo Mica: Princlipios gerals. Campinas, Bd:Dido Sul-Americana, 1979. Understanding the Living Word of Cod. Mountain View, CA Pacific Press, 1980. Redengdo dzvina boje. Brasilia: Publica@es SALT, 1982. Spanish translation: Redencidn divinu boy. Lima: Villa Union, 1982. 170 SEMINARY STUDIES 34 (AUTUMN 1996) God3 Great Gift: The Everlasting Gwenant. Washington, DC: Review and Herald, 1982. Covenant in Blood. Mountain View, CA: Pacific Press, 1982. BibEical Intevpretation Toaky. Washugon, DC: Biblical Resenh Institute, 1985. Translations: Spanish: La Inteqv-etacibn de la Biblia.
    [Show full text]
  • Commemorating in Europe: Along Lines of Separation
    EDITORIAL COMMEMORATING IN EUROPE: ALONG LINES OF SEPARATION Countries in Central European are celebrating a series of anniversa- ries which all are connected to events of the 20th century. The history of the last century gave Mark Mazower reason to speak about a Dark Continent, as is the title of his account of Europe between the First World War and the Fall of the Berlin Wall. It is a period of conflicts and war, ideologies with a high violent potential like nationalism, fascism and communism, resulting in the dictatorial rule of one party over a significant part of Europe. Surveys about issues of national identity from Central European area always indicate that history plays a central role in the way peo- ple think about their community and identity. According to them his- tory is the most important factor in the formation and structure of national identity in countries like Rumania, Hungary, Slovakia, the Czech Republic and elsewhere. Or, to put it in another way, history is very much alive and kicking in the streets of Prague, Bratislava, Bu- dapest and Bucharest – but we could also add Belgrade, Skopje or Zagreb. That means that anniversaries are not just moments to mark certain historical events, but they are commemorated for their role in the self-perceptions of the nations in Central and Southeastern Eu- rope. In the Czech context 2008 offers anniversaries of 1918, 1948 and 1968, in 2009 it will be about 1939, about Jan Palach and about the Velvet Revolution. Already in 2007, when it was 40 years ago that the manifesto Charta 77 had been published, we could see an interest- ing trend in commemorating events from recent history.
    [Show full text]
  • Response to J. Richard Middleton
    Response to J. Richard Middleton Walter Brueggemann Columbia Theological Seminary am grateful to Richard Middleton for having commented upon my work Iwith such care, precision, and generosity. On every point that matters for Middleton's analysis, he has understood me correctly and reported fairly. On the whole I must accept the critique he makes of my work. My re­ sponse to his critique is not to justify what I have done, but to comment upon my own memory of the context and impetus for my work, and then, as far as I am able, to extend the conversation a bit further. H Multiple Models Middleton rightly notes that in my work on creation in the faith and texts of ancient Israel, my thinking reflects either a development or a shift of models that suggests contradictory approaches. Among these he notes three: first, a dialectic of prophetic/royal consciousness which has been the dominant model of my work and which received its most extreme expres­ sion in Israel's Praise; second, a triadic model of orientation/disorienta- tion/new orientation, a more recent development in my thinking which I use particularly in reference to the Psalms; and third, a world-affirming position in In Man We Trust which is rather an early oddity in my work. That is a fair summary of how my thinking has emerged. Three comments are in order. First, it is clear to me that my best inter­ pretive work is the proposal of models of reading that look for larger patterns of meaning; these models are informed by historical criticism but seek to suggest interpretive possibilities for contemporary reading.
    [Show full text]
  • MCC Statement of Faith
    A Companion Guide to the MCC Statement of Faith Contents The MCC Statement of Faith ......................................................................................................................... 5 MCC Statement of Faith ................................................................................................................................ 6 Preamble ................................................................................................................................................... 6 Our Faith ................................................................................................................................................... 6 Commentary on the MCC Statement of Faith ............................................................................................. 7 Introduction .......................................................................................................................................... 8 About the name "Statement of Faith" .................................................................................................. 8 Preamble ................................................................................................................................................... 8 Metropolitan Community Churches is one chapter in the story of the Church, the Body of Christ. ... 8 We are people on a journey, learning to live into our spirituality, while affirming our bodies, our genders, our sexualities. ......................................................................................................................
    [Show full text]
  • Old Testament History, by Robert Vannoy
    1 Robert Vannoy, OT History, Lecture 2 We were talking about Gerhard von Rad. I’ve been trying to summarize Wellhausen’s source critical approach to the Old Testament and what that means for Gunkel’s form critical approach, and developing the form critical method, and then the third individual we began to look at was Gerhard von Rad. Now, I’ve been trying to summarize the rather complex theory that von Rad developed by use of three propositions. I’ve given you the first two of them in the last class hour, I want to give you the third one this afternoon. But let’s briefly go through the first two to reorient ourselves. First, von Rad says what he terms, “statements of belief” stand behind the Hexateuch as a whole. He claims that the principle elements of the heils geschichte or salvation history were summarized in the Credo in Deuteronomy 26:5 and following. Second, the Hexateuch is an aggregation of diverse materials, which have been changed to the present form under the guidance of the Credo. I utilized some of the quotations from some of his writings to illustrate those two points. Third, the Hexateuch as a whole, in terms of Gunkel’s research, must be understood as a gattung. He examined them form critically. In this way, the sitz im leben of the early stages represented by the statement of belief can be recognized. You can see, from that statement that von Rad is moving in a tradition begun by Hermann Gunkel in his terminology of gattung or literary types and sitz im leben, which isolates situation types that produce each particular literary type or genre.
    [Show full text]
  • Book Reviews
    Book Reviews Groves, Joseph W. Actualization and Interpretation in the Old Testament. Soci- ety of Biblical Literature Dissertation Series 86. Atlanta: Scholars Press 1987. vii, 223 pp. Bibliography. No Indices. ISBN 0-89130-966-7. No modern scholar has equaled the influence of Gerhard Von Rad on the study of Old Testament theology. Central to Von Rad's impact was his discov- ery of powerful hermeneutical and theological forces at work in the growth of the Old Testament tradition. Joseph W. Groves provides a competent analysis of the centerpiece of Von Rad's exegesis: the concept of "actualization," which denotes the process by which the Old Testament writers made the past acts of God, and the ancient traditions about those acts, live afresh for the recipients of a later time. After a brief introduction outlining the modern preoccupation with bridging the gulf between historical-critical description of the Bible as an his- torical "artifact" and Christian theology's approach to the Bible as a normative rule of faith, the first chapter sketches the essential character, roots and unfold- ing of Von Rad's understanding of actualization. Groves finds the roots of Von Rad's conception in Herder, Gunkel and Mowinckel. Herder understood the interpreter of a text to be one who made the past live again, cont em porizing material otherwise locked into its own historical context. Gunkel's pioneering form-critical work presented a portrait of the biblical literature's steady, or- ganic development, thus disclosing concerns for contemporaneity within the material itself. Mowinckel's anthropological understanding of the cult as a ve- hicle for uniting the present worshiper to the primal time of God's activity lo- cated actualization at the heart of Israel's worship.
    [Show full text]
  • Weisheit and Job Kynes
    [Kynes, Will. “Weisheit and Job.” In Fifty Years of Wisdom: Gerhard von Rad and the Study of the Wisdom Literature. Edited by Timothy J. Sandoval and Bernd Schipper. Ancient Israel and Its Literature. Atlanta, GA: Society of Biblical Literature, forthcoming.] Weisheit and Job Will Kynes According to Gerhard von Rad, the book of Job provides examples of both how the wise took the offensive against God when individual suffering attacked the trust that they put in Yahweh’s or- dering of the world and how they resolved their doubts by trusting in Yahweh’s mysterious and inexplicable ways. Though von Rad’s interpretation of Job is rarely acknowledged in current an- glophone scholarship, it anticipates a number of recent developments, as it places Job in a broader dialogue with Israel’s traditions beyond “Wisdom Literature” and creates a framework for reconciling Job’s defiance with his faith. Von Rad on Job Von Rad’s discussion of Job appears along with his reading of Ecclesiastes in the twelfth chapter of Weisheit in Israel,1 titled “Vertrauen und Anfechtung” (“Trust and Attack”). He be- gins by distinguishing ancient Israel’s search for knowledge from modern epistemology. As op- posed to the modern “objective spectator’s role” (“neutrale Betrachterrolle”) von Rad claims that for the Israelites, objects (Gegenstände) “compelled commitment, they demanded...complete trust” (“Sie nötigen zu einer Stellungnahme, ja sie beanspruchten...das volle Vertrauen”; 1. Hereafter abbreviated Weisheit. In-text citations throughout refer to this book. 1 190/199).2 Von Rad claims that the teachers employed various techniques to convince their pu- pils to embrace this trust, such as lauding its benefits, including happiness (Prov 16:20), satisfac- tion (Prov 28:25), and protection (Prov 29:25), or describing the evidence passed down across generations of an act-consequence order upheld by Yahweh that controls life (e.g., Job 20:4–5) (190–91/199–200).
    [Show full text]
  • The Theme of Creation in Old Testament Theology from the Twentieth Century Onwards: Assessing the State of Play
    Te Asbury Journal 72/1: 44-59 © 2017 Asbury Teological Seminary DOI: 10.7252/Journal.01.2017S.04 David J. Fuller The Theme of Creation in Old Testament Theology from the Twentieth Century Onwards: Assessing the State of Play Abstract One particularly disputed topic within the feld of Old Testament theology is the subject of creation, specifcally the theological and ethical import of the creation materials. The present study conducts a survey of positions on the theme of creation in signifcant works of Old Testament Theology (excluding works that utilize a narrative or book-based approach) from the seminal volumes of Eichrodt and Von Rad to the present day. It is the intention of the present study to identify the various zones of general agreement and disagreement within the subcategories present in different discussions of creation in Old Testament Theology, in order to clearly isolate the areas that require further research. Keywords: creation; Old Testament Theology; Walther Eichrodt; Gerhard von Rad; hermeneutics David J. Fuller is a Ph.D. candidate in Old Testament at McMaster Divinity College. His research interests include Pentateuch, Book of the Twelve, textual traditions, philosophical hermeneutics, and the use of theoretical linguistics in biblical research. He has published peer-reviewed essays in The Bible and Critical Theory, Journal of Greco-Roman Christianity and Judaism, and Biblical Theology Bulletin. 44 Fuller: The Theme of Creation in Old Testament Theology 45 Introduction Biblical theology provides the necessary link between exegesis and systematic theology.1 One relevant topic within the narrower feld of Old Testament theology is the subject of creation, particularly the theological and ethical import of the creation materials.
    [Show full text]
  • Professor Rolf P. Knierim and Mrs. Hildegard E. Knierim
    1 Professor Rolf P. Knierim and Mrs. Hildegard E. Knierim Obituary Marvin A. Sweeney Claremont School of Theology I deeply regret to announce the passing of Professor Rolf P. Knierim (90) and Mrs. Hildegard E. Knierim, née Salm, (89) on September 29, 2018. Both died instantly in an automobile accident near Winslow, Arizona, while returning to Claremont from a brief vacation in New Mexico. Professor Knierim was born in Pirmasens and Mrs. Knierim was born in Edenkoben, both in the Rhineland-Palatinate region in Germany near the French border. They met at the age of 5 or 6 in elementary school, and later faced the challenges of World War II. Professor Knierim was forced into military service at the age of 15, but later turned himself in to American MP’s following the bombardment and capture of his home town. After the conclusion of the war, he continued his education at the Humanitisches Gymnasium in Pirmasens, the Methodist Seminary in Frankfurt am Main, and Heidelberg University. The Knierims were married in 1955, and Professor Knierim was ordained as an Elder in the Methodist Church in 1957. Mrs. Knierim devoted herself to her family. She was well- known for her cheerful personality, her wonderful hospitality, and her own keen intellect. The Knierims are the parents of five children, Johannes, Eva, Eberhard, Barbara, and Gabriele Knierim, and they are grandparents of five grandchildren. While at Heidelberg, Professor Knierim served as a pastor, hospital chaplain, assistant to Professors Claus Westermann and Gerhard von Rad, and Privatdozent. He was invited to write a 2 doctoral dissertation under the supervision of Professor von Rad, and he earned his Dr.
    [Show full text]
  • Tradition and Theology in the Old Testament
    Tradition and Theology in the Old Testament edited by DOUGLAS A. KNIGHT with contributions by Walter Harrelson Odil Hannes Steck Helmer Ringgren Peter R. Ackroyd Rudolf Smend James L. Crenshaw Walther Zimmerli Robert B. Laurin Arvid S. Kapelrud Michael Fishbane Roger Lapointe Hartmut Gese Douglas A. Knight FORTRESS PRESS Philadelphia Biblical quotations from the Revised Standard Version of the Bible, copy­ righted 1946, 1952, © 1971, 1973 by the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the U.S.A., are used by permission. COPYRIGHT © 1977 BY FORTRESS PRESS AU rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechani­ cal, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior permission of the copyright owner. Library of Congress Catalog Card Number 76--007872 ISBN 0-8006-0484-9 5785G76 Printed in U.S.A. 1-484 Chapter 7 Revelation through Tradition Douglas A. Knight The period since the Enlightenment has seen perhaps more changes to our understanding of revelation than to any other dogmatic concept or doctrine. This is surely true in the area of systematic theology, for in comparison with their medieval counterparts modern theologians have learned the nature and limits of discourse about God. This hardly means that revela­ tion is no longer a topic of concern for theologians or laity; the discussion continues with full vigor, although the parties in­ volved are more or less aware that they cannot speak facilely of divine disclosure as a self-evident, unproblematic phenomenon.
    [Show full text]
  • Gerhard Von Rads Frühe Predigten
    In Gerhard v. Rads Heimatstadt Nürnberg wirkten zu Beginn Martin Hauger des 20. Jahrhunderts mit F. Rittelmeyer, C. Geyer und W. Stählin herausragende Prediger im Sinne des theologischen Liberalis - mus. Von Rad gehörte der von Stählin beeinflussten Jugendbewe- gung an und begegnete dort im Kreis der Freunde (W. Trillhaas, W. v. Loewenich) der Theologie K. Barths. Als Teilnehmer der Gerhard von Rads Hohenecker Konferenzen zu Jugendbewegung und Kirche war er Zeuge der theologischen Auseinandersetzung zwischen G. Merz frühe Predigten und W. Stählin. In diesem Umfeld begann er 1926 als Vikar in Franken zu predigen. Die erhaltenen Vikariatspredigten lassen den Versuch erkennen, zwischen den prägenden Nürnberger Ein- Eine historisch-homiletische drücken und der Theologie Barths zu vermitteln. Die homiletische Analyse von Martin Hauger zeichnet nicht nur Untersuchung ein spannendes Kapitel der Predigtgeschichte nach, sie wirft zugleich ein Licht auf die Genese des theologischen Werkes des berühmten Alttestamentlers, das Zeit seines Lebens im Dienste der Predigt stand. Hauger wurde 2012 mit dieser Arbeit von der Theologischen Fakultät der Universität Heidelberg promoviert. Gerhard von Rads frühe Predigten Rads von Gerhard · Martin Hauger APrTh 51 ISBN 978-3-374-03160-3 Arbeiten zur Praktischen Theologie EUR 88,00 [D] Gerhard von Rads frühe Predigten Arbeiten zur Praktischen Theologie Herausgegeben von Wilfried Engemann, Christian Grethlein und Jan Hermelink Band 51 Martin Hauger Gerhard von Rads frühe Predigten Eine historisch-homiletische Untersuchung Martin Hauger, Dr. theol. Jahrgang 1967, studierte Theo- logie in Bad Liebenzell, Heidelberg und Tübingen. Von 2006 bis 2009 war er wissenschaftlicher Mitarbeiter und Geschäftsführer der Abteilung für Predigtforschung am Praktisch-Theologischen Seminar der Theologischen Fakultät Heidelberg.
    [Show full text]
  • The Physician As Priest Rev
    The Linacre Quarterly Volume 49 | Number 2 Article 8 May 1982 The hP ysician As Priest Charles P. Carroll Follow this and additional works at: http://epublications.marquette.edu/lnq Recommended Citation Carroll, Charles P. (1982) "The hP ysician As Priest," The Linacre Quarterly: Vol. 49: No. 2, Article 8. Available at: http://epublications.marquette.edu/lnq/vol49/iss2/8 The Physician As Priest Rev. Charles P. Carroll The author, an Episcopal priest, is a Yale graduate and a former teaching fellow in the department of government at Harvard. He attended "The Medical Case" in Nuremberg and has served as chaplain for faculty and students at the University of California School of Medicine. © 1982 by Charles P. Carroll. The physician can serve as priest only if he takes quite seriously the words "what is happening to our people is the way back to r Auschwitz."! These words, spoken by West German Parliament member Hartwig Holzgartner can be, and will be, lightly dismissed by many.2 But they cannot be dismissed by those who know our common history. What happened in Germany was not the result of a momentary aberration in the life of a great people. It was rather the culminating event of 150 years in the history of the West. 3 Since the Reformation and the division of Christendom, power has continued to flow from church to state, and the de-divinization of the state which began with Augustine's City of God has come to an abrupt end in the totalitarian states of the 20th century. When Roland Friesler, president of the People's Court in the last years of the Third Reich, said: "We demand the whole man," he was simply articulating a truth which could no longer be denied.
    [Show full text]