VOLUME 14 OLD TESTAMENT NEW COLLEGEVILLE THE BIBLE COMMENTARY JEREMIAH BARUCH Pauline A. Viviano SERIES EDITOR Daniel Durken, O.S.B. LITURGICAL PRESS Collegeville, Minnesota www.litpress.org Nihil Obstat: Reverend Robert Harren, Censor deputatus. Imprimatur: Most Reverend John F. Kinney, J.C.D., D.D., Bishop of St. Cloud, Minnesota, May 28, 2013. Design by Ann Blattner. Cover illustration: Detail of Now the Word of the Lord by Sally Mae Joseph. © 2007 The Saint John’s Bible, Saint John’s University, Collegeville, Minnesota USA. Used by permission. Scripture quotations are from the New Revised Standard Version of the Bible, Catholic Edition, copyright 1989, 1993 National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved. Photos: pages 8 and 144, Wikimedia Commons; pages 54, 58, 69, and 156, Thinkstock Photos. Maps created by Robert Cronan of Lucidity Information Design, LLC. Scripture texts, prefaces, introductions, footnotes and cross references used in this work are taken from the New American Bible, revised edition © 2010, 1991, 1986, 1970 Confraternity of Christian Doctrine, Inc., Washington, DC. All rights reserved. No part of this work may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the copyright owner. © 2013 by Order of Saint Benedict, Collegeville, Minnesota. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form, by print, microfilm, microfiche, mechanical recording, photocopying, translation, or by any other means, known or yet unknown, for any purpose except brief quotations in reviews, without the previous written permission of Liturgical Press, Saint John’s Abbey, PO Box 7500, Collegeville, Minnesota 56321-7500. Printed in the United States of America. 123456789 Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Viviano, Pauline A., 1946– Jeremiah, Baruch / Pauline A. Viviano. pages cm. — (New Collegeville Bible commentary. Old Testament ; Volume 14) Includes index. ISBN 978-0-8146-2848-5 (alk. paper) 1. Bible. O.T. Jeremiah—Commentaries. 2. Bible. O.T. Apocrypha. Baruch—Commentaries. I. Title. BS1525.53.V58 2013 224'.207—dc23 2013008343 CONTENTS Abbreviations 4 THE BOOK OF JEREMIAH 5 Introduction 5 Text and Commentary 9 Oracles in the Days of Josiah (Jeremiah 1:1–6:30) 9 Oracles Primarily from the Days of Jehoiakim (Jeremiah 7:1–20:18) 28 Oracles in the Last Years of Jerusalem (Jeremiah 21:1–25:38) 64 The Temple Sermon (Jeremiah 26:1-24; cf. 7:1-15) 78 Controversies with the False Prophets (Jeremiah 27:1–29:32) 80 Oracles of the Restoration of Israel and Judah (Jeremiah 30:1–35:19) 86 Jeremiah and the Fall of Jerusalem (Jeremiah 36:1–45:5) 103 Oracles Against the Nations (Jeremiah 46:1–51:64) 119 Historical Appendix (Jeremiah 52:1-34) 137 THE BOOK OF BARUCH 140 Introduction 140 Text and Commentary 143 Letter to Jerusalem (Baruch 1:1–3:8) 143 Praise of Wisdom (Baruch 3:9–4:4) 148 Baruch’s Poem of Consolation (Baruch 4:5–5:9) 151 The Letter of Jeremiah (Baruch 6:1-72) 155 Review Aids and Discussion Topics 161 Index of Citations from the Catechism of the Catholic Church 166 Maps 167 ABBREVIATIONS Books of the Bible Acts—Acts of the Apostles 2 Kgs—2 Kings Amos—Amos Lam—Lamentations Bar—Baruch Lev—Leviticus 1 Chr—1 Chronicles Luke—Luke 2 Chr—2 Chronicles 1 Macc—1 Maccabees Col—Colossians 2 Macc—2 Maccabees 1 Cor—1 Corinthians Mal—Malachi 2 Cor—2 Corinthians Mark—Mark Dan—Daniel Matt—Matthew Deut—Deuteronomy Mic—Micah Eccl (or Qoh)—Ecclesiastes Nah—Nahum Eph—Ephesians Neh—Nehemiah Esth—Esther Num—Numbers Exod—Exodus Obad—Obadiah Ezek—Ezekiel 1 Pet—1 Peter Ezra—Ezra 2 Pet—2 Peter Gal—Galatians Phil—Philippians Gen—Genesis Phlm—Philemon Hab—Habakkuk Prov—Proverbs Hag—Haggai Ps(s)—Psalms Heb—Hebrews Rev—Revelation Hos—Hosea Rom—Romans Isa—Isaiah Ruth—Ruth Jas—James 1 Sam—1 Samuel Jdt—Judith 2 Sam—2 Samuel Jer—Jeremiah Sir—Sirach Job—Job Song—Song of Songs Joel—Joel 1 Thess—1 Thessalonians John—John 2 Thess—2 Thessalonians 1 John—1 John 1 Tim—1 Timothy 2 John—2 John 2 Tim—2 Timothy 3 John—3 John Titus—Titus Jonah—Jonah Tob—Tobit Josh—Joshua Wis—Wisdom Jude—Jude Zech—Zechariah Judg—Judges Zeph—Zephaniah 1 Kgs—1 Kings 4 INTRODUCTION The Book of Jeremiah The historical context The Assyrian Empire, which dominated the Syro-Palestinian region in the eighth to seventh centuries b.c., gave way to the Babylonian Empire in the late seventh century b.c. shortly after the reign of Josiah, king of Judah (640–609 b.c.). The prophetic call of Jeremiah is dated to the thirteenth year of Josiah’s reign, that is, 626 b.c. There are few oracles in the book of Jere- miah that can be dated to Josiah’s reign with certainty, but it is possible that the oracles of chapters 2–6 belong to the period when Josiah was king of Judah. According to 2 Kings 22:3–23:3 a law code was discovered in the temple in 621 b.c.; this law code was authenticated as the word of the Lord by Hulda the prophetess, and King Josiah aligned the reform he had begun with the terms of this law. It is not certain whether the story of the discovery of the law code reflects an actual event or was a story created to support Josiah’s reform, but whichever is the case, Deuteronomic law and the the- ology expressed in that law came to the fore in the late seventh century b.c. and played a major role in the shaping of Israel and its Scriptures in the exilic and postexilic periods. It is thought that the Deuteronomic law code of Deuteronomy 12–26, though in an earlier form, was the law code dis- covered at the time of King Josiah. The Deuteronomic law code has simi- larities to Josiah’s reform, especially with respect to the centralization of worship. Jeremiah may have supported Josiah’s reform, but his prophetic message suggests that the reform of Josiah did not significantly impact the behavior of the people, for they continued to worship other gods at various shrines. The book of Jeremiah shows the influence of Deuteronomic the- ology and it is generally agreed that the book reached its final form through the hands of Deuteronomic editors. Most of the book of Jeremiah reflects the period of Babylonian domi- nance over Judah, especially during the reigns of Jehoiakim and Zedekiah. This was a period of turmoil that resulted from conflicting political policies in the royal court of Judah. Jehoiakim had been placed on the throne by the 5 Introduction to the Book of Jeremiah Egyptian pharaoh Necho II who deposed Jehoahaz. Jehoahaz assumed the throne of Judah upon the death of Josiah in 609 b.c. Josiah had attempted to prevent the Egyptians from assisting the Assyrians against the Babylo- nians, but he was slain in battle at Megiddo (2 Kgs 23:29). Jehoiakim began his reign as a vassal to Egypt, but when Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon de- feated the Egyptians at the Battle of Carchemish (605 b.c.), he became a vassal of Babylon. Jehoiakim was caught between two factions: those who sought to throw off Babylonian rule and those who sought to remain loyal vassals of Babylon. Jeremiah’s position is consistent with this latter group. Jehoiakim’s policy of vacillation between these factions brought the Baby- lonian army to Jerusalem in 597 b.c. Jehoiakim died before feeling the full wrath of the Babylonians. Though the Babylonians did not destroy the city at this time, they did take the new king, Jehoiachin, into exile with several thousand leading citizens and they put Zedekiah on the throne of Judah. Zedekiah’s reign was marked by the same divided policies of Jehoiakim and, as a result, the Babylonians laid siege against Jerusalem in 588 b.c.; the city and its temple were destroyed in August of 587 b.c. Zedekiah at- tempted to escape but was captured by the Babylonians. They killed his family in his presence; then he was blinded and taken to Babylon. Jeremiah was most active as prophet during the reigns of Jehoiakim and Zedekiah. The book of Jeremiah The book of Jeremiah contains poetic oracles, prose biographical stories about the prophet, and additions from the Deuteronomic compilers of the book. The poetic oracles, particularly those found in chapters 1–25, are thought to contain the heart of Jeremiah’s message. The oracles against the nations (chs. 46–51) are also in poetic form, but it is doubtful that Jeremiah authored these oracles. The biographical stories about Jeremiah have been traditionally attributed to Baruch, but they may have developed as the traditions about the prophet grew over time. They are located primarily in chapters 26–45. Most of these stories show the prophet coming into conflict with various groups, performing symbolic acts, or presenting a prophetic message at a particular time and place or addressed to a specific person. The additions attributed to the Deuteronomic compilers appear throughout the book. That the book of Jeremiah grew over time is clearly evidenced in the differences between the Greek (Septuagint, or LXX) and the Hebrew (Maso- retic text) versions of the book. The Greek version is one-eighth shorter than the Hebrew version and the oracles against the nations are found in chapters 26–32 of the LXX, but these oracles are the end of the Masoretic text (chs.