1. The reign of Josiah.— To Josiah'a reign belomr chs. 1-/J, mainly to the time before his Reform. The date !» belongB to ch. 1 ; 13 is a later insertion, meant protjahly to apply to the whole book (2 K 25'*). Ctl8. 2-ti are a compend" of many" oracles, but may be considered as two discourses, 2M-* and 45-0^", the first iL^iving the prophet's verdict on the people's hi-story from the he-^innins. and the second a^nouncinf? the inevitable issue of such a history. 3*"*", where Judah is contrasted with Israel, is riphtly assi^'tied to the reijjn of Josiah, for the idea that such a contrast could be of the date of cbe. 3(J. 31 (Kw., Kuen.) is altogether improbable. Si*-*"* appear to be later than 3'm* ; certainly vv.i7. is are 80, for v,i» implies the exile of Judah. But the reference to Zion while Judah was still there (v. U) is unnaturul, and mention of the ' arli ' when Israel is s)K>ken to is without meanin;;, and sujrgests that ark and temple were no more. The question whetiier 31^"^ be the secution of 3'-* or of 36-I8 ifl difficult. Formally, either connexion is suitable. 3'-* seems the continuation of ch. 2 and refers to ' Israel ' as a whole, though Judah may be alluded to in v.*f- ; but Judah does not seem spoken of under the name ' Israel,' except when the general idea of the whole family is in the prophet's mind. If 3'-'ff follow 31-fi, the passage continues as in ch. 2 to refer to the whole family of Israel. Snme things are in favour of this, e.g. the gracious design of God, v.l8, most naturally refers to the whole family ; the designation ' tlie lovely land ' more probably describes Can.aan as a whole than either half of it ; and 41 3, if original, recall the promises made to Israel in its unity. On the other hand, ' children of Israel ' (v. 21) rather suggests Israel of the north, and 43*, which have do connexion with 4''^, might be the natural conclusion to S*-*. At all events 8'^^- are not spoken of Judah alone, but refer either to Isruel as a whole or to Israel of the north, continuing 3^13, "The words 'her sister,' w.'.&io, are wanting in L.XX, cf. Ezk 23". nio-n on the Sabbath, which might be after the Reform, are usually con- sidered a later insertion.
2. The reign of Jehoiakim.—il.) In ch. 7 Jeremiah threatens the temple with the fate of Shiloh. The historical commentary ch. 26, itself of later date, refers the discourse to the beginning of Jehoiakim's reign. Indeed it might naturally be placed imn.edi- ately after the death of Josiah. 'The people's trust in the temple, which occasioned Jeremiah's threat, implies a feeling of danger, but the danger was over when Jehoiakim was raised by Necho to the throne. Neither is there any allusion to the king in ch. 26, it is the priests who arraign Jeremiah. The story of Uriah ^2C2"ir-) is an addition to illustrate the danger of Jeremiah ; the incident itself may have been later, though early in the rei<rn of Jehoiakim, for only when Egypt and Israel were friendly would extradition of tiie prophet have been granted (2.) The brief oracle on Jehoahaz (.Shallum) and Josiah, 22J0-12^ ig of the same period. (3.) 72y-83 is an oracle against Tophet. Ch. 19 probably supplies the historical situation. The incidents, though before the 4th year of Jehoiakim, are later than 7'28. (4.) Chs. 7-10 aa a whole (apart from 10^ 16) appear to belong t4 the same period, though tiiere is much that is obscure in tl^m
JEREMIAH
JEREMIAH
Oi .
fhe preacntiment of a foe from the north (8^9 IO'T-^H), the Tision of an invasion and b'h-^g (a^-*'^), tlie aifitation of the projihet at the prospect of the approaching culuinity (l>l*'fj, and his cull to the muurnin>; woiul-q to prepare u laiueiitution (9'''''^), are strange in the early years of Jetioiukitn, and ri-call the situation in chs. 5. 6. Hence some u^.-holars have assig^ned Che, 7-10 to Josiah'e reign ; but parts, e.'j. T"-, are certainly later. The whole at any rate appean* earlier than the4th ycarof JehoiakiiD, for after itiia Jeremiah alwuyd naiuea 'the king of Babylon.' (6.) Ill-12« also appear to im of this period. lll-» are very obscure. Vv.^-n, char^'ing Judah with 'conspiracy,* that ia, defection from the Oovenani, belong to the time of Jehoiakim, and the commanda in w>t^ are referred by (jieyebrccbt to the same period, though they have uauoJly been thought to refer to Dt and Josiah's Keform. The plot of the people of Anathotb against Jeremiah's life (1118-12*') would hardly be occasioned by his action in connexion with Josiah's Kefonn, but be uwjng to his charge of 'conspiracy* at u later time, ilia complaints 121 fl also suggest this period of his history, (ti.) Chs. U*-20. Ch. 18 appearti now connected with the historical passage 19'- 20^. Ch. 18 teaches that Uud's dealing with men is moral, that He treats them as their moral conduct permits llirn to do ; it is only a secondary inference from this that prophecy is con- ditional, threats and promises being alike revocxible a<:cor<iing to men's oi-tions. If ch. 19 gave the situation of 7'^~>i^. ch. 18 might belong to about the same time. Un account of the speech in Tophet, repeated in the tcuipic (PJi-*""-), Pashhur put Jeremiah for a night in the stocks. It Jeremiah's inability to go to the temple (S0&) were due to Poshhur's action, the incidents and oracles 18i-20i» would belong to the eve of the 4th year of Jehoiakim. though the narrative was n<Jt written till later. In 20*T-, however, Poshhur is threatened with deiK)rtation to Baby- lon, and it would be neces.sar>' to assume (Kuen.) that the later narrator had reported Jeremiah's wnnls somewhat generally. (7.) There is little in chs. 14-1;'). referring to a drought, or in Ki'-l"!^ to suggest a date, wheiht-r before or after the 4th year of Jehoiakim. Such passages as 15"J might suggest that the prophet was free to go about among the people, before he had to go into hiding for fear of arrest ('iti'^), and l(ii"- might seem to reject an early rather than a late date in his life. The idea '.hat 17*1 refers to Jehoiakim, and 17^1" to his premeditated revolt (Kuen.), seems far-fetched. (15lil4 appear to refer to the people, and are misplaced; 16^-1* thougli in LXX is an obvious insertion). (8.) According to ch. 3ti, Haruch wrote a second roll iti the 6tn year of Jehoiakim containing acldilions. Tlii.s roll would thus include chs. 1-6, 7-10 (except IQl 16), lli- l-.;'i. probably 14-15, lCl-171* (22l<'ff-? 2213"-?), the genuine portions of 25, and probably 45, the short promise to Baruch. Whether IS and 20?^- also stood in the roll may be uncertain, as the passages are now enclosed in a hifltoricjd setting of a later date. (9.) To a later time in the reign of Jehoiakim belong 12'!'-i", which appear to reflect the situation after his revolt it K 241""). Ch. 36 also narrates an incident in connexion with the Rechabites probably of the same time. (10.) Ch. 13, describ- ing a BjTnbolicAi action with Jeremiah's girdle, is usually assigned to the short reign of Jehoiachin. on account of the allusion to him and his mother in vjnf-. There is nothing in the other parts of the chapter to suggest this situation ; but if Perath (v,4) be the Euphrates, the date would in any case be later than the 4th year of Jehoiakim and Carchemish.