out. Jeremiah promises that he will pray to Jahweh for a message, and that he will not keep back a single word of it when he receives it. But
ten days elapse before the Divine word comes to him, forbidding absolutely the migration to Egypt, and commanding the people to remain in their own land, The charges of falsehood and treachery which the spokesmen of the people then prefer against the prophet are such as no one will have any difficulty in attributing to the blind zeal of infatuated men. But it would be equally unjust to regard those ten days as simply a period of delay which the prophet took for calm considera- tion, and with a view to the allaying of excited feelings. Here, too, we must believe him when he tells us that he could not announce a ‘word of Jahweh’ until it had been given him.
7. In all that we have said hitherto in the way of characterizing the writing prophets, we have not, however, yet mentioned the most essential feature. This we find in the subjects of prophetic announcement, which are exclusively the affairs of the theocracy, not to say the kingdom of God in the wide sense of that expression. The pro- phecies are addressed to the whole body of the people, whether in Israel or Judah,—or at least relate to them; and in every instance the con- tents are exclusively moral and religious. The few exceptions, where a prophecy is addressed to individuals, are only apparent. When Isaiah (72!) invites king Ahaz to ask a sign from Jahweh, he is speaking to the man who had the control of, and the responsibility for, the fortunes of the people at a critical period. And when the same prophet (Is 22°") announces to the king’s major- domo his deposition and banishment, and. the appointment of Eliakim in his place, the whole context shows that Shebna had brought this punishment upon himself by the harm he had done the theocracy, and by his oppression of the people ; whereas it was to be expected of Eliakim, the servant of Jahweh, that he would be ‘a father to the house of Judah.’ In the same way, of course, we must interpret the minatory prophecies of Jeremiah addressed to individuals: for instance, that to Pashhur (20°*:), whose ill-treatment of the prophet had proved him to be a rebel against Jahweh Himself; that to Hananiah (28%; see above); that to Shemaiah (2974%-); and, not less, the numerous prophetic addresses to various kings of Judah (215% 991" 208. oriat. Qglt.) Again, the very frequent words of threatening uttered against whole classes, the nobles and judges of the people, the priests or the (false) prophets, have in view the members of these, not as individuals but as the holders of important offices, on whose conduct the weal and the woe of the whole body depend. The true prophet of Jahweh, on the other hand, holds an office only in so far as he is called by God to a definite activity, never for State reasons or by a king’s commission. Accordingly, nothing could argue greater perversity than to represent Isaiah, when he announced to Shebna his deposi- tion (22)-), as acting in an official capacity and by the king’s directions—something after the fashion of a court preacher !
8. Itis quite in harmony with the position of the
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pee in the service of Jahweh that they per- orm their ministry without any claim to fee or reward—differing thus from the ancient seers, who received gifts in return for the answers they gave to inquirers (1S 9%, 1 K 14%). According to Mic 34, it is a sign of the false prophets that they divine for money—conduct which is pronounced equally disgraceful with that of judges who take gifts to give decisions, or of priests who impart torah for a fee.
9. Once more, as to the numerous oracles and addresses spoken against foreign peoples: these fall in large measure within the sphere of prophetic activity, for the simple reason that their motive is the hostile attitude of these nations to the theo- cracy. They denounce the judgment of Jahweh upon those who in their blindness have abused His commission to chastise and have cruelly destroyed (Is 10°*-); or who, like the Edomites, in Jeru- salem’s ‘ evil day,’ exhibited a savage joy, and did their best to humiliate and destroy Judah (Ob 1"), But even where such motives are not present, or at least not recognizable by us, the oracles against foreign nations occupy a high place in the pro- phetic addresses. For they are all testimonies
_ that it is recognized that Jahweh alone, with almighty hand, guides the fortunes of the nations, near and remote; that He alone can reward and punish ; and that He does both according to the unalterable standard of right and righteousness. It is no more the merely national god, who con- cerns himself about the course of the world only when his own people are assailed by another, and then—such was the popular belief—takes their part blindly ; but One who avenges even the out- rage perpetrated by the Moabites on the bones of the king of Edom (Am 21), And thus it may well be said that in these very oracles against the nations clear and forcible expression is given to the universalism of the prophetic conception of God, the omnipotence, wisdom, and righteousness of Jahweh. There is nothing in them to invali- date the judgment expressed a little ago, that the activity of the writing prophets is always con- cerned with the interests and aims of the theo- eracy, the ways of God with the latter, and that the contents of their prophecies are uniformly of a moral and religious nature.