tion, " Thus far are the words of Jeremiah," stood at the end of ver. 58. When the short narrative in vers. 59 - 64 (ending at " I will bring upon her ") was combined with ch. 1. 1 — li. 58, the declaration in question was removed from ver. 58 to ver. 64, and, by accident, the preceding word (in the He- brew) was removed with it. This leaves it open to us to doubt whether the present prophecy on Babylou is really the one re- ferred to in ver. 60, supposing, that is, there are other reasons, derived from the prophecy itself, for questioning its Jeremianio author- ship.
The reasons which have been addi.oe I for doing so are analogous to those wlilc i lead so many students to doubt the Isaiai i ie authorship of Isa. xl. — xlvi. '
1. The author of the latter prophecy (or the greater part tliereof) writes as if he were living at the close of the Babylonian exile. So does the author of ch. 1. and li. "Yet a little while," he says (ch. li. 33), " and the time of her harvest sliall come " — the time, that is, of th..t juilicial inter- position which (comp. Isa. xvii. 5, 11 ; Matt, xiii. 39) is the heavenly antitype of harvest He urges his fellow-countrymen to flee, while there is still time, from the doomed city (ch. li. 6, 45). He mentions, as the instruments of the Divine vengeance, the Modes (oh. li. 11, 28), and, as it would seem, refers, though obscurely, to Cyrus (oh. li. 20—23).
2. Although the above statement is lite- rally true of most of Isa. xl.— Ixvi., yet there are some passages which are much more suggestive of a Palestinian origin ttian of a Babylonian (see Clieyne's 'Pro- phecies of Isaiah,' ii. 202). Precisely so in ch. I. and li., at least according to one
• 'Encyclopaedia Britannica,' ninth edition, article " Jeremiah."
OH. u 1—46.] THE BOOK OF THE PROPHET JEREMIAH.
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prevalent interpretation of oh. 1. 9 ; IL 50 (which are thought to imply a residence in Jemsalem); 1. 28; li. 11, 35, 51 (sug- gestive, perhaps, of the continuance uf Jerusalem and the temple); 1. 17; li. 34 (implying, as some think, that Nebuchad- nezzar was still alive). Still, there is so much doubt respecting the soundness of the i aferences, that it is hardly safe to rely too confidently upon them. The case of ch. I. and li.iE> therefore, in so far rather less favour- able tc Jeremiah's authorship than that of Isa. zl. — ^Ixvi. is tu that of Isaiah.
3. Amongst much that is new and strange in the style of phraseology of Isa. xl. — ^Ixvi., there is not a little that reminds one forcibly ot the old Isaiah. Similarly with ch. 1. and li., as compared with Jeremiah, " Every impartial judge," says Kuenen(who will not be suspected of a prejudice for tradition), " must admit that the number of parallel passages is very large, and that the author of ch. 1. and li. agrees with no one more than with Jeremiah." For instance, tlie formula, " Thus ealth Jehovah Sabioth, the God of Israel" (ch. 1. 18; li. 33), also occurs in ch. vii. 3; is. 15, and some twenty-six otiier passages; comp. also ch. I 3 with ix. 9; 1. 5 with xxxii. 40; 1. 7 with ii. 3, xiv. 18, xvii. 13; and see other passages referred to in the Exposition.
The probability would, therefore, appear to be that, whatever solution we adopt for the literary problems of Isa. xl. — Ixvi., an analogous solution must be adopted for ch. 1. and li. The whole question is so large, and connects itself with so many other problems, that the present writer declines to pro- nounce upon it here Only it should be observed (1) that both subject and tone remind us of Isa. xl. — Ixvi. and the kindred prophecies scattered about in tlie first part of the Book of Isaiah, and more especially of Isa. xiii. and the closely related prophecy, Isa. xxxiv. ; (2) that these two chnpters, ch. 1. and li., present some striking points of contact with Ezeldel, who, though contem- porary with Jeremiah, was still a later con- temporary, and allusions to whom (since Ezekiel was a literary rather than an ora- torical prophet) imply that his prophetic book was already in circulation — in other words, suggest a date well on in the Exile for the prophet who alludes to him ; (3) that,
though there are many Jeremianio allu- sions in ch. 1. and li., there are also several passages copied almost verbally from pro- phecies of Jeremiah, and applied to Babylon and its assailants (it seems difficult to believe that Jeremiah should have been such a good economizer of his literary work). It deserves to be added (4) that, though Jeremiah is a great student of tlie earlier proph'^tic writings, and makes numerous allusions to them (see especially ch. xlvi. — zlix.), nothing approaching to the mosaic- work in ch. 1. and li. can be pointed to in the undoubted prophecies of 'Jeremiah. In fact, the Exposition will show that the author of these two chapters has borrowed almost the whole of their contents from other prophets — his own property, so to speak, being too insignificant to be worth men- tioning.
Here, in justification of (1), is a list of points of contact between ch. 1. and li. and Isa. xiii. : —
(o) " To consecrate [or, ' sanctify ']," used of persons, ch. li. 27; Isa. xiii. 3. Here only (elsewhere with " war " following).
(6) "Lift ye up a banner," oh. L 2; li. 27; also Isa. xiii. 2.
(e) Comp. ch. 1. 16 with Isa. xiii. 14; close phraseological agreement.
(d) Comp. oil. 1. 6, 17 with first part of Isa. xiii. 14 ; agreement as to sense.
(e) "Behold, I will stir up against Babylon," ch. li. 1 (comp. I. 9); so Isa xiii. 17. Comp. also, however, Isa. xli. 25 ; Joel iii. (Hebrew, iv.) 7—9.
(/) Comp. ch li. 3 (oh. 1. 14, 29) with Isa. xiii. 18 ; agreement as to sense.
(3) Ciimp. ch. li. 11, 28 with Isa. xiii. 17 (mention of the Medes).
(h) Comp. ch. 1. 39, 40 with Isa. xiu. 19 —22.
This Inst parallel may, perhaps, be ques- tioned. At first sight it may appear that both ch. 1. 40 and Isa xiii. 19 are based upon ch. xlix. 18 («hich see), but when we inspect Isa. xiii. 19 h more closely in the Hebrew, we shall find reason to conclude that the original, both of this passage and of ch. 1. 40, is Amos iv. 11. We must, there- fore, put ch. xlix. 18 out of the question, and learn to be on our guard sgainst plausible inferences. The only point which remains to be decided vi the relation between ch. 1.
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THE BOOK OF THE PROPHET JEREMIAH. [ch. l. 1— 4
(0 and Im, zili. 19 ; which passage is the nriginal? One important element in our leoision will be the naturalness in the mode nf refeience to Bodom and Gomorrah ; to the [>resent writer this seems to determine the ijuestion against ch. I. and li. and in favour i)f Isa. ziii. (The imitation is limited to Isa. xiii. because Iso. ziv. passes on to another though a related subject.)
And here, in justification of (2), are points of contact between oh. L and li. and the Prophet Ezekiel.