Introduction

On the Book of the Prophet Jeremiah

1. The Name and Origin of the Prophet.

The meaning of the prophet Jeremiah’s name — Jrmijahu or, in abbreviated form, Jremjah — is difficult to establish. If derived from the verb rama, meaning “to throw,” it would mean: Jehovah rejects. But it could derive from the verb rama, meaning “to establish, to raise”; in which case the prophet’s name would mean: The Lord establishes. This name was not uncommon in Israel (1 Chr 12:13; 2 Sam 23:31). Jeremiah’s father was Hilkiah, a priest living in the city of Anathoth (in the tribe of Benjamin, about 7 versts north of Jerusalem). In this city dwelt priests from the house of Abiathar, who before Solomon was high priest but was deposed from his high-priestly dignity under this king (1 Sam 2:26). It is not surprising that the priest-father gave his son Jeremiah an education fully in keeping with the traditions of the good old time and thereby prepared him for prophetic service.

2. The Time and Activity of the Prophet.

Jeremiah prophesied from the thirteenth year of the reign of Josiah (Jer 1:2; Jer 25:3), that is, from 627 BC until the destruction of Jerusalem in 588 BC, under the last Judean kings: Josiah, Jehoahaz, Jehoiakim, Jeconiah, and Zedekiah; and then for some time afterward, after the destruction of Jerusalem, in Egypt — in all about 50 years.

Josiah (640–609) was a pious king. Already in the sixteenth year of his life and thus in the eighth year of his reign, he began to display keen interest in religion (2 Chr 34:3-7); and in the twentieth year of his life, he began to abolish idolatry in his country. In the twenty-sixth year of his life, when the book of the Covenant was found in the temple, Josiah reformed the worship according to the guidance of this book (2 Sam 22:1-23; 2 Chr 34:8-35).

Five years before this important reform, Jeremiah was called to prophetic service, but evidently in the early years of his ministry he was unknown in Jerusalem: otherwise the court would have sought his counsel when explaining the threats of the book of the Covenant from the prophetess Huldah (2 Sam 22:14). To the time of King Josiah belong the first speeches of Jeremiah, contained in chapters II–VI and Jer 17:13-27. Although Jeremiah did not take close and direct part in Josiah’s reforming activity, nonetheless he sympathized deeply with it and mourned the death of this king in a sorrowful song, which has not come down to us (2 Chr 35:25). At this time Jeremiah appears in Jerusalem and speaks his reproving speeches chiefly in the temple, where he had the most listeners.

Jehoahaz, whom Jeremiah calls Shallum (Jer 22:10), reigned only three months (2 Sam 23:33 and following). The prophet predicted to him only the loss of the throne forever.

Jehoiakim, the elder brother of Jehoahaz, was placed on the throne by Pharaoh Necho and reigned for eleven years (609–598). In contrast to his father, this king favored idolatry and violated theocratic traditions (2 Sam 23:37), which had indeed been begun by his brother (2 Sam 23:32). His reign was unfortunate for the people, who suffered greatly from his love of luxury and his cruelty (Jer 22:13 and following). He especially harmed his state through his treacherous policies. Though placed on the throne by the Pharaoh, in the fifth year of his reign he became a vassal of Nebuchadnezzar, but three years later he began to plot against him, and thereby brought upon Judah the invasion of the Chaldean, Syrian, Moabite, and Ammonite armies (2 Sam 24:1 and following), until Nebuchadnezzar himself appeared in Jerusalem and took into captivity no small number of Judeans. Jeremiah harshly denounced the king for all this and predicted a sorrowful end for him (Jer 22:1-19). Moreover, under Jehoiakim, at the very beginning of his reign (cf. Jer 26:1), was spoken the great temple speech, contained in chapters VII–XI and in verses 17–25 of the tenth chapter. Then, when Nebuchadnezzar achieved, in the fourth year of Jehoiakim’s reign, a brilliant victory over the Egyptians at the city of Carchemish, in fulfillment of Jeremiah’s prophecy (Jer 46:1-12), Jeremiah at this time prophetically foretells the consequences of this event for the states of Asia and Africa (ch. Jer 25). To this same year belong separate speeches about different kingdoms (ch. Jer 48; and Jer 49). Under Jehoiakim were probably spoken the speeches contained in chapters XI, XII, XIV, XV, XVI, XVII (through verse 18), XVIII, XIX, and XX. To this same time belongs the event described in Jer 35 chapter.

As might be expected, the incorruptible and fearless prophet in this epoch was subjected to serious dangers from the government and from private persons. Already for his temple speech the prophet was condemned to death by priests and false prophets, whom he had strongly denounced (cf. ch. Jer 26). But the nobles on this occasion were just in their treatment of Jeremiah and protected him, though the prophet nonetheless did not escape arrest and beatings from the temple police (ch. Jer 20). The king himself was extremely hostile toward Jeremiah and scarcely did not have in mind for him the fate of the unfortunate Uriah, executed for prophesying (Jer 26:20 and following). Similarly, the prophet’s relations with the people became strained at this time (Jer 16:1 and following). It seems he was even forbidden to enter the temple and was deprived of the right to speak to the people (Jer 36:5). This explains also the fact that precisely in the fourth year of Jehoiakim the prophet received from God the command to write down his speeches about the Judeans and the nations, spoken up to that time, in a book: in this way the people, whom Jeremiah could not directly address, could, by reading or hearing this book, see how his prophecies were beginning to be fulfilled, and repent of the unbelief they had shown toward Jeremiah’s prophecies (ch. Jer 36). Baruch, his faithful disciple, served him as scribe, and afterward read Jeremiah’s prophecies to the people in the temple. When in the fifth year of Jehoiakim, on a day of fasting, he read this book to the people, the book was taken from him and handed to the king, who ordered Jeremiah and Baruch to be seized and destroyed the book... But the prophet and his disciple had managed beforehand to hide and wrote the prophecies again, further enlarging their contents. After this Jeremiah for a long time did not appear before the people.

Jeconiah, son and successor of Jehoiakim, ruled for only three months (2 Sam 24:8) and was carried off along with the best of his people to Babylon by Nebuchadnezzar (Jer 24:1; Jer 29:2). Jeremiah predicted to this king, who persisted in his father’s policies, his unfortunate fate (Jer 22:20-30).

Zedekiah (597–586), who was placed on the throne by Nebuchadnezzar, was the younger son of Josiah, uncle of Jeconiah. His nearly eleven-year reign ended with the destruction of the Judean state (Jer 52:2 and following). Instead of seeking help from Jehovah and administering justice and righteousness, crushing pagan altars, this weak-willed ruler conceived the idea of throwing off his dependence on Babylon. Jeremiah at this time felt himself much freer than under Jehoiakim; his worst enemies, especially from among the priests, had been carried away into captivity; the king himself had some respect for his word. And the prophet tirelessly continued to insist to the king and people that their only salvation was to submit to the will of Jehovah, who required that the king and people acknowledge the authority of the king of Babylon over themselves, of course, for a certain period of time. But Zedekiah could in no way agree with the prophet and acted in exactly the opposite spirit. In the fourth year of his reign, in hopes of the difficulties then faced by the Babylonian king, who was struggling with Elam (Jer 49:34-39), Zedekiah planned to revolt from Babylon (Jer 27:1), against which Jeremiah armed himself with all his might (Jer 27 – Jer 28 ch.). To have the greatest effect on his listeners the prophet at this time wore on himself a yoke, signifying the future enslavement of the Judeans to Nebuchadnezzar. To the same fourth year of Zedekiah falls the journey of this king to Babylon, and at this time Jeremiah sent to Babylon his speeches against this great state, a book with which Jeremiah’s friend was to cast into the river Euphrates (Jer 51:59-64). The vision of Jer 24 chapter and letter to Babylon (ch. Jer 29) belong to the first years of Zedekiah’s reign. Then there are prophecies relating to the time of the siege of Jerusalem by the Chaldeans, who came to punish Zedekiah for his treachery (Jer 21:1-10; Jer 34:1-7; Jer 37:1-10; Jer 38:14 and following). Here Jeremiah exhorted Zedekiah to surrender to the Chaldeans, pointing out this as the only salvation-bringing outcome for the king.

The prophet’s position at this time significantly worsened. The weak-willed Zedekiah, at first having related with full confidence to the prophet’s words, soon abandoned him, and Jeremiah underwent the most terrible persecution from the nobles with the onset of the siege of Jerusalem. The nobles accused Jeremiah of intending to go to the Chaldeans and imprisoned him in a dark dungeon, where he remained for a long time (Jer 37:2 and following). The king, however, assigned him a more tolerable place — in the barracks at his palace, where Jeremiah could speak with the Judeans who came to him. To this time belong the consoling prophecies of chapters XXX–XXXIII that he uttered. At this time too he spoke of the fate of the pagan nations (Jer 46:13-28). But this brought very sad consequences for Jeremiah. His enemies managed to obtain from the king permission to throw Jeremiah into a muddy pit, where he would have died of hunger if not for the eunuch Ebed-melech, who managed on his part to persuade the king to allow him to free Jeremiah and move him to live again in the barracks, where he remained until the taking of Jerusalem by the Chaldeans.

After the taking of Jerusalem, Nebuchadnezzar, to whom Jeremiah’s activity was known, offered the prophet through the commander of his guard either to go to Babylon or to remain in Judah. The prophet chose the latter, hoping that Gedaliah, appointed as viceroy of Judah by the Chaldeans, would be able to unite around himself the Judeans remaining in their country. But Gedaliah, in whose residence, Mizpah, Jeremiah came to live, was soon treacherously killed by a Judean officer, Ishmael, wishing thereby to please the king of Ammon. When the villain fled to the Ammonites from the vengeance of the Judeans who rose up against him, these latter, fearing that the Chaldeans would not forgive the killing of Gedaliah and would vent their wrath on them, decided to withdraw to Egypt. In vain Jeremiah persuaded them in the name of Jehovah to abandon this intention (Jer 42 ch.), he himself was carried away by them to Egypt and came with them to the city of Tahpanhes (in Lower Egypt).

That even in Egypt the Lord continued to speak through Jeremiah to the Judeans — this is evident from chapter XLIII (Jer 43:8-13 and following) and chapter XLIV. By the time of his settlement in Egypt the prophet was about seventy years old, and probably about ten years later he died. There is a tradition that he was stoned by his own people for his denunciations, but this is scarcely probable. On the contrary, memory of him was preserved among the Judean people as that of a great prophet, and even expectations of the Messiah were connected with his name (2 Macc 2:1 and following; 2 Macc 15:12-16; Matt 16:14).

3. The Personal Characteristics of Jeremiah.

In the book of the prophet Jeremiah are reflected with special clarity the personal qualities of its author. We see in him a gentle, yielding, loving nature, which presents a striking contrast to the unwavering firmness with which he acted in the sphere of his prophetic calling. In him, one might say, there were two persons: one, acting under the force of weak human flesh, though ennobled in its impulses; and the other — wholly acting under the all-powerful Spirit of God. Of course the flesh was subject to the spirit, but the prophet suffered greatly because of this. As a youth the prophet willingly took upon himself his high mission, but then, when the work he had undertaken isolated him from other people, made him an “enemy of the people,” — his sensitive heart began to suffer greatly. His position could be called highly tragic: he was to turn the people, who had fallen away from Jehovah, back to God, knowing well that his calls to repentance would remain fruitless. He had to speak constantly of the terrible danger threatening the Judean state, and remain understood by no one, because they did not want to understand him! How he must have suffered, seeing the disobedience of the people whom he loved and whom he could not help... How the mark, laid upon him by public opinion as a traitor to the state, must have weighed upon him... It was therefore an act of great courage that Jeremiah, in spite of this accusation hanging over his head, continued as before to speak of the necessity of submitting to the Chaldeans. That the Lord did not even wish to receive his prayers for the Judean people (Jer 7:16; Jer 11:14; Jer 24:2; Jer 18:20) and the hostile attitude toward him of all Judeans, even his relatives, — all this drove the prophet to despair, and he thought only of how to escape to the distant wilderness, to weep there over the fate of his people (Jer 9:1; Jer 13:17). But the words of God in his heart burned like fire and pressed to come forth — he could not abandon his service (Jer 20:7 and following), and the Lord with a firm hand continued to lead him along the difficult path once chosen. Jeremiah did not cease his struggle with the false prophets, who strove unconsciously to ruin the state, and remained an iron pillar and a bronze wall, from which all the attacks of his enemies were repelled (Jer 1:18; Jer 15:20).

Of course, the feelings of dissatisfaction and despair expressed by the prophet, and his curses upon his enemies, place him far below that Son of Man, who suffered from his own people, uttering no complaints and cursing no one, even at the moment of his sorrowful death. But in any case, among the prophets none was by his life and sufferings a more striking foreshadowing of Christ than Jeremiah. And the respect which the Judeans felt for him showed itself sometimes against their will. Thus Zedekiah twice consulted with him, and the Judeans, not having heeded Jeremiah’s counsel regarding withdrawal to Egypt, nonetheless took him with them to Egypt as it were some sacred treasure.

4. The Content of Jeremiah’s Prophecies.

As the history of Jeremiah’s calling to prophetic service already shows (Jer 1), the prophet was especially to announce judgment, and for this reason his book is justly called in the Talmud the book of threats. This judgment is brought on by the extraordinary guilt of the Judean people before Jehovah. The first guilt of the people consists, in the prophet’s view, of turning away from the true God — Jehovah — to other gods, such as Baal, Molech, the queen of heaven, and so on, and then also in the proper sense the service of idols. For this sin God’s judgment fell upon the Judean people: see Jer 1:16 and following; Jer 3:1, 6 and following; Jer 9:14, 10 and following; Jer. 11 and following; Jer 11:17 and following; Jer 17:2 and following; Jer 44:8 and following. From these passages it becomes clear that worship on the high places, that is, on certain places consecrated by ancient memories outside Jerusalem, drew the people toward paganism and should have been subjected to complete condemnation, from the point of view of the Law of Moses, since this worship not only violated the law concerning the unity of the place of worship but also introduced pagan customs into the worship of God. But besides this ambiguous cult, near Jerusalem, in the valley of the sons of Hinnom, at least until the reform carried out by King Josiah, there existed an altar in honor of Baal-Molech, where children were offered in sacrifice (Jer 7:31; Jer 19:5; Jer 32:35), and, finally, pagan idols stood in the temple itself (Jer 32:34). Perhaps in the last years of the existence of the Judean kingdom there was no direct idolatry in Jerusalem, but in any case the inclination toward it among Jeremiah’s kindred was not destroyed, and the Judeans had to suffer punishment not only for the sins of their fathers but also for their own behavior toward God.

But if, in the prophet’s conviction, all the misfortune of the people has its root in the people’s unfaithfulness to Jehovah, then this unfaithfulness directly led to all kinds of unrighteousness and immorality, against which the prophet tirelessly raised his voice (Jer 5:1 and following, 7 and following, 26 and following; Jer 6:7; Jer 7:5 and following, 9; Jer 9:2-6; Jer 17:6 and following; Jer 21:12; Jer 22:13 and following; Jer 23:10; Jer 29:23 and other passages). It is evident that fear of the true God had disappeared from the people, and reverence for his holy law was replaced by pagan licentiousness. The fundamental commandments concerning chastity, honesty, and justice were neglected both by the noble and by the common people, even by the priests and prophets, who, instead of being organs of divine law, were rather slaves of the trends of their time, bowed before secular power, and served mammon, and therefore were incapable of raising the level of morality at all in the people.

The judgment which Jeremiah announced was in essence a political catastrophe. Although he sometimes pointed to the avenging hand of Jehovah even in natural calamities (Jer 5:24; Jer 14:1 and following), nevertheless, principally he threatened his kindred with invasion from foreign nations from the north, not naming precisely at first (until the twenty-fifth chapter, which belongs to the fourth year of Jehoiakim) the instrument of God’s wrath (Jer 1:13 and following; Jer 3:18; Jer 4:6 and following, 13 and following; Jer 6:22 and following; Jer 8:16; Jer 10:22; Jer 13:20). On the contrary, from chapter 25, verse 9, Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, is clearly set forth as the executor of this judgment.

In announcing this judgment, Jeremiah entered into serious disputes with the priests, who considered it impossible that Jehovah would hand over his holy sanctuary to the abuse of pagans, and with the prophets, who grounded this false hope of the priests in their visions and dreams. Against this pernicious optimism Jeremiah fought with all his might (concerning the priests see: Jer 2:8, 26 and following; Jer 31:14; concerning the prophets: Jer 2:8, 6 and following; Jer 8:1).

In opposition to the assurances of these false prophets, Jeremiah from the very beginning of his ministry foretold the complete destruction of the Judean state, just as the Israelite state had been destroyed. The people were to be carried away into captivity (Jer 3:18; Jer 5:19; Jer 9 15 and following; Jer 12:14 and following; Jer 13:1 and following, 19; Jer 15:2; Jer 17:3 and following; Jer 20:4 and following; Jer 21:7; Jer 22:26 and following and other passages). According to the indication of chapter 25, verse 11, the Babylonian captivity should last seventy years (cf. Jer 29:10). After this, Babylon itself will be destroyed (ch. Jer 50 and Jer 51), and the people of God will return to their country. Although already at the beginning of his ministry Jeremiah sometimes expressed these joyful promises (Jer 3:14 and following; Jer 12:14 and following; Jer 16:14 and following), but he especially vividly began to paint pictures of the renewal of the life of the Judean people then, when Jerusalem was already besieged by enemies and then, after the taking of the city (Jer 23:1 and following; Jer 24:6 and following; Jer 47:27 and following; and especially Jer 30-33).

Jeremiah in his contemplations appears as a prophet who deeply penetrates into the essence of true theocracy. In his conviction, not outward circumcision gives a man the right to God’s favor, but circumcision of the heart (Jer 4:4; Jer 6:10; Jer 9:26). The temple of Jerusalem does not in itself guarantee the integrity of Jerusalem — on the contrary, this temple, defiled by the sins of the Judeans, brings God’s wrath upon itself (Jer 7:21 and following; Jer 9:15; Jer 17:3; Jer 26:6; Jer 27:16). Hope in outward worship is also futile — Jehovah is not pleased with these ceremonies that do not correspond to the inward disposition of those who pray (Jer 6:20; Jer. 7 and following; Jer 11:15; Jer 14:12). Thus Jeremiah sets forth the urgent need for establishing a more inward, more sincere communion between God and the people. Then there will be no need for the ark of the covenant, this external medium and symbol of the spiritual presence of God (Jer 3:16); then the law of God will not be something merely external, written on stone tablets — no, it will be inscribed in the heart of man (Jer 31:31 and following). Thus the Lord will not destroy the covenant once made with Israel and David, but will give it a more magnificent form (Jer 33:20-26). This new covenant, toward which Jeremiah strove with all his soul, he had the courage to set above the Old Testament, though it must be said that the messianic time in his work is outlined only in general terms.

5. The Form of Jeremiah’s Prophecies.

As for the form of Jeremiah’s prophecies, we find among them visions in the strict sense of the word, namely symbolic visions (Jer 1:2; Jer 24:1 and following), and then especially symbolic actions (Jer. 1 13 and following; Jer 19:1 and following; Jer 27:2 and following; Jer 28:10 and following, 12 and following; Jer 43:8 and following; Jer 51:63 and following). In order to present his thought more vividly, the prophet calls the attention of his listeners (in Jer 18:2 and following) to the potter and his work. Another time the prophet symbolically portrays God’s wrath as a cup of wine offered for drinking to the nations, not showing the cup itself (Jer 25:15). Jeremiah willingly resorts to figurative expressions, to wordplay, to vivid examples (Jer 19:1; Jer 35:1 and following), but his images are simple, artless, as are his symbolic actions in the highest degree simple. His whole strength lies in powerful, penetrated by the spirit of living conviction and heartfelt, speech. Although his style lacks “boldness, directness, brevity, and expressiveness,” although “in the exposition of his thoughts Jeremiah appears very verbose and detailed,” — his periods are long, his exposition is filled with words — although “instead of the dialectical development of one thought from another the prophet presents us with a series of pictures, in almost each of which the same persons and things are found” (Theological Encyclopedia vol. 6, p. 284–285), nonetheless the impression from Jeremiah’s speeches is often irresistible. Jeremiah undoubtedly had high poetic talent, which is reflected mainly in his speeches about foreign nations, where he speaks with especially vivid, fiery language, while in his speeches to his own people a melancholy tone predominates. In Jeremiah’s speech Aramaisms are often found.

6. The Book of Jeremiah’s Prophecies.

The original origin of Jeremiah’s book is reported in its thirty-sixth chapter. In the fourth year of Jehoiakim, God commanded Jeremiah to write down all his speeches spoken up to that time in the course of his 23-year ministry in one scroll or one book, and Jeremiah dictated them to his disciple Baruch, who served him as scribe. The following year this book was burned by the king, and Jeremiah made a new copy of his speeches, with the addition of some new ones. The speeches written under Jeremiah’s dictation by Baruch go up to the twenty-fourth chapter, as can be concluded from the fact that here the prophet speaks of himself in the first person (I, to me). From the twenty-sixth chapter, in all probability, go the speeches recorded by Baruch, but no longer under Jeremiah’s dictation (Jeremiah here is spoken of in the third person). In any case, in Egypt Jeremiah certainly looked through his book as a whole, so that it is justly called in its entirety the book of Jeremiah.

What plan the author of the book was guided by in arranging his speeches, it is difficult to say. It may be supposed that he wanted to follow not a chronological order, but a systematic one. However, in some sections a chronological sequence of the utterance of the speeches is preserved. The whole book, with the exception of the first and last chapters, can be divided into two parts. The first part (ch. 2–45) contains speeches relating to the Judean people; the second (ch. 46–51) — speeches about foreign nations; and the first part can be subdivided into two sections: I–XXXV — speeches addressed to the Judeans, and XXXVI–XLIV — narratives about certain events from the life of Jeremiah and the Judean people.

The content of the book can be presented in more detail in the following way:

Ch. I. The Calling of Jeremiah.

II, 1–III, 5. The First Reproving Speech.

III, 6–IV, 4. A Call to Repentance.

IV, 5–VI, 30. The Approaching Judgment.

VII–IX. The Temple Speech.

X, 1–16. Against Idols.

X, 17–25. The Punishment of Israel and its Lamentation.

XI–XII. The Hardening of Israel Against God and the Wonderful Ways of God.

XIII. Judgment Against the Stubborn Judeans. XIV–XV. Concerning the Threatening Famine.

XVI, 1–XVII, 18. Judge and Savior.

XVII, 19–27. Honor the Sabbath!

XVIII. The Speech About the Potter and the Clay.

XIX–XX. The Breaking of the Pitcher.

XXI, 1–XXIII, 8. Concerning the Kings.

XXIII, 9–40. Prophets and Prophecies.

XXIV. Baskets of Figs.

XXV. Judgment Against the Nations.

XXVI. The Persecution of Jeremiah for his Temple Speech Under Jehoiakim.

XXVII–XXIX. Jeremiah and the False Prophets.

XXX–XXXIII. Promises Concerning the Restoration of Israel and Concerning the New Covenant.

XXXIV, 1–7. The Lot of Zedekiah.

XXXIV, 8–22. The Bold Violation of the Vow.

XXXV. The Example of the Rechabites.

XXXVI. The Book of Jeremiah’s Prophecies and its Fate.

XXXVII–XXXIX. The Fate of Jeremiah and his Speeches During the Siege of Jerusalem.

XL, 1–XLIII, 7. The Prophet’s Speech Against the Withdrawal of the Judeans to Egypt.

XLIII, 8–13. Nebuchadnezzar in Egypt.

XLIV. The Last Speech Against Idolaters — Judeans in Egypt.

XLV. Comfort to Baruch.

XLVI–LI. Speeches Against Foreign Nations.

LII. The Destruction of Jerusalem.

Remarks on the authenticity of certain parts of Jeremiah’s book are made at the end of the chapters.

7. The Relation of the Hebrew Text to the Alexandrian-Greek Text.

The Greco-Alexandrian text of Jeremiah’s book differs quite substantially from the Hebrew-Masoretic text. The difference consists first of all in the order of chapters. Namely, chapters XLVI–LI in the Greek translation are placed after verse 13 of chapter XXV (in Slavonic this was not done — there the order of the Masoretic text is preserved). Furthermore, the Greek text of Jeremiah’s book in general corresponds to the Masoretic text far less than all the other books of the Old Testament (except only the books of Job and Daniel). And in the number of verses the Greek text is less than the Masoretic text by 2,700 words, that is, by one-eighth (see especially XXXIII, 14–26 and XXXIX, 4–13). On this basis some critics of the biblical text suppose that the Septuagint translators translated Jeremiah’s book not from the text accepted by the Masorites, but that in antiquity there existed another, more original, recension of Jeremiah’s book. But if we compare the Septuagint translation with the Masoretic text in such passages where there can be no question of different recensions, we see how the Greek translator at the least difficulty of the Hebrew text immediately faces the danger of not understanding it, misinterpreting it, and often quite unsuccessfully reworks it on his own (see, for example, II, 2, 19, 20, 23; VIII, 6, 18; X and following, and others). In chapter XXIX, verses 24–32, the translator clearly did not understand the sense of the text and omitted difficult words. He also omits such expressions which were incomprehensible to readers from among Greek-speaking Jews or had already once appeared in the book (see, for example, Jer 17:1-5). But this, of course, does not exclude the possibility of finding in the Septuagint something useful for correcting the Masoretic text (for example, Jer 11:15; Jer 23:33; Jer 8:3; Jer 9:21; Jer 14:4; Jer 17:19; Jer 41:9; Jer 42:1; Jer 46:17 and others). In any case there are insufficient grounds for accepting the supposition about the existence of a special list or special recension of the Hebrew text of Jeremiah’s book. It is certain that Jeremiah’s book appeared in one form and the Septuagint translation represents merely a rather free reworking of the same text which the Masorites also adopted.

8. Literature.

The most valuable commentaries on the book of the prophet Jeremiah are: a) Catholic: Cornelii a Lapide. Commentaria in Scriptur. Sacram. ed Peronne vol. 12, 1863. — Migne. Scripturae sacrae cursus completus vol. 19, ed. 1861. — Scholz. Comm. z. Buche d. Pr. Ieremias — 1880. — Schneedorfer. Das Weissagungsbuch d. Pr. Ieremias — 1881. b) Protestant: Ewald. Ieremia u Hezekiel 2 ed. 1868. — Graf. Der Pr. Ieremia — 1862. — Nagelsbach. Der Pr. Ieremia — 1872. — Keil. Komm. ub. d Pr. Ieremia u. die Klagelied. — 1872. — Dachsel. Bibelw. — Alt Test. Vol. 4 (D. Buch d. Ierem. u. Klagelieder). — 1872. — Cheyne. Jeremijah 2 vol. (in English) — 1885. — Giesebrecht. Das Buch Ieremia — 1894. — Duhm. Das Buch Ieremia — 1903. — Orelli. Der Pr. Ieremia 3rd ed. — 1905. — Cornill. Das Buch Ieremia — 1905.

Among foreign monographs on the prophet Jeremiah should be noted: Erbt. Ieremia u. seine Zeit. — 1902. — Bulmennoq. Das Zukunftsbild d. Pr. Ieremia — 1894. — Lazarus D.. Pr. Ieremia — 1894. — Marti. Der P. Ieremia von Anatot — 1889. — Moller. Die Mession. Erwartung d. vonelilisch. Propheten — 1906 (p. 283–349). — Iacoby. Zur Composition d. Buches Ieremia (Theol. Stud. u. Krit. 1906) and Stosch. Die Prophetie Israels — 1907 (p. 452–482). — In particular, concerning the relation of the Septuagint text to the Hebrew Masoretic text there are studies by Kuhl — 1882 (in German), Workman — 1889 and Streane — 1896 (in English).

In the Russian language should be noted: commentaries of St. Ephrem the Syrian, blessed Theodoret, and blessed Jerome (on the first XXXII chapters of the book); then Prof. I. S. Yakimov, “Commentary on the Book of the Holy Prophet Jeremiah,” 1879. — His also “The Relation of the Greek Translation of the Septuagint to the Hebrew Masoretic Text in the Book of the Prophet Jeremiah,” 1874. — A. Bukharev, a) “The Holy Prophet Jeremiah,” 1864, and b) “On the Authenticity and Integrity of the Holy Books of the Prophets Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, and Daniel,” 1864. Then useful information can be found in Spassky’s book. “Commentary on the Prophetic Books of the Old Testament,” issue 1, 1893, and in the “readings” of Bissarion.