Jeremiah and God's Plans of Well-being

Barbara Green

Description

In Jeremiah and God's Plans of Well-being, Barbara Green explores the prophet Jeremiah as a literary persona of the biblical book through seven periods of his prophetic ministry, focusing on the concerns and circumstances that shaped his struggles. Having confronted the vast complexity of scholarly issues found in the Book of Jeremiah, Green has chosen to examine the literary presentation of the prophet rather than focus on the precise historical details or the speculative processes of composition. What Green exposes is a prophet affected by the dire circumstances of his life, struggling consistently, but ultimately failing at his most urgent task of persuasion.

In the first chapter Green examines Jeremiah's predicament as he is called to minister and faces royal opposition to his message. She then isolates the central crisis of mission, the choice facing Judah, and the sin repeatedly chosen. Delving into the tropes of Jeremiah's preaching and prophecy, she also analyses the struggle and lament that express Jeremiah's inability to succeed as an intermediary between God and his people. Next Green explores the characterizations of the kings with whom Jeremiah struggled and his persistence in his ministry despite repeated imprisonment, and, finally, Green focuses on Jeremiah's thwarted choice to remain in Judah at the end of the first temple period and his descent into Egypt after the assassination of Gedaliah.

In Jeremiah and God's Plans of Well-being, Green shows the prophet as vulnerable, even failing at times, while suggesting the significance of his assignment and unlikelihood of success. She explores the complexities of the phenomenon of prophecy and the challenges of preaching unwelcome news during times of uncertainty and crisis. Ultimately Green provides a fresh treatment of a complex biblical text and prophet. In presenting Jeremiah as a literary figure, Green considers how his character continues to live on in the traditions of Judaism and Christianity today.

Sujets

• Biblical Studies
• Biblical Biography
• Philosophie et théologie
• The Battle for God
• Prophets of Christianity
• God Speaks
• A History of God
• Bible prophecy
• False prophet
• Personal god
• Righteousness
• Supplication
• General officer
• Deity
• Spirituality
• Old Testament
• Jacob and Esau
• Books of Kings
• Books of Samuel
• Book of Jeremiah
• Jeremiah
• Religion
• General
• Prophecy
• Vertu

Informations

• Publié par: University of South Carolina Press
• Date de parution: 01 novembre 2013
• Nombre de lectures: 2
• EAN13: 9781611172713
• Langue: English
• Poids de l'ouvrage: 1 Mo

Extrait

JEREMIAH
and God s Plans of Well-being
STUDIES ON PERSONALITIES OF THE OLD TESTAMENT
James L. Crenshaw, Series Editor
JEREMIAH
and God s Plans of Well-being
BARBARA GREEN
2013 University of South Carolina
Published by the University of South Carolina Press Columbia, South Carolina 29208
www.sc.edu/uscpress
22 21 20 19 18 17 16 15 14 13 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Green, Barbara, 1946-
Jeremiah and God s Plans of Well-being / Barbara Green.
pages cm. - (Studies on personalities of the Old Testament)
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-1-61117-270-6 (alk. paper) - ISBN 978-1-61117-271-3 (epub)
1. Bible Jeremiah-Criticism, interpretation, etc. 2. Jeremiah (Biblical prophet)
I. Title.
BS1525.52.G74 2013
224 .206-dc23
2013007825
CONTENTS
Series Editor s Preface
Acknowledgments
Chart of the Book of Jeremiah Assumed
Introduction
Scope and Stipulations
1 Womb and Workshop-Jeremiah Learns His Calling
Chapters 1, 46-51
2 Overture-Problems and Resolutions Rehearsed
Chapters 2-10
3 Resistance-Deity and Prophet as Partners and Adversaries
Chapters 11-20
4 Deep Learning-Experiencing the Heart of God
Chapters 11-20
5 Well-Being or Disaster-The Case Argued
Chapters 21-39
6 God s Desires Contested-The Case Embodied by Strange Resemblance and in Negative Space
Chapters 21-45, 52
7 Getting Out
Chapters 30-33, 24, 26, 29
Afterword and Implications
Notes
Select Bibliography
Index
SERIES EDITOR S PREFACE
Critical study of the Bible in its ancient Near Eastern setting has stimulated interest in the individuals who shaped the course of history and whom events singled out as tragic or heroic figures. Rolf Rendtorff s Men of the Old Testament (1968) focuses on the lives of important biblical figures as a means of illuminating history, particularly the sacred dimension that permeates Israel s convictions about its God. Fleming James s Personalities of the Old Testament (1939) addresses another issue, that of individuals who function as inspiration for their religious successors in the twentieth century. Studies restricting themselves to a single individual-for example, Moses, Abraham, Samson, Elijah, David, Saul, Ruth, Jonah, Job, Jeremiah-enable scholars to deal with a host of questions: psychological, literary, theological, sociological, and historical. Some, like Gerhard von Rad s Moses (1960), introduce a specific approach to interpreting the Bible, hence provide valuable pedagogic tools.
As a rule these treatments of isolated figures have not reached the general public. Some were written by outsiders who lacked a knowledge of biblical criticism (Freud on Moses, Jung on Job) and whose conclusions, however provocative, remain problematic. Others were targeted for the guild of professional biblical critics (David Gunn on David and Saul, Phyllis Trible on Ruth, Terence Fretheim and Jonathan Magonet on Jonah). None has succeeded in capturing the imagination of the reading public in the way fictional works like Archibald MacLeish s J. B. and Joseph Heller s God Knows have done.
It could be argued that the general public would derive little benefit from learning more about the personalities of the Bible. Their conduct, often less then exemplary, reveals a flawed character, and their everyday concerns have nothing to do with our preoccupations from dawn to dusk. To be sure, some individuals transcend their own age, entering the gallery of classical literary figures from time immemorial. But only these rare achievers can justify specific treatments of them. Then why publish additional studies on biblical personalities?
The answer cannot be that we read about biblical figures to learn ancient history, even of the sacred kind, or to discover models for ethical action. But what remains? Perhaps the primary significance of biblical personages is the light they throw on the imaging of deity in biblical times. At the very least, the Bible constitutes human perceptions of deity s relationship with the world and its creatures. Close readings of biblical personalities therefore clarify ancient understandings of God. That is the important datum which we seek-not because we endorse that specific view of deity, but because all such efforts to make sense of reality contribute something worthwhile to the endless quest for knowledge.
James L. Crenshaw Robert L. Flowers Professor of Old Testament, Emeritus Duke University
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
As I complete and present this book, I think gratefully of the students I have taught at San Domenico School, Dominican College of San Rafael (now Dominican University), the Graduate Theological Union. I am deeply appreciative of colleagues who have taught me a great deal and in so many ways. I have gained immeasurably from the many opportunities I have been given to present my work before professional audiences and lay groups as well, each helpfully supportive and critical as called for. Much of the material in this book has received such attention. As libraries become in many ways increasingly anonymous, I want to thank all those working behind the scenes to make research as easy as it can be and to name the librarians I have known best at the Graduate Theological Union: Robert Benedetto, Oscar Burdick, Phillippa Caldeira, Clay-Edward Dixon, Marie Hempen, Mary Mead, David Stiver, Kris Veldheer.
CHART OF THE BOOK OF JEREMIAH ASSUMED
Chapter 1: Call
superscription: 1:1-3
call proper: 1:4-10 call enacted: visions: 1:11-12, 13-19
Chapters 2-10: Overture
2:1:4:4: toggled quoted speech
4:5-6:30: 4:5-14; 4:16-31; 5:1-9; 5:10-19; 5:20-31; 6:1-15; 6:16-30
7:1-8:4: 7:1-15; 7:16-26; 7:27-8:3
8:5-9:25: 8:4-12; 8:13-23; 9:1-10; 9:11-25
10:1-25: 10:1-5; 10:6-10; 10:11-16; 10:17-18; 10:19-22; 10:23-25
Chapters 11-20: Prose Ministry (in lowercase letters) and Soliloquies (numbered for prophet and deity); they are additionally grouped into seven units (upper case letters)
One: a, 11:2-14, is a covenant speech: unappreciated past
Y: 1: fire and the green olive (11:15-17)
J: 1: the trusting lamb (11:18-23)
J: 2: sheep for the slaughter (12:1-6)
Y: 2: heritage destructive and destroyed (12:7-13)
Two: b, c, d
b, 12:14-17 is a YHWH resolution: uprootings
c, 13:1-11 is a sign-act, functioning as an analogy: loincloth
d, 13:12-14 is a proverb, presented and then twisted to surprise: wine jugs
Y: 3: the flock-whisperer (13:15-27)
Y: 4: wandering feet (14:1-10)
Three: e, 14:11-16, is a reported dialogue: on intercession
Y: 5: tears amid drought (14:17-22)
Four: f, 15:1-4, is a pronouncement: on intercession
Y: 6: grieving women, whining sons (15:5-14)
J: 3: tasty words (15:15-21)
Five: g/h: 16:1-13 and 14-18, is directions for a set of sign-acts, interpreted and then explicated as to cause when queried, then finished off by a shifted proverb: prophetic identity and worse fate
Y: 7: hearts indelible, irrevocable, gone off (16:19-17:13)
J: 4: reluctant shepherd (17:14-18)
Six i, 17:19-27, is a dictated preaching on gate options: teaching regarding Sabbath j 18:1-12, is a demonstration of process, the narrative of a sign-act: potter parable
Y: 8: provocative anomalies (18:13-17)
J: 5: the pits (18:18-23)
Seven k: 19:1-13, is a denunciation with an illustrative prop: parable of potsherd
J: 6: enticing deity (20:7- either 13 or 18)
Chapters 20-39: Heartland Ministry
A hinge: Jeremiah imprisoned: 20
B warnings to kings and other leaders: 21-23
21:1-14: wistful wish flattened
C demonstrations of alternative outcomes: 24-26
Figs
Cup of Wrath
Temple Sermon
D prophetic words interpreted, contested: 27-28
27:1-22: yokes contested
E timing and true liberation: 29
F words of hope: 30-31
G land deed needed: 32
32:1-44: land deed needed
F words of hope: 33
E timing and false liberation: 34
34:1-22: slave reprieve revoked
D prophetic words contested: 35-36
C liberation contested: 37-38
37:3-21: disputed departure
38:1-13: in and out of Malchiah s mud
B the end of monarchic Judah: 39
A hinge: Ebed-Melek released: 39
Chapters 39-44: Finale
39: four immediate fates
40-41: roads taken and not taken
42-43 Jeremiah s last words in Judah
44: stranded in Egypt
Chapter 45: Word to Basuch
Chapters 46-51: Oracles to or regarding the Nations
superscription: 46:1
regarding Egypt: 46:2-28: 46:2-12; 46:13-26; 46:27-28
regarding Philistia: 47:1-7
regarding Moab: 48:1-47
regarding Ammon: 49:1-6
regarding Edom: 49:7-22
regarding Damascus: 49:23-27
regarding Kedar: 49:28-33
regarding Elam: 49:34-39
regarding Babylon: 50:1-51:58
colophon re Seraiah: 51:59-64
Chapter 52: Final Events
summary of Zedekiah s reign: 52:1-3
the capture of Jerusalem and aftermath: 52:4-27
summary of exiles: 52:27-30
release of Jehoiachin: 52:31-34
The numbers spelled out refer to the blended sets.
The prose narratives of deity/prophet partnership are represented by the lowercase letter used above.
God s prophetic soliloquies by number.
Jeremiah s prophetic soliloquies by number.
INTRODUCTION
Scope and Stipulations
Modern Western thinkers do not believe that either divine anger or human sinfulness fully explain disaster. We understand bo