JEREMIAH

earlier, in 604. It is to be noted that the data of I'-' do not cover the matter of chs. 40-44. It looks as though that superscription was drawn up when the book extended only from ch. 1-39, and as though we ought to recognize a fourth stage in the growth of Jere-miah's book — a redaction made soon after the fall of Jerusalem, which was supplemented afterwards when Baruch added chs. 40-45, making the fifth (enlarged) edition. To (a) is prefixed the supremely important Baruch story (ch. 36), of the same date as the above-mentioned (oh. 45) which concludes (6). Ch. 26 is a detached narrative piece, out of place where it stands; this appears to be Baruch's account of the crisis in Jeremiah's work to which T-8^ relates (b.c. 608). Altogether, we may credit to Baruch's memoirs of Jeremiah chs. 26. 36. 37-39 and 40—45; to some extent he probably worked over and edited the matter received by dictation from his master.

This leaves remaining only the collection of Foreign Oracles, which have been separately placed at the end of Jeremiah's works, in chs. 46-51; and the Historical Appendix, ch. 52, borrowed by his editors from the Book of Kings (or by the compilers of Kings from this place). The great doom of the Chaldamns and Babylon in chs. 60i-51»8, judged by internal evidence, was cer-tainly a postscript to Jeremiah's work and a product of the Exile; critical doubts, of less gravity, attach to other parts of the Foreign Oracles. In BS^sb-SQ'" we find already inserted, in shorter form, the first part of the narrative incorporated in ch. 52. Ch. 52^''-'° supplies a valuable bit of tradition about the Captivity wanting in Kings, missing also in the LXX text of Jeremiah. The final redaction of the canonical 'Jere-miah ' (the sixth edition?) dates considerably posterior to the Exile; for 50''-51'^ if written by an exilic prophet, could hardly have been ascribed to Jeremiah until a late age. On the other hand, chs. 50-52 are found in the LXX, which dated c. b.c. 200, and must there-fore have been incorporated in the book before this time.

The LXX departs from the Massoretic text in two main respects: (1) in arrangement, — the Foreign Oracles (chs. 46-51) being let in between vv.i' and " of ch. 26, and running in a different order. It is not unUkely that the Dooms of the Nations were originally associated with ch. 25; but their Greek position cannot possibly be sustained. (2) Again, the LXX text differs from the MT in quardity, being shorter by some 2700 words, or one-eighth of the whole. The subtracted matter con-sists partly of omissions of paragraphs and sentences — amongst the chief of these being 11'- « 171-' 29'«-™ 33U-Z6 48«-47 si«-48 522. s. 28-30; partly of abbrevia-tions, — ^titles shortened, proper names dispensed with, synonyms dropped and descriptions curtailed. The former phenomena point, in a number of instances, to accretions gathered by the MT subsequently to the date of translation; the abbreviations betray in the translator a studied attempt at conciseness. It has been supposed that the LXX rested on an older and purer recension of the Hebrew text, preserved in Egypt; but this theory is abandoned. 'Both texts' of Jere-miah 'have the same archetype; but this archetype underwent a gradual process of expansion, and the process is represented at an earlier stage in the MS or MSS underlying the LXX, and at a more advanced stage in those at the basis of the MT. . . . Speaking generally, the MT is qualitatively greatly superior to the Greek; but, on the other hand, quantitatively, the Greek is nearer the original text. This judgment is general, admitting many exceptions,— that is, eases where the quality of the Greek text is better, and its readings more original than the Hebrew; and also cases where, in regard to quantity, the Hebrew is to be pre-ferred, the omissions in the LXX being due to faults in the translator's MS, to his own oversight, or to his tendency to scamp and abridge' (A. B. Davidson).

436

JERIAH

Synopsis of the Book. I. The great Book of Doom, dictated by Jeremiah in B.C. 604: chs. 1-20. 25, with parts (probably) of 46-51, corresponding to the original volume read by Baruch (362- '») and the 'many like words' added on re-writing (36^). (a) The book burnt by Jehoiakim: chs. 2-12 {minus 923-1016 etc.). This included—

1. The Judgment upon JudaKs treachery towards Jehovah: chs. 2-^, embodying Jeremiah's pre-reformation teaching [S^-is j^^ slipped out of its place; this oracle should come either before (Comill), or after (Bruston), the rest of chs. 2. 3].

2. TheJuagmentuponJudah'shypocrisy. chs. 7— 12 (? 12'-"; minus Q^s-lO'^); belonging to the post- reformation preacliing of 608 and onwards.

(6) The 'many like words,' illustrating (a): chs. 1. 14-20, and probably 25, etc.; consisting of scenes and reminiscences from Jeremiah's earlier ministry, up to B.C. 604 [ch. 13 was later; it has been dis-placed; see § V.]. II. The Judgment on the Shepherds (kings, priests, and prophets): chs. 21-23 (21i-i° has been transferred from $ v.; the remainder of tliis section need not have been later than c. B.C. 597].

III. Latermemorandaof Jeremiah, extending from c. 600

to 593: chs. 12'-" C?) 13. 24. 27-29 and 35. §§ II. and III. may have been added to § I. to form a(AiVd^enlarged)editionof the great Book of Doom, issued m the middle of Zedekiah's reign and before the final struggle with Nebuchadrezzar.

IV. The Uttle Book of Consolation: chs. 30-33, dating

from the second siege, y. Baruch's Memoirs of Jeremiah:

(a) Before the Fall of Jerusalem(coveredby the title

in 11-3): chs. 26. 36. 34. 37-39, with 21i-i».

(b) After the Fall of Jerusalem: ciis. 40-44.

(c) Baruch's personal note: ch. 45.

Whether the above memoirs were introduced by Baruchor extracted la terbyotheredi to rsfromaseparate work of ills, cannot be determined with certainty. The position of ch. 45 speaks for his editingup to this point; but if so, some later hand has disturbed tiis arrangement of the matter. In some instances the displacements we have noted may be due to accidents of transcription . VI. The Collection of Foreign Oracles: chs. 46-49 [502-51'8] 5169-M_againstEgypt(2), Philistia, Moab, Ammon, Edom,Damascus,KedarandHazor,Elam [Babylon]. In the LXX the Dooms are differently arranged, attached to 25'', and slightly shorter. 'The Babylon Doom admittedly betrays the hand of a late com-piler; additions to Jeremiah's work are suspected in other parts of the section , particularly in the Dooms of Egypt and Moab. VII. The Historical Appendix: ch. 52, nearly identical, by general admission, with 2 K 24'^25"'. The above nmst be taken as a general outline and sketch of the growth of the work. There are a number of detached fragments, such as 923- 24 and 25- 2«, the true connexion of whicli is lost. And post-Jeremianic interpolations and annotations, relatively numerous, must be recognized; the most conspicuous of these, besides the last three chapters, are lO'-" and 33'«-26. q q Findlay.

JEREMIAS (1 Es 9s«) =Jeremai in Ezr 10=3.

JEREMIEL. — The archangel who in 2 Es 4" answers the questions of the righteous dead. AV has Uriel, the angel sent to instruct Esdras (2 Es 4' 5™ 10'»).

JEREMOTH.— 1. 2. Two Benjamites (1 Ch 7» 8"). 3. 4. Two Levites (1 Ch 2323 25«); the latter called in 2430 Jerimoth. 6. A Naphtalite (1 Ch 27"). 6. 7. 8. Three of those who had married foreign wives (Ezr 10»- 27. 29). In the last instance Qcr5 has 'and Ramoth' (so AV). For Nos. 6 and 8 1 Es. (92'- »') has Hieremoth; for No. 7 it has (v.28) Jerimoth.

JEREMY.— The form in which the name of the prophet Jeremiah appears in both AV and EV of

1 Es 128. 32. (7. 67 21, 2 Es 218, as weU as in AV of

2 Mac 21- 6- ', Mt 2" 27=. In the last three passages RV has Jeremiah. The form Jeremy is used also in both AV and RV in the title of the Epistle ascribed to the prophet in Bar 6i. See art. Apocrypha, § 10.

JERIAH. — The chief of one of the Levitical courses (1 Ch 2319 2423 2631 [in this last AV and RV Jerljah]),