4. For the word of the LORD came to be to me,
so as to say:
5. Before I formed thee in the belly, I knew thee;
Yea, before thou camest forth from a womb,
I consecrated thee;
I gave thee as a prophet to the nations.
6. And then I said:
Ah, my Lord, O LORD, behold,
I know not how to speak, for a youth am I.
7. And then the LORD said to me:
Stop saying: "A youth am I."
For unto all to whom I send thee, thou wilt go,
And all which I command thee, thou wilt speak.
8. Stop being afraid of their faces,
for I am with thee to deliver thee --
such is the oracle of the LORD.
9. And then the LORD put forth His hand,
And then He made it touch upon my mouth.
And then the LORD said unto me:
Behold, I have given My words to be in thy mouth.
10. See, I have made thee overseer this day
over the nations and over the kingships,
To pluck up and to break down,
to destroy and to overthrow,
And to build and to plant.
The reading from the Old Testament which is assigned to the Fourth Sunday after Epiphany in Series C of Lutheran Worship consists in seven verses of the first chapter of the Book of Jeremiah, namely verses 4-10. (The exegesis of these verses below is, assuredly, in no way designed to promote the use in the main service of the week of any such modern selection of gospels and epistles as those suggested in Lutheran Worship. This exegete, on the contrary, would continue to urge, on various grounds, fidelity to the pericopal tradition inherited from the ancient church by the church of the reformatio
4. For the word of the LORD came to be to me,
so as to say:
5. Before I formed thee in the belly, I knew thee;
Yea, before thou camest forth from a womb,
I consecrated thee;
I gave thee as a prophet to the nations.
6. And then I said:
Ah, my Lord, O LORD, behold,
I know not how to speak, for a youth am I.
7. And then the LORD said to me:
Stop saying: "A youth am I."
For unto all to whom I send thee, thou wilt go,
And all which I command thee, thou wilt speak.
8. Stop being afraid of their faces,
for I am with thee to deliver thee --
such is the oracle of the LORD.
9. And then the LORD put forth His hand,
And then He made it touch upon my mouth.
And then the LORD said unto me:
Behold, I have given My words to be in thy mouth.
10. See, I have made thee overseer this day
over the nations and over the kingships,
To pluck up and to break down,
to destroy and to overthrow,
And to build and to plant.
The reading from the Old Testament which is assigned to the Fourth Sunday after Epiphany in
Series C of Lutheran Worship consists in seven verses of the first chapter of the Book of
Jeremiah, namely verses 4-10. (The exegesis of these verses below is, assuredly, in no way
designed to promote the use in the main service of the week of any such modern selection of
gospels and epistles as those suggested in Lutheran Worship. This exegete, on the contrary,
would continue to urge, on various grounds, fidelity to the pericopal tradition inherited from the
ancient church by the church of the reformation and modified only slightly by the Blessed
Reformer of the Church, if one is speaking specifically of the gospels and epistles to be read in
the main (eucharistic) service of the week. No comparable series of readings, on the other hand,
from the Old Testament was either handed down from the ancient church or bestowed on us by
the Blessed Reformer; nor, indeed, is there such a program of readings from the New Testament
to be used in all the possible additional offices of any given week. In such cases, therefore, even
such a traditionalist as this exegete is able, with consistency, to make use of any pericope drawn
from the region of Holy Scripture desired.)
Jeremiah ben-Hilkiah was a priest who was a native of the small town of Anathoth, some six miles northeast of the capital city of Jerusalem, in accordance with the superscription to his book: "The words of Jeremiah, the son of Hilkiah, of the priests who are in Anathoth in the land of Benjamin" (1:1). We know more of his life and personality than of any writing prophet of the Old Testament other than Moses (as is noted by this exegete in The Prophetic Books of the Babylonian Exile and the Persian Empire). The prophetic ministry of Jeremiah spanned some seven decades which were closely intertwined with the resurgence and then the ascendancy of city of Babylon, now in the control of the Chaldeans.
For Jeremiah received his call to the prophetic office, already in adolescence, in 627 B.C. as the Assyrian Empire was just beginning to crumble. It is in this year and in these circumstances that the verses now before us are to be located, in accordance with the second verse of the superscription: "the word of the LORD came to be to him in the days of Josiah, the son of Amon, the king of Judah in the thirteenth year of his reign" (1:2). The final edition of the Book of Jeremiah appeared around 560 B.C. as the culmination of several previous editions which Jeremiah had published in Judah and Egypt and as the distillation of a prophetic ministry which had spanned at least sixty-seven years (ibid.)
Jeremiah, as previously intimated, received the call described in the pericope before us in the midst of two significant developments in the year 627 B.C. The Scythian invasion, firstly, of the Near East, between 628 and 626 B.C., sapped the strength of Assyria and so allowed the rise of Chaldean Babylon to eminence. Thus, the ultra-conservative reformation of King Josiah, between 628 and 622 B.C., became possible in a Judah now free of Assyrian domination. Nineveh itself fell, indeed, to the combined forces of Nabopolassar of Babylon and Kyaxares the Mede only fifteen years later in the year 612 B.C.
Jeremiah's ministry had considerable political significance in the course of the reigns of the last five kings of Judah, namely, Josiah, three of his sons, and one of his grandsons. Josiah himself, although the son of the wicked Amon, was the most pious of all the kings of Judah, reigning from 640 to 609 B.C. All his successors, on the contrary, were lamentably wicked kings, if each in his own way.
(1.) The first to follow him on the throne of Judah was his son Jehoahaz, despite being two years younger than Jehoiakim. He was originally called Shallum, as in Jeremiah 22:11 and 1 Chronicles 3:15, where he is called "fourth" although twenty-three years older than Zedekiah. Jehoahaz reigned but briefly, in the course of 609 B.C., before his deportation by Pharaoh Necho to Egypt.
(2.) Jehoiakim, originally called Eliakim, was probably the eldest surviving son of Josiah, in view of the lack of any reference in the sacred books to the firstborn Johanan outside of 1 Chronicles 3:15. Jehoiakim ruled Judah from 609 to 598 B.C.
(3.) Jehoiachin was, evidently, originally called Jechoniah, as he is in 1 Chronicles 3 (in verses 16-17) and in Jeremiah (in chapters 24:1; 27:20; 28:4; 29:2), who also calls him Coniah (in chapters 22:24; 22:28; 37:1). Jehoiachin was a son of Jehoiakim and so a grandson of King Josiah. He was "monarch" only within the besieged walls of Jerusalem, following his father's ignominious death, as the years turned from 598 to 597 B.C.
(4.) Zedekiah, finally, who was originally called Mattaniah, was the third son of Josiah (as appears from 1 Chronicles 3:15) although, nonetheless, but three years older than his nephew Jehoiachin. He reigned as the final king of Judah from 597 to 586 B.C.
The purpose of Jeremiah in writing the book which bears his name, as already in his preaching, was to summon the Jews throughout the world to repentance and so back to faith in the One True God. The theme, correspondingly, of the Book of Jeremiah may be stated thus: Apostasy from God necessarily brings punishment to Judah in accordance with the provisions of the national berith (the constitution which God had promulgated at Mount Sinai and which Israel had there accepted with all its pentateuchal provisions).
The general style of Jeremiah is simple to such a degree that sometimes, indeed, he is unfairly called careless. In actuality, however, his simplicity of style is the natural expression of a man, quite understandably, beset by grief. The prophecies against the Gentile nations, as well as his Lamentations and the Book of Kings, show that Jeremiah was capable of powerful eloquence when the occasion was conducive. Jeremiah is also quite deliberately repetitious, using the same thoughts, pictures, and words on various occasions. An example which involves the pericope currently before us is the way in which verse 8b of chapter 1 is repeated in verse 19b at the conclusion of the chapter and then verses 18-19, in turn, are reiterated either substantially or verbally in verse 20 of chapter 15.
The third verse of Jeremiah refers, above all, to the historical circumstances of the first three editions of the Book of Jeremiah in the years 605-604 and 586 B.C. respectively. For the first and second editions of Jeremiah emerged "in the days of Jehoiakim, the son of Josiah, the king of Judah" (verse 1:3a1). The years of publication were, more specifically, 605 and 604 respectively in the fourth and fifth regnal years of Jehoiakim. For Jeremiah composed his second edition immediately following the destruction, in December of 604, of his first edition by King Jehoiakim as it was being read aloud to him by Baruch, the prophet's secretary (36: 9-32). The third edition, on the other hand, of the Book of Jeremiah emerged in 586 B.C. following the destruction of Jerusalem by the army of Nebuchadnezzar, the King of Babylon, to which Jeremiah refers in his superscription with the phrases "the end of the eleventh year of Zedekiah, the son of Josiah, the king of Judah" (verse 1:3a2) and "the removing of Jerusalem in the fifth month" (1:3b).
The main fourfold division of the book is straight-forward, although its simplicity is, nevertheless, still confused by many scholars. More subtle, however (and generally missed), is the threefold subdivision of the Judahite Corpus, by far the largest block of material in the book. The key to the structure of this material is the recurring reference in the volume to the pivotal fourth year of Jehoiakim.
The introduction, as we have seen, makes special mention of "the days of Jehoiakim" (1:3), and three specific citations of the fourth year of this reign appear in the Judahite Corpus (25:1; 36:1; 45:1), each time apparently designating the culmination of a subsection according to a pattern which Jeremiah imposed upon his material at this particular juncture in the history of Judah. Each of the three subdivisions of the Judahite Corpus is thereby connected with one of the three signs which figure in the call of Jeremiah in the introduction to his book, which is to say in verses 9, 11, and 13 of chapter 1 respectively). The remaining citation of the fourth year of Jehoiakim (in 46:1) serves to initiate the Gentile Oracles of Jeremiah (chapters 46-51) and ties them, not only to the general superscription to the book (in 1:3-5), but also to the climactic chapter 25 of Jeremiah. For the Gentile Oracles constitute, in effect, an answer to the divine commission in verses 12-28 of chapter 25, while still building thereby on the words of 1:10 which are foundational to the book in toto.
The first chapter, then, of Jeremiah, as the book has come to be divided since medieval times, is clearly constructed quite carefully as the introduction to the Book of Jeremiah as a whole. Within the chiastic structure of the introduction itself the commission of Jeremiah is stated firstly in verses 4-8 and then reiterated in verses 17-19, following an intervening specification of his message both symbolically and literally (in verses 9-16). Verse 17a essentially restates verse 7b, reusing specifically the verbs tzwh and dbr but reversing the order: "and thou shalt speak to them all that I shall command thee" (employing again the singular of the first person of the qal imperfect of tzwh, with the only change being the pausal lengthening of the shewa under the waw to seghol).
Verse 17b then repeats in essence verse 8a, firstly reusing mippneyhem ("of" or, even more literally, "from their faces") and then changing its form to liphneyhem ("before" or, even more literally, "to their faces"):
Stop being dismayed of their faces,
Lest I dismay thee before their faces.
Verses 18-19a elaborate on the idea of verse 8b before its precise reiteration in verse 19b:
For I am with thee --
such is the oracle of the LORD --
to deliver thee.
Only the position of the parenthetical construct chain n'um-YHWH ("the oracle of the LORD") is
altered (and lhatztzilekha, the hiphil infinitive construct of ntzl [with prepositional prefix and
pronominal suffix in pause] is written plene, with yodh indicating the long chireq, rather then
defectively, as is done in verse 8b in Codex Leningradensis).
The following outline thus emerges of the introduction to the Book of Jeremiah in relation to the
first main portion of the work, the Judahite Corpus comprising chapters 2-45, and the second
main section, the Gentile Oracles comprising chapters 46-51:
4. For the word of the LORD came to be to me,
so as to say:
5. Before I formed thee in the belly, I knew thee;
Yea, before thou camest forth from a womb,
I consecrated thee;
I gave thee as a prophet to the nations.
The initial word in the translation above of verse 4 ("for") represents the strong waw being used to indicate positive logical consequence, since temporal consequence is excluded by the > 3 � @ol> � @
The verses, then, which are the objects of this study constitute the initial expression of
Jeremiah's call to the prophetic ministry (verses 4-8) and the purpose of God in so calling him
(verses 9-10).
ytz' ("which means
"go forth" or "come forth"). Jeremiah is, in this case, the specific subject whom the Lord is
addressing.
Four, however, of the five verbs in verse 5 are construed in the common singular of the first person with second masculine singular pronominal suffix. In each instance the speaking subject of the verb is the One True God and the object is His prophet, Jeremiah. Three of these four verbs, in turn, are perfects which are invested with the most common significance of the perfective aspect of the verb, which is to say the simple past.
(1.) The second verb in the verse, ydha'tikha ("I knew thee"), is such a form, then, of yd'. The personal knowing of which God speaks here is, of course, much more than an intellectual knowledge, since God knows all things and all people equally in such (in which case the strong waw could be translated "and so"), but rather a conception which is required as the logical basis of the preceding conception (listed as IV.D. 2.e.(1.) in CHEL). For the call of Jeremiah described in verses 4-19 is the logically necessary basis of the presence of the word of the Lord with Jeremiah asserted in verses 2-3, from the thirteenth regnal year of Josiah, in which the call occurred, through many ensuing years.
The strong waw is here attached to the breviate with preterite force, as is so common in historical narrative (and consequently denominated as the "dependent preterite" in II.B.3.B.5.a in CHEL). This specific strong waw is
pointed (as is the basic custom) with pathach, but there is no doubling of the following consonant (as would be indicated by daghesh forte) by reason of the shewa beneath the yodh of yhi, the very common breviate of the very common verb hyh [BDB, 224a-228a].
Verse 5 contains five verbs, all of which are used with an indicative force and all save one in the qal. The middle verb is a singular of the second person of the imperfect of ytz' ("which means "go forth" or "come forth"). Jeremiah is, in this case, the specific subject whom the Lord is addressing.
Four, however, of the five verbs in verse 5 are construed in the common singular of the first person with second masculine singular pronominal suffix. In each instance the speaking subject of the verb is the One True God and the object is His prophet, Jeremiah. Three of these four verbs, in turn, are perfects which are invested with the most common significance of the perfective aspect of the verb, which is to say the simple past.
(1.) The second verb in the verse, ydha'tikha ("I knew thee"), is such a form, then, of yd'. The personal knowing of which God speaks here is, of course, much more than an intellectual knowledge, since God knows all things and all people equally in such a sense according to His divine omniscience. Nor does "take note" do justice to the conception of this usage of ydh, despite the lexical statements to this effect [BDB, 394a, in 393a-395a]. The idea is by no means "acknowledging" the "true servants" of God on the basis of His "recognising" them [BDB, 394a]. The reference, rather, when God knows people is to His knowing them with a divine intention which establishes a personal relationship between Him and them, whether as a corporate entity (such as Israel) or as individuals. This usage emphasizes, therefore, as is clearly true here, the absolute monergism in the initiation of any personal relationship between God and man. The specific reference here, however, differs evidently from the divine foreknowledge which elects people to salvation through faith in Jesus Christ. Jeremiah was, of course, the beneficiary of such a predestination to salvation as is any Christian. The Lord here, however, makes no mention of eternity (before the creation of the world), and the parallel clause speaks specifically of God choosing Jeremiah, even before His birth, to be His prophet. The whole passage emphasizes, indeed, the monergistic nature of the prophetic office. The prophets spoke and wrote, by divine inspiration, all those words and only those words which God gave them to speak and write. The cpe-nun) verb has been assimilated to the e� b @o "tb @ations" with no restriction implies already the mandatum scribendi; Jeremiah was to write down as well as speak the words of God to allow them to be heard and read in all the world to the end of history.
(3.) The fifth verb in the verse, nthattikha ("I gave thee"), is the final word in Jeremiah 1:5. In the qal of ntn the final nun of the lamedh-nun (and also pe-nun) verb has been assimilated to the tau of the personal ending (-tiy), which is consequently doubleo "the nations" with no restriction implies already the mandatum scribendi; Jeremiah was to write down as well as speak the words of God to allow them to be heard and read in all the world to the end of history.
(3.) The fifth verb in the verse, nthattikha ("I gave thee"), is the final word in Jeremiah 1:5. In the qal of ntn the final nun of the lamedh-nun (and also pe-nun) verb has been assimilated to the tau of the personal ending (-tiy), which is consequently doubled by daghesh forte.
The aspect, however, of the first of the aforesaid four verbs in the first person, 'etztzawrkha ("I formed thee"), is the imperfect. The imperfect is likewise, as already noted, the aspect of the one verb in the second person, tetze' ("thou camest forth"). We find here, then, in close proximity two examples of the preterite use of the non-perfective aspect on its own, which is to say with no prefixed waw. As has been observed elsewhere, such a use of the imperfect on its own "is a rare phenomenon which follows certain temporal adverbs" -- for which cause the preterite can still be described as grammatically dependent (II.B.2.A.2.b on CHEL). The adverb allowing this usage in this case is bterm [with teth} (which means "not yet" or "before") [BDB, 382b]. The preterite use of the imperfect, whether with bterm or with strong waw, actually preserves the ordinary significance of an aspect of the Hebrew verb which was originally distinct from the non-perfective.
The word "belly" in the translation above renders the feminine noun beten (with medial teth), which has no definite Hebrew cognates [BDB 105b-106a]. It is applied, not only to the belly or abdomen as such (in several places), but also to the "seat of passion, avarice, etc." (in Job 20: 20, 23), the "innermost part" of a man, that is, his "inmost soul" (as in Proverbs 18:8), the seat of intellectual faculties, equalling what is traditionally called in English one's "breast" or "bosom" (as in Psalm 22:18), the "body" as opposed to the soul (in Psalms 31:10 and 14:26), and frequently the "womb" -- with related idioms [BDB 106a].
Both David Noel Freedman with J. Lundbom [TDOT, II, 94-99] and John Oswalt [TWOT (HAW), 102b-103a] assume the basic meaning of the word to be "interior" on the basis of Semitic cognates as well as the meanings noted. Oswalt, interestingly enough, calls "body" "a rather colorless translation for the visceral quality of beten in" Psalms 31:10 (MT, 9 EV) and 44:26 (MT, 25 EV) and Micah 6:7. Oswalt, even more simplistically than Freedman and Lundbom, sees "from the womb" as an idiom meaning only "from birth" [TWOT].
The word "womb" in the translation above renders the noun rechem, which belongs to a group of eleven words which the lexicographers derive from a hypothetical root of debated significance (Root I [BDB, 933a-934a] as opposed to the presumed root (II [BDB, 934a]) of two words meaning "carrion-vulture"). Six of the eleven words supposed to be related to rechem are proper nouns. The virtually exclusive meaning of rechem is "womb" (with the use in Judges 5:20 as "woman-slave" being an understandable development).
Many have seen as a derivative of rechem the abstract plural masculine noun rachamim
(identified as an intensive plural by the standard lexicon [BDB]), meaning "compassion" (usually
predicated of God, but also of man). The original meaning would have been "brotherhood,
brotherly feeling, of those born frMedes vis-a-vis the Babylonians that "they will have no
compassion on the fruit of the womb" (Isaiah 13:18), he uses a common expression employing
beten.
6. And then I said:
an� � @the � @ is
predicated usually of God and, when of men, usually of conquerors, the qal is found only inthe piel is
predicated usually of God and, when of men, usually of conquerors, the qal is found only in
Psalm 18:2.) When Isaiah says of the Medes vis-a-vis the Babylonians that "they will have no
compassion on the fruit of the womb" (Isaiah 13:18), he uses a common expression employing
beten.
6. And then I said:
Ah, my Lord, O LORD, behold,
I know not how to speak, for a youth am I.
The initial two words in the version here ("and then") translate a strong waw with its most
common force. The conjunction serves, in other words, to indicate temporal consequence (which
is listed as IV.D.2.e.(1.) in Classical Hebrew and the English Language). The same usage recurs
at the beginning of the ensuing verse (7, using a differing person of the same verb 'mr) and thrice
again in verse 9 (returning in the final case to 'mr). In all these places the strong waw, which in
its most basic form is vocalized with pathach and followed by consonantal doubling (indicated
by daghesh forte), is prefixed to an imperfect or breviate with preterite force, as is so common in
historical narrative (and consequently denominated as the "dependent preterite" in II.B.2.A.2.a
and II.B.3.B.5.a in CHEL).
7. And then the LORD said to me:
Stop saying: "A youth am I."
For unto all to whom I send thee, thou wilt go,
And all which I command thee, thou wilt speak.
The imperfects of 'mr and yr' here in verse 8 follow 'al. Like lo', 'al is a particle of negation
(meaning, in effect, "no" or "not"). The more general lo', however, is used to negate both
indicative statements and continuous mandates. The particle 'al, on the other hand, before
imperfects and breviates of jussive force, serves distinctively to negate mandates of immediate
application. In the absence, indeed, of contrary contextual indications, this usage may be
equated, as here, with a command to stop doing something which one is currently doing or a
jussive to stop letting something go on which is currently the case.
8. Stop being afraid of their faces,
for I am with thee to deliver thee --
such is the oracle of the LORD.
In addition to dealing with the objection orally expressed by Jeremiah (being unaccustomed to
speaking in public by virtue of his youth), the Lord also deals with his unexpressed fears. The
Lord promises to be with him in all the trials which would certainly lie ahead and to deliver him
from his enemies. He by means implies thereby freedom from suffering, which Jeremiah would
receive in abundance. The Lord used similar words, again, in commissioning the Apostle Paul,
so that not even martyrdom could be excluded a priori. The deliverance which He promises is,
then, His supporting presence in all the tribulations of this world and, finally, translation from
this vale of tears to everlasting joy in His visible presence.
9. And then the LORD put forth His hand,
And then He made it touch upon my mouth.
And then the LORD said unto me:
Behold, I have given My words to be in thy mouth.
The Lord who spoke to Jeremiah and now, indeed, stretched forth "His hand" and touched him was clearly the Deus Revelans et Revelatus, which is to say the Second Person of the Holy Trinity who, according to so many promises of God, was one day to become incarnate as the Messiah in order to redeem all mankind by His suffering unto death from the wrath of God justly aroused by human sin. Here is the primary connection with any pericope of the gospels which may be used in conjunction with the passage of Jeremiah before us. Christw" (1 Peter 1:11).
The phrase "and then He made it tprophets who, in turn, bore witness to Him. Thus does the Apostle Peter speak as he does of the prophets: "the Spirit of Christ who was in them ... testified beforehand the sufferings of Christ and the glory that should follow" (1 Peter 1:11).
The phrase "and then He made it touch" in the translation above renders the single word wayyagga' in the original text. In this form a strong waw of temporal consequence is prefixed to the masculine singular of the third person of the hiphil breviate of the verb ng' [BDB, 619a-b]. The initial nun of the pe-nun verb has been assimilated to the middle letter of the root, thus causing the doubling of the gimel which is indicated by the daghesh forte. The breviate, with pathach beneath the gimel, is clearly shorter than the imperfect form yaggia', with both long chireq and furtive pathach [BDB, 619a]. The presence of pathach in the final syllable, whether furtive or exclusive, results from the guttural influence of the final 'ayin. The identity of wayyagga' as hiphil, as opposed to the corresponding qal, wayyigga', appears from the typical pointing of the preformative of the hiphil with pathach as opposed to the vocalization of the preformative of the qal with short chireq [BDB, 619a].
The verb ng' occurs some hundred and fifty times in the Old Testament and gives birth to the masculine noun nega' (meaning "stroke, plague, or "mark" in the sense of a "plague-spot") is found seventy-eight times [BDB, 619a-b; 619b]. The basic idea of the triliteral root is touching of some kind. The majority of the occurrences of the verb are forms of the qal with the significance of "touch" and then "strike" and, less transitively, "reach" or "extend to" something [BDB, 619a]. The verb is found but thrice in the piel and but once each in the niphal and the pual [BDB, 619a].
The remaining instances of ng' are forms, as here, of the hiphil [BDB, 619a-b]. The basic
significance, as would expected, is "cause to touch" with two objects stated or implied. Here the
hand of the Lord ("it" in the translation above) is, indeed, implied as the direct object of the verb.
The indirect object, as in Isaiah 6:7, is indicated by the prepositional phrase 'al-piy ("upon my
mouth"). Less transitively, then, the hiphil of ng' proceeds to such meanings as "reach"
("extend" and "arrive"), "approach" in time, and "befall" as one's lot or fate [BDB, 619b].
10. See, I have made thee overseer this day
over the nations and over the kingships,
To pluck up and to break down,
to destroy and to overthrow,
And to build and to plant.
The phrase translated as "I have made thee overseer" in the translation above renders the singular of the first person of the hiphil perfect of pqd with pronominal suffix (masculine singular of the second person, referring to Jeremiah). This verb is, to be sure, very common, occurring some 303 times in the Old Testament [BDB, 823a, in 823a-824a]. The great majority, however, of these instances, specifically 234 of them, are forms of the qal. Jeremiah 1:10, on the other hand, contains one of but twenty-nine occurrences of the hiphil, despite the ordinary rendition of the form as if it were merely the usual qal. (The New King James Version, for example, has "I have ... set you" as the translation.) The idea of the clause is that Jeremiah, precisely because he would speak and write the very words of God, would be overseeing the condemnation and consolation of the people of all nations and all times to come, including ourselves.
The last six words of Jeremiah 1:10 are all infinitive constructs with prefixed lamedh. They are all qal infinitives, in terms of binyan, excepting the third (ulha'abhidh), which is the hiphil infinitive of 'bd. The usual intention of lamedh with the infinitive is the expression of purpose, and such is certainly the aim of the Lord in this verse. With these six infinitives He gives Jeremiah the goals, both positive and negative, of the prophetic ministry to which he has now been ordained. The verbs are employed to state these goals in a chiastic fashion in agricultural and structural imagery, treating the addresses of Jeremiah as if they were either plants or structures of some kind such as the walls of a city (which conception is then applied to Jeremiah himself in verse 18 following the literal reference to the walls of the cities of Judah in verse 15).
The four infinitives devoted to depicting the negative side of this ministry are double the two
which are dedicated to describing the positive side. The reason is clearly stated already in verse
16 of the introductory chapter of Jeremiah. The majority of the population of Judah was guilty of
apostasy and, therefore, could receive nothing beneficial from the preaching of the gospel unless
they could be convicted of the sins in which they were living by the preaching of the law of God
and so could be moved to repentance. Thus, the series of infinitives stating the goals of the
prophecy of Jeremiah begins with the severe sequence of linthosh wlinthotz ulha'abhidh
wlaharos ("to pluck up and to break down, to destroy and to overthrow").
(1.) The verb ntsh occurs but twenty-one times in the Old Testament, with the majority, however, of these instances being concentrated in the Book of Jeremiah [BDB, 684b]. Thus, outside of Jeremiah the verb occurs, in chronological order of composition, in Deuteronomy 29:27, Psalm 9:7, Amos 9:15 (where, though in the niphal, ntsh is used, as here, in opposition to nt'), Micah 5:13, Ezekiel 19:12 (in the hophal), Daniel 11:4 (in the niphal), 1 Kings 14:15 (although the Book of Kings also emanates from Jeremiah, as argued by this exegete elsewhere), and 2 Chronicles 7:20. The hophal imperfect in Ezekiel 19 is worthy of special note because it is speaking of Israel under the figure, specifically, of a vine: "and it will be rooted up" (verse 12). The literal meaning is "pull or pluck up" and, indeed, "root out" plants, as when a gardener roots out unsatisfactory plants to replace them with new ones [BDB, 684b].
There are, then, twelve places in the Book of Jeremiah itself in which forms of the follow and build upon the foundation of the instance in the verse before us (1:10):
12:14 (using both the participle and imperfect of the qal)
12:15 (using, as here, the infinitive construct, but with a pronominal suffix)
12:17 (using both the perfect and infinitive absolute of the qal, which are then employed, as here, in association with 'bd)
18:7 (using, as here, the infinitive construct in association with nttz and 'bd and in opposition, in verse 9, to nt' and, less directly, bnh)
18:14 (where the niphal is used)
24:6 (where the qal, although imperfect, is used, as here, in association with hrs and in opposition to nt' and, less directly, bnh)
31:28 (using, as here, the infinitive construct in association with nttz and hrs and 'bd and in opposition to nt' and, less directly, bnh)
31:40 (where ntsh, although in the niphal, is used, as here, in association with hrs)
42:10 (where the qal, although imperfect, is used, as here, in association with hrs and in opposition to nt' and, less directly, bnh)
45:4 (where the qal, although a participle, is used, as here, in association with hrs and in opposition to nt' and, less directly, bnh)
Especially close then to the verse before us are chapters 18:7 and 31:28. In 18:7 three of the
same infinitives as here are conjoined and contrasted in verse 9 with the same two infinitives
which conclude 1:10. In 31:28, however, all six infinitives recur with the addition of the hiphil
infinitive of r'' ("cause evil"):
Yea, it shall come to be:
Even as I have watched over them
to pluck up and to break down
and to throw down and to destroy
and to cause evil,
So shall I watch over them
to build and to plant --
such is the oracle of the LORD.
Thus, in the messianic context of Jeremiah 31 the severe sound of first four infinitives in the call of Jeremiah is silenced by the soothing sweetness of the final two infinitives.
(2.) The verb nttz changes the imagery from plants to some structure such as the walls of a city. The basic meaning is "break down" a structure of some kind, as in Jeremiah 4:26 and 33:4 [BDB, 683a]. Thus, in chapters 39:8 and 52:14 the Prophet Jeremiah applies the word, specifically, to the breaking down of the walls of Jerusalem by the Babylonian soldiers of Nebuchadnezzar. Jeremiah does the same in the Book of Kings in the passage which stands parallel to 52:14 (2 Kings 25:10). The metaphorical application of the verb to a people is, indeed, seemingly restricted to the passages already cited in which Jeremiah conjoins nttz with ntsh (1:10, 18:7, and 31:28) [BDB, 683a].
(3.) The verb 'bd carries on the same imagery as the preceding infinitive. The two infinitives, indeed, lha'abhidh wlaharos are included in this sequence only as reiterations of linthotz to add emphasis to the conception already expressed thereby in unmistakable terms. The qal of 'bd means "perish" with reference mostly to people and animals, but also to such inanimate things as land (as in Jeremiah 9:11), harvests, riches (as in Jeremiah 48:36), vessels, the heavens and earth as a whole, and, most significantly here, houses and cities [BDB, 1b, in 1a-2a]. The piel, therefore, and, as here, the hiphil signify "cause to perish" and hence "destroy" someone or something. The application, again, of both binyanim is most commonly people and animals [BDB, 2a]. The piel, however, is also applied to idols and the "high places" and the "bars of Zion" (in Lamentations 2:9) [BDB, 2a], as is likewise the hiphil to such inanimate things as chariots and idols [BDB, 2a].
(4.) The verb hrs remains, then, with the same imagery as the two preceding infinitives. Its basic meaning of "throw down" a structure of some kind connotes even more violence than does ntsh [BDB, 248b]. The Prophet Ezekiel makes walls in particular the objects of the verb in 13:14 and 26:12. Jeremiah himself applies the verb to the walls of Babylon in 50:15, as also to the strongholds of Judah in Lamentations 2:2 and to altars and whole cities in various passages in the Book of Kings. Metaphorical applications, however, predominate in the Book of Jeremiah (in addition to 1:10):
24:6 (where the qal, although imperfect, is used, as here, in association with ntsh and in opposition to bnh and, less directly, nt')
31:28 (using, as here, the infinitive construct in association with ntsh and nttz and 'bd and in opposition to bnh and, less directly, nt')
31:40 (where hrs, although in the niphal, is used, as here, in association with ntsh)
42:10 (where the qal, although imperfect, is used, as here, in association with ntsh and in opposition to bnh and, less directly, nt')
45:4 (where the qal, although a participle, is used, as here, in association with ntsh and in opposition to bnh and, less directly, nt')
Thus, as stated before, in the messianic context of Jeremiah 31 the severe sound of first four infinitives in the call of Jeremiah is silenced by the soothing sweetness of the final two infinitives.
The two infinitives with more evangelical connotations, when used metaphorically, are libhnoth wlintoa'. The verb bnh is, of course, quite common, used some 373 times in the Old Testament, although only in the qal and niphal [BDB, 124a-125a]. The final infinitive, however, returns in a chiastic way from the structural imagery of the preceding four infinitives to the agricultural conception of the first infinitive in the complete series of six.
Of some sixty instances of nt' (with medial teth) in the Old Testament, sixteen surface in the Book of Jeremiah [BDB, 642a-b]. Aside from the one niphal in Isaiah 40:24, the sole binyan is the qal [BDB, 642b]. The first two objects of nt' in Holy Scripture are the Garden of Eden which God Himself planted (Genesis 2:8) and the vineyard which Noah planted (Genesis 9:20). Jeremiah himself uses the verb, not only here in 1:10 (and in 2 Kings 19:29), but also in the following passages which always hark back to its usage in the record of his divine call:
2:21 (applied to people compared to a vine)
11:17 (applied to people)
12:2 (applied to wicked men who take root and grow and bring forth fruit)
18:9 (using, as here, the infinitive construct in association with bnh and in opposition, in verse 7, to nttz and 'bd and, less directly, ntsh)
24:6 (where the qal, although perfect, is used, as here, in association with bnh and in opposition to ntsh and, less directly, hrs)
29:5 (applied to gardens)
29:28 (applied to gardens)
31:5 (where three forms of the qal congregate, namely the imperfect [second feminine singular], the perfect [third common plural], and the active participle [masculine plural])
31:28 (using, as here, the infinitive construct in association with bnh and in opposition to ntsh and, less directly, nttz and 'bd)
32:41 (applied to people)
35:7 (applied to a vineyard)
42:10 (where the qal, although perfect, is used, as here, in association with bnh and in opposition to ntsh and, less directly, hrs)
45:4 (where the qal, although perfect, is used, as here, in association with bnh and in opposition to ntsh and, less directly, hrs) [45:4 being misprinted as "45:10" in column b, unlike column a, of BDB, 642]
The figurative use of nt' in the examples above in which God is the subject and people are the object emphasizes the divine monergism behind both the creation and also the regeneration of men. The recurring depictions, too, of God planting His people as a gardener's vine in his own garden stresses His personal painstaking care of His church and so the complete security of His people so long as they keep the faith in Him which He has created in them.