JEREMIAH: INTRODUCTION TO THE LITERARY STRUCTURE

A much more detailed version of this analysis is available on request. Write elmerphd21@hotmail.com

A friend of mine once offered me his theory on the composition of the prophecy books in the Bible – the individual verses were picked randomly from a hat and written down in that order. The scholarly consensus on the Book of Jeremiah is not far from that opinion. However, not all commentators have totally given up on the attempt to discover an organizing principle behind the composition.

One first indication of intentionality is the use of key words and phrases a symbolically significant number of times in the work. Thus, “judgment” and “I will be your God, etc.” appear seven time, “to vex” occurs twelve times, “to punish” is present fourteen times, “return/turn” – 48x, and “thus has said LORD of hosts” – 49x. In addition, the book contains exactly seven vision reports.

A survey of typical commentaries on Jeremiah will show that there is some consensus in identifying the major sections of the book. Rosenberg feels these are arranged in a chiastic manner. The present reading of the book's structure owes much to that of Rosenberg but is based mainly on the recurring concept of “God's word” in Jeremiah. Fourteen times the phrase “Hear the word of the LORD” appears in the book. Key phrases such as “The word of the LORD came to Jeremiah” or “The word of the LORD came to me” occur some forty times with variations. These phrases appear to be the main literary markers for the beginning of new sections. Using these phrases as a starting point, the chiastic structure of Fig. 1 can be derived.

Figure 1: The Structure of Jeremiah

I. Historical Introduction (1:1-3)

Transition phrase: “until the captivity of Jerusalem in the fifth month” (1:3c)

II. Prophet to the Nations (1:4-19)

Transition vision: the boiling pot (1:13-19)

III. Prophecies Concerning Judah and Israel (2:1-13:27)

Transition prophecy against shepherds (13:15-27)

IV. Woe to the Leaders (chs. 14-25)

Transition section against priests and false prophets (chs. 26-28)

III'. Prophecies Concerning Judah and Israel (chs. 26-44)

Transition prophecy to Baruch (ch. 45)

II'. Oracles to the Nations (chs. 45-51)

Transition phrase: “Thus far are the words of Jeremiah” (51:64b)

I'. Historical Conclusion (ch. 52)

The most interesting feature of this structure is the presence of transitional sections between each major division which act to create a unity out of the diverse material in the book, as does the overall chiastic structure. As an example, the book begins with a description of the historical time frame of Jeremiah's prophecies. The closing phrase of the first section “until the captivity of Jerusalem in the fifth month” is, however, somewhat redundant in that the time frame has already been stated as “the end of the eleventh year of Zedekiah.” This phrase does, however, serve the literary function of preparing us for the nature of this prophetic word, which will “pluck up and break down” nations (including Judah), using the words found in the next section describing Jeremiah's commission. The remainder of bridging sections function in a similar way.

Sections I and I': Historical Framework

A more detailed analysis of each of the sections (only a few of which will be given here) helps to confirm the validity of the overall pattern outlined in Fig. 1. The concluding portion of the book, I', is very important from the standpoint of structural analysis in that it provides a clear-cut case of an historical account (from II Kings 24:18-25:30) being transformed by some minor editorial additions and deletions into a brand new literary entity. If one compares the II Kings passage side-by-side with Jer. 52, concentrating on the differences, an enlightening picture emerges. One passage (II Kings 25:22-26) concerning the governor Gedeliah is deleted, but those events are covered in detail elsewhere in the book of Jeremiah. The only other changes are the addition of a few verses enumerating those sent into captivity (Jer. 52:28-30) and some summary phrases. The structure resulting from these minor changes is seen to be the five-part chiasm shown in Fig. 2 below, with the Jeremian additions underlined.

Figure 2: The Structure of Section I'

A. The Fate of King Zedekiah, ending with “and put him in prison till the day of his death”

(52:1-11)

B. Nebuzaran carries away the people and temple goods, ending with “all the...were #”

(52:12-23)

                        C. Those in the city are killed, ending with “So Judah was carried captive out of

the land” (52:24-27)

B'. Nebuzaran carries away people captive, ending with “all the...were #”

(52:28-30)

A'. The Fate of King Jehoichin, ending “and brought him out of prison” and “until the

day of his death as long as he lived” (52:31-34)

This new chiastic structure serves to highlight the contrasting fates of the two kings of Judah in a more obvious manner than in the II Kings account, even though both end on a cautiously positive note. Since Section B deals mainly with the temple goods and B' with the people, equating the two may imply that God is going with His people to Babylon or just reinforce the utter destruction of Jerusalem. In either case, the point is that Judah's future, for the time being, lies in Babylon.

Section II': Oracles to the Nations

The arrangement of this section is mainly informed by the similarly chiastic order of the corresponding opening phrases of these sections:

A. “The word that Jeremiah the prophet spoke” (45:1)

B. “The word which the LORD spoke to Jeremiah the prophet concerning” (46:13)

C. “The word of the LORD that came to Jeremiah the prophet concerning” (47:1)

D. “Concerning” (5x)

C'. “The word of the LORD that came to Jeremiah the prophet concerning” (49:34)

B'. “The word which the LORD spoke concerning...by Jeremiah the prophet” (50:1)

A'. “The word which Jeremiah the prophet commanded” (51:59)

Sections A and A' are both prose passages bracketing a large block of poetry and they deal with two brothers who are loyal to God and to Jeremiah. The word concerning Baruch, whose fate will be captivity in Egypt, directly precedes the prophecies concerning Egypt. By contrast, Seraiah will accompany the captives to Babylon, and thus his section follows directly after the prophecies concerning that nation. These two brothers typify the loyal Jews that Jeremiah addresses elsewhere in the book, and sections A and A' show what is in store for them in captivity. Their lives will be preserved if they accept their fate, and they will be given opportunities for God's service even in a foreign land.

 Section III: Prophecies Concerning Judah and Israel

 Again, the surest guide to the structure proves to be the marker phrase “The word of the LORD” indicating the start of a new section. Note that the center of this pattern is ch. 10, which is set apart by its subject matter and the inclusion of a sentence in Aramaic rather than Hebrew. This chapter is also chiastically arranged (Fig. 3).

        Figure 3: Opening Phrases in Section III

“ The Word of the LORD came to me a second time” (1:13)

            “The Word of the LORD came to me” (2:1)

“ The Word that came to Jeremiah from the LORD” (7:1)

“ Hear the word which the LORD speaks” (10:1)

“ The Word that came to Jeremiah from the LORD” (11:1)

            “ The Word of the LORD came to me a second time” (13:3)

“ The Word of the LORD came to me” (13:8)

Section III': Prophecies Concerning Judah and Israel

The divisions for this section were derived by (a) again treating the phrase “The word of the LORD came to Jeremiah, etc.” as an indication that a new section or sub-section has begun and (b) the recognition that each major section ends with a prophecy regarding a specific person or small group. The result was a seven-part symmetrical structure in which most of the sub-sections contain at their centers prophecies that were symbolically acted out by Jeremiah and others. The contrasting futures of Hananiah and Baruch concluding the first and last of these sections point clearly to the distinction between a false and true prophet of God.

The proposed structural emphasis (see Fig. 1) on a negative passage in Jeremiah runs counter to those who see the comforting words of chs. 30-33 as its true center. It also appears to militate against the proposal of some that the present Hebrew text (vs. the Greek Septuagint) systematically added an optimistic viewpoint to an originally negative book. Instead, the pessimistic tone of the original test is consistent with those who note this strain appears throughout the book and is emphasized by its literary structure even though occasional glimpses of hope shine through the gloom.