The overall organization of the book of Jeremiah is rather difficult to pin down due to its sprawling nature. See my post titled “Jeremiah: Introduction to the Literary Structure” for one possible way to view the whole book. In my analysis I was able to reconstruct a symmetrical organization to the whole book and to the individual sections composing it. But the question remaining is whether the even smaller literary units share in that type of orderly arrangement. As a trial, I decided to look at Jeremiah 28, which according to my analysis was one sub-sub-section of the sub-section Jeremiah 27-28.
This immediately brings up the question as to whether Jeremiah 28 can be considered as a stand-alone unit on not. And here commentators differ somewhat. For example, L.C. Allen considers Jeremiah 26-29 as a single unified section in which “the issue of true versus false prophecy comes to the fore.” By contrast, most other scholars feel that it is only chapters 27-28 which meet that definition.
Then there is the issue as to whether Jeremiah 28 by itself can be divorced from the previous chapter. As D.R. Jones points out, there are really mixed signals. For one thing, the fresh superscription in 28:1 appears to signal a new subject. However, 28:14 echoes 27:6-8 just as 28:15 echoes 27:10. And reference in Jeremiah 28 to a yoke on Jeremiah presumes the knowledge of 27:2-11 in the same way that the subject of the temple vessels in 28:2,6 harks back to 27:6-8.
In addition, Bright states, “Although chapters xxvii and xviii are of a different literary types and seem originally to have been transmitted separately, they belong together factually and should be read together.”
When Bright alludes to different literary types, he is referring to the fact that chapter 27 is all written by Jeremiah in the first person whereas chapter 28 refers to Jeremiah in the third person. The only possible exception to that rule is found in Jeremiah 28:1 where the Hebrew reads “to me” in place of “to Jeremiah,” as would have been expected. But both the Jerusalem Bible and the Anchor Bible feel that “to Jeremiah” is the intended reading instead. Bright's reasoning in adopting that stance is explained as follows: “Since Jeremiah is referred to in the third person elsewhere in the chapter, 'to me' ('ly) may represent a misunderstanding of an abbreviated writing of 'ly(rmyh) ('to Jeremiah'), under the influence of the first person style of ch. xxvii.”
Since the evidence is evenly balanced between the two options, I will begin with the assumption that chapter 28 is a discrete literary unit and see if that makes sense from a structural viewpoint. That is the opinion of Allen, who says that in “Jeremiah 28 the narrative of the confrontation between Hananiah and Jeremiah as rival prophets of Yahweh is enhanced by proceeding on the lines of a disputation that moves from speech to speech in a developing action.” You can see this sort of organization in Figure 1 below:
Figure 1: Literary Organization of Jeremiah 28
A. Hananiah introduced (5th month and fourth year) (1a)
B. Hananiah's prophecy (1b-4)
C. Jeremiah's qualified agreement (5-9)
B'. Hananiah's acted-out prophecy (10-11a)
C'. Jeremiah walks away (11b)
B''. God's word to Jeremiah (12-14)
C''. Jeremiah denounces Hananiah (15-16)
A'. Hananiah dies (7th month and fourth year) (17)
As confirmation of this analysis, note that each unit in the triad B-C-B' contains words spoken “in the presence of all the people” (verses 1b,5,7,11). In addition, two prophecies are given a certain time period to be carried out, one of Hananiah within two years (1b) and one concerning Hananiah within one year (16). These serve as an inclusio, or bracketing device, for the chapter along with the specific dates given in 1a and 17.
Thirdly, God's words in B''
simultaneously deny Hananiah's optimistic prophecy in B and his
sign-act in B', as you can see below:
“Thus says the LORD of
hosts, the God of Israel: I have broken the yoke of the king of
Babylon.” (28:2)
“Thus says the LORD: This is how I will break the yoke of King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon from the neck of all the nations.” (28:11a)
“Thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel: I have put an iron yoke on the neck of all these nations so that they may serve King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon.” (28:13)
Here are some additional notes on individual sections in the chapter:
Jeremiah 28:1 – We are first introduced to the prophet Hananiah in this verse. Thompson explains, “Hananiah's name means 'Yahweh has been gracious.' It was an appropriate name for a prophet who believed strongly, if mistakenly, that Judah's fortunes would soon be restored. He is otherwise unknown.”
It is interesting that both Jeremiah and Hananiah are called “prophets.” Thus, the same Hebrew word nabi is used to characterize both true and false prophets. To make this distinction clearer, the Greek translators who prepared the Septuagint refused to use the same word for both men; instead they called Hananiah a pseudoprophetes, which, as you have probably guessed, means a “false prophet.” The original Hebrew is a lot more subtle and actually called Jeremiah and Hananiah nabi six times each in the text as a way of keeping the reader guessing right until the end of the story as to which one was the true prophet and who was not.
Jeremiah 28:2-4 – Now we come to Hananiah's initial prophecy in front of all the people, who were rightly concerned regarding the Babylonian devastation of their country. He alludes to the “yoke” of the the Babylonian king which Jeremiah had been told by God to wear as a sign-act showing the people that they had better get used to living under Nebuchadnezzar's thumb for some time to come. Hananiah basically denies this negative message and instead promises that within two years the yoke will be lifted.
Many “prophecy experts” over the years, right up to the present time, have falsely given the people of God hope that they will escape all their earthly problems within a certain time frame by being “raptured” up to heaven while the earth goes to hell in a hand basket. And it appears that some of these experts have taken a hint from Hananiah how to go about doing it. First, appeal to what the people want to hear rather than the less optimistic truth of the situation. Second, never set a date for the good event which is too close to the present time since you can all too easily be caught in a lie and lose your audience (with paying speaking engagements and book sales). But thirdly, never set a date which is too far off in the future because if you do, no one will get excited enough to listen to you.
Jeremiah 28:5-9 – Fully in line with Allen's description of the chapter as a “developing” disputation, Jeremiah's response at this point is first to express the opinion that he really hopes that Hananiah is correct in his prophecy. But then he reminds everyone that they need to be cautious before jumping on any prophecy since only time will tell whether the prophet is speaking the truth or not. This test of true prophecy is repeated later in the very early Christian document called the Didache, which similarly states that whether the prophecy comes true is the acid test of a prophet of God.
Contrary to some commentators, Thompson expresses the opinion that “Jeremiah's response was not necessarily a sarcastic retort to Hananiah's oracle. As a lover of Judah and a patriot he could wish that Hananiah's prophecy would be realized.” I would have to wholeheartedly agree with Thompson's stance.
Jeremiah 28:10-11a – Now Hananiah gets a little more aggressive in his posture and invades Jeremiah's personal space by taking off the wooden yoke that God had told him to wear. He smashes the yoke as his own sign-act to indicate how the yoke of Nebuchadnezzar would be eliminated, reiterating the time frame of two years.
Jeremiah 28:11b – All we are told at this point is that Jeremiah left without saying a word. This has worried some commentators, but Wiseman says, “That he did not reply immediately need not denote a faltering faith. He would realize that the mass of people believe what they want to hear and that now was no time to speak and cause an unnecessary rebuff or hardening of heart against God's word.” Similarly, Cawley and Millard note that “a further rebuttal by Jeremiah might have endangered his life.”
To a lesser extent I can empathize with Jeremiah since in two churches in which I taught, I had the nerve to question the then, and still, popular optimistic doctrine of pre-tribulation rapture. At one of these churches, a member of the class refused to speak to me afterward until I apologized to her, and a visitor on another day to our Sunday school stood up and said he didn't see how I could call myself a Christian if I believed otherwise. And at the next church in which I ministered, the elders called a special meeting to discuss whether I should be allowed to continue teaching since I did not believe in that doctrine. Fortunately, their decision was a fair one in that I only had to promise never to teach on that particular subject or openly express my personal feelings concerning it while in a church setting.
It was obvious to me that it would be futile to fight that decision and cause a stir in the church. I wouldn't win since popular opinion was on the other side, I would lose my platform for ministry over what was really a tertiary issue, and the duly-constituted leadership of the congregation had every right to make their decision.
Jones additionally gives a positive reason for Jeremiah's departure: “The incident vividly shows how the prophet received the divine message in the solitude of seclusion, out of his intimacy with God, rather than in the activity of his engagement with people and his grappling with problems.”
Jeremiah 28:12-14 – At this point, Jeremiah gets a clear message from the LORD to deliver to Hananiah. Interestingly, God uses Hananiah's own act of breaking the wooden yoke to create a new symbolic prophecy. Basically, God's message through Jeremiah is, “Yes, you have broken the wooden yoke, but it is only to have it replaced with an iron bar which will be placed on all the nations instead, and that one is not nearly as easy to destroy.”
Jeremiah 28:15-16 – Next comes Hananiah's death sentence from God. Bright explains that it “accords perfectly with the thought expressed in Deut xviii 20 that to prophesy falsely in the name of Yahweh, as Hananiah had done, was to commit a capital crime.” That is why all teachers and preachers of the Word need to carefully consider what they say when purporting to convey God's message.
Thompson voices the following clever words on the subject: “If Yahweh did not send Hananiah he would certainly send him away to his death.”
Jeremiah 28:17 – The people did not even have to wait a whole year to see if Jeremiah's final prophecy came true. Hananiah died within two months.
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