Table of Contents

General Editors' Preface     9
Acknowledgments     11
Abbreviations     13
Bibliography     15
Introduction     17
The Importance of the Book of Jeremiah     17
Historical Setting     18
Jeremiah the Prophet     20
Content, Genre, and Structure     22
Hebrew Text Traditions of Jeremiah     26
Theological Themes     27
The Incomparable Creator     27
The Sovereign and Transcendent God     28
The Sovereign God's Special Relationship to Israel     28
The Sovereign God of the Nations     29
God the Sovereign Judge of Judah     29
God's Sovereignty and Freedom     30
The Sovereign God's Suffering Love     31
The Sovereign God of Hope, Healing, and Restoration     31
The Sovereign God's Sovereign Word     32
Commentary     35
Superscription (1:1-3)     35
"Uproot and Tear Down": God Commissions Jeremiah (1:4-19)     38
"Uproot and Tear Down": Judah's Idolatry and Infidelity (2:1-4:4)     47
Yahweh's Lawsuit (2:1-37)     48
Sweet Memories (2:1-3)     49
Bartering for Junk(2:4-13)     51
Self-Imposed Slavery (2:14-19)     55
Self-Proclaimed Freedom (2:20-22)     57
Desperate for Love (2:23-25)     59
Yahweh or Baal? (2:26-28)     61
A Countersuit (2:29-32)     62
Shame and Humiliation (2:33-37)     64
The Call to Return (3:1-4:4)     66
Return to Me (3:1-5)     66
Return! (3:6-18)     69
Yahweh's Lament (3:19-22a)     72
A Model Liturgy of Repentance (3:22b-25)     74
Another Call to Return (4:1-4)     76
"Uproot and Tear Down": The Agency of the Enemy from the North (4:5-6:30)     81
Disaster from the North (4:5-10)     83
This Is Your Punishment (4:11-18)     86
Oh, My Anguish! (4:19-22)     88
Cosmic Chaos (4:23-28)     90
A Woman in Scarlet Dress (4:29-31)     92
A Search and Rescue Mission (5:1-9)     94
The Sword of the Enemy (5:10-19)     96
A Foolish and Senseless People (5:20-31)     99
Flee for Safety (6:1-8)     102
The Wrath of God (6:9-15)     105
Ask for the Ancient Paths (6:16-21)     107
An Army Is Coming (6:22-26)     109
A New Task for Jeremiah (6:27-30)     110
"Uproot and Tear Down": Judah's False and Corrupt Worship (7:1-8:3)     113
The Temple: A Den of Robbers (7:1-15)     114
Do Not Pray for This People (7:16-20)     119
A Deaf Society (7:21-29)     121
The Valley of Slaughter (7:30-8:3)     123
"Uproot and Tear Down": Judah's Deceit and Falsehood (8:4-10:25)     126
Even the Birds Know Better (8:4-13)     127
Not Enough Tears (8:14-9:1)     129
A Nation of Jacobs (9:2-11)     133
Let Me Tell You Why (9:12-16)     136
"How Ruined We Are!" (9:17-22)     138
A Little Sermon on Boasting (9:23-26)     140
Incomparable Yahweh (10:1-16)     142
The Inevitable Exile (10:17-25)     147
"Uproot and Tear Down": Judah's Covenant-Breaking (11:1-12:17)     151
The Broken Covenant (11:1-17)     152
Jeremiah's Lament and Yahweh's Response (11:18-12:6)     158
Yahweh's Lament (12:7-13)     164
A Call to Conversion (12:14-17)     168
"Uproot and Tear Down": Judah's Pride (13:1-27)     171
The Ruined Loincloth (13:1-11)     172
Jars Filled with Wine (13:12-14)     175
Pride, Shame, and Humiliation (13:15-27)     177
The Disappearing Light (13:15-17)     177
A Lowly Place for the Royal Family (13:18-19)     178
How Long, O Jerusalem? (13:20-27)     179
"Uproot and Tear Down": No More Prophetic Mediation (14:1-15:21)     183
A Devastating Drought (14:1-9)     184
No Reprieve from Sword and Famine (14:10-16)     186
Yahweh Weeps (14:17-18)     190
Remember Your Covenant (14:19-22)     191
Judah's Fate Is Sealed (15:1-4)     193
No One Will Have Pity on Jerusalem (15:5-9)     196
Jeremiah's Lament (15:10-21)     198
The Prophet's Complaint and Yahweh's Response (15:10-14)     199
Jeremiah's Lament and Yahweh's Response (15:15-21)     202
"Uproot and Tear Down": Judah's Social World (16:1-21)     206
Do Not Marry (16:1-13)     207
Homecoming of the Exiled (16:14-15)     211
Judgment for Defiling the Land (16:16-18)     213
Confession of the Nations (16:19-21)     214
"Uproot and Tear Down": Judah's Self-Trust (17:1-27)     217
An Indelible Writing of Sin (17:1-4)     218
Two Ways of Life (17:5-13)     220
Heal Me! (17:14-18)     226
On Sabbath-Keeping (17:19-27)     228
"Uproot and Tear Down": Judah, a Vessel for Destruction (18:1-20:18)     233
Yahweh the Potter (18:1-12)     234
My People Have Forgotten Me (18:13-17)     237
The People's Plot and Jeremiah's Lament (18:18-23)     239
The Valley of Slaughter (19:1-13)     243
A Beaten but Bold Messenger (19:14-20:6)     247
Jeremiah: A Broken Vessel (20:7-18)     249
"Uproot and Tear Down": Judah's Political and Religious Leaders (21:1-23:40)     256
Death and Life Decisions (21:1-10)     257
Covenantal Duty of the Royal Family (21:11-14)     262
Another Sermon on Covenantal Duty (22:1-9)     264
Kings Under Judgment (22:10-30)     268
Shallum Shall Not Return (22:10-12)     268
Woe to the Oppressive and Unjust King (22:13-19)     269
The Fate of the Defiant City (22:20-23)     273
Coniah: A Despised, Broken Vessel (22:24-30)     275
Woe to the Shepherds (23:1-8)     278
Judgment on False Prophets (23:9-40)     284
Indictment and Judgment (23:9-12)     285
Prophets of Samaria and Jerusalem (23:13-15)     287
True and False Prophets (23:16-22)     289
Lying Prophets and Their Lying Dreams (23:23-32)     293
The Burden of Yahweh (23:33-40)     297
"Uproot and Tear Down": Judah's Claim of the Land (24:1-10)     301
The Good and the Bad Figs (24:1-10)     301
"Uproot and Tear Down": Judah and the Nations (25:1-38)     307
Because You Have Not Obeyed (25:1-14)     308
The Cup of Wrath and Yahweh's Universal Judgment (25:15-38)     313