Archive for the ‘Coniah’ Tag
Above: Icon of Ezekiel
Image in the Public Domain
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READING EZEKIEL, PART I
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Ezekiel 1:1-3
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In 597 B.C.E., Chaldean/Neo-Babylonian forces invaded Judah. King Jehoiachin‘s brief reign ended. His uncle Mattaniah came to the throne as King Zedekiah. Jehoiachin and many others–members of the Judean elite–became exiles in the Chaldean/Neo-Babylonian Empire. The first wave of the Babylonian Exile had begun.
Ezekiel ben Buzi was one of these captives and exiles. Ezekiel, a priest in the community beside the Chebar Canal (next to the city of Nippur, southeast of the city of Babylon), received his commission as a prophet on the fifth day of Tammuz (on the Gregorian Calendar, in June), 593 B.C.E. He prophesied until 571 B.C.E.
Robert Alter describes Ezekiel as
surely the strangest of all the prophets
and as
an extreme case.
—The Hebrew Bible, Volume 2, Prophets (2019), 1049
The prophet, whose name meant, “God strengthens,” was, by modern standards, misogynistic, as in Chapters 16 and 23. He was not unique–certainly not in the company of Biblical authors. According to Alter, especially in the context of Chapter 16:
Ezekiel clearly was not a stable person. The states of disturbance exhibited in his writing led him to a series of remarkable visionary experiences, at least several of which would be deeply inscribed in the Western imagination, engendering profound experiences in later poetry and in mystical literature. At the same time, there is much in these visions that reminds us of the dangerous dark side of prophecy. To announce authoritatively that the words one speaks are the words of God is an audacious act. Inevitably, what is reported as divine speech reaches us through the refracting prism of the prophet’s sensibility and psychology, and the words and images represented as God’s urgent message may be sometimes distorted in eerie ways.
–1051-1052
Biblical scholars from a variety of times, theological orientations, and geographical origins have commented on Ezekiel’s pathological psychology. The prophet may not have been well-adjusted. “Touched by the gods” has been an expression for a long time, and for a good reason.
However much one accepts that much or most of the Book of Ezekiel comes from the prophet, a textual difficulty remains. The book includes evidence of subsequent editing after the Babylonian Exile. Any given passage, in its final form, may have more to do with Ezra or some other editor than with Ezekiel. Or that passage may be entirely from Ezeki8el. Or the editorial touch may be light.
I acknowledge these matters as I commit to my primary purpose in this Hebrew prophetic reading project: to read these passages in context and to ponder what they say to the world today. The ancient message, grounded in particular circumstances, continues to speak.
“The hand of the Lord” (Ezekiel 1:3) symbolizes divine power.
The Book of Ezekiel breaks down into three sections:
- Chapters 1-24, in their original form, date to between the Fall of Jerusalem (586 B.C.E.). This section divides into two subsections. Chapters 1-11 contain visions of divine presence and departure. Chapters 12-24 offer a rationale for and anticipate the destruction of Jerusalem.
- Chapters 25-32 contain oracles against the nations. The arrangement of these oracles is not chronological. Such a collection of oracles is also a feature of other prophetic writings, as in Amos 1:3-2:3; Isaiah 13:1-23:19; Jeremiah 46:1-51:64.
- Chapters 33-48 contain oracles from after the Fall of Jerusalem. This section breaks down into two subsections. Chapters 33-39 offer a rationale for and anticipate the transformation of the LORD’s people. Chapters 40-48 contain visions of the LORD’s return to the Second Temple (not yet built; dedicated in 516 B.C.E.) in a transformed land.
Tova Ganzel wrote, in the introduction to the Book of Ezekiel, in The Jewish Study Bible, Second Edition (2014):
Because of the central themes of the Temple, acts of leadership, sins of the people, and divine theophanies appear in both the predestruction and postdestruction oracles (1.3, 13-15, 22-24; 8.2-3; 10.11, 22-23; 40.1-2; 43.1-5), Ezekiel’s oracles merit both sequential and topical study.
–1034
I will study the Book of Ezekiel in a combination of sequential and topical organization of posts.
Major lectionaries ignore most of the Book of Ezekiel. The Roman Catholic lectionaries for weekdays, Sundays, and major feast days omit Chapters 3-8, 11, 13-15, 19-23, 25-27, 29-42, 44-46, and 48 entirely. The Revised Common Lectionary (RCL) lists the Book of Ezekiel only five times:
- 34:11-16, 20-24 for Christ the King Sunday, Year A;
- 36:24-27 for the Easter Vigil, Years A, B, and C;
- 37:1-14 for the Easter Vigil, Years A, B, and C; the Fifth Sunday in Lent, Year A; and (as an alternative reading), for the Day of Pentecost, Year B.
I understand the benefits and limitations of lectionaries. Any lectionary–even a narrow, one-year cycle with two readings and a Psalm each Sunday–is superior to ministers focusing on their favorite passages of scripture Sunday after Sunday. The orderly reading of scripture in communal worship has virtues. Lectionaries also help people to read the Bible in conversation with itself. Nevertheless, the parts of the Book of Ezekiel that even three-year cycles overlook are worth hearing and reading, in private, alone, in a study group, and in the context of worship.
KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR
JUNE 20, 2021 COMMON ERA
PROPER 7: THE FOURTH SUNDAY AFTER PENTECOST, YEAR B
THE FEAST OF JOSEPH AUGUSTUS SEISS, U.S. LUTHERAN MINISTER, LITURGIST, HYMN WRITER, AND HYMN TRANSLATOR
THE FEAST OF ALFRED RAMSEY, U.S. LUTHERAN MINISTER AND HYMN TRANSLATOR
THE FEAST OF CHARLES COFFIN, ROMAN CATHOLIC PRIEST AND HYMN WRITER
THE FEAST OF HANS ADOLF BRORSON, DANISH LUTHERAN BISHOP, HYMN WRITER, AND HYMN TRANSLATOR
THE FEAST OF WILLIAM JOHN SPARROW-SIMPSON, ANGLICAN PRIEST, HYMN WRITER, AND PATRISTICS SCHOLAR
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Above: King Zedekiah of Judah
Image in the Public Domain
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READING JEREMIAH, PART XVIII
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Jeremiah 27:1-29:32
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The Masoretic Text of Jeremiah 27:1 indicates that Jehoiakim was the King of Judah. Yet this is a scribal error, for the rest of the text names Zedekiah as the King of Judah. Many English translations correct the Masoretic Text and list Zedekiah as the monarch.
Zedekiah, born Mattaniah, reigned from 597 to 586 B.C.E. As the King of Judah, he was always a vassal of the Chaldean/Neo-Babylonian Empire.
God was sovereign, Jeremiah pronounced. All world leaders, even King Nebuchadnezzar II of the Chaldean/Neo-Babylonian Empire (r. 605-562 B.C.E.) were vassals of God. The prophet told King Zedekiah to disregard the advice of the false prophets to rebel against the Chaldean/Neo-Babylonian Empire. The only way to live was as a Chaldean/Neo-Babylonian vassal, Jeremiah told King Zedekiah. The King of Judah disregarded the prophet’s advice and rebelled anyway. King Zedekiah, blinded, died a prisoner in Babylon (2 Kings 24:18-25:26; 2 Chronicles 36:11-21; 1 Esdras 1:47-58).
Hananiah ben Azzur was a false prophet. He was the prophetic equivalent of happy pills. Hananiah, who had
urged disloyalty to the LORD,
died the same year he issued the false prophecy.
The first round of the Babylonian Exile started in 597 B.C.E., with the deposition of King Jehoiachin/Jeconiah/Coniah. Before the Fall of Jerusalem (586 B.C.E.), Jeremiah wrote to these exiles. They were home, Jeremiah wrote to these exiles. Jeremiah counseled them to settle permanently. In Deuteronomy 20:5-7, building houses, planting vineyards, marrying, and procreating indicated permanent settlement. The collapse of such signs of permanent settlement, as was about to happen in Judah, indicated divine judgment (Deuteronomy 28:30-32; Amos 5:11; Zephaniah 1:13). The restoration of these signs of permanent settlement played a role in prophecies of consolation (Isaiah 65:21-23; Jeremiah 29:5-6; Ezekiel 28:25-26).
Jeremiah 29:10 returns to the motif of seventy years, present in Jeremiah 25:11-14.
We read denunciations of other false prophets–Ahab ben Kolaiah and Zedekiah ben Maaseiah (29:20-23), as well as Shemaiah the Nehelamite (29:24-32). We read of their unfortunate fates. We also read again that false prophesy is urging disloyalty to God.
One of the practical difficulties in applying timeless principles is that one must apply them in circumstances. Circumstances can vary widely, according to who, when, and where one is. Therefore, a degree of relativism exists in the application of timeless principles.
Consider one timeless principle, O reader. One should never urge disloyalty to God. My circumstances are quite different from those of Jeremiah, during the reign of King Zedekiah. Yet the timeless principle applies to my set of circumstances. When and where I am, how I may confront those urging disloyalty to God looks very different than Jeremiah in Chapters 27-29.
Whenever and wherever you are, O reader, may you never urge disloyalty to God.
KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR
JUNE 12, 2021 COMMON ERA
THE FEAST OF EDWIN PAXTON HOOD, ENGLISH CONGREGATIONALIST MINISTER, PHILANTHROPIST, AND HYMN WRITER
THE FEAST OF CHRISTIAN DAVID JAESCHKE, GERMAN MORAVIAN ORGANIST AND COMPOSER; AND HIS GRANDSON, HENRI MARC HERMANN VOLDEMAR VOULLAIRE, MORAVIAN COMPOSER AND MINISTER
THE FEAST OF ENMEGAHBOWH, EPISCOPAL PRIEST AND MISSIONARY TO THE OJIBWA NATION
THE FEAST OF JOSEPH DACRE CARLYLE, ANGLICAN PRIEST AND HYMN WRITER
THE FEAST OF MILTON SMITH LITTLEFIELD, JR., U.S. PRESBYTERIAN AND CONGREGATIONALIST MINISTER, HYMN WRITER, AND HYMNAL EDITOR
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Above: Jehoiakim Burns the Word of God
Image in the Public Domain
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READING JEREMIAH, PART XVI
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Jeremiah 36:1-32
Jeremiah 45:1-5
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When I taught history survey courses in colleges and universities, I told my students:
Keep your facts straight and your chronology in order.
The Book of Jeremiah does not always keep its facts straight. I have noted some examples of this already in this series of posts. I point to two examples in this post. I have more examples to point out when I get to them. I am a serious student of history; I stand by the objective reality that x either happened or did not. I make no apology for this.
The Book of Jeremiah does not keep its chronology straight, either.
- Zedekiah was the last King of Judah. He reigned from 597 to 586 B.C.E. He was the named monarch in Jeremiah 24, 27, 28, 32, 37, and 38.
- Jehoiakim, nephew of Zedekiah, reigned as the King of Judah from 608 to 598 B.C.E. Jehoiakim was the named monarch in Chapters 25, 26 (completing the story in 7 and 8, by the way), 35, and 45. The events of Chapter 35 transpired after those of Chapter 36.
- Jeremiah 39 and 52 cover the Fall of Jerusalem in 586 B.C.E. Off-screen, so to speak, the city fell between Chapters 32 and 33, and before 10:23-25.
The Book of Jeremiah is messing with my head. The beginning should come before the middle, which should precede the end. Linear story-telling has its virtues.
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In 608 B.C.E., Eliakim ben Josiah came to the throne of Judah as Jehoiakim, succeeding a deposed and exiled brother, Jehoahaz ben Josiah (r. 609 B.C.E.). Both brothers were vassals of Pharoah Neco II (reigned 610-595 B.C.E.). During the reign of Jehoiakim, the Chaldean/Neo-Babylonian Empire replaced Egypt as the power to which Judah’s monarch served as a vassal. Jehoiakim was also a tyrant who had prophets who spoke inconvenient truths arrested and executed circa 608 B.C.E. Intervention spared the life of Jeremiah from Jehoiakim’s wrath (Jeremiah 26). Yet, circa 608 B.C.E., Uriah ben Shemaiah died for saying what Jeremiah proclaimed (Jeremiah 26).
The events of Jeremiah 36 occurred in 605 B.C.E. That year, Jeremiah had no access to the Temple. Therefore, he sent his scribe, Baruch ben Neriah, in his place. The scribe used the words of divine judgment and the invitation to repent. These words met with a chilly reception. King Jehoiakim burned the scroll.
The LORD now says of Jehoiakim, king of Judah: No descendant of his shall sit on David’s throne; his corpse shall be thrown out, exposed to heat by day, frost by night. I will punish him and his descendants for their wickedness; upon them, the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and the people of Judah I will bring all the evil threats to which they will not listen.
–Jeremiah 36:30-31, The New American Bible–Revised Edition (2011)
King Jehoiakim’s reign ended in 598 B.C.E.
- He may have died peacefully in his sleep, in his palace (2 Kings 24:6). “He rested with his forefathers” usually indicated a peaceful death.
- He may have become a prisoner in the Chaldean/Neo-Babylonian Empire (2 Chronicles 36:6; 1 Esdras 1:40).
- He may have died in battle, outside the walls of Jerusalem. His corpse may have remained unburied, a sign of disgrace and disrespect (Jeremiah 22:19; 36:30-31).
Despite the prophecy, a son of Jehoiakim succeeded him. King Jehoiachin/Jeconiah/Coniah reigned for about three months in 597 B.C.E. before becoming a prisoner in the Chaldean/Neo-Babylonian Empire (2 Kings 24:8-17; 2 Kings 25:27-30; 2 Chronicles 36:9-10; 1 Esdras 1:43-46).
Above: Baruch Writing Jeremiah’s Prophecies
Image in the Public Domain
Turning to Jeremiah 45, we remain in 605 B.C.E., according to the text.
God commanded Jeremiah to tell Baruch ben Neriah:
Thus said the LORD: I am going to overthrow what I have built, and uproot what I have planted–this applies to the whole land. And do you expect great things for yourself? Don’t expect them. For I am going to bring disaster upon all flesh–declares the LORD–but I will at least grant your life in all the places where you may go.
–Jeremiah 45:4-5, TANAKH: The Holy Scriptures (1985)
This work exacted a heavy toll on Jeremiah and his scribe. The divine promise of not getting killed in the line of duty applied to the prophet, also (Jeremiah 1:19). Ebed-melech, another ally of Jeremiah, had a divine guarantee of his life, too (Jeremiah 39:18). Despite this divine promise, being Jeremiah or one of his allies was risky.
One may not want to hear God say to one:
And do you expect great things for yourself? Don’t expect them.
Baruch, of course, went to Egypt with Jeremiah (43:6).
Some interpretive difficulties arise in Jeremiah 45.
- The text dates the prophecy to 605 B.C.E.
- Yet Chapter 45 follows exile in Egypt for Jeremiah and Baruch, and flows thematically from Chapter 44.
- Nevertheless, as I keep repeating, chronology is not the organizing principle in the Book of Jeremiah. Structurally, the Book of Jeremiah reminds me of certain movies by Atom Egoyan, the acclaimed Canadian movie director. Egoyan does not favor linear story-telling; he often has three timeframes running in his movies, and cuts from one timeframe to another one periodically. For proper understanding of The Sweet Hereafter (1997) and Ararat (2002), for example, one needs to watch at least three times.
- The translation of the end of 45:5 varies. TANAKH: The Holy Scriptures (1985) goes one way, with, “…but I will, at least, grant you your life.” The New American Bible–Revised Edition (2011) goes another way, with, “…but I will grant you your life as spoils of war….”
And do you expect great things for yourself? Don’t expect them.
God’s reward to Jeremiah, Baruch, and Ebed-melech was survival in a terrifying time.
That does not seem like much of a reward, does it? Yet, as St. Teresa of Calcutta said, God calls people to be faithful, not successful. This is a difficult teaching. I struggle with it. Maybe you do, too, O reader. I read that Jeremiah and Baruch did.
By human standards, Jeremiah was a failure. He was on the outs with authorities. His message convinced few people. He died in involuntary exile in a land where he had warned people not to go. And, by human standards, Jeremiah dragged Baruch down with him.
Yet, thousands of years later, faithful Jews and Christians utter the names of Jeremiah and Baruch with respect. Many Jews and Christians still study and read the Book of Jeremiah. The faithful legacy of Jeremiah and Baruch endures.
By that standard, Jeremiah and Baruch succeeded.
KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR
JUNE 12, 2021 COMMON ERA
THE FEAST OF EDWIN PAXTON HOOD, ENGLISH CONGREGATIONALIST MINISTER, PHILANTHROPIST, AND HYMN WRITER
THE FEAST OF CHRISTIAN DAVID JAESCHKE, GERMAN MORAVIAN ORGANIST AND COMPOSER; AND HIS GRANDSON, HENRI MARC HERMANN VOLDEMAR VOULLAIRE, MORAVIAN COMPOSER AND MINISTER
THE FEAST OF ENMEGAHBOWH, EPISCOPAL PRIEST AND MISSIONARY TO THE OJIBWA NATION
THE FEAST OF JOSEPH DACRE CARLYLE, ANGLICAN PRIEST AND HYMN WRITER
THE FEAST OF MILTON SMITH LITTLEFIELD, JR., U.S. PRESBYTERIAN AND CONGREGATIONALIST MINISTER, HYMN WRITER, AND HYMNAL EDITOR
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Above: Figs
Image in the Public Domain
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READING JEREMIAH, PART XV
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Jeremiah 24:2-25:38
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Chronology is not the organizing principle in the Book of Jeremiah. Chapter 21, for example, is set circa 586 B.C.E., at the end of the reign (597-586 B.C.E.) of King Zedekiah. Chapter 24 opens earlier, circa 597 B.C.E., also during the reign of Zedekiah, after the brief reign (597 B.C.E.) of King Jehoiachin/Jeconiah/Coniah. Furthermore, Chapter 25 opens in the fourth year (605 B.C.E.) of the reign (608-598 B.C.E.) of King Jehoiakim.
The good figs in Chapter 24 represent the faithful remnant of Judah–exiles of 597 B.C.E.–that would eventually return to the ancestral homeland after the Babylonian Exile. They would also return to God. The bad, inedible figs, however, represent those, who, between 597 and 586 B.C.E., remained in Judah or fled to Egypt, and were destined for annihilation. In Jeremiah 24 and Ezekiel 11:6, the exiles of 597 B.C.E. were the only recipients of the divine promise of future restoration. They alone were covenant people of God.
By 605 B.C.E., Jeremiah had been prophesying for twenty-three years. He had been faithful to God, the people had not. They would face destruction, therefore, Jeremiah decreed yet again.
And those nations shall serve the king of Babylon seventy years. When the seventy years are over, I will punish the king of Babylon and that nation and the land of the Chaldeans for their sins–declares the LORD–and I will make it a desolation for all time.
–Jeremiah 25:11-12, TANAKH: The Holy Scriptures (1985)
Let us consider some historical dates and perform some arithmetic, O reader.
- Chaldean/Neo-Babylonian domination started in 605 B.C.E.
- The first Chaldean/Neo-Babylonian deportation of Judean exiles occurred in 597 B.C.E.
- The Fall of Jerusalem and the more famous deportation occurred in 586 B.C.E.
- The Chaldean/Neo-Babylonian Empire fell in 539 B.C.E.
- Cyrus II of the Persians and the Medes permitted Jews to return to their ancestral homeland, starting in 538 B.C.E.
- 605 – 539 = 67.
- 597 – 538 = 59.
- 586 – 538 = 48.
Seventy is a round and symbolic number. It means, in Mesopotamian terms, a long duration. In Zechariah 1:12 and 7:5, seventy is the number of years between the destruction of the First Temple (586 B.C.E.) and the dedication of the Second Temple (516 B.C.E.). This reinterpretation in Zechariah addresses the despair of the returned exiles in Haggai 1 and 2.
The reinterpretation of Biblical prophecies within the Bible itself is a recurring theme. Other examples include all those exuberant visions of what the the Holy Land would be like after the Babylonian Exile. The Biblical record indicates, however, that those visions did not come true, and disappointment was commonplace among returned exiles. Therefore, we read interpretations of those prophecies to apply them to a then-future time (and perhaps a still-future time). This practice of reinterpreting prophecies that, objectively and literally, did not come to pass, is consistent with the practice of adding to Hebrew prophetic books as late as after the Babylonian Exile. Hope is one of the basic human needs.
But first, there was more divine judgment to ponder. All twenty-six nations of the world known to Jeremiah were to drink the poisoned wine of the wrath of God then to suffer the sword of divine punishment.
The text minces no words:
In that day, the earth shall be strewn with the slain of the LORD from one end to the other. They shall not be mourned, or gathered and buried; they shall become dung upon the face of the earth.
–Jeremiah 25:33, TANAKH: The Holy Scriptures (1985)
In Jeremiah 25:30, God’s residence is in heaven, not the Temple in Jerusalem (Joel 4:16; Amos 1:2). This detail may be significant, given expressions of divine displeasure with Judah in the Book of Jeremiah.
Jeremiah 25 concludes on a terrifying and vivid poetic account of divine wrath and sovereignty (verses 34-38). God is in control of the world. The King of Babylon is God’s vassal, although he does not know it. (See Jeremiah 27:6, also.)
KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR
JUNE 12, 2021 COMMON ERA
THE FEAST OF EDWIN PAXTON HOOD, ENGLISH CONGREGATIONALIST MINISTER, PHILANTHROPIST, AND HYMN WRITER
THE FEAST OF CHRISTIAN DAVID JAESCHKE, GERMAN MORAVIAN ORGANIST AND COMPOSER; AND HIS GRANDSON, HENRI MARC HERMANN VOLDEMAR VOULLAIRE, MORAVIAN COMPOSER AND MINISTER
THE FEAST OF ENMEGAHBOWH, EPISCOPAL PRIEST AND MISSIONARY TO THE OJIBWA NATION
THE FEAST OF JOSEPH DACRE CARLYLE, ANGLICAN PRIEST AND HYMN WRITER
THE FEAST OF MILTON SMITH LITTLEFIELD, JR., U.S. PRESBYTERIAN AND CONGREGATIONALIST MINISTER, HYMN WRITER, AND HYMNAL EDITOR
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Above: Jeremiah Tells the King That Jerusalem Shall Be Taken
Image in the Public Domain
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READING JEREMIAH, PART XIII
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Jeremiah 21:1-22:30
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For God’s sake, let us sit upon the ground,
and tell sad stories of the death of kings….
–William Shakespeare, Richard II, Act 3, Scene 2
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Jeremiah 21-25 consists of oracles in the last years of Jerusalem. Zedekiah (born Mattaniah) in the regnant monarch named in 21:1. The Jewish Study Bible, Second Edition (2014), lists his reign as having spanned 597-586 B.C.E. Outside of the Book of Jeremiah, one can read about King Zedekiah in 2 Kings 24:18-25:26; 2 Chronicles 36:11-21; and 1 Esdras 1:47-58.
Passhur the priest (21:1) was a different person than Passhur the priest (20:1), just as Zephaniah the priest (21:1) was a different person than Zephaniah the prophet (Zephaniah 1-3).
The theme of divine retribution in exchange for rampant, persistent, and systemic social injustice recurs.
There was bad news all around.
- Jerusalem was fall to the Chaldean/Neo-Babylonian Empire in 586 B.C.E.
- King Zedekiah (r. 597-586 B.C.E.) would suffer an ignominious fate.
- King Jehohaz/Jeconiah/Shallum (r. 609 B.C.E.; 2 Kings 23:31-35; 2 Chronicles 36:1-4; 1 Esdras 1:34-38), would die in exile in Egypt.
- King Jehoiakim (r. 608-598 B.C.E.; 2 Kings 23:36-24:7; 2 Chronicles 36:5-8; 1 Esdras 1:39-42) either died peacefully in his palace (2 Kings 24:6), became a captive in Babylon (2 Chronicles 36:5-8; 1 Esdras 1:40), or died outside the walls of Jerusalem in 598 B.C.E. and received no burial (Jeremiah 22:19; 36:30-31).
- King Jehoiachin/Jeconiah/Coniah (r. 597 B.C.E.; 2 Kings 24:8-17; 2 Kings 25:27-30; 2 Chronicles 36:9-10; 1 Esdras 1:43-46) would become a prisoner in Babylon, too.
I detect odd editing, without regard to chronology. Follow my reasoning, O reader:
- Zedekiah was the last King of Judah. Material concerning him establishes the present tense at the beginning of Chapter 21.
- The material concerning Jehoahaz/Jeconiah/Shallum would have been contemporary to the Zedekiah material.
- Yet the material concerning Jehoiakim comes from during his reign.
- Likewise, the material concerning Jehoiachin/Jeconiah/Coniah comes from during his reign.
The divine condemnations of rulers who did not try to govern righteously remain relevant, sadly.
KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR
JUNE 11, 2021 COMMON ERA
THE FEAST OF SAINT BARNABAS THE APOSTLE, COWORKER OF SAINT PAUL THE APOSTLE
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Above: Jeremiah
Image in the Public Domain
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READING JEREMIAH, PART I
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Jeremiah 1:1-3
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The first three verses of the Book of Jeremiah identify the prophet, his father, the prophet’s hometown, and the timeframe of his prophetic ministry.
Jeremiah (“YHWH will exalt”) ben Hilkiah hailed from Anathoth, about three and a half miles northeast of Jerusalem. The father, Hilkiah, was a priest. Hilkiah and Jeremiah were outside of the priestly establishment in Jerusalem. Therefore, this Hilkiah was not the high priest Hilkiah (2 Kings 22:3-23:37) who found the scroll of Deuteronomy in the Temple, brought that scroll to King Josiah (r. 640-609 B.C.E.), and participated in Josiah’s religious reformation.
Hailing from Anathoth was significant. Anathoth was one of the cities assigned to Levitical priests in Joshua 21:18. After the death of King David, King Solomon had exiled the priest Abiathar (1 Samuel 22:20-22; 1 Samuel 23:6, 9; 1 Samuel 30:7; 2 Samuel 8:17; 2 Samuel 15:24, 27, 29, 35; 2 Samuel 17:15; 2 Samuel 19:11; 2 Samuel 20:25; 1 Kings 1:7, 19, 25, 42; 1 Kings 2:35; 1 Kings 4:4; 1 Chronicles 15:11; 1 Chronicles 18:16; 1 Chronicles 24:6; 1 Chronicles 27:34; Mark 2:26) to Anathoth for supporting Adonijah in the struggle for succession (1 Kings 2:26-27). Jeremiah, therefore, was also a member of a priestly family. He understood the ancient traditions of Israel, as well as the foundational character of the covenant in the life of Israel.
The superscription also defines the period during which Jeremiah prophesied: from the thirteenth year (627 B.C.E.) of the reign (640-609 B.C.E.) of King Josiah of Judah through “the eleventh year of King Zedekiah,” “when Jerusalem went into exile in the fifth month” (586 B.C.E.). We read in Chapters 39-44 that Jeremiah prophesied after the Fall of Jerusalem, too. The list of kings names Josiah, Jehoiakim, and Zedekiah. That list omits Jehoahaz/Jeconiah/Shallum and Jehoiachin/Jeconiah/Coniah. Yet, as the germane note in The Jewish Study Bible, Second Edition (2014), points out, few of the prophecies in the Book of Jeremiah date to the reign of King Josiah.
Jeremiah prophesied during a turbulent and difficult period of decline–mostly after the fall of the Assyrian Empire (612 B.C.E. and before the Fall of Jerusalem (586 B.C.E.). In the wake of King Josiah’s death, Judah had become a vassal state of Egypt. Pharaoh Neco II had chosen the next two Kings of Judah. Jehoahaz/Jeconiah/Shallum (2 Kings 23:31-35; 2 Chronicles 36:1-4; 1 Esdras 1:34-38) had reigned for about three months before becoming a prisoner in Egypt. Then Neco II had appointed Eliakim and renamed him Jehoiakim (r. 608-598 B.C.E.; 2 Kings 23:36-24:7; 2 Chronicles 36:5-8; 1 Esdras 1:39-42). Jehoiakim was always a vassal while King of Judah. After being the vassal of Neco II of Egypt for about three years, he became a vassal of the Chaldean/Neo-Babylonian Empire in 605 B.C.E. He died a prisoner in that empire.
Two more Kings of Judah reigned; both were vassals of the Chaldean/Neo-Babylonian Empire. Jehoiachin/Jeconiah/Coniah (2 Kings 24:8-17; 2 Kings 25:27-30; 2 Chronicles 36:9-10; 1 Esdras 1:43-46) reigned for about three months before going into exile in that empire. The last King of Judah was Zedekiah, born Mattaniah (2 Kings 24:18-25:26; 2 Chronicles 36:11-21; 1 Esdras 1:47-58). He reigned from 597 to 586 B.C.E. The last events he saw before Chaldean soldiers blinded him were the executions of his sons.
The Book of Jeremiah is one of the longest books in the Hebrew Bible; it contains 52 chapters. The final draft is the product of augmentation and editing subsequent to the time of Jeremiah himself. In fact, Jeremiah 52 is mostly verbatim from 2 Kings 24:18-25:30. Also Jeremiah 52:4-16 occur also in Jeremiah 39:1-2, 4-10. Chronology is not the organizing principle of material in the Book of Jeremiah; jumping around the timeline is commonplace. For example, the Fall of Jerusalem (586 B.C.E.) occurs between Chapters 32 and 33, as well as in Chapters 39 and 52. Some ancient copies are longer than other ancient copies. None of the subsequent augmentation and editing, complete with some material being absent from certain ancient copies of the book surprises me, based on my reading about the development of certain Biblical texts. I do not pretend that divinely-inspired authors were mere secretaries for God.
Rabbi Abraham J. Heschel made a germane and wonderful point in The Prophets, Volume I (1962), viii:
The prophet is a person, not a microphone. He is endowed with a mission, with the power of a word not his own that accounts for his greatness–but also with temperament, concern, character, and individuality. As there was no resisting the impact of divine inspiration, so at times there was no resisting the vortex of his own temperament. The word of God reverberated in the voice of man.
The prophet’s task is to convey a divine view, yet as a person he is a point of view. He speaks from the perspective of God as perceived from the perspective of his own situation. We must seek to understand not only the views he expounded but also the attitudes he embodied: his own position, feeling response–not only what he said but also what he lived; the private, the intimate dimension of the word, the subjective side of the message.
Those paragraphs applied to all the Hebrew prophets. They applied to Jeremiah with greater poignancy than to the others, though.
I invite you, O reader, to remain with me as I blog my way through the book of the “weeping prophet.”
KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR
JUNE 6, 2021 COMMON ERA
PROPER 5: THE SECOND SUNDAY AFTER PENTECOST, YEAR B
THE FEAST OF FRANKLIN CLARK FRY, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED LUTHERAN CHURCH IN AMERICA AND THE LUTHERAN CHURCH IN AMERICA
THE FEAST OF SAINT CLAUDE OF BESANÇON, ROMAN CATHOLIC PRIEST, MONK, ABBOT, AND BISHOP
THE FEAST OF HENRY JAMES BUCKOLL, AUTHOR AND TRANSLATOR OF HYMNS
THE FEAST OF JOHANN FRIEDRICH HERTZOG, GERMAN LUTHERAN HYMN WRITER
THE FEAST OF WILLIAM KETHE, PRESBYTERIAN HYMN WRITER
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Above: Icon of Habakkuk
Image in the Public Domain
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READING HABAKKUK, PART I
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Habakkuk 1:1
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The situation for Judah had become worse since the days of the prophet Nahum, shortly before the Fall of Nineveh (612 B.C.E.). King Josiah of Judah (r. 640-609 B.C.E.; 2 Kings 22:1-23:30; 2 Chronicles 34:1-35:27; 1 Esdras 1:1-33; Ecclesiasticus/Sirach 49:1-6) had died in combat against Pharaoh Neco II (r. 610-595 B.C.E.). The Egyptian leader had sought to establish power in Syria; Judah was between Egypt and Syria. The Chaldean/Neo-Babylonian Empire had terminated Neco II’s plans for Syria.
In the wake of King Josiah’s death, Judah had become a vassal state of Egypt. Pharaoh Neco II had chosen the next two Kings of Judah. Jehoahaz/Jeconiah/Shallum (2 Kings 23:31-35; 2 Chronicles 36:1-4; 1 Esdras 1:34-38) had reigned for about three months before becoming a prisoner in Egypt. Then Neco II had appointed Eliakim and renamed him Jehoiakim (r. 608-598 B.C.E.; 2 Kings 23:36-24:7; 2 Chronicles 36:5-8; 1 Esdras 1:39-42). Jehoiakim was always a vassal while King of Judah. After being the vassal of Neco II of Egypt for about three years, he became a vassal of the Chaldean/Neo-Babylonian Empire in 605 B.C.E. He died a prisoner in that empire.
Two more Kings of Judah reigned; both were vassals of the Chaldean/Neo-Babylonian Empire. Jehoiachin/Jeconiah/Coniah (2 Kings 24:8-17; 2 Kings 25:27-30; 2 Chronicles 36:9-10; 1 Esdras 1:43-46) reigned for about three months before going into exile in that empire. The last King of Judah was Zedekiah, born Mattaniah (2 Kings 24:18-25:26; 2 Chronicles 36:11-21; 1 Esdras 1:47-58). He reigned from 597 to 586 B.C.E. The last events he saw before Chaldean soldiers blinded him were the executions of his sons.
The Book of Habakkuk exists within the context of three years–605, 598/597, and 586 B.C.E.–and two Chaldean/Neo-Babylonian invasions of Judah. The book, in its original form, dates to closer to 605 and 598/597 B.C.E. than 586 B.C.E.
The superscription tells us almost nothing about the prophet. “Habakkuk” derives from an Arabic word meaning “dwarf.” He may have been a cultic prophet. The superscription does not even reveal the name(s) of the King(s) of Judah when Habakkuk prophesied.
The Book of Habakkuk contains fifty-six verses in three chapters. The Revised Common Lectionary (RCL) gives short shrift to the book, assigning only eight verses once every third years. Habakkuk 1:1-4; 2:1-4 is one of two options for the Old Testament reading on Proper 26, Year C. The lectionary includes:
the righteous live by their faith
(2:4b), taken out of textual context.
I invite you, O reader, to join me as I read all of the Book of Habakkuk, in historical and textual context.
KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR
JUNE 5, 2021 COMMON ERA
THE FEAST OF SAINT DOROTHEUS OF TYRE, BISHOP OF TYRE, AND MARTYR, CIRCA 362
THE FEAST OF BLISS WIANT, U.S. METHODIST MINISTER, MISSIONARY, MUSICIAN, MUSIC EDUCATOR, AND HYMN TRANSLATOR, ARRANGER, AND HARMONIZER; AND HIS WIFE, MILDRED ARTZ WIANT, U.S. METHODIST MISSIONARY, MUSICIAN, MUSIC EDUCATOR, AND HYMN TRANSLATOR
THE FEAST OF INI KOPURIA, FOUNDER OF THE MELANESIAN BROTHERHOOD
THE FEAST OF MAURICE BLONDEL, FRENCH ROMAN CATHOLIC PHILOSOPHER AND FORERUNNER OF THE SECOND VATICAN COUNCIL
THE FEAST OF ORLANDO GIBBONS, ANGLICAN ORGANIST AND COMPOSER; THE “ENGLISH PALESTRINA”
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Above: A Map Showing the Seleucid Empire Circa 188 B.C.E.
Image in the Public Domain
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READING BARUCH AND THE LETTER OF JEREMIAH
PART I
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Baruch 1:1-14
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The Book of Baruch derives its name from Baruch, the scribe of the prophet Jeremiah. Superficially the Book of Baruch seems to have come from the Babylonian Exile. That is impossible, though. Baruch 1:15-2:19, for example, is a rewritten version of Daniel 9:4-19, composed after 150 B.C.E.
The Book of Baruch, with at least four authors, uses exile as a literary device. Consider, O reader, the feeling of being a Jew of the diaspora during the second and first centuries B.C.E. Living in the diaspora must have felt like being in exile. Think also, O reader, of the suffering and repression many Jews of the diaspora experienced, occasionally or constantly. The Babylonian Exile functioned as a metaphor for their reality.
How should faithful Jews live under Syrian/Seleucid rule? That was the question of the hour.
The pseudo-historical setting of Baruch 1:1f is the Chaldean/Neo-Babylonian Empire circa 582 B.C.E. The text names King Jehoichin/Jeconiah/Coniah of Judah (2 Kings 24:6-17; 2 Chronicles 36:9-10; Jeremiah 24:1).
The scene in Baruch 1:5 is one of priests continuing to offer sacrifices to God at the ruins of the First Temple. This is consistent with Jeremiah 41:5.
The Book of Baruch accepts the Deutronomic theology of the Babylonian Exile: it was punishment for the nation’s sins. Notice also, O reader, the prayer for King Nebuchadnezzar II. To pray for one’s oppressor may be difficult. However, one’s fate still depends on the oppressor’s decisions.
The Book of Baruch emphasizes continuity in the context of great difficulty. It stresses the continuity of ritual, faith, community, and worship. Kings come and go, the Book of Baruch teaches us, but God remains constant. The Jewish community must cleave to God and hold together, the Book of Baruch insists.
This is an example of mutuality in God, a value from the Torah. We all depend entirely on God. We also depend on each other and are responsible to and for each other. Western individualism, despite its positive aspects, is alien to the Torah. The attitudes that anyone can be a self-made person and can act without having consequences for others are heresies.
Excesses of Western individualism lead easily into “God-and-me” religion. The Bible does contain material about individual responsibility, of course. However, talk of an individual relationship with God apart from or at the expense of faith community is alien to Biblical spirituality. “God-and-me” religion is heretical. The proper context for a personal relationship with God is “God and us.”
The Book of Baruch understands this.
KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR
DECEMBER 18, 2020 COMMON ERA
THE TWENTIETH DAY OF ADVENT
THE FEAST OF MARC BOEGNER, FRENCH REFORMED MINISTER AND ECUMENIST
THE FEAST OF ALICIA DOMON AND HER COMPANIONS, MARTYRS IN ARGENTINA, 1977
THE FEAST OF SAINT GUILIA VALLE, ROMAN CATHOLIC NUN
THE FEAST OF JOHN DARWALL, ANGLICAN PRIEST AND COMPOSER
THE FEAST OF WILLIAM HENRY DRAPER, ANGLICAN PRIEST, HYMN WRITER, AND HYMN TRANSLATOR
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BLOGA THEOLOGICA 
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