Synopses & Reviews
Scholars typically view Jeremiah 26-45 as a collection of episodes constructed during the Babylonian exile that attempts to prove the authenticity of Jeremiah's prophetic status. But Jeremiah's prophetic legitimacy was already widely accepted during the period of the Babylonian exile. These chapters serve a different purpose, namely, to provide a response by the Deuteronomistic scribes to the rise of the Ezekiel tradition and the Zadokite priesthood that threatened their influence among the exilic population.
Review
Review of the hardback: 'Leuchter is fully conversant with recent Jeremianic scholarship, and it is in his interaction with this scholarship that he generates new ideas about the text. The specificity of the evidence produced by Leuchter is impressive and will no doubt promote significant discussion among scholars and others interested in the development of the book of Jeremiah.' Jeoffrey Geoghegan, Boston College
Review
Review of the hardback: 'This book is well conceived, researched in detail, and carefully argued. Leuchter is largely traditional in refining the redactional features of the 'biography of Jeremiah,' and in demonstratnig its correlation with and impact on other scribal redactional efforts in the Second Temple. This book expands our possible understanding of the redactional history of Jeremiah, complicated of course by the shorter LXX text.' Leo Perdue, Texas Christian University
Synopsis
This book examines an important collection of texts in the book of Jeremiah.
Synopsis
In demonstrating how the trustees of Jeremiah's prophetic legacy made their case for authority, this book reveals how Israelite religion evolved into early Judaism, in which scribes eclipsed prophets and priests as the mediators of divine will, and in which the interpretation of text became a mode of divine revelation in its own right.
Table of Contents
1. The hermeneutics of citation: Jeremiah 26; 2. The identification of legitimate Israel: Jeremiah 26-32:15; Excursus 1. The redaction of Jeremiah 1-25:13+OAN; Excursus 2. The re-engagement of the royal line in Jeremiah 33:14-26; 3. The standards of faith and intermediation: Jeremiah 34-36; 4. The fall of Judah, the descent into Egypt, and Baruch ben Neriah: Jeremiah 37-45; Excursus 3. The 'words of Jeremiah' and Seraiah's colophon in the MT and LXX traditions; 5. The polemics of exile; 6. The exilic coalition between the Shaphanides and Levites.