Jeremiah Source Material

by Bobcat 51 Replies latest watchtower bible

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  Bobcat

  I started this thread as a single place for anyone who would like to add references to source material, or anything else for that matter, pertaining to the Jeremiah book study.

  Page 52:

  Here is a thread and numerous comments concerning Jeremiah 13:1-11 and whether or not Jeremiah traveled to the Euphrates to hide a garment.

  Page 55, inset:

  Discusses Eilat Mazar and an archaeological find, but gives the date of 607 BC for Jerusalem's demise.

  Here is the source. Note that she understands Zedekiah's last year to be 586, not 607.

  Page 56 par.3

  Refers to "scholar" who makes comment about Zedekiah like a "patient."

  Here is the source. Nothing of note that I could see.
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  Bobcat

  Pages 24, 25

  Dating of Daniel 1:1, 2. Here is a thread on that.
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  AnnOMaly

  This thread's a good idea. I posted this elsewhere regarding the Eilat Mazar reference:

  

  Looking at Dr. Eilat Mazar's page on The Institute of Archaeology website, right at the bottom, we see this:

  Finds from the northeastern part of the revealed structure testify that it was used to the end of the First Temple period (586 BCE). A special find dated to this time is a bulla, a seal impression on hardened clay used for sealing public documents. It is 1cm in diameter, and contains three lines of a Hebrew script characteristic of the end of the First Temple period. The inscription mentions Yehochal, son of Shelemyahu, son of Shuvi. A Yehochal who served as a minister in Zedekiah's kingdom is referred to in Jeremiah 37:3 and 38:1. The bulla is thus evidence of the royal use of the structure until the end of the First Temple period. [Bold mine]

  To add: The quote from the Jeremiah book implies that archaeologists date the bulla to 607 BCE. Misleading. The WTS didn't need to mention the date. They could have said, for instance, "when Jerusalem was destroyed by Nebuchadnezzar/the Babylonians" and it would have been fine.
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  Bobcat

  Thanks Ann. I was slowly going thru the search function for items pertaining to the WT Jeremiah book. I figured with all the new ones and lurkers there would be plenty of interest for preparation for the meeting. This thread would serve as a clearing house of sorts for all the things the book doesn't say. Or for all the things it does say, but shouldn't have.

  Thanks again.
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  Londo111

  marked
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  Bobcat

  Page 4, 5, paragraph 3

  Here is another tidbit picked up from reading the NICNT-Matthew commentary.

  There is a thought presented In the Jeremiah book concerning the character of Jeremiah's message. This is paragraph 3, pages 4, 5 from the Jeremiah book:

  You may have noted, though, that some Bible readers tend to view Jeremiah's writings as ‘not for them.' They may imagine that the books of Jeremiah and Lamentations offer only dire warnings and grim predictions. But is that a realistic view of Jeremiah and Lamentations?

  The next paragraph goes on to admit that some of Jeremiah's message is frank, but positive overall.

  I was reading in the NICNT commentary concerning the account in Matthew 16, where Jesus asks his disciples, "Who are men saying the Son of man is?" The disciples reply, "Some say John the Baptist, others E·li′jah, still others Jeremiah or one of the prophets." (Mt 16:13, 14 NWT)

  R. T. France comments on why people would say "Jeremiah, or one of the prophets." That is, why would Jeremiah be singled out over any other prophet? He says:

  One surprising element, which is peculiar to Matthew, is the singling out of Jeremiah as a model for understanding Jesus. Jeremiah was, of course, a prominent OT prophet, but why choose him rather than, say, Isaiah, with whom Jesus has himself implicitly compared his own ministry in the quotation in 13:13-15? The answer may be found in the peculiar nature of Jeremiah's message, which has made his name proverbial as a prophet of doom, and in the sustained opposition he encountered among his own people. In particular, Jeremiah incurred fierce hostility by predicting the downfall of Judah and the destruction of the temple, and a similar message will become an increasing feature of Jesus' ministry as Matthew relates it. . . It is not very surprising that some people, whether in admiration or in disparagement, might have seen [Jesus] already as a second Jeremiah; as the story [in Matthew] continues, the identification will become even more apt.

  [End of Quote]

  Nothing groundshaking here. But an interestingly different take on the view of Jeremiah, both by R. T. France and the Jews of the first century, in comparison with the presentment of Jeremiah in the Society's book.
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  Bobcat

  Page 67, paragraph 1

  This paragraph quotes from Jer 8:6 (NWT) which includes the phrase, "the popular course." The question for this paragraph also includes the phrase, "the popular course."

  I was trying to find, and unable so far, any support for this rendering, "the popular course." Most translations have something like, "his own course." The NWT Reference Bible doesn't offer any footnote about it.

  Maybe it is just me, but a "popular course" would sound like a particular course that many were following. Whereas, "his own course" would sound more like a personal life-style choice, that may or may not also be the particular choice of anyone else.

  Here is the interlinear rendering of Jeremiah 8:6. And here is a translation comparison of the same verse. The Hebrew word for "course" (M e rusah, Strong's # 4794) occurs also at 2 Sam 18:27 ("running style" x2 NWT); Jer 23:10 ("course of action" NWT)

  J. A. Thompson (NICOT-Jeremiah, p.298) translates that phrase of Jer 8:6 as, "Every one of them turns away in headlong career." In a footnote he says, "Heb. m e rusa derives from a verb rus, "run," and denotes the place to which a man runs. J Bright, Jeremiah, p. 60 aptly translates "Each of them plunges ahead." "
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  Bobcat

  Page 70, paragraph 7, 8

  An interesting method of trying to encourage 'obedience.' The paragraph asks, "Would apostate literature or Internet sites intrigue you or repulse you? This is followed by four or five verse citations that include the idea of "obey," or "turn back."

  Curiosly, no attempt is made to define "apostate literature or Internet sites." Nor do any of the verse citations include the idea of avoiding contact with real or supposed "apostates."
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  baltar447

  Typical of them to distort reality...
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  Bobcat

  Page 73, Box: "Living Without Law"

  Here is a thread concerning the mention of DFing and relateded thoughts and reactions.