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Bible Overview is a wonderful resource for anyone interested in Bible study. Each month we feature a book of the Bible (in order) by Bible scholar and lecturer, Mary Jane Chaignot.
This month we will look at the second of two additions to the book of Jeremiah. This one is simply called The Letter of Jeremiah. The only problem is that it’s not really a letter at all. It is more like a sermon that is comprised of ten warnings or thoughts on the subject of idolatry. It argues that it is sheer folly to worship idols, the creation of men’s hands. This topic is essentially repeated throughout the stanzas and some of the ideas mimic Jeremiah’s actual writings. Yet no scholar presumes that Jeremiah actually wrote this letter, which pretty much explains why it is in the apocrypha. If you want to read some of the history previous to this selection, you can find the earlier books in our archives.
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Addition to Jeremiah – The Letter
According to the introductory verses, this is a letter written by Jeremiah to the Israelites before they were taken to Babylon. That setting is derived from chapter 29 in the canonical book of Jeremiah, where it states he sent a letter to the people who had been exiled. In the actual letter, he told them to build houses and plant gardens while in Babylon for they would live there for seventy years. They should not think of this exile as a temporary thing. They should settle in and make their lives in the new city because they would be there long enough to enjoy the fruits of their labors. They should marry and have children so that they would continue to increase as a people. He told them to seek the peace of the city and to pray to the Lord. (See Jer 29:1-14)
In this letter, however, the focus is a bit different. The author begins the “letter” by explaining why the exile was happening. He reminds them that they had been unfaithful, that they had sinned. This is intended to reassure them that the exile was not a result of any failure on God’s part; the responsibility rested completely upon their shoulders. Because of their sins, they would be exiled to Babylon where they would be kept “up to seven generations.” (This allows for some wiggle room in comparison to Jeremiah’s prediction of seventy years, as previously stated.) When their time in exile had been fulfilled, they would be returned to Jerusalem. In the meantime, though, they needed to be warned about some of the religious practices in the city of Babylon. So this letter is actually addressed to people who have not yet arrived in Babylon.
That assumes, of course, that this is an authentic letter dating to the sixth century. Scholars doubt this. They think it is more likely to have been written in the third to first centuries BCE. For one thing, the letter lacks the depth of Jeremiah’s thinking. Second, it borrows phrases from biblical passages that date much later than the sixth century. Though the warning purports to be against Babylonian worship practices, the statements could be applied to Jews living throughout the Diaspora any time after the exile. The beliefs denounced here were commonly practiced in Greek and other Semitic religions as well. This is not a call to Jews to remain faithful to God’s commands that forbid worshiping other gods. Not at all. This letter is all about mocking the Gentiles who worship pagan idols. Its tone is highly satirical. It scoffs at the notion that idol worship has any validity as an expression of religion. As such, there is little progression of thought, nor is there any real logic to the argument. The same refrains are simply repeated over and over again.
Most scholars think this is another pseudonymous letter, which corresponds to the references to this letter by the early church. The thinking is that the author used Jeremiah’s name to give it more credibility and simply expanded on many of his ideas. All in all, this is one long treatise against idol worship, a problem that had plagued Israel in one form or another from its very beginning.
In order to make his case, the author frequently contrasts the powerlessness of the idols with the powerfulness of God. Lest anyone thinks that the exile was an example of God’s powerlessness, he defends the position that the exile was, in fact, willed by God as punishment for the multitudinous sins committed by unfaithful Israel. Furthermore, at some point in the future, at His discretion, God would bring them back to their land – and that would be another example of His power.
This entire book, then, is a polemic against other people’s religious practices and beliefs – or at least this one aspect of it. It is written from the Jewish perspective, which disavowed any physical representations of God. There is no attempt to understand why pagans worshiped idols. For the most part in the Gentile world, idols were representations of gods and not gods themselves. Hence, any worship of an idol was meant to honor the god represented by it. Ideologically speaking, however, Jews upheld the notion that since people created idols, they were antithetical to God. The author is worried that Jews might be tempted to forego their religion of the prophets in lieu of some meaningless rituals involving idols of gold and silver. There is little doubt that Jews were tempted. After watching Gentiles practice their religions with earnestness and enthusiasm, Jews, no doubt, began to question the absoluteness of their religion. The author is trying to diminish the options. If idol worship is inherently ridiculous, then Jews will be less likely to embrace it. His main goal was to dissuade Jews from being assimilated into the dominant culture. He used this very strong polemic to encourage them to preserve their unique traditions.
Most scholars think the book might have originally been written in Hebrew, though no Hebrew fragments have ever been found. Greek translations exist, and a small Greek fragment was found in the Qumran caves. In Greek bibles, this letter is found between Lamentations and Ezekiel. In Latin bibles, it is attached to the sixth chapter of Baruch.
This book can be divided into two main sections: 1-7 – Introduction; 8-73 – The Ten Stanzas. |
