Explores the interpretive history of the Book of Jeremiah, and highlights the various ways it has influenced the cultures in which it was read Jeremiah Through the Centuries explores the reception history of the sixth century B.C.E. prophet, providing original commentary on the texts and traditions that continue to deeply impact readers by exemplifying the spiritual struggle of the faithful. Focusing on the Book of Jeremiah, the text presents an original theory about the effects of Jeremiah on the developing idea of the self in Western history and culture, particularly over the last 400 years, in a wide range of liturgical, political, artistic, literary, and cultural contexts. The book guides readers through various interpretations of Jeremiah's poetry and prose, discussing the profound influence that Jeremiah and Western culturehave had on each other through the centuries. Significant texts from every chapter of Jeremiah are presented in a chronological narrative as both conversation and debate-enabling readers to encounter the prophet in the text of the Bible, in previous interpretations, and in the context of their own lives. Throughout the text, the receptions reflect historical contexts and highlight the ways they shaped specific receptions of Jeremiah. This book: Illustrates how the Book of Jeremiah was adapted by readers to face new challenges, both in the past and present Includes examples of Jeremiah in social satire, Islamic tradition, political debate, and religious controversy Provides a detailed introduction that traces Jeremiah's influence on events and traditions Offers insights into both celebrated texts and lesser-known passages that are relevant to contemporary readers Features numerous, previously unpublished, illustrations, demonstrating the influence of Jeremiah on traditions in Western art Featuring engaging narrative and expert commentary, Jeremiah Through the Centuries is ideal for students, teachers, and general readers with interest in theology and biblical studies, Judaic studies, ancient literature, cultural criticism, reception history of the Bible, and the history of Western civilization.
By:
MC Callaway
Imprint: Wiley-Blackwell (an imprint of John Wiley & Sons Ltd)
Country of Publication: United Kingdom
Dimensions:
Height: 235mm,
Width: 163mm,
Spine: 28mm
Weight: 710g
ISBN: 9780631231516
ISBN 10: 063123151X
Pages: 400
Publication Date: 08 April 2020
Audience:
General/trade
,
ELT Advanced
Format: Hardback
Publisher's Status: Active
List of Illustrations xiii Series Editors' Preface xix Acknowledgments xxi Testimonia xxv Jeremiah the Man xxv The Book xxvii Actualizations xxix Introduction 1 Theory and Practice of Reception History 3 Jeremiah in Three Guises 4 Jeremiah in Antiquity 5 Medieval Jeremiahs 17 Early Modernity 24 Nineteenth and Twentieth Centuries 47 Practical Notes for Using the Commentary 64 Jeremiah 1 67 Word of the Lord or Words of Jeremiah? (Jer 1:1) 67 Jeremiah Before Birth (1:4-5) 69 A Prophet to the Nations (1:5) 77 Resisting God (1:6) 77 Filling Jeremiah's Mouth 81 The Job Description (1:10) 82 God's Pun (1:11-12) 84 What's Cooking? (1:13-16) 88 Jeremiah 2 93 God's Lawsuit (2:1-13) 94 Leaky Cisterns or Living Water? (2:12-13) 95 A Puzzling Verb Becomes a Word of Salvation (2:20) 98 Prophetic Pornography (2:20-25) 99 Jeremiah in the Synagogue (2:4-28) 101 Jeremiah 3 103 A Rare Allusion to God the Father (3:4,19) 103 Holy Forgetting (3:15-18) 105 3:24-25 106 Jeremiah 4 107 A Subversive Translation (4:1-2) 107 The Circumcised Heart (4:4) 108 Reading Metaphor (4:7) 109 Does God Deceive? (4:9-10) 110 Body and Soul (4:19-22) 110 Apocalypse Now (4:23-28) 112 Contradiction as Problem and Opportunity (4:27) 113 Dressing Down a Gussied-Up Female (4:29-31) 113 Jeremiah 5 115 Nothing Bad Will Happen to Us (5:12) 115 Divine Fire Consuming Human Wood (5:14) 116 An Appalling and Horrible Thing (5:30-31) 118 Contents ix Jeremiah 6 119 Two Roads Diverged (6:16) 119 Buying Salvation (6:20) 120 Jeremiah as Fortress and/or Refiner (6:27) 120 Jeremiah 7 123 A Den of Thieves (7:1-15) 123 A Troubling Contradiction (7:21-24) 124 Jeremiah 8 127 Reading Jeremiah as Science (8:7) 127 The Balm of Gilead (8:22) 130 Jeremiah 9 135 A Fountain of Tears (9,1,18) 135 Internalizing the Prophet's Cry (9:2) 140 Death Climbs in the Windows (9:21) 141 Jeremiah 10 145 Superstition and Science (10:2-5) 145 Who Will Not Fear You? (10:7) 147 Wise Fools (10:12-16) 147 Humans Are Not Masters of Themselves (10:23-24) 149 Correct Me, O Lord (10:24) 151 Pour Out Thy Wrath (10:25) 151 Jeremiah 11 153 Let Us Put Wood in his Bread (11:19) 153 Jeremiah 12 157 A Lawsuit Against God (12:1-4) 157 Shameful Revenues (12:13) 160 Jeremiah 13 161 Jeremiah's Loincloth (13:1-11) 161 Jeremiah's Tears (13:17) 164 Unsettling Images (13: 22-27) 164 Jeremiah 14 167 The Inn and the Manger (14:7-9) 167 Jeremiah 15 169 Saints Alive (15:1) 169 Woe is Me, My Mother (15:10) 170 Changing Fashions in Prayer (15:15) 171 Is Jeremiah Blasphemous? (15:18) 172 A Divine Reprimand Reconsidered (15:19) 174 Jeremiah 16 177 Prophetic Celibacy (16:1-4) 177 Hunters and Fishers (16:16-18) 179 Jeremiah 17 181 Misplaced Trust (17:5) 181 Is the Human Heart Deep, or Depraved? (17:9-10) 182 The Partridge (17:11) 185 Jeremiah 18 187 The Surprise of Divine Freedom (18:1-12) 187 Jeremiah 19 193 Jeremiah Smashes a Jug 193 Jeremiah 20-21 197 Jeremiah in the Stocks (20:1-6) 197 Divine Deception (20:7) 199 Whose Violence and Destruction? (20:8) 207 A Reproach and a Derision (20:8) 207 A Burning Fire (20:9) 208 Do Saints Curse? (20:13-18) 212 Jeremiah 22 219 The Burial of an Ass (22:18-19) 219 Jeremiah and the Lost Ark (22:29) 220 Jeremiah 23 223 The Righteous Branch (23:5-6) 223 False Prophets (23:9-40) 226 Jeremiah 24 229 Two Baskets of Figs (24:1-10) 229 Jeremiah 25 231 The Cup of the Wine of Wrath (25:15-31) 232 Jeremiah 26-28 235 Jeremiah's Yoke (Jer 27:2; 28:1-17) 235 False Prophets 237 Jeremiah 29 239 Build and Plant (29:1-6) 240 Praying for the Enemy (29:7) 240 Seventy Years (29:10) 242 God's Inscrutable Plans (29:11) 244 Jeremiah as Contemporary Prophet (Jer 29:19) 245 Jeremiah 30-31 247 Hope in the Midst of Trauma (30:1-3) 247 Rachel Weeps in Every Century (31:15-17) 248 Gender-Bending (31:22) 250 The New Covenant (31:31-34) 252 Jeremiah 32-33 257 A Strange Real Estate Deal 257 Jeremiah 34 259 Taking Back the Gift of Freedom (34:8-22) 259 Jeremiah 35 261 Jeremiah 36 267 Free Will and Divine Omniscience (36:3, 7) 268 Word, Scroll, Book (36:2, 5, 18) 268 Jehoiakim as Perennial Tyrant (36:20-26) 269 Words and the Word (36:27) 272 Jeremiah 37-38 277 Dungeon and Cistern 277 Ancient Allegories (38:1-13) 278 A Model for Political Resistance (38:1-16) 280 The Cistern as Spiritual Prison (38:1-6). 285 Ebed-Melek Rescues Jeremiah (38:7-13) 287 Jeremiah's Lie (38:24-27) 295 Jeremiah 39 299 Zedekiah Captured (39:4-7) 299 Ebed-Melech Becomes Abimelech (39:15-18) 301 Jeremiah 40-43 303 How Did the Prophet Escape the Burning City? (40:1-6) 304 The Murder of Gedaliah (40:7- 41:17) 305 How Long, O Lord? (42:7) 305 The Stones of Tahpanhes (43:8-13) 306 Jeremiah 44 309 Uppity Women (44:15-19) 310 Martyrdom of Jeremiah 312 Jeremiah 45 319 Jeremiah 46-51 323 Babylon, the Golden Cup in God's Hand (51:7) 325 Jeremiah Speaks to a War-Torn Twentieth Century (51:11) 326 Thus Far the Words of Jeremiah (51:59-64) 328 Glossary 329 Brief Biography 333 Bibliography 341 Index 357
Mary Chilton Callaway is Associate Professor and Department Chair in the Theology Department at Fordham University, New York. She is the author of several published essays on the reception of Jeremiah, particularly in relation to developing ideas of the self in early modern Europe.
