Why Jeremiah is Not Among the Prophets: An Analysis of the Terms ‭איבנ‬ and ‭םיאבנ‬ in the Book of Jeremiah

Abstract

This analysis of the terms ‭איבנ‬ ‬‭and ‭םיאבנ‬ in the book of Jeremiah, based on Jeremiah LXX and MT, challenges the view that the historical Jeremiah was a classical prophet of judgment. Historically speaking, Jeremiah acted as a prophet ‘pro society’. After 586 BCE, however, a tradition complex developed portraying Jeremiah as a figure ‘contra society’. Jeremiah, depicted as YHWH’s single mouthpiece, was deliberately not called a ‭איבנ‬ in order to distinguish him from the‭ םיאבנ‬, ‘the prophets’ (in general!), portrayed as deceivers of the people. This image of Jeremiah dominated the Jeremiah corpus in the exilic period. Later texts introduced quite another image of the ‭םיאבנ‬, that of faithful servants of YHWH warning the people, and a still later edition of the book presented Jeremiah as ‘prophet to the nations’. The drawing of a distinction of these different prophetic profiles leads to the conclusion that Jeremiah was not among the classical prophets.