Transforming Authority

Concepts of Leadership in Prophetic and Chronistic Literature

Katharina Pyschny, Sarah Schulz, Katharina Pyschny, Sarah Schulz

• Publisher: De Gruyter
• Year: 2021
• eBook ISBN: 9783110647150
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Theology & Religion
• Subtopic: Biblical Criticism & Interpretation

Human leadership is a multifaceted topic in the Hebrew Bible from a synchronic as well as diachronic perspective. A large range of distributions emerges from the successive sharpening or modification of different aspects of leadership. While some of them are combined to a complex figuration of leadership, others remain reserved for certain individuals. Furthermore, it can be considered a consensus within scholarly debate, that concepts of leadership have a certain connection to the history of ancient Israel which is, though, hard to ascertain. Following a previous volume that focused on the Pentateuch and the Former Prophets (BZAW 507), this volume deals with different concepts of leadership in selected Prophetic (Hag/Zech; Jer) and Chronistic literature Ezr/Neh; Chr). They are examined in a literary, (religious-/tradition-) historical and theological perspective. Special emphasis is given to phenomena of transforming authority and leadership claims in exilic/post-exilic times. Hence, the volume contributes to biblical theology and sheds new light on the redaction/reception history of the texts. Not least, it provides valuable insights into the history of religious and/or political "authorities" in Israel and Early Judaism(s).

II: Concepts of Leadership in Selected Prophetic Literature

Why Judean Monarchy Failed: A Discourse on Leadership in Jer 21:1–23:8

Prof. Dr. Christl M. Maier

Philipps-Universität Marburg, Marburg, Germany

The author is Extraordinary Professor in the disciplinary group Old and New Testament at the University of Stellenbosch, South Africa. The research for this article was supported by the German Research Foundation.

The book of Jeremiah focuses on the destruction of Jerusalem and its temple in 587 BCE by the Babylonians, which brought the Judean monarchy to an end. The book offers a host of reasons for how this catastrophe could happen and who is responsible for it. The most dominant argument within the book is that Judah neglected YHWH and instead followed other gods (Jer 1:16; 5:7; 7:9; 11:10; 16:11; 19:4; 22:9; 25:6; 35:15) – the so-called deuteronomistic view of exilic redactors (Thiel 1981, 107–112; but cf. Maier 2002, 19–37). While this reasoning targets Judah and Jerusalem as a whole, another strand specifically accuses Judah’s last kings. Their corruption and self-confidence is portrayed in the cycle of oracles against the kings in Jer 21:1–23:8. In my view, these chapters present a discourse on failed leadership in preexilic Judah but also offer suggestions for how to avoid another disaster in the future.

After (1) introducing the structure of Jer 21–24, I will (2) briefly analyze the oracles against the kings Jehoahaz, Jehoiachin, and Jehoiakim. In the oracle against Jehoiakim (22:13–19), leadership is related to (3) the royal duty of upholding justice and righteousness, whereas Jer 23:1–4 presents (4) the concept of the king as shepherd. Since the Judean monarchy came to an end and could not be restored, in Jer 22:1–5 the first concept (upholding justice) is presented as (5) an obligation of the entire community.

1 The Structure of the Cycle of Words against the Kings

Jeremiah 21:1–24:10 assembles quite different passages ranging from short oracles of doom to Jeremiah’s communication with a king and even a prose speech of the prophet that offers the alternative between doom and redemption. Jeremiah 21:1–10 and 24:1–10 frame the collection, and both passages mention the last Judean king, Zedekiah. Within the cycle of oracles there are also some passages that address other figures, namely personified Jerusalem (21:13–14; 22:8–9, 20–23) and a group of prophets (23:9–20). The following structure distinguishes different speakers and addressees as well as text forms and contents. ¹

21:1–10 Jeremiah’s words to a delegation sent by King Zedekiah
	21:11–12	Introduction to oracles about the royal house
		21:13–14	Oracle of doom addressed to a female figure (= Jerusalem)
	22:1–5	Prose sermon to the king, his court and the people in the king’s palace
	22:6–7	Oracle about the royal house
		22:8–9	Reflection about the fall of the city
	22:10–12	Oracle about Shallum (= Jehoahaz)
	22:13–19	Woe cry and oracle of doom addressed to Jehoiakim
		22:20–23	A call to lament addressed to the city
	22:24–30	Oracle of doom addressed to Coniah (= Jehoiachin)
	23:1–4	Woe cry about the current shepherds and announcement of new shepherds
	23:5–6	The rise of a righteous sprout for David
	23:7–8	The gathering of all dispersed people as a new exodus
		23:9–20	Oracles against the prophets
24:1–10 Jeremiah’s vision of the two fig baskets (Zedekiah’s generation = rotten figs)

With regard to concepts of leadership, my analysis of Jer 21:1–23:8 suggests a diachronic development of the text similar to John Job’s thorough study on Jeremiah’s kings (cf. Job 2006, 165–169). Some brief oracles directly address a certain monarch and his specific shortcomings (22:10–12, 13–19, 24–30). They refer to King Josiah as a positive counter-example (22:11, 15) and express the hope that King Zedekiah may be a better leader (23:5–6). As a criterion for good leadership, they point to the king’s pursuit of justice and righteousness. This criterion later gets elaborated in more general statements about the royal house (21:11–12; 22:6–7; 23:7–8). Parallel to this development, the concept of the king as shepherd to his people serves as another criterion and a reason to condemn Judah’s last kings (23:1–4). In a postexilic prose speech situated in the royal palace (22:1–5), upholding justice and righteousness becomes a duty not only of the king, but of the entire community. Finally, the collection was framed by two passages that focus on Zedekiah’s failure and the impossibility of warding off the catastrophe (21:1–10; 24:1–10). I will substantiate this thesis by interpreting the passages in the order in which I just mentioned them.

2 Oracles against Jehoahaz, Jehoiachin, and Jehoiakim

Several scholars argue that the three poetic oracles about a certain monarch in Jer 22:10–12, 13–19, 24–30 contain some authentic words of Jeremiah and are thus the earliest parts of chapters 21–24 (Hermisson 1998, 46; Thiel 1973, 241–244; Wanke 1995, 196–197, 201; Job 2006, 43–44, 53). Whereas the initial wording most probably did not name the king, in the written account the king was identified by name. All three oracles announce the demise of royal rule and predict an unusual death of the monarch.

2.1 Jehoahaz’s Deportation and Death in a Foreign Land

Jeremiah 22:10–12 connects a rather vague prophetic call to lament with a divine announcement against a son of King Josiah. Due to its current context and its position in the cycle of oracles against the kings, the object of the unnamed audience’s lament can be recognized as the heir to the throne, who is compared to his dead predecessor: “Do not weep for him who is dead, nor bemoan him; weep rather for him who goes away, for he shall return no more to see his native land” (Jer 22:10). ²

With regard to the history of Judah, this situation may refer either to the transition from Josiah to his son Jehoahaz (2 Kgs 23:30–34) or from Jehoiakim to Jehoiachin (2 Kgs 23:36–24:16), since both sons were deported after only a short regency. Jeremiah’s original audience certainly knew who is who in this saying (cf. Wanke 1995, 196). For later readers, the following prose verses identify the king to be mourned with Shallum, the fourth son of Josiah (1 Chr 3:15) whose throne name Jehoahaz is mentioned in 2 Kgs 23:30: “For thus says YHWH concerning Shallum, son of King Josiah of Judah, who succeeded his father Josiah as king and who went away from this place: ‘He shall return here no more.’ For in the place where they have carried him captive he shall die, and he shall never see this land again” (Jer 22:11–12).

Initially, the deportation of Shallum (= Jehoahaz) was presented as a reason for mourning (v. 10). Later, the call to mourn was transformed into an oracle about the king’s fate in accordance with 2 Kgs 23:30–34: After Josiah’s unexpected death at Megiddo, Jehoahaz was proclaimed king by the people of the land. Yet, Pharaoh Neco II exiled the young monarch to Egypt and installed another son of Josiah, Jehoiakim, as vassal king. Shallum (= Jehoahaz) never returned to Judah and died in captivity. Thus, the editors of the initial, rather vague prophecy saw it fulfilled in the fate of Jehoahaz and thus identified the unnamed heir with this king who reigned for only three months in 609 BCE.

2.2 Jehoiachin’s Deportation and the End of the Royal Line

Jeremiah 22:24–30 presents a divine oath that YHWH will cut off his signet ring, Coniah (= Jehoiachin; cf. Job 2006, 79–85), ³ and hand him over to the Babylonians. The passages proclaim that the king and his mother will be cast away into a foreign land, from which they will not return. The announcement in v. 30a that Coniah will remain childless, however, was not fulfilled; 1 Chr 3:17–18 lists the names of seven sons, and 2 Kgs 25:27–30 reports Jehoiachin’s release from prison and privileged treatment in Babylonia, which is supported by a Babylonian rations list mentioning the sons of the king (Weippert 2010, nos. 266–267). Therefore, a later editor attenuated the prediction by declaring that no man of his house will sit on David’s throne again (22:30b). This predication came true, since all efforts to reestablish the Davidic dynasty in postexilic Judah failed.

2.3 Jehoiakim’s Disreputable Death

While Jer 22:10–12, 24–30 do not include any critique of the king, Jer 22:13–19 accuses a Judean monarch of lavishness and lack of justice:

¹³ Woe to him who builds his house by unrighteousness (בלא־צדק), and his upper rooms by injustice (בלא משפט); who makes his neighbor work for nothing, and does not give him his wages; ¹⁴ who says, “I will build myself a spacious house with large upper rooms and cut out windows for it, paneled with cedar and painted with vermilion.” ¹⁵ Are you a king because you compete in cedar? Did not your father eat and drink and do justice and righteousness (משפט וצדקה)? Then it was well with him. ^{4 16} He judged the cause of the afflicted and needy; then it was well. Is not this to know me? says YHWH. ¹⁷ But aren’t your eyes and your heart only set on your dishonest gain and on the blood of the innocent – shedding it, and on oppression and extortion – practicing it. ¹⁸ Therefore thus says YHWH concerning King Jehoiakim, son of Josiah of Judah: They shall not lament for him, saying, “Alas, my brother!” or “Alas, sister!” They shall not lament for him, saying, “Alas, lord!” or “Alas, his majesty!” ¹⁹ With the burial of a donkey he shall be buried – dragged off and thrown out beyond the gates of Jerusalem.

The passage connects a woe-cry (vv. 13–14) with a direct accusation (vv. 16–17) and an oracle of doom (vv. 18–19). The king is criticized for building a luxurious palace with compulsory labor of his people and for augmenting his own wealth by unjust means. The king’s father serves as a positive foil in that he is said to execute justice and righteousness, which includes the defense of the afflicted and the poor in court.

While the oracle’s initial audience may have recognized the addressee, for later readers the name of Jehoiakim was added in v. 18. This identification led to the inclusion of more actions known of this king from other texts in v. 17b: His shedding of innocent blood pro...

Table of contents

• Title Page
• Copyright
• Contents
• I: Introduction
• II: Concepts of Leadership in Selected Prophetic Literature
• III: Concepts of Leadership in Chronistic Literature
• IV: Comprehensive Aspects of Leadership in Prophetic and Chronistic Literature
• List of Contributors
• Hebrew Bible
• New Testament
• Apokrypha