Jeremiah and the Balag-Lament?: Jeremiah 8:18-23 Reconsidered

Robin Baker

doi:10.1353/jbl.2019.0035

Jeremiah and the Balag-Lament? Jeremiah 8:18-23 Reconsidered

Robin Baker

Research output: Contribution to journal › Review article › peer-review

Abstract

Commentaries on Jeremiah 8:18-23 generally recognize that this celebrated passage represents a cohesive lament over the destruction facing Judah. Exegesis of the passage has been impaired, however, by the opacity of the lament’s opening verse and particularly of its initial word, a notorious crux interpretum. In this article, the word is analyzed in light of the Akkadian noun balaggu. As a result, the article offers a new reading of the verse and explores the Mesopotamian cultural influences that appear to have been at work upon the composition of the lament.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	587-604
Number of pages	18
Journal	Journal of Biblical Literature
Volume	138
Issue number	3
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1353/jbl.2019.0035
Publication status	Published - 1 Sept 2019

Keywords

babylonian scribal culture, cryptography, acrostic, anagram, akkadian loanwords, oral and visual wordplay, babylonian priestly lamentation

Access to Document

10.1353/jbl.2019.0035

Cite this

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title = "Jeremiah and the Balag-Lament?: Jeremiah 8:18-23 Reconsidered",

abstract = "Commentaries on Jeremiah 8:18-23 generally recognize that this celebrated passage represents a cohesive lament over the destruction facing Judah. Exegesis of the passage has been impaired, however, by the opacity of the lament{\textquoteright}s opening verse and particularly of its initial word, a notorious crux interpretum. In this article, the word is analyzed in light of the Akkadian noun balaggu. As a result, the article offers a new reading of the verse and explores the Mesopotamian cultural influences that appear to have been at work upon the composition of the lament.",

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AB - Commentaries on Jeremiah 8:18-23 generally recognize that this celebrated passage represents a cohesive lament over the destruction facing Judah. Exegesis of the passage has been impaired, however, by the opacity of the lament’s opening verse and particularly of its initial word, a notorious crux interpretum. In this article, the word is analyzed in light of the Akkadian noun balaggu. As a result, the article offers a new reading of the verse and explores the Mesopotamian cultural influences that appear to have been at work upon the composition of the lament.

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