Abstract

RETIEF, Wynand C.. The Anti-Yahweh Label lassaw' in Jeremiah (PART 1). Old testam. essays [online]. 2021, vol.34, n.3, pp.936-960. ISSN 2312-3621.  http://dx.doi.org/10.17159/2312-3621/2021/v34n3a16.

The traditional stance is that –—“•” in Jeremiah (2:30; 4:30; 6:29; 18:15 and 46:11) denotes futility, mostly translated as "in vain. " This study scrutinises the first three texts (Jer 2:30; 4:30 and 6:29) in an effort to substantiate and modify a recent hypothesis that this term is instead a reference to the god Baal, " The Vain/Worthless One." Support for the said hypothesis is gained by (1) a tentative observation in the discussion of Jer 2:30 that —“•” futility, "in vain ") is apparently limited to wisdom literature, whereas the Jeremiah texts are part of a cultic-legal corpus within a covenantal setting where the lexeme consistently appears as the prepositional prefixed definite form –—“•” and apparently refers to prohibited objects of worship; (2) a search for intertexual clues in Jer 4:30; and (3) alertness to recurring key words and chiastic patterns in the context of Jer 6:29. In the course of working through the relevant texts, the notion took shape that the preposition –“ is -besides meaning "for, for the sake of - a technical term indicating covenantal relationship.¹ It therefore seems that –’—“’’•‘” is not only a pejorative reference to Baal but also a label of the contra and anti-Yahweh overlord/s (”––•–/”––) in (illegal) covenant relation to Israel.

Keywords : Jeremiah; Exegesis; Baal; Deities; Worthless.

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