2019, October 13 ~ Jeremiah 29:1, 4-7 and 2 Timothy 2:8-15
Jeremiah 29:1, 4-7
After the righteous and reforming King Josiah was killed in battle at Megiddo (from which we get the Greek word Armageddon) in 609 BCE, the fortunes of Judea took a sharp downward turn. Babylon threatened Judea’s existence, and Judea had a series of hapless kings from 609 until Jerusalem was destroyed by the Babylonians in 586 BCE. The Babylonians deported a number of Judean leaders to Babylon in 597 and a larger number in 586 (the beginning of the Babylonian Exile). Jeremiah’s prophesy (i.e. speaking for YHWH) began around 609 and continued until 586 BCE when he died in Egypt.
Most Bible scholars agree that the Book of Jeremiah underwent substantial revisions between the time of Jeremiah (627 to 586 BCE) and the First Century. In the Dead Sea Scrolls, there were different versions of the Book of Jeremiah. The Ancient Greek Septuagint Translation (the LXX – dating from 300 to 200 BCE) has some chapters that are not in the Hebrew versions.
Sections in the book that are in “poetry style” are generally attributed to the prophet, and parts in “prose style” were added later by writers whose theological outlook was closely aligned with the Deuteronomists. (In fact, Chapter 52 in Jeremiah is virtually word-for-word with 2 Kings 24:18 to 25:30 written by the Deuteronomists after the Exile.)
Today’s reading is part of an extended insertion in the Book of Jeremiah that begins with Chapter 26. The incidents reported in these four chapters (26-29) represent an early interpretation of the significance of the life and message of Jeremiah, and were likely written by the Deuteronomists in 75 years the after the Exile (which ended in 539 BCE).
The “elders among the exiles” (v.1) would have been those leaders sent to Babylon in the first wave of the Exile in 597 BCE. (A larger group was sent in 586 when the Temple was destroyed.)
The “directions” given by YHWH in verses 4 to 7 are what actually – as a matter of history – had happened in Babylon when the Exiles were there. In effect, after the Exile, the Deuteronomists interpreted the behaviors of the Judeans in Babylon during the Exile as reflecting the “will” of YHWH. Later in the chapter, the Deuteronomist says that YHWH will “visit” the Judeans only after their seventy years in Babylon (597 to 539 BCE) are completed (v.10).
2 Timothy 2:8-15
The Letters to Timothy and Titus are called “Pastoral Letters” because they concerned the internal life, governance and behavior of the early Christian churches and their members. Most scholars agree they were written in the early Second Century in Paul’s name by some of his followers (Paul died in 63 CE). Writing a document in someone else’s name was a common practice in the First and Second Centuries. By then, the Jesus Follower Community had become more institutionalized and concerns about “heresy” had arisen.
The Pastoral letters were written to Paul’s “co-workers” but have a broader audience. By the time they were written, Paul was regarded as an unambiguously authoritative figure of the past.
2 Timothy is more personal than 1 Timothy. The author, writing as Paul, treated Timothy as his “beloved child”, loyal disciple and his spiritual heir. In the letter, Paul was portrayed as near death.
Today’s reading includes a synopsis of the “gospel” (good news) that Paul preached in his epistles (e.g. Rom. 1.3). A recitation of hardships was a common motif in Paul’s epistles and are repeated here (vv.9-10) to emphasize the depth of “Paul’s” faithfulness.
The saying in verses 11 to 13 are likely a quotation from a hymn that would have been used in the Jesus Follower Community early in the Second Century.