$42.00

Parke-Taylor’s careful investigation of the formation of the book of Jeremiah is a valuable contribution to the study of Old Testament prophetic literature. Parke-Taylor examines the doublets of Jeremiah in an attempt to identify the various stages by which the book of Jeremiah arrived at its present form. In both the LXX as well as the MT versions of the text, the book of Jeremiah contains a preponderance of repeated phrases. It is evident, Parke-Taylor argues, that the editors who shaped the final form of the book drew on an authentic Jeremianic tradition and “undoubtedly sought to preserve the words and message of the prophet, interpreting his words in the process and applying them to later contemporary situations.” They were also well acquainted with other Old Testament writings, especially other prophetic traditions and the Deuteronomistic literature. Almost fifty doublets and two hundred recurring phrases are listed in Hebrew alphabetical order under three categories: phrases unique to the book of Jeremiah; phrases found in the rest of the Old Testament but not in the Deuteronomistic literature; and phrases found in all three. The doublets that are considered to be post-Jeremianic “express a vibrant hope for the future, couched in language that is comparable to the finest oracles to be found anywhere in the OT.”

Winner of the 2000 R. B. Y. Scott Award of the Canadian Society of Biblical Studies