Daily Reading - 8/18/26

Above: Michaelangelo, Prophet Jeremiah. Sistine Chapel, 1508-1512.

• Jeremiah 48-49

• Psalm 47

• Proverbs 18

The word of Yahweh to Jeremiah the prophet concerning Elam, in the beginning of the reign of Zedekiah king of Judah, saying…

Jeremiah 49:34

In today’s readings we continue in a postscript to the book of Jeremiah, which began in chapter 46 with a prophecy against Philistia. It will conclude with a long section relating to Babylon, including both prophecy (50-51) and historical narrative (52).

It is clear that these texts are not given in chronological order. As we saw yesterday, the main narrative of Jeremiah ended with the prophet in Egypt after the destruction of Judah (586 BC). But then in the beginning of chapter 46 we read a prophecy that relates to the Battle of Carchemish in 605 BC. After this there are many undated prophecies, concluding with one relating to the nation of Elam in 597 BC (49:34). The textual history of this section is even more complicated, if we compare the Hebrew with an early Greek translation.

As with the book of Isaiah, what seems to have happened is that some later author added a collection of unorganized prophecies to the end of main body of the book of Jeremiah. Oversimplifying only a bit, we might say that the original “Book of Jeremiah” ended in chapter 45. Then, sometime after the prophet’s death, later editors collected Jeremiah’s other prophecies that did not make it into the main narrative of the book, attaching them as appendices. Below are the subjects of the appendices, with their chapters.

• 46 A Prophecy against Egypt, Around 605 BC

• 47 A Prophecy Against Philistia, Before 609 BC

• 48 A Prophecy Against Moab, Undated

• 49:1-6 A Prophecy Against Ammon, Undated

• 49:7-22 A Prophecy Against Edom, Undated

• 49:23-27 A Prophecy Against Syria, Undated

• 49:28-33 A Prophecy Against Kedar (Arabia) and Hazor (Phoenicia), Undated

• 49:34-39 A Prophecy Against Elam (Iran), Undated

• 50-51 A Prophecy Against Babylon, Dated 594 BC

• 52 Historical Narrative About the Destruction of Jerusalem by Babylon in 586 BC

While there is historical value in each of the prophecies, modern readers will be most interested in the final sections about Babylon. Those are the texts that propel that biblical narrative forward and prepare us to read Lamentations, a poem about the destruction of Judah, beginning on Thursday. To prepare for that, I will introduce the entire section on Babylon (50-52) tomorrow.