Ewald, who is by no means accustomed to acquiesce in received opinions as such, agrees that the chapters in question, as Ivell as the other passage mentioned ch. x :1-16, are the work of Jeremiah. The authenticity of this latter portion is denied solely on internal grounds, and the re marks we have already made will, in substance, apply also to these verses. It seems, however, not improbable that the Chaldee of ver. 11 is a gloss which has crept into the text—both because it is (apparently without reason) in another lan guage, and because it seems to interrupt the progress of thought. The predictions against Babylon in chaps. 1 and li are objected to by Movers, De Wette, and others, on the ground that they contain many interpolations. Ewald attributes them to some unknown prophet who imitated the style of Jeremiah. Their authenticity is maintained by many critics of acknowledged weight of opinion. The last chapter is generally regarded as an appendix added by some later author. It is almost verbally the same as the ac count in 2 Kings xxiv :18; xxv :3o, and it car ries the history down to a later period probably than that of the death of Jeremiah ; that it is not his work seems to be indicated in the last verse of ch. li.
3. Disorder of Prophecies. (1) Blayney and Eichhorn. It is impossible, within the limits assigned to this article, even to notice all the at tempts which have been made to account for the apparent disorder of Jeremiah's prophecies. Blay ney speaks of their present disposition as a 'pre posterous jumbling together of the prophecies of the reigns of Jehoiakim and Zedekiah,' and con cludes that 'the original order has, most probably, by some accident or other been disturbed' (Notes p. 3)._ Eichhorn says that no other explanation can be given than that the prophet wrote his oracles on single rolls, larger or smaller as they came to his hand, and that, as he was desirous to give his countrymen a copy of them when they went into captivity, he dictated them to an amanu ensis from the separate rolls, without attending to the order of time, and then preserved the rolls in the same order (Ein/. 134). Later critics have attempted in different ways to trace some plan in the present arrangement. Thus Movers supposes the whole collection to have consisted of six books—the longest being that written by Baruch (Jer. xxxvi :2, 32), which was taken by the collector as his foundation, into which he in serted the other books in such places as seemed, on a very slight glance at their contents, to be suitable. All such theories, however, proceed on the presumption that the present arrangernent is the work of a compiler, which, therefore, we are at liberty to alter at pleasure; and though they offer boundless scope for ingenuity in suggesting a better arrangement, they serve us very little in respect to the explanation of the book itself.
(2) Ewald. Ewald adopts another principle, which, if it be found valid, cannot fail to throw much light on the connection and meaning of the predictions. He maintains that the book, in its present form, is, from ch. i to ch. xlix, substan tially the same as it came from the hand of the prophet, or his amanuensis, and seeks to discover in the present arrangement some plan according to which it is disposed. He finds that various portions are prefaced by the same formula, 'The word which came to Jere miah from the Lord' (vii :1; xi ; XViii ; xxi:r; xxv:i; xxx :1 ; xxxii:I; xxxiv:r, 8; xxxv:r ; x1:1; ; or by the very similar expression, 'The word of the Lord which came to Jeremiah' (xiv :1 ; xlvi:t ; xlvii :1 ; xlix :34)• The notices of time distinctly mark some other divisions which are more or less historical (xxvi : ; xxvil :1 ; xxxvi :1; xxxvii :2). Two other por
tions are in themselves sufficiently distinct with out such indication (xxix :1 ; xlv ), while thc general introduction to the book serves for the :,ection contained in ch. i. There are left two sections (chaps. ii, iii), the former of which has only the shorter introduction, which generally designates the commencement of a strophe; while the latter, as it now stands, seems to be imper fect, having as an imroduction merely the word 'saying.' Thus the book is divided into twenty three separate and independent sections, which, in the poetical parts, are again divided into strophes of from seven to nine verses, frequently distin guished by such a phrase as 'The Lord said also unto me.' 4. DIVisions of the Boot. These separate sections are arranged by Ewald so as to form five distinct books: I. The introduction, ch. i. II. Reproofs of the sins of the Jews, cc. ii-xxiv, consisting of seven sections, viz.: (r) ch. ii ; (2) cc. iii :vi : (3) cc. vii-x ; (4) cc. xi-xiii; (5) cc. xiv-xvii :18 ; (6) cc. xvii :19-xx ; (7) cc. xxi-xxiv. III. A general review of all nations, the heathen as well as the people of Israel, consisting of two sections: (1) cc. xlvi-xlix (which Ile thinks have been transposed) ; (2) ch. xxv. And an historical appendix of three sections: (a) ch. xxvi; (b) ch. xxvii ; and (c) cc. xxviii, xxix. IV. Two sec tions picturing the hopes of brighter times: (1) cc. xxx, xxxi ; and (2) cc. xxxii, xxxiii. to which, as in the last book, is added an historical appendix in three sections : (a) ch. xxxiv :1-7; (b) ch. xxxiv :8-22; (c) ch. xxxv. V. The conclusion, in two sections : (1) ch. xxxvi ; (2) ch. xlv. All this, he supposes, was arranged in Palestine, dur ing the short interval of rest between the taking of the city and the departure of Jeremiah with the remnant of the Jews, to Egypt. In Egypt, after some interval, Jeremiah added three sections, viz.: cc. xxxvii, xxxix, xl-xliii and xliv. At the same time, probably, he added ch. xlvi :r3-26 to the pre vious prophecy respecting Egypt, and, perhaps, made some additions to other parts previously written. VI. The principal predictions relating to the Messiah are found in ch. xxiii:I-8; xxx:31 40; xxxiii:t4-26. This arrangement is probably preferable, all things considered.
5. Style. The style of Jeremiah corresponds with the view of the character of his mind ; though not deficient in power it is peculiarly marked by pathos. He delights in the expres sion of the tender emotions, and employs all the resources of his imagination to excite cor responding feelings in his readers. He has an irresistible sympathy with the miserable, which finds utterance in the most touching descriptions of their condition. He seizes with wonderful tact those circumstances which point out the ob jects of his pity as the objects of sympathy, and founds his expostulations on the miseries which are thus exhibited. His book of Lamentations is an astonishing exhibition of his power to ac cumulate images of sorrow. The whole series of elegies has but one object—the expression of sorrow for the forlorn condition of his country ; and yet' he presents this to us in so many lights, alludes to it by so many figures, that not only are Ills. mournful strains not felt to be tedious reiterations, but the reader is captivated by the plaintive melancholy which pervades the whole.
(See LAMENTATIONS.) F. W. G.