Geen hoop meer voor Juda? Een contextuele interpretatie van Jeremia 40-41

Samenvatting

The account of the assassination of Gedaliah in Jeremiah 40:7-41:18 forms a remarkable textual unit within the so-called Baruch-document. In the present study, we set out to elucidate its place and meaning in the prophecies of Jeremiah. In doing so, we begin by proposing a textual division and narrative structure. Thereafter we examine the most important questions that arise from the text, focusing first on the characters and then on the issues of time and place. This is followed by a reflection on the nature and function of the passage within the context of Jeremiah, so as to finish with a tentative observation concerning its authorship. The story of Gedaliah’s assassination turns out to have the primary function to motivate, as well as to illustrate, that hope for a new future for God’s people, Israel, can in no way be derived from the remnant of Judaeans still in the land after the catastrophic events in 586 BC.