Texts in Conversation
Hosea and Jeremiah both describe sacrifices that are rejected because they cover up disobedience, each links this rejection with the memory of guilt and the certainty of punishment. The language of Jeremiah appears to echo Hosea, creating a literary reversal that later becomes important in Jeremiah’s promises of forgiveness.
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Hosea 8:13
Hebrew Bible
11 Although Ephraim has built many altars for sin offerings, these have become altars for sinning. 12 I spelled out my law for him in great detail, but they regard it as something totally unknown to them. 13 They offer up sacrificial gifts to me and eat the meat, but the Lord does not accept their sacrifices. Soon he will remember their wrongdoing; he will punish their sins, and they will return to Egypt. 14 Israel has forgotten his Maker and built royal palaces, and Judah has built many fortified cities. But I will send fire on their cities; it will consume their royal citadels.
Date: 6th Century B.C.E. (based on scholarly estimates)
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Jeremiah 14:10
Hebrew Bible
8 You have been the object of Israel’s hopes. You have saved them when they were in trouble. Why have you become like a resident foreigner in the land? Why have you become like a traveler who only stops in to spend the night? 9 Why should you be like someone who is helpless, like a champion who cannot save anyone? You are indeed with us, and we belong to you. Do not abandon us!” 10 Then the Lord spoke about these people. “They truly love to go astray. They cannot keep from running away from me. So I am not pleased with them. I will now call to mind the wrongs they have done and punish them for their sins.” 11 Then the Lord said to me, “Do not pray for good to come to these people! 12 Even if they fast, I will not hear their cries for help. Even if they offer burnt offerings and grain offerings, I will not accept them. Instead, I will kill them through wars, famines, and plagues.”
Date: 5th Century B.C.E. (based on scholarly estimates)
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Notes and References
"... Another syntactic chiasmus like the one in verse 33, reversing the wording and thought of Jeremiah 14:10; also Hosea 8:13. This is the really new element in the new covenant, finding expression elsewhere in Jeremiah and the prophets after him (33:8; 50:20; Ezekiel 36:22-32; Isaiah 43:25; 44:22; 55:7). Yahweh is merciful and gracious, according to the divine self-asseveration of Exodus 34:6-7, and one who forgives iniquity, transgression, and sin, yet at the same time a God who will not clear the guilty, punishing offenders to the third and fourth generation (compare Jeremiah 32:18). Only recently Yahweh offered to pardon Jerusalem if just one righteous man could be found ..."
Lundbom, Jack R.
Jeremiah 21-36: A New Translation with Introduction and Commentary
(p. 470) Doubleday, 2004
* The use of references are not endorsements of their contents. Please read the entirety of the provided reference(s) to understand the author's full intentions regarding the use of these texts.
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