The crux of Jeremiah’s message depicted in the book of Jeremiah is the upcoming
Babylonian invasion on Judah as a result of their sins and the unusual call on Judah to
yield to the Babylonians. Jeremiah’s prophecy to the Judeans claimed that foreign invasion would result in the destruction of the nation and exile of its inhabitants. For this, he faced grave animosity from the recipients of his message especially the kings and the
prophets and he even suffered persecution under them. The reasons for the hostility against him as portrayed in the book are investigated.
The book of Jeremiah highlights that after the invasion, the Babylonians showed a
special concern to Jeremiah and gave him privilege to choose whether he would go to Babylon or stay behind in Judah. Strangely, the prophet, who emphasized that the nation of Judah should not resist the Babylonian rule and should be exiled to Babylon, when
given a choice, chose to stay behind in Judah. This appears to be a strange response of Jeremiah toward Babylonian exile. Also, when the Johanan faction forced Jeremiah to flee from Judah and find asylum in Egypt to escape another suspected Babylonian threat, Jeremiah responds negatively. The various responses of the kings, prophets and Jeremiah toward the destruction and exile require explanation. At the outset, the reason why there was fierce hostility against Jeremiah’s message appears to be Judah’s reluctance to be subdued by a foreign nation as the biblical text portrays. However, the book of Jeremiah appears to use many metaphors to point to the reasons for resentment against Jeremiah and his message. The study of the metaphors in Jeremiah employing cognitive linguistics methodology, using conceptual metaphor theory and conceptual blending theory has shown the interconnectedness of the metaphors and the meanings it implies. The metaphors of “destruction” and “exile” are found to be connected to the concept of shame. Jeremiah’s prediction of the forthcoming destruction of the land, cities, Temple, exile of Judeans, collapse of the Davidic throne and all kinds of calamities that would befall the city of Jerusalem and the nation of Judah is found to be associated with “shame.” Likewise, the metaphor of “restoration” is found to be connected to the concept of honour. Jeremiah’s prophecy of “restoration” is portrayed as replenishment of land, rebuilding of cities, return of the exiles, and restoration from all kinds of calamities termed as “return of honour.” This shows that the concepts of honour and shame play a key role to explain the antagonistic responses toward Jeremiah’s prophecy of the Babylonian invasion and exile. Also, by using conceptual metaphor analysis, Jeremiah’s reluctance to go to Babylon or Egypt can be explained as his anticipation to witness the restoration of the nation of Judah and return of its honour as Yahweh had promised.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:mcmaster.ca/oai:macsphere.mcmaster.ca:11375/29226 |
| Date | 11 1900 |
| Creators | Kuriyachan, Sherley |
| Contributors | Divinity College |
| Source Sets | McMaster University |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Thesis |
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