Jeremiah Archive
People and Land in Jeremiah 2-6
In Jeremiah 2-6 a clear connection is made between the condition of the people and the fate of the land. In Jeremiah 2-3 the people’s sin pollutes the land and causes the rains to be withdrawn. In 4:1-6:30, which describe deepening infidelity, the descriptions of the land are now more extreme
According to Jeremiah 2, the guilt of the people is clear, but they stand unrepentant. Then with chap. 3 comes a return to Yhwh. 3:1-5 and vv. 19-20, which according to the structural analysis are parallel passages, raise the question of Israel’s desire to repent. The answer is in vv. 12b-14a and vv. 21-25, which are also structurally related. The former is a Summons to Repentance, whose motivational clause is a statement about Yhwh’s mercy. The Summons is answered in vv. 21-25, which have the character of penitential liturgy and in which Israel confesses her guilt and returns to Yhwh.
A further development comes in 4:1-6:30. Now the signs of repentance disappear as the people harden their hearts and refuse to repent (5:3). They do not see or hear Yhwh, and their hearts are stubborn and rebellious to the point that they do not fear him (5:21-24). Then in 4:22 they are described as being practised at doing evil and lacking the ability to do good. The implication is that they have moved from being unwilling to repent to a state in which they are now unable to repent. This is confirmed in 8:4-13, a passage related to 4:1-6:30. Here the people hold fast to their deceit and feel not regret, acting like an animal driven by instinct so that there is a compulsive quality about their behaviour.
Although they freely chose to do evil, they are not so trapped that their basic capacity to reverse the process and return to Yhwh seems to have been lost.
Study Resources
John Hill
"Land Imagery in Jeremiah 2-6"
Click on title to download this paper.
Brueggemann, Walter.
The Land: Place as Gift, Promise and Challenge in Biblical Faith
(Second ed. OBT; Minneapolis: Fortress, 2002), 101-108, 187-191.
Habel, Norman C.
The Land is Mine.
(OBT; Minneapolis: Fortress, 1995) 75-96.