DtrH Must Die! Jeremiah, Jehoiachin and the Prophetic End of the Deuteronomic History in Jeremiah 22:24-23:6 (original) (raw)

There is an oft-neglected oracle in Jeremiah 22:24-30 that announces Jehoiachin's exile and the end of the Davidic kingship line that has run throughout the entire Deuteronomic history until the time of the exile. 1 Only four verses separate it from the enigmatic promise of the Branch in 23:5, and it plays the pivotal role in the collection of oracles against the final four kings of Judah prior to this unspecified age of the Davidic monarchy in the future. Yet the oracle has generated scant attention from scholars. I've counted no more than a handful of articles and only passing mention in commentaries that deal with it. 2 Yet, while most critical scholarship is, for many important reasons, focused on the exile associated with the final deportation under Zedekiah in 587/6 B.C.E., the canonical and post-canonical tradition focuses almost exclusively on the second deportation under Jehoiachin as the marker of the beginning of the Jewish exile. 3 Thus, there appears to be a gap in scholarly literature on the theological concern of the 1 There is near-universal agreement that Jeremiah 22:24-30 is the oracle directed against Jehoiachin. Only Driver argues that 18-23 should also be included.