“Now the time came
For Elizabeth
To give birth.
She bore a son.”
Τῇ δὲ Ἐλεισάβετ ἐπλήσθη ὁ χρόνος τοῦ τεκεῖν αὐτήν, καὶ ἐγέννησεν υἱόν.
Luke said that the time had been completed for Elizabeth (Τῇ δὲ Ἐλεισάβετ ἐπλήσθη ὁ χρόνος) to give birth (τοῦ τεκεῖν αὐτήν). Elizabeth had gone through her 9 months of pregnancy. Thus, with a normal birth, she bore a son (καὶ ἐγέννησεν υἱόν). There was nothing spectacular here.
“After those days,
His wife,
Elizabeth
Conceived.
For five months,
She remained
In seclusion.”
Μετὰ δὲ ταύτας τὰς ἡμέρας συνέλαβεν Ἐλεισάβετ ἡ γυνὴ αὐτοῦ, καὶ περιέκρυβεν ἑαυτὴν μῆνας πέντε,
Luke indicated that sometimes afterwards (Μετὰ δὲ ταύτας τὰς ἡμέρας), Elisabeth (Ἐλεισάβετ), the wife of Zechariah (ἡ γυνὴ αὐτοῦ), conceived a child or became pregnant (συνέλαβεν). There is no indication whether this was a supernatural event or a natural event. Zechariah would have had to tell Elisabeth about his encounter with the angel Gabriel in the Temple sanctuary. Perhaps, he was able to write. However, Elizabeth remained in seclusion for 5 months, as she hid or concealed herself (καὶ περιέκρυβεν ἑαυτὴν μῆνας πέντε,). There was no great announcement about this future birth.
“Then the word
Of Yahweh of hosts
Came to me.
‘Say to all the people
Of the land
As well as the priests.
‘When you fasted,
When you lamented,
In the fifth month
As well as the seventh month,
For these seventy years,
Was it for me
That you fasted?
When you eat.
When you drink,
Do you not eat
Only for yourselves?
Do you not drink
Only for yourselves?
Were not these the words
That Yahweh proclaimed
By the former prophets?
This was when
Jerusalem was inhabited
In prosperity.
Was this not when
The towns around it
Were inhabited?
Was this not when
The Negeb
With the Shephelah
Were inhabited?’”
Yahweh sent another oracle to Zechariah about the fasting and lamenting that they had done for the past 70 years during the 5th and 7th months because of the destruction of the Jerusalem Temple in 587 BCE and the murder of their governor. Zechariah was to ask the people of the land and the priests why they had fasted. Why did they not eat or drink? Did they do if for themselves or for Yahweh? Yahweh had warned them, via the prophets, when Jerusalem was prosperous and inhabited. The towns around Jerusalem, as well as desert Negeb and the low land Shephelah were inhabited at that time also.
“‘I also withheld
The rain
From you,
When there were
Still three months
To the harvest.
I would send rain
On one city.
But I would send no rain
On another city.
One field would be rained on,
While the field
On which it did not rain
Withered.
Two
Or three towns
Wandered to one town
To drink water.
However,
They were not satisfied.
Yet you did not
Return to me.’
Says Yahweh.”
Amos has another oracle of Yahweh that indicated the lack of rain. Yahweh did not give any rain for 3 months prior to the harvest. He would send rain to one city, but not to another city. One field would have rain, but the field next to it would not have any rain. Thus, the arid field would wither and die. A couple of towns would go to another town to get water to drink, but they were not satisfied. Despite all this lack of rain, the people of the northern kingdom of Israel did not return to Yahweh.
“On the ninth day
Of the fourth month,
The famine was
So severe
In the city
That there was
No food
For the people
Of the land.”
Once again, this is word for word from 2 Kings, chapter 25. The famine in the city of Jerusalem was so severe, that there was no food for the people there, after a mere 4 months.
“Therefore thus says Yahweh
Concerning King Jehoiakim
Of Judah.
‘He shall have no one
To sit upon the throne
Of David.
His dead body
Shall be cast out
To the heat
By day
As well as the frost
By night.
I will punish him,
His offspring,
As well as his servants
For their iniquity.
I will bring
On them,
On the inhabitants of Jerusalem,
On the people of Judah,
All the disasters
With which I have threatened them.
But they would not hear.’”
Yahweh delivered his judgment against King Jehoiakim and his royal family. No one in his family will ever sit on the throne of David. Actually, at his death, his son Coniah, King Jehoiachin ruled for a couple of months before King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon put his uncle King Zedekiah on the throne in 598 BCE. King Jehoiakim’s dead body would lie out in the cold night and the hot day. The king, his children, and his servants would suffer for their iniquity. On top of that, Yahweh was going to bring disasters to the people of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem. This will all happen because they had not listened to Yahweh.
“In the fourth year
Of King Jehoiakim,
The son of King Josiah,
Of Judah,
This word
Came to Jeremiah
From Yahweh.”
Once again, there is an exact date for this oracle of Yahweh to Jeremiah, the 4th year of King Jehoiakim, 605 BCE. King Eliakim, or King Jehoiakim (609-598 BCE) as he was called, was the son of King Josiah (640-609 BCE). He took over for his brother King Jehoahaz or King Shallum, who just lasted a few months in 609 BCE. Like the preceding chapter, this is a different numbered chapter in the Greek translation of the Septuagint, chapter 43, not chapter 36 as here.
“These are the words
Of the letter
That the prophet Jeremiah
Sent from Jerusalem
To the remaining elders
Among the exiles.
It was also sent to
The priests,
The prophets,
Including all the people
Whom King Nebuchadnezzar
Had taken into exile
From Jerusalem
To Babylon.
This was after King Jeconiah,
With the queen mother,
The court officials,
The leaders of Judah,
The leaders of Jerusalem,
The artisans.
With the smiths
Had departed from Jerusalem.”
Apparently Jeremiah wrote a letter to the elders from the first exile in 598 BCE. He sent this letter, like many of Yahweh’s oracles addressed to the priests, the prophets, and all the people, who went to Babylon during the first exile in 598 BCE. King Nebuchadnezzar had taken them from Jerusalem to Babylon. It is hard to tell whether this letter still exists in any form or when it was composed, but probably between 598-587 BCE. King Jeconiah or King Coniah or King Jeconiah of Judah had ruled for only a couple of months when King Nebuchadnezzar removed him in 598 BCE in favor of his uncle King Zedekiah or King Mattaniah (598-587 BCE). At that time, King Jeconiah’s mother, the wife of King Jehoiakim or King Eliakim (609-598 BCE), as well as the court officials and leaders of Judah and Jerusalem went into exile. With them also went the main artisans and iron workers of Jerusalem. Thus the remnant in Jerusalem was like a puppet government for King Nebuchadnezzar. Like the preceding chapter, this is a different numbered chapter in the Greek translation of the Septuagint, chapter 36, not chapter 29 as here.
“In that same year,
In the seventh month,
The prophet Hananiah died.”
Thus the story of the prophet Hananiah, who opposed Jeremiah, does not have a happy ending. He died within 7 months of Yahweh’s prediction about his death. Once again, we have a prophecy that is fulfilled, showing the true prophet versus the false prophet.
“Thus says Yahweh of hosts!
The God of Israel!
‘I have broken the yoke
Of the king of Babylon.
Within two years,
I will bring back
To this place
All the vessels
Of Yahweh’s house
That King Nebuchadnezzar
Of Babylon
Took away from this place.
He carried them
To Babylon.
I will also bring back
To this place
King Jeconiah,
The son of King Jehoiakim
Of Judah,
With all the exiles
From Judah
Who went to Babylon.
I will break
The yoke
Of the king of Babylon.’
Says Yahweh.”
Hananiah, the prophet from Gibeon, then uttered an oracle of Yahweh, the God of Israel, much like Jeremiah had done. He claimed that he had broken the yoke of the king of Babylon. He said that within 2 years all the vessels from the Temple sanctuary would be returned to Jerusalem. He was also going to bring back the deposed King Jeconiah or King Jehoiachin or King Coniah as he was known as, who had been king for only a couple of months in 598 BCE after his father King Jehoiakim or King Eliakim (609-598 BCE) had been killed. In the meantime, King Nebuchadnezzar had put King Jeconiah’s uncle on the throne, King Zedekiah or King Mattaniah (598-587 BCE). The exiled King Jeconiah was in Babylon in captivity. He was part of the first captivity of 598 BCE, when the sacred vessels and the other exiles also went to Babylon. Clearly, Hananiah the prophet said that Yahweh wanted to break the yoke of the king of Babylon. However, Jeremiah the prophet had said that Yahweh was in favor of this yoke. Let’s see what happens as these 2 prophets interpret the will of Yahweh as regards Babylon.
Eugene Finnegan Bible Project 