{"id":72857,"date":"2020-04-05T14:31:01","date_gmt":"2020-04-05T11:31:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/?p=72857"},"modified":"2020-04-05T14:31:01","modified_gmt":"2020-04-05T11:31:01","slug":"degradation-or-hope","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/degradation-or-hope\/","title":{"rendered":"Degradation Or Hope?"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"entry-content\"><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[281],"tags":[],"acf":{"old_id":"72857","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":36277,"related_cahpter":"452","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content":{"description":"An ambiguous ending\r\n\r\n","content":"<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Jeremiah ends with a repetition of the enigmatic epilogue to the destruction of the Temple and Jerusalem that concludes the Book of Kings. After describing the burning of the Temple and the exile of people we fast forward 27 years into the Babylonian exile and end with this little episode about the treatment of the Exiled King Jehoiachin:<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cIn the thirty-seventh year of the exile of King Jehoiachin of Judah, on the twenty-seventh day of the twelfth month, King Evilmerodach of Babylon, in the year he became king, took note of King Jehoiachin of Judah and released him from prison. He spoke kindly to him, and gave him a throne above those of other kings who were with him in Babylon. His prison garments were removed, and [Jehoiachin] received regular rations by his favor for the rest of his life. A regular allotment of food was given him at the instance of the king\u2014an allotment for each day\u2014all the days of his life\u201d (II Kings, 25:27-30).<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The commentators are divided on how to read this tale. Is Evilmerodach\u2019s action an expression of the ultimate degradation of Judah? Or should we see the material improvement of the former king as a sign of comfort and hope?<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The repetition allows me to revisit and revise my view on this from the Book of Kings. There are a couple of telling comparisons in the vignette to the story of Joseph, where the hero is also sprung from prison and brought before the king. First, note that the phrase <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cv\u2019yisa rosh\u201d<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> describing Evilmerodach\u2019s freeing of Jehoiachin , also appears in the Joseph story. But there it is used not about the freeing of Joseph himself, but rather for the liberation from prison of Pharaoh&#8217;s butler.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Rashi (Gen. 40:23) says that <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">v\u2019yisa rosh<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> means \u201che counted him once again with his other servants.\u201d So, the use of the same phrase about Jehoiachin may imply not his elevation but rather his ongoing subjugation.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Similarly, there is a subtle echo of Joseph when Jehoiachin changes his prison clothes. Joseph also changed his clothes when he came to stand before Pharaoh. However, Malbim notes that a different word for change is used. Joseph <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">exchanges<\/span><\/i> <i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">(v\u2019yachlef)<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> his clothes, meaning he changed one set for another. But, Jehoiachin merely alters (<\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">v\u2019shina<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">) his garments; that is, he changed something about the same clothes. Malbim suggests that he was now allowed to pin a badge of honour on his old outfit, \u201cso that he would constantly remember the good that had been done to him by taking him out of jail and bringing him to the king\u2019s table.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In this reading, the subtle contrast with Joseph implies that Jehoiachin\u2019s change was not a redemptive transformation, but rather a more refined form of humiliation. While the material improvement in his condition does hold a seed of hope, the liberation of Jehoiachin \u2019s people will still be a long time yet in coming.<\/span><\/p>\n","image":{"ID":72858,"id":72858,"title":"jer52-hope","filename":"jer52-hope.jpg","filesize":0,"url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/jer52-hope.jpg","link":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/degradation-or-hope\/jer52-hope\/","alt":"","author":"7","description":"","caption":"","name":"jer52-hope","status":"inherit","uploaded_to":72857,"date":"2020-04-05 11:30:50","modified":"2020-04-05 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