READING JEREMIAH 52 IN EXILE: PURPOSE IN THE COMPOSITION OF JEREMIAH

Jeremiah 52 is valued among scholars for the insight it provides into the composition history of the larger book and its relationship to 2 Kings. Beyond the text-critical clues it provides, however, little is said about the relationship of Jeremiah 52 to the rest of the book. The chapter has been added to Jeremiah from its original position in 2 Kings 24-5 (or a common source), but it has been edited in the process. What follows is an exploration of a possible motivation for the addition of Jeremiah 52 to the larger book. Using the characters of Jehoiachin and Zedekiah as representatives of those who did and did not listen to the exhortation of the prophet, the editor uses the material of Jeremiah 52 to indicate that any future for the nation of Israel was located in-and would come out of-Babylon.