A Story Of Three Prophets: Synchronic And Diachronic Analysis Of Jeremiah 26

Abstract

Within Old Testament scholarship there had been a long debate between the advocates of a synchronic approach and those of a diachronic approach. In recent years, more attention has been given to synchronic approaches, and gradually the assumption that this method is naive and unscholarly has paled. At the height of the debate each method claimed exclusive right to the explanation of the Hebrew Bible, without allowing for the validity of the other approach even in the most obvious cases. Eep Talstra offers a solution to this dilemma: take the text as it is, do all possible synchronic analysis, and then add a diachronic dimension to deal with whatever problems remain. This chapter applies this double method to Jeremiah 26 and shows that using it is far more fruitful than laboriously working with only one of the two approaches. In this way, a new perspective on Jeremiah 26 emerges. Keywords: diachronic analysis; Eep Talstra; Jeremiah 26; synchronic analysis