Shepherds Which Shall Shepperd: A rhetorical analysis of Jeremiah 23,1-4

Abstract

This study carries out an exegetical analysis of the pericope of Jer 23,1-4, based on the Masoretic Text, according to the text of the Leningrad Codex, made available through the critical edition of the Biblia Hebraica Stuttgartensia (BHS). Jeremiah, a prophet from the time of the Exile, is of great importance for understanding the relationship between God and his people in the context of the Babylonian Exile. He is aware of the value of maintaining the Jewish faith in places far from home, through fidelity to the Covenant, which must be maintained and renewed at every moment, not from the outside, but from the heart and with concrete daily gestures (Jer 31,1-4), from sunrise to sunset. In this sense, the pericope of Jer 23,1-4 indicates God's concern and action in caring for and shepherding his people. To this end, God wants to renew his Covenant with his people, but he wants to write it no longer on stones, but on the hearts of the children of the houses of Israel and Judah. As a methodological tool for analyzing Jer 23,1-4, the method of Semitic Biblical Rhetorical Analysis is used, according to the postulates of Roland Meynet, presenting segmentation and translation, critical analysis and exegetical-theological commentary of the biblical text, also seeking to present a theological message for the children of God today, in the midst of the many exiles and challenges experienced daily, wherever each one is, but always called to live the Covenant of the Lord, who is the true Shepherd of his people