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Jeremiah. Volume II

Anglican Theological Review, Summer 1998 by Viviano, Pauline A

Jeremiah. Volume II. By William McKane. International Critical Commentary. Edinburgh: T. & T. Clark, 1996. clxxiv + 1396 pp. $69.95 (cloth).

With the publication of this second volume, McKane 's commentary on Jeremiah is now complete. In this volume on chapters 26-52 of Jeremiah, McKane continues :he rigorous textual analysis that is the hallmark of the ICC series and for which his first volume has been rightly praised. For a fuller introduction that sets out his approach to the book of Jeremiah, one must consult the first volume, but there is an introduction which specifically focuses (in Jeremiah 26-52 in this second volume. This introduction discusses the problems of sources, historicity, and coherence in these chapters. The analysis present ed in the introduction leads McKane to the same conclusion that he worked out in more detail in the first volume, that is, the book of Jeremiah is the "product of a long growth extending into post-exilic period" with "the shorter text of the Sept[uagint] a witness to a more original Hebrew text than that of the M[asoretic] T[ext]" (p. clxxii).

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The commentary itself contains a detailed analysis, chapter by chapter, of the text of Jeremiah. Following the translation of each chapter, the anallysis is divided into sections, such as "Text, Grammar, Translation," "Literary Coherence," "Corn position," "Deuteronomistic Redaction," "Redactional Theories." This is a marked improvement in formatting over the first volume and makes aint is often a very complex and dense analysis easier to follow The titles themselves are indicative of the kinds of concerns that occupy the author. These center on establishing the text ('Textual Criticism) and on the formation of the text (Source Criticism and Redaction Criticism). There is little discussion of the actual meaning of the text.

McKane's approach to the Jeremian material is probably best described as "middle-of-the-road." On the one hand, he avoids Holladay's (Hermeneia Commentary Series) inclination to situate each and every verse on the very day it was spoken in his reconstructed life of Jeremiah. On the other hand, not every- erse is relegated to the creative activiitV of the exilic or post-exilic community to the extent done by Carroll (Old Testament Library Commentary Series in his commentary on Jeremiah. McKane carefully considers the arguments for and against historicity and mediates between an all-or-nothing approach often admitting that we simply cannot know the historical context of a passage.

In the spate of commentaries on the book of Jeremiah that have appeared over the last twelve years. McKane's commentary is to be classed among the more technical textual-critical and historical critical commentaries. The strength of McKane's work is the very detailed analysis of the various ancient versions of the book of Jeremiah and his reconstruction of probalematic texts, but only those well-versed in the biblical languages will find this commentary readable. The depth and breadth of McKane's research is seen in his frequesnt citation of the positions taken by other scholares as he argues his own position, but familiarity with that research is necessary in order to understand much of what McKane has to say. For the cholar willing to take the time, McKane offers a wealth of technical data and creative data and creative solutions to the many problems posed by the book of Jeremiah.

PAULINE A. VIVIANO

Loyola University Chicago

Chicago, Illinois

Copyright Anglican Theological Review, Inc. Summer 1998
Provided by ProQuest Information and Learning Company. All rights Reserved

Jeremiah. Volume II

Anglican Theological Review, Summer 1998 by Viviano, Pauline A

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