Word, initiation and literary aspects of Jeremiah 1

Abstract

Chapter 1 aims at providing the reader with an outline of the topics that the essay goes into. The latter are essentially three, namely; the relationship of the future prophet with the revealed word in Jer 1 (Chapter 2), the literary structure of Jer 1 as an autobiographical text (Chapter 3) and Jer 1 as a document of initiation (Chapter 4). Chapter 1 tries to mount a perspective of how the discussion of these three topics will be expanded. Chapter 2 has the Word as a topical red-line. It discusses Jeremiah as prophet and poet and his formative development through the Word's revelation. Chapter 3 is concerned mostly with the text of Jer 1 as a literary piece. It takes on the task of analysing the narrative's episodes in literary terms. This chapter goes specifically into the text of the call narrative. Chapter 4 deals exclusively with Jer 1 as an account of a rite of passage. The main stages of the initiatory passage together with relevant symbols are discussed. Chapter 4 ends with a brief return to a textual analysis restricted to the context of initiation. Chapter 5 closes the essay with brief remarks about the main issues in the study. It takes up a brief discussion about the dialogic structure and about the hypostatic logic of Jer 1, expanding on the former and questioning the second.