Jeremiah’s 70-Year Prophecy 519 declaration in relation to the atbash codes, however, follows the analog in the Esarhaddon text, with considerable intervening material, i.e., Jer 30–31. These chapters had originated in an earlier form during the Josianic period (see below), but were subsequently addressed to the deportees of 597 following their acceptance of Jeremiah over against the competing prophetic voices of the time (57). It is this intervening material that provides the key for understanding the theological function of the Esarhaddon references as an organic feature of Jeremiah’s discourse. We must therefore consider the macrostructure of the 597 collection as it evolved during the few years following the initial deportation, and its implications for understanding the development of the Jeremianic corpus and its broader literary context. 6. The 597 Collection and the Development of the Jeremianic Corpus Though Jer 51 currently concludes the OAN (Jer 46—51) and the principle Jeremianic corpus (Jer 1–51), the colophon of Seraiah b. Neriah at the end of the chapter (vv. 59-64) identifies it as once part of the 597 collection (58). This collection, composed of Jer 27–29, 30–31 and 50–51, follows a logical progression of declaration of judgment, delineation of the future theological norms and, finally, the declaration of restoration with the fall of Babylon. The material separating the 70- —————— document but adapts them to suit the needs of his discourse. The Esarhaddon references are not a matter of citation or mimicry but rhetorical assimilation and transformation. See LEVINSON, Deuteronomy, 144-157. (57) See LEUCHTER, Jeremiah, 246-256. Jer 24 identifies 27–31 as a composite text at one point by possessing references to both (24,7 invokes 31,33; 24,8 invokes 29,17). (58) Following Holladay’s identification of Jer 27—29 with political events in 594 (Jeremiah 2, 114-119), the 597 collection would have been amalgamated with the older material in Jer 1–25,13+OAN by Seraiah, the scribe charged with the preservation and ordering of this material (LUNDBOM, “Baruch, Seraiah”, 103-104). This would produce a new literary corpus preserved among the Babylonian community, creating a final, outer inclusio between Jer 1,1 and 51,64 (via the common whymry yrbd terminology) marking the beginning and end of the text and an inner inclusio with Jer 1,10-12 and 31,27 (via the common ≈wtnlw çwtn dybahlw srhlw terminology) marking the end of the direct prophetic discourse to the community (Jer 50—51 deals with Babylon and broader international concerns, not the deportees). This outer-inner inclusio methodology is consistent with earlier episodes in the formation of Jeremianic texts from the Josianic period; see LEUCHTER, Jeremiah, 137-139.