37 THE TEARS OF GOD IN THE BOOK OF JEREMIAH cially accepted norms 40. In one passage in Jeremiah, the speaker expects to weep secretly: If you [pl.] do not listen, my inmost self will weep in secret (yvpn-hkbt ~yrtsmb) because of [your] [pl.] pride. my eyes will surely tear ([mdt [mdw) and flow with tears (h[md yny[ drtw) for YHWH’s flock led away to exile. Most scholars think that Jeremiah speaks here rather than YHWH 41. However, as noted above, the voices of God and Jeremiah are not al- ways separable and this passage, like 8,23 and 9,17, combines the weeping of YHWH and Jeremiah 42. As in 9,9 and 17, LXX assumes that YHWH is speaking, but not weeping. Rather, the people will weep over their impending doom: “your [pl.] soul (ἡ ψυχὴ ὑµῶν) will weep because of your [pl.] pride, your eyes (οἱ ὀφθαλµοὶ ὑµῶν) will flow with tears”. YHWH is the last identified speaker in vv. 12 and 14, and speaks also in v. 18. The speech of YHWH noted in v. 15 may apply to what follows (vv. 16-17, or 16-27) as easily as to what precedes. As often, the speech of YHWH and Jeremiah cannot be reliably sepa- rated, but allowing that such language may be attributed to both of them seems reasonable. Commentators do not generally ponder why Jeremiah/ YHWH would weep “in secret” rather than openly. The phrase could be understood with the first line to mean “if in hiding places you do not listen, my vpn will weep” or, if emended to ~yrrsmb, “if in re- bellion you do not listen” 43. Most commentators follow MT and un- derstand the phrase as modifying the weeping rather than the not listening 44. McKane cites Kimchi’s distinction between inward grief and outward displays of grief 45. Kimchi suggests that the expression clarifies that these tears come from genuine interior sorrow and are NELSON, Seeing through Tears, 94. 40 RUDOLPH, Jeremia, 96; MCKANE, Jeremiah, I, 299; HOLLADAY, Jere- 41 miah, I, 406; LUNDBOM, Jeremiah, I, 677; ALLEN, Jeremiah, 161; SCHMIDT, Jeremia, 225; FISCHER, Jeremia, 459. Thus FRETHEIM, Jeremiah, 209; STULMAN, Jeremiah, 137. 42 Thus HOLLADAY, Jeremiah, I, 405. 43 CARROLL, Jeremiah, 299-300; CRAIGIE, Jeremiah 1–25, 187-188; 44 THOMPSON, Jeremiah, 368-369. MCKANE, Jeremiah, I, 299. 45 © Gregorian Biblical Press 2012 - Tutti i diritti riservati