THE CALL OF JEREMIAH by DAVID TUDOR ... - David T Williams

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became significant with the monarchy which itself is a break with the
old order. However the concept of calling does unite the prophetic
position with that of Israel as a whole. More particularly in the case of
Jeremiah, his apparent connection with, and view of, Moses is a
strong link with the past. His preaching is really only explicable if the
Mosaic Covenant is presupposed.
A further indication of at least the later view of the importance of
prophecy ie by the time of the Chronicler, can be seen in Baba
Bathra's ascription of the authorship of the Scriptures to the prophets
(Blenkinsopp 1983:22), including the ascription of Kings, part of the
"Deuteronomic History", to Jeremiah. This is not surprising in view of
the developed conception of the word mediated only through the
prophets coupled with a belief in the scriptures as of divine origin.
Also significant in respect of the priesthood, which is more important
than prophecy elsewhere in the Ancient Near East, is the record that
God revealed his will to David concerning the building of the temple by
the prophet Nathan rather than by a priest (Vriezen 1967:87) (possibly
a Deuteronomic comment). It is also noticeable that apart from the
regular cultic function, intercession for the people appears not to be a
priestly duty, which is what we might expect, but rather, in general, a
function of the prophet.
Even the field of prophecy however shows variation in the period of