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

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redaction would thus be unlikely, of itself, to add a reference to the
touch. Moreover other reference to the hand of the Lord is rare in
Jeremiah, only occurring in Jeremiah 15:17 which reflects the call, and
in Jeremiah 25:17 where its meaning is metaphoric (section 5.2). Such
rarity contrasts strongly with Ezekiel, and indicates the genuineness of
the reference in Jeremiah 1 as experience rather than just as a literary
figure.
Jeremiah 1:10 is also interesting. Although poetry, the language only
re-occurs in prose sections of the book (Jr 12:14-17, 18:7-10, 24:5-7,
31:27-8, 32:10, 45:4), giving the book a "key theme" (Brueggeman
1983:136). It is unquestioningly a part of the call (Nicholson 1970:115),
and has clearly influenced the later portions, giving one definite link
between poetry and prose. Such a frequent allusion would more
naturally come from Jeremiah himself, for whom the call was a real,
disruptive event, setting the tone for the entire ministry, than from a
later author for whom the call was a useful story to authenticate his
writings, particularly as the allusions do not occur in passages dealing
with Jeremiah's conflict with false prophets.
The location of the visions within the call indicates that they are in fact
integral with it. The first words do not necessarily mean a separate
pericope (Seidl 1979:27). Their nature as dialogue also supports this,
as dialogue is elsewhere rare in an oracle in Jeremiah. Moreover the
very nature of the visions themselves is relevant to the call, as they set