This guide provides a concise introduction to the ways the book of
Jeremiah has been interpreted by scholars, and to new possibilities of
interpretation still open to readers. Outlining approaches the reader
encountering the book may best adopt, Mary E. Mills moves into the
reception of the prophetic book in the modern period. The role of
historical criticism has been fundamental but she shows how it should be
supplemented by recent explorations into the rhetorical structures and
devices by which the book communicates its messages.
Historically oriented scholars drew upon the book as a record of the
words and career of a prophet in monarchical Judah. Literary
investigation, on the other hand, focuses on the mood and tone of the
literary work. Both interpretative strands acknowledge the persistence
of a mood of terror and fragmentation within Jeremiah, the result of its
origins in a period of great political upheaval. Examination of the
poetic devices a society uses to process its social and cultural trauma
leads the reader to a deeper appreciation of the variety of sources and
genres found in Jeremiah. This study guide provides reading tools which
readers can then develop at their own pace.