6. In the Sixth Song on the Scythians, VI. 1-5, which also is given

without introduction, Jerusalem is threatened—even Jerusalem to which in the previous songs the country-folk had been bidden to fly for shelter—and the foes are described in the attempt to rush her, as they rushed Askalon according to Herodotus. That they are represented as faltering and no success is predicted for them, and also that they are called shepherds, are signs that it is the Scythians, though still nameless, who are meant in verses 3-5. The next three verses, separately introduced, point rather to a Chaldean invasion by their picture of besiegers throwing up a mound against the walls, and may therefore be one of the additions to his earlier Oracles made by the Prophet, when in 604 the enemy from the North was clearly seen to be Nebuchadrezzar, with the siege-trains familiar to us from the Assyrian and Babylonian monuments; upon which are represented just such a hewing of timber and heaping of mounds against a city’s walls.

Pack off, O Benjamin’s sons, VI. 1 Out of Jerusalem! Strike up the trump in Tekoa,(239) O’er Beth-hakkérem lift up the signal! For evil glowers out of the North, And ruin immense. O the charming (?) the pampered height(240) 2 Of the daughter of Ṣion! Unto her shepherds are coming, 3 With their flocks around,(241) They pitch against her their tents, Each crops at his hand. “Hallow(242) the battle against her, Up, let us on by noon.” “Woe unto us! The day is turning, 4 The shadows of evening stretch.” “Up then and on by night, 5 That we ruin her palaces!” For thus said the Lord of Hosts: 6 Hew down her(243) trees and heap Against Jerusalem a mound; Woe to the City of Falsehood,(244) Nought but oppression within her! As a well keeps its waters fresh 7 She keeps fresh her evil; Violence and spoil are heard throughout her, Ever before Me sickness and wounds. Jerusalem, be thou corrected, 8 Lest from thee My soul doth break, Lest I lay thee a desolate waste, Uninhabited land.

Here follows another and separately introduced Oracle:—

Thus hath the Lord(245) said: 9 Glean, let them glean as a vine Israel’s remnant; Like the grape-gleaner turn thy hand Again to its(246) tendrils. “To whom shall I utter myself, 10 And witness that they may hear? “Lo, uncircumcised is their ear, They cannot give heed. “The Word of the Lord is their scorn, No pleasure have they therein. “I am full of the rage of the Lord, 11 “Weary with holding it back! Pour(247) it out on the child in the street, On the youths where they gather; Both husband and wife shall be taken, The old with the full of days. Their homes shall be turned to others, 12 Their fields and wives together, When I stretch forth My Hand On those that dwell in this(248) land. [Rede of the Lord.] Because from the least to the greatest 13 All are greedy of gain, Right on from prophet to priest Every one worketh lies. They would heal the breach of My people, 14 As though it were trifling, Saying, “It is well, it is well”— When—where(249) is it well? Were they shamed of their loathsome deeds? 15 Nay, not at all ashamed! They know not even to blush! So they with the fallen shall fall, And shall reel in the time that I visit, Rede of the Lord.

Still another Oracle which gives no glimpse of the Scythians, but threatens a vague disaster and once more states the moral reasons for Judah’s doom. Its allusion to incense and sacrifices is no reason for dating it after the discovery of Deuteronomy.(250)

Thus hath the Lord said— 16 Halt on the ways and look, And ask for the ancient paths: Where is(251) the way that is good? Go ye in that, And rest shall ye find to your soul, But they—“We go not!” I raised up sentinels for you— 17 Heed the sound of the trump!(252) But they—“We heed not!” Therefore, O nations, hearken, 18 And own My record against them (?)(253) Hear thou, O Earth, 19 Lo, evil I bring to this people, The fruit of their own devices,(254) Since they have not heeded My Word, And My Law have despised. To Me what is incense that cometh from Sheba, 20 Sweet-cane from a far-off land? Your holocausts are not acceptable, Nor your sacrifice pleasing. Therefore thus hath the Lord said: 21 Behold I set for this people Blocks upon which to stumble; Fathers and children together, Neighbour and friend shall perish.

None of the foregoing brief and separate Oracles diverts from the moral theme of all these earlier utterances of the Prophet, that Judah’s afflictions, whether from Nature or from invaders, are due to her own wickedness. And this record even the foreign peoples are called to witness—another proof that from the first Jeremiah had a sense of a mission to the nations as well as to his own countrymen.

7. There follows the Seventh, the last of the Songs which may be referred to the Scythian invasion, Ch. VI. 22-26. It repeats the distance from which, in the fateful North, those hordes have been stirred to their work of judgment, their ruthlessness and terrific tumult, the panic they produce, and bitter mourning. The usual formula introduces the verses.