Intertextuality and Jeremiah’s Symbolic Actions

The prophets of the Hebrew Bible announced their messages by resorting to the totality of verbal and nonverbal communication tools. They used a wide range of body movements including arm and hand gestures, facial expressions and eye movements to emphasize and dramatize points of their messages. In biblical studies, these prophetic gestures and actions have often been labeled as “symbolic actions” or “sign-actions”.

Although the sign-actions have been a long-standing embarrassment within the biblical tradition, some studies have laid the foundation for the modern consensus that prophetic sign-actions were conscious events, in some cases perhaps derived from ecstatic experiences. Therefore, the studies of this field have commonly focused on the communicative aspects of the actions relating them to anthropological and sociological researches.

Nevertheless, a proper understanding of these actions must take into account their rhetorical aspects as well as the form in which they are reported. The action should be seen as part of the literary whole, since the information concerning the acts comes through a description in a literary form.

By applying the method of Total Interpretation presented by Meir Weiss, the purpose of this lecture will be to relate intertextually the literary description of Jeremiah’s symbolic actions to the covenant curses of the Pentateuch.