Jeremiah: Interpretation: A Bible Commentary for Teaching and Preaching

Interpretation: A Bible Commentary for Teaching and Preaching

by Ronald E. Clements

This critical assessment of the book of Jeremiah enables the reader to rediscover many of the most profound and relevant features of Jeremiah's message and of the agonies and fears of those to whom it was first given. The picture that emerges of the prophet is an intensely moving one, often at variance with the conventional image of earlier popular reconstructions. Having witnessed the loss of most of the treasured and revered religious support of his day, Jeremiah discovered that the only secure foundation of hope is in God. A Bible Commentary for Teaching and Preaching is a distinctive resource for those who interpret the Bible in the church. Planned and written specifically for teaching and preaching needs, this critically acclaimed biblical commentary is a major contribution to scholarship and ministry.

Genres: Reference, Biblical Studies

288 pages, Hardcover

First published March 1, 1989

About the author

Ronald E. Clements is the best known Baptist scholar of the Old Testament in Europe at the present time. Currently the Davidson Professor of Old Testament at King's College in the University of London, he earned his degrees at Spurgeon's College in London; Christ's College, Cambridge; and the University of Sheffield, where he received his Ph.D. in 1961. After lecturing seven years at the University of Edinburgh, he spent 1967-83 as a lecturer at Cambridge University. An ordained Baptist minister in England since 1956, he has written more than a dozen significant books on the Old Testament.
For more, see Andy Goodliff's information page on RE Clements.

Reviews

[William Westmoreland · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent analysis of Jeremiah

Jeremiah is a complicated text to read and understand. Brueggemann gives a chapter-by-chapter analysis of the book helping the reader understand the importance of the narrative for Jews and Christians. Through his insights we find a word of hope and a language to understand how to live in a world filled with Chaos and Fear. Trust in the sovereignty of God. .

[Sagely · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm thankful for Ronald E. Clements' volume on Jeremiah in the Interpretation series. I picked it up when (for what strange reason?) I began a Bible study on Jeremiah with my congregation's seniors. Eugene Peterson's Run with the Horses was our primary text (one I'd read before and much loved). Clements offered a helpful counterpoint to Peterson's musing on the character of the prophet.

Clements' commentary is, however, cumbersome. The development of the Jeremiah tradition plays and large and complicated role in his interpretation. I think the work pays out in strong and otherwise missed insights from the text. But it is difficult to digest. I wish that I could have the benefit of his analysis without trudging through all the work he did to get it.

Attention to the ongoing tradition diverts attention from the text itself. As these Interpretation volumes are only moderate in length, there are many textual and historical questions whose answers didn't make the last edit. This leaves me reaching for yet another commentary on Jeremiah to help explain what to do when I teach or preach the actual poetic diction of the prophet.

This commentary strikes me more as a collection of articles and essays about Jeremiah, centered on the text but not always commenting directly on it. I'll use it again, happily, but I'll reach for other resources as well.