Jeremiah, Josiah, Barker, and Me (5)

5.  Deuteronomistic Temple Language

Deuteronomy frequently describes Jerusalem and its temple as the “place that YHWH your God will choose to put his name there” (Dt. 12:21) or “make his name dwell there” (Dt. 14:23).  This language–the place (māqôm) God will choose to put his name–is unique to Deuteronomy (Dt.12:5, 12:11, 12:21, 14:23, 16:2, 16:6, 16:11, 26:2).  It is couched as a prophecy the Jerusalem had already been chosen by God for the site of his future temple before Canaan or Jerusalem were conquered.

Jeremiah also uniquely uses a modification of this phrase to describe the temple: “the house which is called by my [YHWH’s] name” (Jer. 7:10-11, 7:14, 7:30, 25:29, 32:34, 34:15).  This seems to strongly imply that Jeremiah saw the Jerusalem temple as the fulfillment of Deuteronomy’s promise–that the temple of Jerusalem is the place God has chosen to put his name.  In Deuteronomy this is described as a prophecy yet to be fulfilled.  In Jeremiah it is described as a prophecy that has been fulfilled: “the house that is called by my name … [is] the place (māqôm) that I gave to you and to your fathers” (Jer. 7:14).  Indeed, the prophecy in Deuteronomy is explicitly stated to have been fulfilled at Solomon’s dedication of the temple (1 Kgs. 8:43; 2 Chr. 6:33).  If Jeremiah rejected Deuteronomy, why did he use modification of a unique Deuteronomistic phrase to describe the temple?