My study of Jeremiah goes back to ancient days, to my study with Lionel A. Whiston, Jr., at Eden Theological Seminary and with James Muilenburg at Union Theological Seminary. Since that time, I have been privileged to be in mostly friendly and always generative conversations with the principal interpreters of Jeremiah in our present generation: Robert P. Carroll, Ronald E. Clements, Terence E. Fretheim, William L. Holladay, Patrick D. Miller, Kathleen M. O'Connor, and Louis Stulman. (I heard Abraham Heschel lecture in only one series, and that concerned Jeremiah.) The present book reflects my engagement with these several writings in a way that has clarified and situated my own scholarship.

My point of reference for Jeremiah studies has been my teacher, James Muilenburg. He was among the most important Jeremiah scholars of his generation, although in the end he refused to let his commentary reach publication. Muilenburg's attention to rhetorical detail has largely dictated my method, and his passion for the prophetic tradition leads me to see in powerful ways the interface of the text with the issues that face our own culture in a time of “plucking up and tearing down.” I am blessed to be rooted in his teaching and to have been sent beyond his teaching in freedom.