Since the 1980s, the study of biblical prophecy and prophetic books has been going through a paradigm shift (Nissinen 2009:103-111). Many traditions include the apocryphal books of Baruch and the Epistle of Jeremiah in their canon (Petersen 1998:95-128). ![]() The book of Lamentations, which is usually ascribed to the prophet Jeremiah, follows. Some rabbinic authorities place the book of Jeremiah as the first of the prophets instead of the book of Isaiah (Petersen 1998:95-128). The book of Jeremiah belongs to the Major Prophets. The continued recognition by scholars and non-scholars of Africa and African presence in the Bible has great implications for Christianity in Africa. What this means is that not only the author of the book of Jeremiah, but biblical authors in general are very familiar with ancient Africa and Africans, and deliberately took time to identify them. While in the Pentateuch references to Africa and Africans appear more than 577 times, in the Major Prophets there are about 180 references. ![]() It is also gratifying information in itself to know that Africa and Africans have participated in the drama of redemption which has not been recognised as such by either Eurocentric scholars or by the majority of Africentric scholars themselves. It is also part of an investigation of the African presence in the Old Testament which, to Africans, is an important moral and self-lifting scholarly exercise. Using a historical-biographical and theological method of reading Jeremiah, this article examines the portrayal of ancient Africa and Africans in the book of Jeremiah. This indicates that the prophet Jeremiah is very familiar with ancient Africa and Africans. The author of the book Jeremiah made references to Ancient Africa and Africans about 53 times in the Septuagint, and 67 times in the Masoretic Text. ![]() One of these contentious issues is the relationship of the prophet Jeremiah to ancient Africa and Africans which is the main focus of this article. However, there has been no unanimous agreement yet. Since the 1980s, many Jeremianic scholars have spent much time on the study of the various contentious issues in order to resolve them. The portrayal of Africa and Africans in the book of JeremiahÄepartment of Old Testament and New Testament, University of South Africa, South Africa
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