Jeremiah (Anchor Bible Series, Vol. 21)
Jeremiah(Volume 21 in the acclaimed Anchor Bible), like  most of the prophetic books, is an anthology containing a wide variety  of literary forms.  This remarkable diversity gives the work a special  appeal for students of literature, who find here striking parallels to  later writings; for example, in the "confessions" one hears a voice not  unlike John Donne's in the Holy Sonnets, and in the war poetry, one is  reminded of pieces written two and a half millennia afterJeremiah, the war poems of Stephen Crane.The life of  Jeremiah (c. 627-580 B.C.) spanned a particularly crucial period in the  history of Judah, the Southern Kingdom.  Except for a brief period of  independence (under Josiah) she was under successive vassalages to  Assyria, Egypt, and Babylonia.  In his introduction, John Bright  elucidates the historical background of the events described inJeremiahand clarifies the importance of Jeremiah's role to the  history of Israel.The Book of Jeremiah poses extraordinary  difficulties for the translator.  In addition to coping with the  usual--and formidable--problem of converting the classical Hebrew into  modern English, the author had also to capture the different stylistic  techniques used in the original.  This John Bright has succeeded  admirably in doing, and the result is a translation notable not only  for its accuracy of phrase, but also for its fidelity to style.  This  volume thereby accomplishes one of the major aims of The Anchor Bible:   to rediscover the original, to know its importance, and to feel its  impact as immediately as those who first read, or heard, its story.