Jerusalem scholar Robert Lindsey suggested that Jesus used “amen” in a typically Hebraic way: always as a response, never as an adverb preceding a statement. We focus in this article on one instance of Jesus’ use of “amen” for which Lindsey discovered an intriguing parallel in the book of Jeremiah.
As we saw in “‘Amen’: Introduction or Response?” Jesus seems always to have used “amen” in a way that is consistent with general Hebrew usage. Jesus used “amen” after a statement or event to emphasize its importance or affirm it.
Lindsey suggested in his article, “‘Verily’ or ‘Amen’ — What Did Jesus Say?” (Christian News from Israel, Vol. XXV, No. 3), that “Amen! I say to you…” also may be a prophetic pattern of speech.
The book of Jeremiah recounts the story of the false prophet Hananiah who publicly prophesied in the Temple that in two years God would return King Jehoiachin, the other Judean exiles and the Temple vessels that Nebuchadnezzar had carried away to Babylon.
The prophet Jeremiah made an emotional refutation of this prophecy: “Amen! May the LORD do so! May the LORD fulfill what you have prophesied and bring back from Babylon the vessels of the LORD’s Temple and all the exiles! However, listen to what I say in your ears and in the ears of all the people [in other words, to you
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