A Wise Servant Jeremiah and the Praise of Rahab

Rabbi Yehoshua of Sikhnin in the name of Rabbi Levi opened: "A wise servant shall rule over a son who acts shamefully, and shall share the inheritance among the brothers" (Proverbs 17:2). "A wise servant" - this is Jeremiah. "Shall rule over a son who acts shamefully" - this is Israel, who shamed themselves before idolatry. Rabbi Abba bar Kahana said: It is written, "You were not even like a harlot, scorning hire" (Ezekiel 16:31). Let the child of the corrupt woman who mended her deeds come and reprove the child of the upright woman who corrupted her deeds. You find that everything written of Israel for disgrace is written of Rahab for praise. Of Rahab it is written, "Now then, swear to me by the LORD" (Joshua 2:12), and of Israel it is written, "surely they swear falsely" (Jeremiah 5:2). Of Rahab it is written, "and you shall keep alive my father and my mother" (Joshua 2:13), and of Israel it is written, "father and mother are treated with contempt in you" (Ezekiel 22:7). Of Rahab it is written, "and she brought them up to the roof" (Joshua 2:6), and of Israel it is written, "and those who bow on the rooftops to the host of heaven" (Zephaniah 1:5). Of Rahab it is written, "and she hid them with the stalks of flax" (Joshua ibid.), and of Israel it is written, "who say to the wood, You are my father" (Jeremiah 2:27). Of Rahab it is written, "and she said to them, Get to the hills" (Joshua 2:16), and of Israel it is written, "on the tops of the mountains they sacrifice" (Hosea 4:13). Of Rahab it is written, "and give me a true sign" (Joshua 2:12), and of Israel it is written, "and they do not speak truth" (Jeremiah 9:4). Thus everything written of Israel for disgrace is written of Rahab for praise. "And shall share the inheritance among the brothers" (Proverbs ibid.) - this is Jeremiah. It is written of him, "And Jeremiah went out of Jerusalem to go" (Jeremiah 37:12). Rav said: He went out to take his portion. Rabbi Binyamin ben Levi said: To the encampment there. There are many prophecies; "the prophecy of Jeremiah" is not written here, but rather "the words of Jeremiah." Therefore Scripture requires "The words of Jeremiah" (Jeremiah 1:1).