Who is Speaking – Who is Listening? How Information Technology Can Confirm the Integrity of the Text

This article will take a closer look at the omnipresent phenomenon of participant-reference shifts. 1 The occurrence of more than 600 participant-reference shifts in the book of Jeremiah constantly disturbs the reading process, generating questions like ‘who is speaking’ and ‘who is listening’. While there are diverse exegetical positions about the origin and function of these shifts, no exhaustive attention has been given to this phenomenon in the past. With the help of the WIVU database, the author has investigated all participant-reference shifts found in the book of Jeremiah. Some of his findings with regard to their text-organizing functions will be presented here. Where participant-reference shifts are brought into focus, exegetical methods are needed that do justice to the phenomena and reduce the influence of subjective theories which endanger the discovery of the intrinsic logic of the encountered phenomena. This article will show that the methodological work of Eep Talstra, and his tireless engagement in developing computer-supported exegetical tools, enables phenomenological studies of the Old Testament text as well as data-oriented critical examinations of exegetical opinions.