Jeremiah 9:23-24

Verse 31 quotes with formula ('as it is written') Jeremiah 9:24 LXX: 'Let the one who boasts boast in the Lord.' Volume is maximal, and the surrounding verses (Jer 9:23, 'let not the wise boast in his wisdom, nor the mighty in his might') govern Paul's entire argument that the wise, mighty, and noble have no ground for boasting before God.

10:17 'He who boasts, let him boast in the Lord' is a direct quotation of Jeremiah 9:24 (LXX 9:23), abbreviating the prophet's contrast: not the wise, mighty, or rich, but the one who understands and knows the LORD. The verbatim agreement and Paul's repeated use (also 1 Cor 1:31) make this a secure citation.

'Don't let the rich man glory in his riches; but let him who glories glory in this, that he... knows me.' The redirection of the wealthy from boasting in riches to glorying in God parallels the charge that the rich not be haughty but hope on the living God. A strong source for the structure of v.17.

'This is eternal life, that they should know you, the only true God' (v3) recasts 'let him who boasts boast in this, that he understands and knows me, that I am the LORD.' Knowing God as the supreme good is the load-bearing parallel; high Coherence with John's salvific epistemology and strong Recurrence of this Jeremianic theme in Second-Temple piety.

'That I may know him' and the renunciation of every fleshly ground of boasting answers Jeremiah's oracle: let no one boast in wisdom, might, or riches, but only that 'he understands and knows me, the LORD.' Paul transmutes covenant 'knowledge of God' into 'the excellency of the knowledge of Christ.' Strong coherence and Pauline recurrence (cf. 1 Cor 1:31).

Jeremiah's command not to glory in wisdom, might, or riches but only in the Lord stands behind Paul's challenge in v.7: 'What do you have that you didn't receive? Why do you boast?' Paul elsewhere quotes this Jeremiah passage in the same letter (1:31), strengthening recurrence; here the un-derivative boasting Paul attacks is precisely the self-glory Jeremiah forbids.

Jeremiah contrasts boasting in wisdom with knowing the LORD, exactly Paul's move against knowledge that "puffs up." Paul cites this passage explicitly at 1 Cor 1:31, making its availability and recurrence in this letter strong, so the contrast of human gnosis vs. knowing/being known by God plausibly stands behind 8:1-3 as well. Coherence with Paul's anti-boasting theme is high.

Paul's 'boasting' grounded not in 'fleshly wisdom' but in God echoes Jeremiah's oracle that one should not boast in wisdom or might but boast in knowing YHWH. The wisdom-versus-true-boasting antithesis is precisely Jeremiah's, and Paul elsewhere cites this very passage, raising availability. Good thematic coherence despite no full quotation here.

'If I must boast, I will boast of the things that concern my weakness' inverts ordinary boasting along the lines of Jeremiah's oracle that the wise, mighty, and rich must not boast in their strength but only in knowing the LORD. Paul's recurring 'boast in the Lord' motif (cf. 10:17) makes this the controlling subtext for his weakness-boast. Coherence is strong across the letter.

'Not of works, that no one would boast' invokes the prophetic prohibition against self-boasting: 'Let not the wise man boast in his wisdom... but let him who boasts boast in this, that he knows me.' Paul cites this exact text elsewhere (1 Cor 1:31), making it the controlling OT warrant for excluding human boasting before God.

'Where then is boasting? It is excluded' (3:27) echoes Jeremiah's prohibition of boasting in wisdom, might, or riches, allowing boasting only in knowing the LORD who does righteousness; Paul transposes the anti-boast theme to works of law.

Jeremiah forbids the wise, mighty, and rich to boast, allowing boasting only in knowing the LORD; Paul's 'let no one boast in men' applies this anti-boasting principle (already quoted at 1 Cor 1:31). Its recurrence in the letter and coherence with the wisdom-and-boasting theme support a medium echo, redirecting boasting from human teachers to God.

'Let not the rich man boast in his riches, but let him who boasts boast in this, that he understands and knows me.' James's redirection of the rich man's glory toward his humbling echoes Jeremiah's reordering of the grounds for boasting.

Paul's refusal of 'lofty speech or wisdom' so that faith rests 'in the power of God' (vv.1,5) extends Jeremiah's oracle that the wise must not boast in wisdom but only in knowing the LORD. The theme is carried over from 1 Corinthians 1:31, giving recurrence, but the link here is thematic rather than verbal and so faint.

Paul's refusal of self-commendation and insistence on a 'boasting' rightly grounded (preaching free of charge, love attested by God who 'knows') anticipates the chapter's larger reframing of boasting along the lines of Jeremiah's 'let him who boasts boast in this, that he knows the Lord.' Volume here is low; the motif crystallizes more clearly at v. 30. Marked contested.

Paul's 'boast about you in the assemblies of God' inverts Jeremiah's prohibition against boasting in wisdom, might, or wealth, redirecting glorying toward what God has wrought in the believers' faith. The motif of legitimate versus illegitimate boasting is a Pauline staple rooted in this oracle. Faint and contested here, since the object of boasting differs.