status. A story of resistance can have greater potential impact on those who lived through this time. From a post-fall perspective such a portrayal of individuals and their stories would also make clear that there are no innocents among the exiles. A few persons are lifted up and given a positive stature (e.g., 26:24; 38:7–13), perhaps to show that the people were not somehow fated to speak and act as they did and to suggest that there is a faithful remnant upon which a new community can be built.