Yeremia 4:15-20
Konteks4:15 For messengers are coming, heralding disaster,
from the city of Dan and from the hills of Ephraim. 1
‘Announce to the surrounding nations, 3
“The enemy is coming!” 4
Proclaim this message 5 to Jerusalem:
“Those who besiege cities 6 are coming from a distant land.
They are ready to raise the battle cry against 7 the towns in Judah.”’
4:17 They will surround Jerusalem 8
like men guarding a field 9
because they have rebelled against me,”
says the Lord.
4:18 “The way you have lived and the things you have done 10
will bring this on you.
This is the punishment you deserve, and it will be painful indeed. 11
The pain will be so bad it will pierce your heart.” 12
“Oh, the feeling in the pit of my stomach! 14
I writhe in anguish.
Oh, the pain in my heart! 15
My heart pounds within me.
I cannot keep silent.
For I hear the sound of the trumpet; 16
the sound of the battle cry pierces my soul! 17
4:20 I see 18 one destruction after another taking place,
so that the whole land lies in ruins.
I see our 19 tents suddenly destroyed,
their 20 curtains torn down in a mere instant. 21
Yeremia 6:23-24
Konteks6:23 Its soldiers are armed with bows and spears.
They are cruel and show no mercy.
They sound like the roaring sea
as they ride forth on their horses.
Lined up in formation like men going into battle
to attack you, Daughter Zion.’” 22
6:24 The people cry out, 23 “We have heard reports about them!
We have become helpless with fear! 24
Anguish grips us,
agony like that of a woman giving birth to a baby!
Yeremia 8:19
Konteks8:19 I hear my dear people 25 crying out 26
throughout the length and breadth of the land. 27
They are crying, ‘Is the Lord no longer in Zion?
Is her divine King 28 no longer there?’”
The Lord answers, 29
“Why then do they provoke me to anger with their images,
with their worthless foreign idols?” 30
Yeremia 9:19
Konteks9:19 For the sound of wailing is soon to be heard in Zion.
They will wail, 31 ‘We are utterly ruined! 32 We are completely disgraced!
For our houses have been torn down
and we must leave our land.’” 33
Yeremia 25:36
Konteks25:36 Listen to the cries of anguish of the leaders.
Listen to the wails of the shepherds of the flocks.
They are wailing because the Lord
is about to destroy their lands. 34
Yeremia 31:15-16
Konteks31:15 The Lord says,
“A sound is heard in Ramah, 35
a sound of crying in bitter grief.
It is the sound of Rachel weeping for her children
and refusing to be comforted, because her children are gone.” 36
31:16 The Lord says to her, 37
“Stop crying! Do not shed any more tears! 38
For your heartfelt repentance 39 will be rewarded.
Your children will return from the land of the enemy.
I, the Lord, affirm it! 40
Yesaya 5:30
Konteks5:30 At that time 41 they will growl over their prey, 42
it will sound like sea waves crashing against rocks. 43
One will look out over the land and see the darkness of disaster,
clouds will turn the light into darkness. 44
Yesaya 59:11
Konteks59:11 We all growl like bears,
we coo mournfully like doves;
we wait for deliverance, 45 but there is none,
for salvation, but it is far from us.
Amos 5:16-18
Konteks5:16 Because of Israel’s sins 46 this is what the Lord, the God who commands armies, the sovereign One, 47 says:
“In all the squares there will be wailing,
in all the streets they will mourn the dead. 48
They will tell the field workers 49 to lament
and the professional mourners 50 to wail.
5:17 In all the vineyards there will be wailing,
for I will pass through 51 your midst,” says the Lord.
5:18 Woe 52 to those who wish for the day of the Lord!
Why do you want the Lord’s day of judgment to come?
It will bring darkness, not light.
Amos 8:10
Konteks8:10 I will turn your festivals into funerals, 53
and all your songs into funeral dirges.
I will make everyone wear funeral clothes 54
and cause every head to be shaved bald. 55
I will make you mourn as if you had lost your only son; 56
when it ends it will indeed have been a bitter day. 57
Zefanya 1:10-11
Konteks1:10 On that day,” says the Lord,
“a loud cry will go up 58 from the Fish Gate, 59
wailing from the city’s newer district, 60
and a loud crash 61 from the hills.
1:11 Wail, you who live in the market district, 62
for all the merchants 63 will disappear 64
and those who count money 65 will be removed. 66
Lukas 19:41-44
Konteks19:41 Now 67 when Jesus 68 approached 69 and saw the city, he wept over it, 19:42 saying, “If you had only known on this day, 70 even you, the things that make for peace! 71 But now they are hidden 72 from your eyes. 19:43 For the days will come upon you when your enemies will build 73 an embankment 74 against you and surround you and close in on you from every side. 19:44 They will demolish you 75 – you and your children within your walls 76 – and they will not leave within you one stone 77 on top of another, 78 because you did not recognize the time of your visitation from God.” 79
Lukas 21:25-26
Konteks21:25 “And there will be signs in the sun and moon and stars, 80 and on the earth nations will be in distress, 81 anxious 82 over the roaring of the sea and the surging waves. 21:26 People will be fainting from fear 83 and from the expectation of what is coming on the world, for the powers of the heavens will be shaken. 84
Lukas 23:29-30
Konteks23:29 For this is certain: 85 The days are coming when they will say, ‘Blessed are the barren, the wombs that never bore children, and the breasts that never nursed!’ 86 23:30 Then they will begin to say to the mountains, 87 ‘Fall on us!’ and to the hills, ‘Cover us!’ 88
[4:15] 1 tn Heb “For a voice declaring from Dan and making heard disaster from the hills of Ephraim.”
[4:16] 2 tn The words “They are saying” are not in the text but are implicit in the connection and are supplied in the translation for clarification.
[4:16] 3 tn The word “surrounding” is not in the text but is implicit and is supplied in the translation for clarification.
[4:16] 4 tc Or “Here they come!” Heb “Look!” or “Behold!” Or “Announce to the surrounding nations, indeed [or yes] proclaim to Jerusalem, ‘Besiegers…’” The text is very elliptical here. Some of the modern English versions appear to be emending the text from הִנֵּה (hinneh, “behold”) to either הֵנָּה (hennah, “these things”; so NEB), or הַזֶּה (hazzeh, “this”; so NIV). The solution proposed here is as old as the LXX which reads, “Behold, they have come.”
[4:16] 5 tn The words, “this message,” are not in the text but are supplied in the translation to make the introduction of the quote easier.
[4:16] 6 tn Heb “Besiegers.” For the use of this verb to refer to besieging a city compare Isa 1:8.
[4:16] 7 tn Heb “They have raised their voices against.” The verb here, a vav (ו) consecutive with an imperfect, continues the nuance of the preceding participle “are coming.”
[4:17] 8 tn Heb “will surround her.” The antecedent is Jerusalem in the preceding verse. The referent is again made explicit in the translation to avoid any possible lack of clarity. The verb form here is a form of the verb that emphasizes the fact as being as good as done (i.e., it is a prophetic perfect).
[4:17] 9 sn There is some irony involved in the choice of the simile since the men guarding a field were there to keep thieves from getting in and stealing the crops. Here the besiegers are guarding the city to keep people from getting out.
[4:18] 10 tn Heb “Your way and your deeds.”
[4:18] 11 tn Heb “How bitter!”
[4:18] 12 tn Heb “Indeed, it reaches to your heart.” The subject must be the pain alluded to in the last half of the preceding line; the verb is masculine, agreeing with the adjective translated “painful.” The only other possible antecedent “punishment” is feminine.
[4:19] 13 tn The words “I said” are not in the text. They are used to mark the shift from the
[4:19] 14 tn Heb “My bowels! My bowels!”
[4:19] 15 tn Heb “the walls of my heart!”
[4:19] 16 tn Heb “ram’s horn,” but the modern equivalent is “trumpet” and is more readily understandable.
[4:19] 17 tc The translation reflects a different division of the last two lines than that suggested by the Masoretes. The written text (the Kethib) reads “for the sound of the ram’s horn I have heard [or “you have heard,” if the form is understood as the old second feminine singular perfect] my soul” followed by “the battle cry” in the last line. The translation is based on taking “my soul” with the last line and understanding an elliptical expression “the battle cry [to] my soul.” Such an elliptical expression is in keeping with the elliptical nature of the exclamations at the beginning of the verse (cf. the literal translations of the first two lines of the verse in the notes on the words “stomach” and “heart”).
[4:20] 18 tn The words, “I see” are not in the text here or at the beginning of the third line. They are supplied in the translation to show that this is Jeremiah’s vision of what will happen as a result of the invasion announced in 4:5-9, 11-17a.
[4:20] 19 tn Heb “my.” This is probably not a reference to Jeremiah’s own tents since he foresees the destruction of the whole land. Jeremiah so identifies with the plight of his people that he sees the destruction of their tents as though they were his very own. It would probably lead to confusion to translate literally and it is not uncommon in Hebrew laments for the community or its representative to speak of the community as an “I.” See for example the interchange between first singular and first plural pronouns in Ps 44:4-8.
[4:20] 21 tn It is not altogether clear what Jeremiah intends by the use of this metaphor. In all likelihood he means that the defenses of Israel’s cities and towns have offered no more resistance than nomads’ tents. However, in light of the fact that the word “tent” came to be used generically for a person’s home (cf. 1 Kgs 8:66; 12:16), it is possible that Jeremiah is here referring to the destruction of their homes and the resultant feeling of homelessness and loss of even elementary protection. Given the lack of certainty the present translation is rather literal here.
[6:23] 22 sn Jerualem is personified as a young maiden helpless before enemy attackers.
[6:24] 23 tn These words are not in the text, but, from the context, someone other than God is speaking and is speaking for and to the people (either Jeremiah or the people themselves). These words are supplied in the translation for clarity.
[6:24] 24 tn Or “We have lost our strength to do battle”; Heb “Our hands hang limp [or helpless at our sides].” According to BDB 951 s.v. רָפָה Qal.2, this idiom is used figuratively for losing heart or energy. The best example of its figurative use of loss of strength or the feeling of helplessness is in Ezek 21:12 where it appears in the context of the heart (courage) melting, the spirit sinking, and the knees becoming like water. For other examples compare 2 Sam 4:1; Zeph 3:16. In Neh 6:9 it is used literally of the builders “dropping their hands from the work” out of fear. The words “with fear” are supplied in the translation because they are implicit in the context.
[8:19] 25 tn Heb “daughter of my people.” For the translation given here see 4:11 and the note on the phrase “dear people” there.
[8:19] 26 tn Heb “Behold the voice of the crying of the daughter of my people.”
[8:19] 27 tn Heb “Land of distances, i.e., of wide extent.” For parallel usage cf. Isa 33:17.
[8:19] 28 tn Heb “her King” but this might be misunderstood by some to refer to the Davidic ruler even with the capitalization.
[8:19] 29 tn The words, “The
[8:19] 30 sn The people’s cry and the
[9:19] 31 tn The words “They will wail” are not in the text. They are supplied in the translation to make clear that this is the wailing that will be heard.
[9:19] sn The destruction is still in the future, but it is presented graphically as though it had already taken place.
[9:19] 32 tn Heb “How we are ruined!”
[9:19] 33 tn The order of these two lines has been reversed for English stylistic reasons. The text reads in Hebrew “because we have left our land because they have thrown down our dwellings.” The two clauses offer parallel reasons for the cries “How ruined we are! [How] we are greatly disgraced!” But the first line must contain a prophetic perfect (because the lament comes from Jerusalem) and the second a perfect referring to a destruction that is itself future. This seems the only way to render the verse that would not be misleading.
[25:36] 34 tn Heb “their pastures,” i.e., the place where they “shepherd” their “flocks.” The verb tenses in this section are not as clear as in the preceding. The participle in this verse is followed by a vav consecutive perfect like the imperatives in v. 34. The verbs in v. 38 are perfects but they can be and probably should be understood as prophetic like the perfect in v. 31 (נְתָנָם, nÿtanam) which is surrounded by imperfects, participles, and vav consecutive perfects.
[25:36] sn Jer 25:36-38 shifts to the future as though the action were already accomplished or going on. It is the sound that Jeremiah hears in his “prophetic ears” of something that has begun (v. 29) but will find its culmination in the future (vv. 13, 16, 27, 30-35).
[31:15] 35 sn Ramah is a town in Benjamin approximately five miles (8 km) north of Jerusalem. It was on the road between Bethel and Bethlehem. Traditionally, Rachel’s tomb was located near there at a place called Zelzah (1 Sam 10:2). Rachel was the mother of Joseph and Benjamin and was very concerned about having children because she was barren (Gen 30:1-2) and went to great lengths to have them (Gen 30:3, 14-15, 22-24). She was the grandmother of Ephraim and Manasseh which were two of the major tribes in northern Israel. Here Rachel is viewed metaphorically as weeping for her “children,” the descendants of Ephraim and Manasseh, who had been carried away into captivity in 722
[31:15] 36 tn Or “gone into exile” (cf. v. 16), though some English versions take this as meaning “dead” (e.g., NCV, CEV, NLT), presumably in light of Matt 2:18.
[31:16] 37 tn The words “to her” are not in the text but are implicit from the context. They are supplied in the translation for clarity.
[31:16] 38 tn Heb “Refrain your voice from crying and your eyes from tears.”
[31:16] 39 tn Heb “your work.” Contextually her “work” refers to her weeping and refusing to be comforted, that is, signs of genuine repentance (v. 15).
[31:16] 40 tn Heb “Oracle of the
[5:30] 41 tn Or “in that day” (KJV).
[5:30] 42 tn Heb “over it”; the referent (the prey) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[5:30] 43 tn Heb “like the growling of the sea.”
[5:30] 44 tn Heb “and one will gaze toward the land, and look, darkness of distress, and light will grow dark by its [the land’s?] clouds.”
[5:30] sn The motif of light turning to darkness is ironic when compared to v. 20. There the sinners turn light (= moral/ethical good) to darkness (= moral/ethical evil). Now ironically the Lord will turn light (= the sinners’ sphere of existence and life) into darkness (= the judgment and death).
[59:11] 45 tn See the note at v. 9.
[5:16] 46 tn Heb “Therefore.” This logical connector relates back to the accusation of vv. 10-13, not to the parenthetical call to repentance in vv. 14-15. To indicate this clearly, the phrase “Because of Israel’s sins” is used in the translation.
[5:16] 47 tn Or “the Lord.” The Hebrew term translated “sovereign One” here is אֲדֹנָי (’adonay).
[5:16] 48 tn Heb “they will say, ‘Ah! Ah!’” The Hebrew term הוֹ (ho, “ah, woe”) is an alternate form of הוֹי (hoy), a word used to mourn the dead and express outwardly one’s sorrow. See 1 Kgs 13:30; Jer 22:18; 34:5. This wordplay follows quickly, as v. 18 begins with הוֹי (“woe”).
[5:16] 49 tn Or “farmers” (NIV, NCV, NRSV, TEV, CEV, NLT).
[5:16] 50 tn Heb “those who know lamentation.”
[5:16] sn Professional mourners are referred to elsewhere in the OT (2 Chr 35:25; Jer 9:17) and ancient Near Eastern literature. See S. M. Paul, Amos (Hermeneia), 180.
[5:17] 51 sn The expression pass through your midst alludes to Exod 12:12, where the
[5:18] 52 tn The term הוֹי (hoy, “woe”) was used when mourning the dead (see the note on the word “dead” in 5:16). The prophet here either engages in role playing and mourns the death of the nation in advance or sarcastically taunts those who hold to this misplaced belief.
[8:10] 54 tn Heb “I will place sackcloth on all waists.”
[8:10] sn Mourners wore sackcloth (funeral clothes) as an outward expression of grief.
[8:10] 55 tn Heb “and make every head bald.” This could be understood in a variety of ways, while the ritual act of mourning typically involved shaving the head (although occasionally the hair could be torn out as a sign of mourning).
[8:10] sn Shaving the head or tearing out one’s hair was a ritual act of mourning. See Lev 21:5; Deut 14:1; Isa 3:24; 15:2; Jer 47:5; 48:37; Ezek 7:18; 27:31; Mic 1:16.
[8:10] 56 tn Heb “I will make it like the mourning for an only son.”
[8:10] 57 tn Heb “and its end will be like a bitter day.” The Hebrew preposition כְּ (kaf) sometimes carries the force of “in every respect,” indicating identity rather than mere comparison.
[1:10] 58 tn The words “will go up” are supplied in the translation for clarification.
[1:10] 59 sn The Fish Gate was located on Jerusalem’s north side (cf. 2 Chr 33:14; Neh 3:3; 12:39).
[1:10] 60 tn Heb “from the second area.” This may refer to an area northwest of the temple where the rich lived (see Adele Berlin, Zephaniah [AB 25A], 86; cf. NASB, NRSV “the Second Quarter”; NIV “the New Quarter”).
[1:10] 61 tn Heb “great breaking.”
[1:11] 62 tn Heb “in the Mortar.” The Hebrew term מַכְתֵּשׁ (makhtesh, “mortar”) is apparently here the name of a low-lying area where economic activity took place.
[1:11] 63 tn Or perhaps “Canaanites.” Cf. BDB 489 s.v. I and II כְּנַעֲנִי. Translators have rendered the term either as “the merchant people” (KJV, NKJV), “the traders” (NRSV), “merchants” (NEB, NIV), or, alternatively, “the people of Canaan” (NASB).
[1:11] 64 tn Or “be destroyed.”
[1:11] 65 tn Heb “weigh out silver.”
[1:11] 66 tn Heb “be cut off.” In the Hebrew text of v. 11b the perfect verbal forms emphasize the certainty of the judgment, speaking of it as if it were already accomplished.
[19:41] 67 tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “now” to indicate the transition to a new topic.
[19:41] 69 sn When Jesus approached and saw the city. This is the last travel note in Luke’s account (the so-called Jerusalem journey), as Jesus approached and saw the city before entering it.
[19:42] 70 sn On this day. They had missed the time of Messiah’s coming; see v. 44.
[19:42] 71 tn Grk “the things toward peace.” This expression seems to mean “the things that would ‘lead to,’ ‘bring about,’ or ‘make for’ peace.”
[19:42] 72 sn But now they are hidden from your eyes. This becomes an oracle of doom in the classic OT sense; see Luke 13:31-35; 11:49-51; Jer 9:2; 13:7; 14:7. They are now blind and under judgment (Jer 15:5; Ps 122:6).
[19:43] 73 sn Jesus now predicted the events that would be fulfilled in the fall of Jerusalem in
[19:43] 74 sn An embankment refers to either wooden barricades or earthworks, or a combination of the two.
[19:44] 75 tn Grk “They will raze you to the ground.”
[19:44] sn The singular pronoun you refers to the city of Jerusalem personified.
[19:44] 76 tn Grk “your children within you.” The phrase “[your] walls” has been supplied in the translation to clarify that the city of Jerusalem, metaphorically pictured as an individual, is spoken of here.
[19:44] 77 sn (Not) one stone on top of another is an idiom for total destruction.
[19:44] 78 tn Grk “leave stone on stone.”
[19:44] 79 tn Grk “the time of your visitation.” To clarify what this refers to, the words “from God” are supplied at the end of the verse, although they do not occur in the Greek text.
[19:44] sn You did not recognize the time of your visitation refers to the time God came to visit them. They had missed the Messiah; see Luke 1:68-79.
[21:25] 80 sn Signs in the sun and moon and stars are cosmic signs that turn our attention to the end and the Son of Man’s return for the righteous. OT imagery is present: See Isa 13:9-10; 24:18-20; 34:4; Ezek 32:7-8; Joel 2:1, 30-31; 3:15.
[21:25] 81 tn Grk “distress of nations.”
[21:25] 82 tn Or “in consternation” (L&N 32.9).
[21:26] 83 tn According to L&N 23.184 this could be mainly a psychological experience rather than actual loss of consciousness. It could also refer to complete discouragement because of fear, leading people to give up hope (L&N 25.293).
[21:26] 84 sn An allusion to Isa 34:4. The heavens were seen as the abode of heavenly forces, so their shaking indicates distress in the spiritual realm. Although some take the powers as a reference to bodies in the heavens (like stars and planets, “the heavenly bodies,” NIV) this is not as likely.
[23:29] 85 tn Grk “For behold.”
[23:29] 86 tn Grk “Blessed are the barren, and the wombs that have not borne, and the breasts that have not nursed!”
[23:29] sn Normally barrenness is a sign of judgment, because birth would be seen as a sign of blessing. The reversal of imagery indicates that something was badly wrong.
[23:30] 87 sn The figure of crying out to the mountains ‘Fall on us!’ (appealing to creation itself to hide them from God’s wrath), means that a time will come when people will feel they are better off dead (Hos 10:8).
