Yeremia 25:17-26

25:17 So I took the cup from the Lord’s hand. I made all the nations to whom he sent me drink the wine of his wrath. ¹  25:18 I made Jerusalem ²  and the cities of Judah, its kings and its officials drink it. ³  I did it so Judah would become a ruin. I did it so Judah, its kings, and its officials would become an object ⁴  of horror and of hissing scorn, an example used in curses. ⁵  Such is already becoming the case! ⁶  25:19 I made all of these other people drink it: Pharaoh, king of Egypt; ⁷  his attendants, his officials, his people, 25:20 the foreigners living in Egypt; ⁸  all the kings of the land of Uz; ⁹  all the kings of the land of the Philistines, ¹⁰  the people of Ashkelon, Gaza, Ekron, the people who had been left alive from Ashdod; ¹¹  25:21 all the people of Edom, ¹²  Moab, ¹³  Ammon; ¹⁴  25:22 all the kings of Tyre, ¹⁵  all the kings of Sidon; ¹⁶  all the kings of the coastlands along the sea; ¹⁷  25:23 the people of Dedan, Tema, Buz, ¹⁸  all the desert people who cut their hair short at the temples; ¹⁹  25:24 all the kings of Arabia who ²⁰  live in the desert; 25:25 all the kings of Zimri; ²¹  all the kings of Elam; ²²  all the kings of Media; ²³  25:26 all the kings of the north, whether near or far from one another; and all the other kingdoms which are on the face of the earth. After all of them have drunk the wine of the Lord’s wrath, ²⁴  the king of Babylon ²⁵  must drink it.

Yeremia 27:3-8

27:3 Use it to send messages to the kings of Edom, Moab, Ammon, Tyre, ²⁶  and Sidon. ²⁷  Send them through ²⁸  the envoys who have come to Jerusalem ²⁹  to King Zedekiah of Judah. 27:4 Charge them to give their masters a message from me. Tell them, ‘The Lord God of Israel who rules over all ³⁰  says to give your masters this message. ³¹  27:5 “I made the earth and the people and animals on it by my mighty power and great strength, ³²  and I give it to whomever I see fit. ³³  27:6 I have at this time placed all these nations of yours under the power ³⁴  of my servant, ³⁵  King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon. I have even made all the wild animals subject to him. ³⁶  27:7 All nations must serve him and his son and grandson ³⁷  until the time comes for his own nation to fall. ³⁸  Then many nations and great kings will in turn subjugate Babylon. ³⁹  27:8 But suppose a nation or a kingdom will not be subject to King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon. Suppose it will not submit to the yoke of servitude to ⁴⁰  him. I, the Lord, affirm that ⁴¹  I will punish that nation. I will use the king of Babylon to punish it ⁴²  with war, ⁴³  starvation, and disease until I have destroyed it. ⁴⁴ 

[25:17]  ¹ tn The words “the wine of his wrath” are not in the text but are implicit in the metaphor (see vv. 15-16). They are supplied in the translation for clarity.

[25:18]  ² map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.

[25:18]  ³ tn The words “I made” and “drink it” are not in the text. The text from v. 18 to v. 26 contains a list of the nations that Jeremiah “made drink it.” The words are supplied in the translation here and at the beginning of v. 19 for the sake of clarity. See also the note on v. 26.

[25:18]  ⁴ tn Heb “in order to make them a ruin, an object of…” The sentence is broken up and the antecedents are made specific for the sake of clarity and English style.

[25:18]  ⁵ tn See the study note on 24:9 for explanation.

[25:18]  ⁶ tn Heb “as it is today.” This phrase would obviously be more appropriate after all these things had happened as is the case in 44:6, 23 where the verbs referring to these conditions are past. Some see this phrase as a marginal gloss added after the tragedies of 597 b.c. or 586 b.c. However, it may refer here to the beginning stages where Judah has already suffered the loss of Josiah, of its freedom, of some of its temple treasures, and of some of its leaders (Dan 1:1-3. The different date for Jehoiakim there is due to the different method of counting the king’s first year; the third year there is the same as the fourth year in 25:1).

[25:19]  ⁷ sn See further Jer 46:2-28 for the judgment against Egypt.

[25:20]  ⁸ tn The meaning of this term and its connection with the preceding is somewhat uncertain. This word is used of the mixture of foreign people who accompanied Israel out of Egypt (Exod 12:38) and of the foreigners that the Israelites were to separate out of their midst in the time of Nehemiah (Neh 13:3). Most commentators interpret it here of the foreign people who were living in Egypt. (See BDB 786 s.v. I עֶרֶב and KBL 733 s.v. II עֶרֶב.)

[25:20]  ⁹ sn The land of Uz was Job’s homeland (Job 1:1). The exact location is unknown but its position here between Egypt and the Philistine cities suggests it is south of Judah, probably in the Arabian peninsula. Lam 4:21 suggests that it was near Edom.

[25:20]  ¹⁰ sn See further Jer 47:1-7 for the judgment against the Philistines. The Philistine cities were west of Judah.

[25:20]  ¹¹ sn The Greek historian Herodotus reports that Ashdod had been destroyed under the Pharaoh who preceded Necho, Psammetichus.

[25:21]  ¹² sn See further Jer 49:7-22 for the judgment against Edom. Edom, Moab, and Ammon were east of Judah.

[25:21]  ¹³ sn See further Jer 48:1-47 for the judgment against Moab.

[25:21]  ¹⁴ sn See further Jer 49:1-6 for the judgment against Ammon.

[25:22]  ¹⁵ map For location see Map1 A2; Map2 G2; Map4 A1; JP3 F3; JP4 F3.

[25:22]  ¹⁶ sn Tyre and Sidon are mentioned within the judgment on the Philistines in Jer 47:4. They were Phoenician cities to the north and west of Judah on the coast of the Mediterranean Sea in what is now Lebanon.

[25:22]  map For location see Map1 A1; JP3 F3; JP4 F3.

[25:22]  ¹⁷ sn The connection with Tyre and Sidon suggests that these were Phoenician colonies. See also Isa 23:2.

[25:23]  ¹⁸ sn Dedan and Tema are mentioned together in Isa 21:13-14 and located in the desert. They were located in the northern part of the Arabian peninsula south and east of Ezion Geber. Buz is not mentioned anywhere else and its location is unknown. Judgment against Dedan and Tema is mentioned in conjunction with the judgment on Edom in Jer 47:7-8.

[25:23]  ¹⁹ tn For the discussion regarding the meaning of the terms here see the notes on 9:26.

[25:23]  sn See Jer 9:26 where these are mentioned in connection with Moab, Edom, and Ammon.

[25:24]  ²⁰ tc Or “and all the kings of people of mixed origin who.” The Greek version gives evidence of having read the term only once; it refers to the “people of mixed origin” without reference to the kings of Arabia. While the term translated “people of mixed origin” seems appropriate in the context of a group of foreigners within a larger entity (e.g. Israel in Exod 12:38; Neh 13:3; Egypt in Jer 50:37), it seems odd to speak of them as a separate entity under their own kings. The presence of the phrase in the Hebrew text and the other versions dependent upon it can be explained as a case of dittography.

[25:24]  sn See further Jer 49:28-33 for judgment against some of these Arabian peoples.

[25:25]  ²¹ sn The kingdom of Zimri is mentioned nowhere else, so its location is unknown.

[25:25]  ²² sn See further Jer 49:34-39 for judgment against Elam.

[25:25]  ²³ sn Elam and Media were east of Babylon; Elam in the south and Media in the north. They were in what is now western Iran.

[25:26]  ²⁴ tn The words “have drunk the wine of the Lord’s wrath” are not in the text. They are supplied in the translation for clarity at the end of the list to serve as a transition to the next sentence which does not directly mention the cup or the Lord’s wrath.

[25:26]  ²⁵ tn Heb “the king of Sheshach.” “Sheshach” is a code name for Babylon formed on the principle of substituting the last letter of the alphabet for the first, the next to the last for the second, and so on. On this principle Hebrew שׁ (shin) is substituted for Hebrew ב (bet) and Hebrew כ (kaf) is substituted for Hebrew ל (lamed). On the same principle “Leb Kamai” in Jer 51:1 is a code name for Chasdim or Chaldeans which is Jeremiah’s term for the Babylonians. No explanation is given for why the code names are used. The name “Sheshach” for Babylon also occurs in Jer 51:41 where the term Babylon is found in parallelism with it.

[27:3]  ²⁶ map For location see Map1 A2; Map2 G2; Map4 A1; JP3 F3; JP4 F3.

[27:3]  ²⁷ sn The nations of Edom, Moab, and Ammon were east of Judah. They were sometimes allies and sometimes enemies. The nations of Tyre and Sidon were on the sea coast north and west of Judah. They are best known for their maritime trade during the reign of Solomon. They were more commonly allies of Israel and Judah than enemies.

[27:3]  map For the location of Sidon see Map1 A1; JP3 F3; JP4 F3.

[27:3]  ²⁸ tn Heb “send by means of them” [i.e., the straps and crossbars made into a yoke] to…through.” The text is broken up in conformity with contemporary English style. Many English versions ignore the suffix on the end of “send” and find some support for this on the basis of its absence in the Lucianic Greek text. However, it is probably functioning metonymically here for the message which they see symbolized before them and is now explained clearly to them.

[27:3]  ²⁹ map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.

[27:4]  ³⁰ tn Heb “Yahweh of armies, the God of Israel.”

[27:4]  sn See study notes on 2:19 and 7:3 for the significance of this title.

[27:4]  ³¹ tn Heb “Give them a charge to their masters saying, ‘Thus says Yahweh of armies, the God of Israel, “Thus you shall say unto your masters…”’” The sentence is broken up in conformity with contemporary English style.

[27:5]  ³² tn Heb “by my great power and my outstretched arm.” Again “arm” is symbolical for “strength.” Compare the similar expression in 21:5.

[27:5]  ³³ sn See Dan 4:17 for a similar statement.

[27:6]  ³⁴ tn Heb “have given…into the hand of.”

[27:6]  ³⁵ sn See the study note on 25:9 for the significance of the application of this term to Nebuchadnezzar.

[27:6]  ³⁶ tn Heb “I have given…to him to serve him.” The verb “give” in this syntactical situation is functioning like the Hiphil stem, i.e., as a causative. See Dan 1:9 for parallel usage. For the usage of “serve” meaning “be subject to” compare 2 Sam 22:44 and BDB 713 s.v. עָבַד 3.

[27:6]  sn This statement is rhetorical, emphasizing the totality of Nebuchadnezzar’s dominion. Neither here nor in Dan 2:38 is it to be understood literally.

[27:7]  ³⁷ sn This is a figure that emphasizes that they will serve for a long time but not for an unlimited duration. The kingdom of Babylon lasted a relatively short time by ancient standards. It lasted from 605 b.c. when Nebuchadnezzar defeated Necho at Carchemish until the fall of Babylon in 538 b.c. There were only four rulers. Nebuchadnezzar was succeeded by his son, Evil Merodach (cf. 52:31), and two other rulers who were not descended from him.

[27:7]  ³⁸ tn Heb “until the time of his land, even his, comes.” The independent pronoun is placed here for emphasis on the possessive pronoun. The word “time” is used by substitution for the things that are done in it (compare in the NT John 2:4; 7:30; 8:20 “his hour had not yet come”).

[27:7]  sn See Jer 25:12-14, 16.

[27:7]  ³⁹ tn Heb “him.” This is a good example of the figure of substitution where the person is put for his descendants or the nation or subject he rules. (See Gen 28:13-14 for another good example and Acts 22:7 in the NT.)

[27:8]  ⁴⁰ tn Heb “put their necks in the yoke of.” See the study note on v. 2 for the figure.

[27:8]  ⁴¹ tn Heb “oracle of the Lord.”

[27:8]  ⁴² tn Heb “The nation and/or the kingdom which will not serve him, Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon, and which will not put its neck in the yoke of the king of Babylon, by sword, starvation, and disease I will punish [or more literally, “visit upon”] that nation, oracle of the Lord.” The long complex Hebrew sentence has been broken up in conformity with contemporary English style and the figures interpreted for the sake of clarity. The particle אֵת, the sign of the accusative, before “which will not put…” is a little unusual here. For its use to introduce a new topic (here a second relative clause) see BDB 85 s.v. אֵת 3.α.

[27:8]  ⁴³ tn Heb “with/by the sword.”

[27:8]  ⁴⁴ tc The verb translated “destroy” (תָּמַם, tamam) is usually intransitive in the stem of the verb used here. It is found in a transitive sense elsewhere only in Ps 64:7. BDB 1070 s.v. תָּמַם 7 emends both texts. In this case they recommend תִּתִּי (titi): “until I give them into his hand.” That reading is suggested by the texts of the Syriac and Targumic translations (see BHS fn c). The Greek translation supports reading the verb “destroy” but treats it as though it were intransitive “until they are destroyed by his hand” (reading תֻּמָּם [tummam]). The MT here is accepted as the more difficult reading and support is seen in the transitive use of the verb in Ps 64:7.

[27:8]  tn Heb “I will punish that nation until I have destroyed them [i.e., its people] by his hand.” “Hand” here refers to agency. Hence, “I will use him.”