Yeremia 27:6

27:6 I have at this time placed all these nations of yours under the power ¹  of my servant, ²  King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon. I have even made all the wild animals subject to him. ³ 

Yeremia 40:2

40:2 The captain of the royal guard took Jeremiah aside and said to him, “The Lord your God threatened this place with this disaster.

Yeremia 43:10

43:10 Then tell them, ⁴  ‘The Lord God of Israel who rules over all ⁵  says, “I will bring ⁶  my servant ⁷  King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon. I will set his throne over these stones which I ⁸  have buried. He will pitch his royal tent ⁹  over them.

[27:6]  ¹ tn Heb “have given…into the hand of.”

[27:6]  ² sn See the study note on 25:9 for the significance of the application of this term to Nebuchadnezzar.

[27:6]  ³ 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.

[43:10]  ⁴ sn This is another of those symbolic prophecies of Jeremiah which involved an action and an explanation. Compare Jer 19, 27.

[43:10]  ⁵ tn Heb “Yahweh of armies, the God of Israel.” Compare 7:3 and see the study note on 2:19 for explanation of the translation and significance of this title.

[43:10]  ⁶ tn Heb “send and take/fetch.”

[43:10]  ⁷ sn See the study note on Jer 25:9 for the use of this epithet for foreign rulers. The term emphasizes God’s sovereignty over history.

[43:10]  ⁸ tn The Greek version reads the verbs in this sentence as third person, “he will set,” and second person, “you have buried.” This fits the context better but it is difficult to explain how the Hebrew could have arisen from this smoother reading. The figure of substitution (metonymy of cause for effect) is probably involved: “I will have him set” and “I have had you bury.” The effect of these substitutions is to emphasize the sovereignty of God.

[43:10]  ⁹ tn The meaning of this word is uncertain. The word here (שַׁפְרִירוֹ [shafriro] Qere, שַׁפְרוּרוֹ [shafruro] Kethib) occurs only here in the Hebrew Bible. According to the lexicons it refers to either the carpet for his throne or the canopy over it. See, e.g., HALOT 1510 s.v. שַׁפְרִיר.