Yeremia 22:23

22:23 You may feel as secure as a bird

nesting in the cedars of Lebanon.

But oh how you ¹  will groan ²  when the pains of judgment come on you.

They will be like those of a woman giving birth to a baby. ³ 

Yeremia 27:11

27:11 Things will go better for the nation that submits to the yoke of servitude to ⁴  the king of Babylon and is subject to him. I will leave that nation ⁵  in its native land. Its people can continue to farm it and live in it. I, the Lord, affirm it!”’” ⁶ 

Yeremia 30:18

The Lord Will Restore Israel and Judah

30:18 The Lord says,

“I will restore the ruined houses of the descendants of Jacob.

I will show compassion on their ruined homes. ⁷ 

Every city will be rebuilt on its former ruins. ⁸ 

Every fortified dwelling will occupy its traditional site. ⁹ 

Yeremia 49:31

49:31 The Lord says, ¹⁰  “Army of Babylon, ¹¹  go and attack

a nation that lives in peace and security.

They have no gates or walls to protect them. ¹² 

They live all alone.

Yeremia 50:13

50:13 After I vent my wrath on it Babylon will be uninhabited. ¹³ 

It will be totally desolate.

All who pass by will be filled with horror and will hiss out their scorn

because of all the disasters that have happened to it. ¹⁴ 

[22:23]  ¹ tn Heb “You who dwell in Lebanon, you who are nested in its cedars, how you….” The metaphor has been interpreted for the sake of clarity. The figure here has often been interpreted of the people of Jerusalem living in paneled houses or living in a city dominated by the temple and palace which were built from the cedars of Lebanon. Some even interpret this as a reference to the king who has been characterized as living in a cedar palace, in a veritable Lebanon (cf. vv. 6-7, 14 and see also the alternate interpretation of 21:13-14). However, the reference to “nesting in the cedars” and the earlier reference to “feeling secure” suggests that the figure is rather like that of Ezek 31:6 and Dan 4:12. See also Hab 2:9 where a related figure is used. The forms for “you who dwell” and “you who are nested” in the literal translation are feminine singular participles referring again to personified Jerusalem. (The written forms of these participles are to be explained as participles with a hireq campaginis according to GKC 253 §90.m. The use of the participle before the preposition is to be explained according to GKC 421 §130.a.)

[22:23]  ² tn The verb here should be identified as a Niphal perfect of the verb אָנַח (’anakh) with the א (aleph) left out (so BDB 336 s.v. חָנַן Niph and GKC 80 §23.f, n. 1). The form is already translated that way by the Greek, Latin, and Syriac versions.

[22:23]  ³ sn This simile has already been used in Jer 4:31; 6:24 in conjunction with Zion/Jerusalem’s judgment.

[27:11]  ⁴ tn Heb “put their necks in the yoke of.” See the study note on v. 2 for the figure.

[27:11]  ⁵ tn The words “Things will go better for” are not in the text. They are supplied contextually as a means of breaking up the awkward syntax of the original which reads “The nation which brings its neck under the yoke of the king of Babylon and subjects itself to him, I will leave it…”

[27:11]  ⁶ tn Heb “oracle of the Lord.”

[30:18]  ⁷ tn Heb “I will restore the fortunes of the tents of Jacob and will have compassion on his habitations.” For the meaning of the idiom “restore the fortunes of” see the translator’s note on 29:14. The “tents of Jacob” refers to their homes or houses (see BDB 14 s.v. אֹהֶל 2 and compare usage in Judg 19:9; Mal 2:12). The word “ruined” has been supplied in the translation to show more clearly the idea of restoration of their houses on their former sites in conformity to the concepts in the latter half of the verse.

[30:18]  ⁸ sn Heb “on its tel.” A tel is a site where successive layers of occupation are built upon one another after the destruction or decay of the former city. The original site was not abandoned because it had been chosen for strategic purposes, such as proximity to water or ease of defense. Many modern archaeological sites have the designation “Tel” as a component of their name because of this practice.

[30:18]  ⁹ tn Heb “according to its custom [or plan].” Cf. BDB 1049 s.v. מִשְׁפָּט 6.d and compare usage in 1 Sam 27:11.

[49:31]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “Oracle of the Lord.”

[49:31]  ¹¹ tn The words “Army of Babylon” are not in the text but are implicit from the context. They are supplied in the translation for clarity.

[49:31]  ¹² tn Heb “no gates and no bar,” i.e., “that lives securely without gates or bars.” The phrase is used by the figure of species for genus (synecdoche) to refer to the fact that they have no defenses, i.e., no walls, gates, or bars on the gates. The figure has been interpreted in the translation for the benefit of the average reader.

[50:13]  ¹³ tn Heb “From [or Because of] the wrath of the Lord it will be uninhabited.” The causal connection is spelled out more clearly and actively and the first person has been used because the speaker is the Lord. The referent “it” has been spelled out clearly from the later occurrence in the verse, “all who pass by Babylon.”

[50:13]  ¹⁴ sn Compare Jer 49:17 and the study note there and see also the study notes on 18:16 and 19:8.