2 Raja-raja 23:29

23:29 During Josiah’s reign Pharaoh Necho king of Egypt marched toward ¹  the Euphrates River to help the king of Assyria. King Josiah marched out to fight him, but Necho ²  killed him at Megiddo ³  when he saw him.

2 Raja-raja 23:33-34

23:33 Pharaoh Necho imprisoned him in Riblah in the land of Hamath and prevented him from ruling in Jerusalem. ⁴  He imposed on the land a special tax ⁵  of one hundred talents ⁶  of silver and a talent of gold. 23:34 Pharaoh Necho made Josiah’s son Eliakim king in Josiah’s place, and changed his name to Jehoiakim. He took Jehoahaz to Egypt, where he died. ⁷ 

2 Raja-raja 25:7

25:7 Zedekiah’s sons were executed while Zedekiah was forced to watch. ⁸  The king of Babylon ⁹  then had Zedekiah’s eyes put out, bound him in bronze chains, and carried him off to Babylon.

2 Raja-raja 25:18-21

25:18 The captain of the royal guard took Seraiah the chief priest and Zephaniah, the priest who was second in rank, and the three doorkeepers. 25:19 From the city he took a eunuch who was in charge of the soldiers, five ¹⁰  of the king’s advisers ¹¹  who were discovered in the city, an official army secretary who drafted citizens ¹²  for military service, and sixty citizens from the people of the land who were discovered in the city. 25:20 Nebuzaradan, captain of the royal guard, took them and brought them to the king of Babylon at Riblah. 25:21 The king of Babylon ordered them to be executed ¹³  at Riblah in the territory ¹⁴  of Hamath. So Judah was deported from its land.

2 Raja-raja 25:25-26

25:25 But in the seventh month ¹⁵  Ishmael son of Nethaniah, son of Elishama, who was a member of the royal family, ¹⁶  came with ten of his men and murdered Gedaliah, ¹⁷  as well as the Judeans and Babylonians who were with him at Mizpah. 25:26 Then all the people, from the youngest to the oldest, as well as the army officers, left for ¹⁸  Egypt, because they were afraid of what the Babylonians might do.

2 Raja-raja 25:2

25:2 The city remained under siege until King Zedekiah’s eleventh year.

2 Raja-raja 1:1

Elijah Confronts the King and His Commanders

1:1 After Ahab died, Moab rebelled against Israel. ¹⁹ 

Yeremia 8:1-3

8:1 The Lord says, “When that time comes, ²⁰  the bones of the kings of Judah and its leaders, the bones of the priests and prophets and of all the other people who lived in Jerusalem will be dug up from their graves. 8:2 They will be spread out and exposed to the sun, the moon and the stars. ²¹  These are things they ²²  adored and served, things to which they paid allegiance, ²³  from which they sought guidance, and worshiped. The bones of these people ²⁴  will never be regathered and reburied. They will be like manure used to fertilize the ground. ²⁵  8:3 However, I will leave some of these wicked people alive and banish them to other places. But wherever these people who survive may go, they will wish they had died rather than lived,” ²⁶  says the Lord who rules over all. ²⁷ 

Yeremia 22:18-19

22:18 So ²⁸  the Lord has this to say about Josiah’s son, King Jehoiakim of Judah:

People will not mourn for him, saying,

“This makes me sad, my brother!

This makes me sad, my sister!”

They will not mourn for him, saying,

“Poor, poor lord! Poor, poor majesty!” ²⁹ 

22:19 He will be left unburied just like a dead donkey.

His body will be dragged off and thrown outside the gates of Jerusalem.’” ³⁰ 

Yeremia 34:19-22

34:19 I will punish the leaders of Judah and Jerusalem, the court officials, ³¹  the priests, and all the other people of the land who passed between the pieces of the calf. ³²  34:20 I will hand them over to their enemies who want to kill them. Their dead bodies will become food for the birds and the wild animals. ³³  34:21 I will also hand King Zedekiah of Judah and his officials over to their enemies who want to kill them. I will hand them over to the army of the king of Babylon, even though they have temporarily withdrawn from attacking you. ³⁴  34:22 For I, the Lord, affirm that ³⁵  I will soon give the order and bring them back to this city. They will fight against it and capture it and burn it down. I will also make the towns of Judah desolate so that there will be no one living in them.”’”

Yeremia 39:1-18

39:1 King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon came against Jerusalem with his whole army and laid siege to it. The siege began in the tenth month of the ninth year that Zedekiah ruled over Judah. ³⁶  39:2 It lasted until the ninth day of the fourth month of Zedekiah’s eleventh year. ³⁷  On that day they broke through the city walls. 39:3 Then Nergal-Sharezer of Samgar, Nebo-Sarsekim, who was a chief officer, Nergal-Sharezer, who was a high official, ³⁸  and all the other officers of the king of Babylon came and set up quarters ³⁹  in the Middle Gate. ⁴⁰  39:4 When King Zedekiah of Judah and all his soldiers saw them, they tried to escape. They departed from the city during the night. They took a path through the king’s garden and passed out through the gate between the two walls. ⁴¹  Then they headed for the Jordan Valley. ⁴²  39:5 But the Babylonian ⁴³  army chased after them. They caught up with Zedekiah in the plains of Jericho ⁴⁴  and captured him. ⁴⁵  They took him to King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon at Riblah ⁴⁶  in the territory of Hamath and Nebuchadnezzar passed sentence on him there. 39:6 There at Riblah the king of Babylon had Zedekiah’s sons put to death while Zedekiah was forced to watch. The king of Babylon also had all the nobles of Judah put to death. 39:7 Then he had Zedekiah’s eyes put out and had him bound in chains ⁴⁷  to be led off to Babylon. 39:8 The Babylonians ⁴⁸  burned down the royal palace, the temple of the Lord, and the people’s homes, ⁴⁹  and they tore down the wall of Jerusalem. ⁵⁰  39:9 Then Nebuzaradan, the captain of the royal guard, ⁵¹  took captive the rest of the people who were left in the city. He carried them off to Babylon along with the people who had deserted to him. ⁵²  39:10 But he ⁵³  left behind in the land of Judah some of the poor people who owned nothing. He gave them fields and vineyards at that time.

39:11 Now King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon had issued orders concerning Jeremiah. He had passed them on through Nebuzaradan, the captain of his royal guard, ⁵⁴  39:12 “Find Jeremiah ⁵⁵  and look out for him. ⁵⁶  Do not do anything to harm him, ⁵⁷  but do with him whatever he tells you.” 39:13 So Nebuzaradan, the captain of the royal guard, Nebushazban, who was a chief officer, Nergal-Sharezer, who was a high official, ⁵⁸  and all the other officers of the king of Babylon 39:14 sent and had Jeremiah brought from the courtyard of the guardhouse. They turned him over to Gedaliah, ⁵⁹  the son of Ahikam and the grandson of Shaphan, to take him home with him. ⁶⁰  But Jeremiah stayed among the people. ⁶¹ 

Ebed Melech Is Promised Deliverance because of His Faith

39:15 ⁶² Now the Lord had spoken to Jeremiah while he was still confined in the courtyard of the guardhouse, ⁶³  39:16 “Go ⁶⁴  and tell Ebed-Melech the Ethiopian, ‘The Lord God of Israel who rules over all says, “I will carry out against this city what I promised. It will mean disaster and not good fortune for it. ⁶⁵  When that disaster happens, you will be there to see it. ⁶⁶  39:17 But I will rescue you when it happens. ⁶⁷  I, the Lord, affirm it! ⁶⁸  You will not be handed over to those whom you fear. ⁶⁹  39:18 I will certainly save you. You will not fall victim to violence. ⁷⁰  You will escape with your life ⁷¹  because you trust in me. I, the Lord, affirm it!”’” ⁷² 

Yeremia 52:1-34

The Fall of Jerusalem

52:1 ⁷³ Zedekiah was twenty-one years old when he became king, and he ruled in Jerusalem ⁷⁴  for eleven years. His mother’s name was Hamutal ⁷⁵  daughter of Jeremiah, from Libnah. 52:2 He did what displeased the Lord ⁷⁶  just as Jehoiakim had done.

52:3 What follows is a record of what happened to Jerusalem and Judah because of the Lord’s anger when he drove them out of his sight. ⁷⁷  Zedekiah rebelled against the king of Babylon. 52:4 King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon came against Jerusalem with his whole army and set up camp outside it. ⁷⁸  They built siege ramps all around it. He arrived on the tenth day of the tenth month in the ninth year that Zedekiah ruled over Judah. ⁷⁹  52:5 The city remained under siege until Zedekiah’s eleventh year. 52:6 By the ninth day of the fourth month ⁸⁰  the famine in the city was so severe the residents ⁸¹  had no food. 52:7 They broke through the city walls, and all the soldiers tried to escape. They left the city during the night. They went through the gate between the two walls that is near the king’s garden. ⁸²  (The Babylonians had the city surrounded.) Then they headed for the Jordan Valley. ⁸³  52:8 But the Babylonian army chased after the king. They caught up with Zedekiah in the plains of Jericho, ⁸⁴  and his entire army deserted him. 52:9 They captured him and brought him up to the king of Babylon at Riblah ⁸⁵  in the territory of Hamath and he passed sentence on him there. 52:10 The king of Babylon had Zedekiah’s sons put to death while Zedekiah was forced to watch. He also had all the nobles of Judah put to death there at Riblah. 52:11 He had Zedekiah’s eyes put out and had him bound in chains. ⁸⁶  Then the king of Babylon had him led off to Babylon and he was imprisoned there until the day he died.

52:12 On the tenth ⁸⁷  day of the fifth month, ⁸⁸  in the nineteenth year of King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon, Nebuzaradan, the captain of the royal guard ⁸⁹  who served ⁹⁰  the king of Babylon, arrived in Jerusalem. 52:13 He burned down the Lord’s temple, the royal palace, and all the houses in Jerusalem, including every large house. 52:14 The whole Babylonian army that came with the captain of the royal guard tore down the walls that surrounded Jerusalem. 52:15 Nebuzaradan, the captain of the royal guard, took into exile some of the poor, ⁹¹  the rest of the people who remained in the city, those who had deserted to him, and the rest of the craftsmen. 52:16 But he ⁹²  left behind some of the poor ⁹³  and gave them fields and vineyards.

52:17 The Babylonians broke the two bronze pillars in the temple of the Lord, as well as the movable stands and the large bronze basin called the “The Sea.” ⁹⁴  They took all the bronze to Babylon. 52:18 They also took the pots, shovels, ⁹⁵  trimming shears, ⁹⁶  basins, pans, and all the bronze utensils used by the priests. ⁹⁷  52:19 The captain of the royal guard took the gold and silver bowls, censers, ⁹⁸  basins, pots, lampstands, pans, and vessels. ⁹⁹  52:20 The bronze of the items that King Solomon made for the Lord’s temple (including the two pillars, the large bronze basin called “The Sea,” the twelve bronze bulls under “The Sea,” and the movable stands ¹⁰⁰ ) was too heavy to be weighed. 52:21 Each of the pillars was about 27 feet ¹⁰¹  high, about 18 feet ¹⁰²  in circumference, three inches ¹⁰³  thick, and hollow. 52:22 The bronze top of one pillar was about seven and one-half feet ¹⁰⁴  high and had bronze latticework and pomegranate-shaped ornaments all around it. The second pillar with its pomegranate-shaped ornaments was like it. 52:23 There were ninety-six pomegranate-shaped ornaments on the sides; in all there were one hundred pomegranate-shaped ornaments over the latticework that went around it.

52:24 The captain of the royal guard took Seraiah the chief priest, Zephaniah the priest who was second in rank, and the three doorkeepers. ¹⁰⁵  52:25 From the city he took an official who was in charge of the soldiers, seven of the king’s advisers who were discovered in the city, an official army secretary who drafted citizens ¹⁰⁶  for military service, and sixty citizens who were discovered in the middle of the city. 52:26 Nebuzaradan, the captain of the royal guard, took them and brought them to the king of Babylon at Riblah. 52:27 The king of Babylon ordered them to be executed ¹⁰⁷  at Riblah in the territory of Hamath.

So Judah was taken into exile away from its land. 52:28 Here is the official record of the number of people ¹⁰⁸  Nebuchadnezzar carried into exile: In the seventh year, ¹⁰⁹  3,023 Jews; 52:29 in Nebuchadnezzar’s eighteenth year, ¹¹⁰  832 people from Jerusalem; 52:30 in Nebuchadnezzar’s twenty-third year, ¹¹¹  Nebuzaradan, the captain of the royal guard, carried into exile 745 Judeans. In all 4,600 people went into exile.

Jehoiachin in Exile

52:31 In the thirty-seventh year of the exile of King Jehoiachin of Judah, on the twenty-fifth ¹¹²  day of the twelfth month, ¹¹³  Evil-Merodach, in the first year of his reign, pardoned ¹¹⁴  King Jehoiachin of Judah and released him from prison. 52:32 He spoke kindly to him and gave him a more prestigious position than ¹¹⁵  the other kings who were with him in Babylon. 52:33 Jehoiachin ¹¹⁶  took off his prison clothes and ate daily in the king’s presence for the rest of his life. 52:34 He was given daily provisions by the king of Babylon for the rest of his life until the day he died.

Daniel 9:6

9:6 We have not paid attention to your servants the prophets, who spoke by your authority ¹¹⁷  to our kings, our leaders, and our ancestors, ¹¹⁸  and to all the inhabitants ¹¹⁹  of the land as well.

Daniel 9:8

9:8 O LORD, we have been humiliated ¹²⁰  – our kings, our leaders, and our ancestors – because we have sinned against you.

[23:29]  ¹ tn Heb “went up to.” The idiom עַל…עָלָה (’alah …’al) can sometimes mean “go up against,” but here it refers to Necho’s attempt to aid the Assyrians in their struggle with the Babylonians.

[23:29]  ² tn Heb “he”; the referent (Necho) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[23:29]  ³ map For location see Map1 D4; Map2 C1; Map4 C2; Map5 F2; Map7 B1.

[23:33]  ⁴ tc The consonantal text (Kethib) has “when [he was] ruling in Jerusalem,” but the marginal reading (Qere), which has support from Hebrew, Greek, Aramaic, and Latin witnesses, has “[preventing him] from ruling in Jerusalem.”

[23:33]  ⁵ tn Or “fine.”

[23:33]  ⁶ tn The Hebrew term כִּכָּר (kikkar, “circle”) refers generally to something that is round. When used of metals it can refer to a disk-shaped weight made of the metal or to a standard unit of weight, generally regarded as a talent. Since the accepted weight for a talent of metal is about 75 pounds, this would have amounted to about 7,500 pounds of silver and 75 pounds of gold (cf. NCV, NLT); CEV “almost four tons of silver and about seventy-five pounds of gold.”

[23:34]  ⁷ tn Heb “and he took Jehoahaz, and he came to Egypt and he died there.”

[25:7]  ⁸ tn Heb “were killed before his eyes.”

[25:7]  ⁹ tn Heb “he”; the referent (the king of Babylon) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[25:19]  ¹⁰ tn The parallel passage in Jer 52:25 has “seven.”

[25:19]  ¹¹ tn Heb “five seers of the king’s face.”

[25:19]  ¹² tn Heb “the people of the land.”

[25:21]  ¹³ tn Heb “struck them down and killed them.”

[25:21]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “land.”

[25:25]  ¹⁵ sn It is not altogether clear whether this is in the same year that Jerusalem fell or not. The wall was breached in the fourth month (= early July; Jer 39:2) and Nebuzaradan came and burned the palace, the temple, and many of the houses and tore down the wall in the fifth month (= early August; Jer 52:12). That would have left time between the fifth month and the seventh month (October) to gather in the harvest of grapes, dates and figs, and olives (Jer 40:12). However, many commentators feel that too much activity takes place in too short a time for this to have been in the same year and posit that it happened the following year or even five years later when a further deportation took place, possibly in retaliation for the murder of Gedaliah and the Babylonian garrison at Mizpah (Jer 52:30). The assassination of Gedaliah had momentous consequences and was commemorated in one of the post exilic fast days lamenting the fall of Jerusalem (Zech 8:19).

[25:25]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “[was] from the seed of the kingdom.”

[25:25]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “and they struck down Gedaliah and he died.”

[25:26]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “arose and went to.”

[1:1]  ¹⁹ sn This statement may fit better with the final paragraph of 1 Kgs 22.

[8:1]  ²⁰ tn Heb “At that time.”

[8:2]  ²¹ tc MT, 4QJer^a and LXX read “the sun and the moon and all the host of heaven,” but 4QJer^c reads “the sun and all the stars.”

[8:2]  tn Heb “the host of heaven.”

[8:2]  ²² tn Heb “the sun, moon, and host of heaven which they…”

[8:2]  ²³ tn Heb “followed after.” See the translator’s note at 2:5 for the idiom.

[8:2]  ²⁴ tn Heb “they will not” but the referent is far enough removed that it might be ambiguous.

[8:2]  ²⁵ tn Heb “like dung/manure on the surface of the ground.”

[8:3]  ²⁶ tn Heb “Death will be chosen rather than life by the remnant who are left from this wicked family in all the places where I have banished them.” The sentence is broken up and restructured to avoid possible confusion because of the complexity of the English to some modern readers. There appears to be an extra “those who are left” that was inadvertently copied from the preceding line. It is missing from one Hebrew ms and from the Greek and Syriac versions and is probably not a part of the original text.

[8:3]  ²⁷ tn Heb “Yahweh of armies.”

[8:3]  sn For the significance of this title see the notes at 2:19 and 7:3.

[22:18]  ²⁸ sn This is the regular way of introducing the announcement of judgment after an indictment of crimes. See, e.g., Isa 5:13, 14; Jer 23:2.

[22:18]  ²⁹ tn The translation follows the majority of scholars who think that the address of brother and sister are the address of the mourners to one another, lamenting their loss. Some scholars feel that all four terms are parallel and represent the relation that the king had metaphorically to his subjects; i.e., he was not only Lord and Majesty to them but like a sister or a brother. In that case something like: “How sad it is for the one who was like a brother to us! How sad it is for the one who was like a sister to us.” This makes for poor poetry and is not very likely. The lover can call his bride sister in Song of Solomon (Song 4:9, 10) but there are no documented examples of a subject ever speaking of a king in this way in Israel or the ancient Near East.

[22:19]  ³⁰ sn A similar judgment against this ungodly king is pronounced by Jeremiah in 36:30. According to 2 Chr 36:6 he was bound over to be taken captive to Babylon but apparently died before he got there. According to the Jewish historian Josephus, Nebuchadnezzar ordered his body thrown outside the wall in fulfillment of this judgment. The Bible itself, however, does not tell us that.

[22:19]  map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.

[34:19]  ³¹ tn For the rendering of this term see the translator’s note on 29:2.

[34:19]  ³² tn This verse is not actually a sentence in the Hebrew original but is a prepositioned object to the verb in v. 20, “I will hand them over.” This construction is called casus pendens in the older grammars and is used to call attention to a subject or object (cf. GKC 458 §143.d and compare the usage in 33:24). The same nondescript “I will punish” which was used to resolve the complex sentence in the previous verse has been chosen to introduce the objects here before the more specific “I will hand them over” in the next verse.

[34:20]  ³³ sn See this same phrase in Jer 7:33; 16:4; 19:7.

[34:21]  ³⁴ tn Heb “And Zedekiah king of Judah and his officials I will give into the hand of their enemies and into the hand of those who seek their lives and into the hands of the army of the king of Babylon which has gone up from against them.” The last two “and into the hand” phrases are each giving further explication of “their enemies” (the conjunction is explicative [cf. BDB 252 s.v. וְ 1.b]). The sentence has been broken down into shorter English sentences in conformity with contemporary English style.

[34:21]  sn This refers to the relief offered by the withdrawal of the Babylonian troops to fight against the Egyptians which were coming to Zedekiah’s aid (cf. 37:5, 7, 11).

[34:22]  ³⁵ tn Heb “Oracle of the Lord.”

[39:1]  ³⁶ sn 2 Kgs 25:1 and Jer 52:4 give the more precise date of the tenth day of the tenth month of the ninth year which would have been Jan 15, 588 b.c. The reckoning is based on the calendar that begins the year in the spring (Nisan = March/April).

[39:2]  ³⁷ sn According to modern reckoning that would have been July 18, 586 b.c. The siege thus lasted almost a full eighteen months.

[39:3]  ³⁸ tn English versions and commentaries differ on the number of officials named here and the exact spelling of their names. For a good discussion of the options see F. B. Huey, Jeremiah, Lamentations (NAC), 341, n. 71. Most commentaries follow the general lead of J. Bright (Jeremiah [AB], 243) as the present translation has done here. However, the second name is not emended on the basis of v. 13 as Bright does, nor is the second Nergal-Sharezer regarded as the same man as the first and the information on the two combined as he does. The first Nergal-Sharezer is generally identified on the basis of Babylonian records as the man who usurped the throne from Nebuchadnezzar’s son, Awel-Marduk or Evil-Merodach as he is known in the OT (Jer 52:31; 2 Kgs 25:27). The present translation renders the two technical Babylonian terms “Rab-Saris” (only in Jer 39:3, 13; 2 Kgs 18:17) and “Rab-Mag” (only in Jer 39:3, 13) as “chief officer” and “high official” without knowing precisely what offices they held. This has been done to give the modern reader some feeling of their high position without specifying exactly what their precise positions were (i.e., the generic has been used for the [unknown] specific).

[39:3]  ³⁹ tn Heb “sat.” The precise meaning of this phrase is not altogether clear, but J. Bright (Jeremiah [AB], 243) is undoubtedly correct in assuming that it had to do with setting up a provisional military government over the city.

[39:3]  ⁴⁰ tn The Hebrew style here is typically full or redundant, giving a general subject first and then listing the specifics. The Hebrew text reads: “Then all the officers of the king of Babylon came and sat in the Middle Gate, Nergal-Sharezer…and all the rest of the officers of the king of Babylon.” In the translation the general subject has been eliminated and the list of the “real” subjects used instead; this eliminates the dashes or commas typical of some modern English versions.

[39:3]  sn The identification of the location of the Middle Gate is uncertain since it is mentioned nowhere else in the OT.

[39:4]  ⁴¹ sn The king’s garden is mentioned again in Neh 3:15 in conjunction with the pool of Siloam and the stairs that go down from the city of David. This would have been in the southern part of the city near the Tyropean Valley which agrees with the reference to the “two walls” which were probably the walls on the eastern and western hills.

[39:4]  ⁴² sn Heb “toward the Arabah.” The Arabah was the rift valley north and south of the Dead Sea. Here the intention was undoubtedly to escape across the Jordan to Moab or Ammon. It appears from 40:14; 41:15 that the Ammonites were known to harbor fugitives from the Babylonians.

[39:5]  ⁴³ tn Heb “The Chaldeans.” See the study note on 21:4 for explanation.

[39:5]  ⁴⁴ map For location see Map5 B2; Map6 E1; Map7 E1; Map8 E3; Map10 A2; Map11 A1.

[39:5]  ⁴⁵ sn 2 Kgs 25:5 and Jer 52:8 mention that the soldiers all scattered from him. That is why the text focuses on Zedekiah here.

[39:5]  ⁴⁶ sn Riblah was a strategic town on the Orontes River in Syria. It was at a crossing of the major roads between Egypt and Mesopotamia. Pharaoh Necho had earlier received Jehoahaz there and put him in chains (2 Kgs 23:33) prior to taking him captive to Egypt. Nebuchadnezzar had set up his base camp for conducting his campaigns against the Palestinian states there and was now sitting in judgment on prisoners brought to him.

[39:7]  ⁴⁷ tn Heb “fetters of bronze.” The more generic “chains” is used in the translation because “fetters” is a word unfamiliar to most modern readers.

[39:8]  ⁴⁸ tn Heb “Chaldean.” See the study note on 21:4 for explanation.

[39:8]  ⁴⁹ tc The reading here is based on an emendation following the parallels in Jer 52:13 and 2 Kgs 25:9. The Hebrew text here does not have “the temple of the Lord” and reads merely “house of the people.” The text here is probably corrupt. It reads וְאֶת־בֵּית הָעָם (vÿ’et-bet ha’am, “and the house of the people”), which many explain as a collective use of בַּיִת (bayit). However, no parallels are cited by any of the commentaries, grammars, or lexicons for such a use. It is more likely that the words יְהוָה וְאֶת־בָּתֵּי (yÿhvah vÿ’et-bate) have fallen out of the text due to similar beginnings. The words וְאֶת־בֵּית יהוה (vÿ’et-bet yhwh) are found in the parallel texts cited in the marginal note. The Greek version is no help here because vv. 4-13 are omitted, probably due to the similarities in ending of vv. 3, 13 (i.e., homoioteleuton of מֶלֶךְ בָּבֶל, melekh bavel).

[39:8]  ⁵⁰ sn According to the parallels in 2 Kgs 25:8-9; Jer 52:12-13 this occurred almost a month after the wall was breached and Zedekiah’s failed escape. It took place under the direction of Nebuzaradan, the captain of the king’s special guard who is mentioned in the next verse.

[39:9]  ⁵¹ tn For the meaning of this phrase see BDB 371 s.v. טַבָּח 2 and compare the usage in Gen 39:1.

[39:9]  ⁵² tc The translation is based on an emendation of the text which leaves out “the rest of the people who were left” as a double writing of the same phrase at the beginning of the verse. Some commentators emend the phrase “the rest of the people who were left” (הַנִּשְׁאָרִים וְאֶת יֶתֶר הָעָם, hannish’arim vÿ’et yeter ha’am) to read “the rest of the craftsmen who were left” (וְאֶת יֶתֶר הָאָמוֹן הַנִּשְׁאָרִים, vÿ’et yeter ha’amon hannish’arim) on the basis of the parallel in Jer 52:15 (which does not have הַנִּשְׁאָרִים, hannish’arim). However, it is easier to explain the phrase as a dittography of the phrase at the beginning (which is exactly the same except הָעִיר [ha’ir] follows it). The text is redundant because it refers twice to the same group of people. The Hebrew text reads: “And the rest of the people who were left in the city and the deserters who had deserted to him and the rest of the people Nebuzaradan, the captain of the guard, carried into exile to Babylon.” The text has also been divided up to create two shorter sentences to better conform with contemporary English style.

[39:10]  ⁵³ tn Heb “Nebuzaradan, the captain of the royal guard.” However, the subject is clear from the preceding and contemporary English style would normally avoid repeating the proper name and title.

[39:11]  ⁵⁴ tn Heb “And Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon commanded concerning Jeremiah by the hand of Nebuzaradan, the captain of the guard, saying.” Since Nebuchadnezzar is at Riblah (v. 6) and Nebuzaradan and the other officers named in the next verse are at Jerusalem, the vav consecutive imperfect should again be translated as a pluperfect (see 38:2 and the translator’s notes there for explanation). For the meaning of “through” or “through the agency of” for the phrase בְּיַד (bÿyad) see BDB 391 s.v. יָד 5.d. The sentence has been broken up to better conform with contemporary English style.

[39:12]  ⁵⁵ tn Heb “Get [or fetch] him.” The referent is supplied for clarity.

[39:12]  ⁵⁶ tn Or “take care of him”; Heb “set your eyes on him.” For the meaning of this idiom see BDB 963 s.v. שִׂים 2.c and compare 24:6 where the phrase “for good” is added.

[39:12]  ⁵⁷ tn Heb “Don’t do anything evil [= harmful] to him.”

[39:13]  ⁵⁸ tn See the translator’s notes on 39:3, 9 for the names and titles here.

[39:14]  ⁵⁹ sn Gedaliah. This is the first reference to this individual whom Nebuchadnezzar appointed governor over the people who were left to live in Judah (cf. 40:5; 2 Kgs 25:22). His father was the man who spoke up for Jeremiah when he was accused of being a false prophet by some of the priests and prophets (26:24). His grandfather was the royal secretary under Josiah who brought the discovery of the book of the law to Josiah’s attention, read it to him, and was involved in helping Josiah institute his reforms (2 Kgs 22:8-10).

[39:14]  ⁶⁰ tn The meaning of the last phrase is uncertain. An alternate translation is “to take him home with him.” The text reads literally “to bring him into the house.” However, it is unclear whether “the house” refers to Jeremiah’s house or to Gedaliah’s. The fact that Nebuzaradan later offers Jeremiah the option of going back to Gedaliah (40:5) suggests that the house is here Gedaliah’s where Jeremiah would be looked out for in accord with Nebuchadnezzar’s command (v. 12).

[39:14]  ⁶¹ tn Many translate this last clause as a conclusion or summary remark, “So Jeremiah stayed…” However, it is better to translate it as an adversative because it probably refers to the fact that rather than staying with Gedaliah in the governor’s residence Jeremiah stayed among the people. That is how he wound up being led off as a prisoner to Ramah. See further the study note on 40:1. According to IBHS 550 §33.2.1d the vav (ו) consecutive can have either of these values (see examples 11 and 12 for the adversative or contrastive nuance).

[39:15]  ⁶² sn Jer 39:15-18. This incident is out of chronological order (see Jer 38:7-13). It is placed here either due to a desire not to interrupt the sequential ordering of events centering on Jeremiah’s imprisonment and his release (38:14–39:14) or to contrast God’s care and concern for the faithful (Ebed-Melech who, though a foreigner, trusted in God) with his harsh treatment of the faithless (Zedekiah who, though informed of God’s will, was too weak-willed in the face of opposition by his courtiers to carry it out).

[39:15]  ⁶³ tn Heb “Now the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah while he…saying.” The form of this clause is disjunctive showing that it does not follow the preceding events in either chronological or logical sequence. For a discussion of the form and function of such disjunctive clauses see IBHS 650-52 §39.2.3. This example most closely fits the description and function of example 12, Ruth 4:18, 21-22 on p. 652.

[39:16]  ⁶⁴ sn Even though Jeremiah was confined to the courtyard of the guardhouse, he was still free to entertain visitors (32:2, 8). Moreover, Ebed-Melech was an official attached to the royal court and would have had access to the courtyard of the guardhouse (38:7, 13). Jeremiah would not have had to leave the courtyard of the guardhouse to “go and tell” him something.

[39:16]  ⁶⁵ tn Heb “Behold, I will bring to pass my words against this city for evil/disaster and not for good/good fortune.” For the form of the verb מֵבִי ([mevi] Kethib, מֵבִיא [mevi’] Qere) see GKC 206-7 §74.k, where the same form is noted for the Kethib in 2 Sam 5:2; 1 Kgs 21:21; Jer 19:15 all of which occur before a word beginning with א. For the nuance “carry out” (or “bring to pass”) see BDB 99 s.v. בּוֹא Hiph.2.b.

[39:16]  ⁶⁶ tn Heb “And they [= my words for disaster] will come to pass [= happen] before you on that day [i.e., the day that I bring them to pass/carry them out].”

[39:17]  ⁶⁷ tn Heb “But I will rescue you on that day” (referring to the same day mentioned in the preceding verse).

[39:17]  ⁶⁸ tn Heb “Oracle of the Lord.”

[39:17]  ⁶⁹ sn Some commentators see this as a reference to the princes from whose clutches Ebed-Melech delivered Jeremiah (38:7-13). However, it is clear that in this context it refers to those that he would fear when the Lord brings about the threatened disaster, i.e., the Babylonians who are attacking the city.

[39:18]  ⁷⁰ sn Heb “you will not fall by the sword.” In the context this would include death in battle and execution as a prisoner of war.

[39:18]  ⁷¹ tn Heb “your life will be to you for spoil.” For the meaning of this idiom see the study note on 21:9 and compare the usage in 21:9; 38:2; 45:4.

[39:18]  ⁷² tn Heb “Oracle of the Lord.”

[52:1]  ⁷³ sn This final chapter does not mention Jeremiah, but its description of the downfall of Jerusalem and exile of the people validates the prophet’s ministry.

[52:1]  ⁷⁴ map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.

[52:1]  ⁷⁵ tn Some textual witnesses support the Kethib (consonantal text) in reading “Hamital.”

[52:2]  ⁷⁶ tn Heb “what was evil in the eyes of the Lord.”

[52:3]  ⁷⁷ tn Heb “Surely (or “for”) because of the anger of the Lord this happened in Jerusalem and Judah until he drove them out from upon his face.” For the phrase “drive out of his sight,” see 7:15.

[52:4]  ⁷⁸ tn Or “against.”

[52:4]  ⁷⁹ sn This would have been January 15, 588 b.c. The reckoning is based on the calendar that begins the year in the spring (Nisan = March/April).

[52:6]  ⁸⁰ sn According to modern reckoning that would have been July 18, 586 b.c. The siege thus lasted almost a full eighteen months.

[52:6]  ⁸¹ tn Heb “the people of the land.”

[52:7]  ⁸² sn The king’s garden is mentioned again in Neh 3:15 in conjunction with the pool of Siloam and the stairs that go down from the city of David. This would have been in the southern part of the city near the Tyropean Valley which agrees with the reference to the “two walls” which were probably the walls on the eastern and western hills.

[52:7]  ⁸³ sn Heb “toward the Arabah.” The Arabah was the rift valley north and south of the Dead Sea. Here the intention was undoubtedly to escape across the Jordan to Moab or Ammon. It appears from 40:14; 41:15 that the Ammonites were known to harbor fugitives from the Babylonians.

[52:8]  ⁸⁴ map For location see Map5 B2; Map6 E1; Map7 E1; Map8 E3; Map10 A2; Map11 A1.

[52:9]  ⁸⁵ sn Riblah was a strategic town on the Orontes River in Syria. It was at a crossing of the major roads between Egypt and Mesopotamia. Pharaoh Necho had earlier received Jehoahaz there and put him in chains (2 Kgs 23:33) prior to taking him captive to Egypt. Nebuchadnezzar had set up his base camp for conducting his campaigns against the Palestinian states there and was now sitting in judgment on prisoners brought to him.

[52:11]  ⁸⁶ tn Heb “fetters of bronze.” The more generic “chains” is used in the translation because “fetters” is a word unfamiliar to most modern readers.

[52:12]  ⁸⁷ tn The parallel account in 2 Kgs 25:8 has “seventh.”

[52:12]  ⁸⁸ sn The tenth day of the month would have been August 17, 586 b.c. in modern reckoning.

[52:12]  ⁸⁹ tn For the meaning of this phrase see BDB 371 s.v. טַבָּח 2 and compare the usage in Gen 39:1.

[52:12]  ⁹⁰ tn Heb “stood before.”

[52:15]  ⁹¹ tn Heb “poor of the people.”

[52:16]  ⁹² tn Heb “Nebuzaradan, the captain of the royal guard.” However, the subject is clear from the preceding and modern English style would normally avoid repeating the proper name and title.

[52:16]  ⁹³ tn Heb “poor of the land.”

[52:17]  ⁹⁴ sn For discussion of the items listed here, see the study notes at Jer 27:19.

[52:18]  ⁹⁵ sn These shovels were used to clean the altar.

[52:18]  ⁹⁶ sn These trimming shears were used to trim the wicks of the lamps.

[52:18]  ⁹⁷ tn Heb “with which they served (or “fulfilled their duty”).”

[52:19]  ⁹⁸ sn The censers held the embers used for the incense offerings.

[52:19]  ⁹⁹ sn These vessels were used for drink offerings.

[52:20]  ¹⁰⁰ tc The translation follows the LXX (Greek version), which reflects the description in 1 Kgs 7:25-26. The Hebrew text reads, “the twelve bronze bulls under the movable stands.” הַיָּם (hayyam, “The Sea”) has been accidentally omitted by homoioarcton; note that the following form, הַמְּכֹנוֹת (hammÿkhonot, “the movable stands”), also begins with the article.

[52:21]  ¹⁰¹ tn Heb “eighteen cubits.” A “cubit” was a unit of measure, approximately equivalent to a foot and a half.

[52:21]  ¹⁰² tn Heb “twelve cubits.” A “cubit” was a unit of measure, approximately equivalent to a foot and a half.

[52:21]  ¹⁰³ tn Heb “four fingers.”

[52:22]  ¹⁰⁴ tn Heb “five cubits.” A “cubit” was a unit of measure, approximately equivalent to a foot and a half.

[52:24]  ¹⁰⁵ sn See the note at Jer 35:4.

[52:25]  ¹⁰⁶ tn Heb “men, from the people of the land” (also later in this verse).

[52:27]  ¹⁰⁷ tn Heb “struck them down and killed them.”

[52:28]  ¹⁰⁸ tn Heb “these are the people.”

[52:28]  ¹⁰⁹ sn This would be 597 b.c.

[52:29]  ¹¹⁰ sn This would be 586 b.c.

[52:30]  ¹¹¹ sn This would be 581 b.c.

[52:31]  ¹¹² sn The parallel account in 2 Kgs 25:28 has “twenty-seventh.”

[52:31]  ¹¹³ sn The twenty-fifth day would be March 20, 561 b.c. in modern reckoning.

[52:31]  ¹¹⁴ tn Heb “lifted up the head of.”

[52:32]  ¹¹⁵ tn Heb “made his throne above the throne of

[52:33]  ¹¹⁶ tn The subject is unstated in the Hebrew text, but Jehoiachin is clearly the subject of the following verb.

[9:6]  ¹¹⁷ tn Heb “in your name.” Another option is to translate, “as your representatives.”

[9:6]  ¹¹⁸ tn Heb “our fathers” (also in vv. 8, 16). The Hebrew term translated “father” can refer to more distant relationships such as grandfathers or ancestors.

[9:6]  ¹¹⁹ tn Heb “people.”

[9:8]  ¹²⁰ tn Heb “to us (belongs) shame of face.”