Yeremia 22:20-22

Warning to Jerusalem

22:20 People of Jerusalem, ¹  go up to Lebanon and cry out in mourning.

Go to the land of Bashan and cry out loudly.

Cry out in mourning from the mountains of Moab. ² 

For your allies ³  have all been defeated.

22:21 While you were feeling secure I gave you warning. ⁴ 

But you said, “I refuse to listen to you.”

That is the way you have acted from your earliest history onward. ⁵ 

Indeed, you have never paid attention to me.

22:22 My judgment will carry off all your leaders like a storm wind! ⁶ 

Your allies will go into captivity.

Then you will certainly ⁷  be disgraced and put to shame

because of all the wickedness you have done.

Ratapan 1:2

ב (Bet)

1:2 She weeps bitterly at night;

tears stream down her cheeks. ⁸ 

She has no one to comfort her

among all her lovers. ⁹ 

All her friends have betrayed her;

they have become her enemies.

Ratapan 1:19

ק (Qof)

1:19 I called for my lovers, ¹⁰ 

but they had deceived me.

My priests and my elders

perished in the city.

Truly they had ¹¹  searched for food

to ¹²  keep themselves ¹³  alive. ¹⁴ 

Ratapan 4:17

The People of Jerusalem Lament:

ע (Ayin)

4:17 Our eyes continually failed us

as we looked in vain for help. ¹⁵ 

From our watchtowers we watched

for a nation that could not rescue us.

Yehezkiel 16:36-41

16:36 This is what the sovereign Lord says: Because your lust ¹⁶  was poured out and your nakedness was uncovered in your prostitution with your lovers, and because of all your detestable idols, and because of the blood of your children you have given to them, 16:37 therefore, take note: I am about to gather all your lovers whom you enjoyed, both all those you loved and all those you hated. I will gather them against you from all around, and I will expose your nakedness to them, and they will see all your nakedness. ¹⁷  16:38 I will punish you as an adulteress and murderer deserves. ¹⁸  I will avenge your bloody deeds with furious rage. ¹⁹  16:39 I will give you into their hands and they will destroy your chambers and tear down your pavilions. They will strip you of your clothing and take your beautiful jewelry and leave you naked and bare. 16:40 They will summon a mob who will stone you and hack you in pieces with their swords. 16:41 They will burn down your houses and execute judgments on you in front of many women. Thus I will put a stop to your prostitution, and you will no longer give gifts to your clients. ²⁰ 

Yehezkiel 23:9-10

23:9 Therefore I handed her over to her lovers, the Assyrians ²¹  for whom she lusted. 23:10 They exposed her nakedness, seized her sons and daughters, and killed her with the sword. She became notorious ²²  among women, and they executed judgments against her.

Yehezkiel 23:22-24

23:22 “Therefore, Oholibah, this is what the sovereign Lord says: Look here, ²³  I am about to stir up against you the lovers with whom you were disgusted; I will bring them against you from every side: 23:23 the Babylonians and all the Chaldeans, Pekod, ²⁴  Shoa, ²⁵  and Koa, ²⁶  and all the Assyrians with them, desirable young men, all of them governors and officials, officers and nobles, all of them riding on horses. 23:24 They will attack ²⁷  you with weapons, ²⁸  chariots, wagons, and with a huge army; ²⁹  they will array themselves against you on every side with large shields, small shields, and helmets. I will assign them the task of judgment; ³⁰  they will punish you according to their laws.

Yehezkiel 23:28-29

23:28 “For this is what the sovereign Lord says: Look here, ³¹  I am about to deliver you over to ³²  those whom you hate, to those with whom you were disgusted. 23:29 They will treat you with hatred, take away all you have labored for, ³³  and leave you naked and bare. Your nakedness will be exposed, just as when you engaged in prostitution and obscene conduct. ³⁴ 

Wahyu 17:2

17:2 with whom the kings of the earth committed sexual immorality and the earth’s inhabitants got drunk with the wine of her immorality.” ³⁵ 

Wahyu 17:13

17:13 These kings ³⁶  have a single intent, and they will give their power and authority to the beast.

Wahyu 17:16-18

17:16 The ³⁷  ten horns that you saw, and the beast – these will hate the prostitute and make her desolate and naked. They ³⁸  will consume her flesh and burn her up with fire. ³⁹  17:17 For God has put into their minds ⁴⁰  to carry out his purpose ⁴¹  by making ⁴²  a decision ⁴³  to give their royal power ⁴⁴  to the beast until the words of God are fulfilled. ⁴⁵  17:18 As for ⁴⁶  the woman you saw, she is the great city that has sovereignty over the kings of the earth.”

[22:20]  ¹ tn The words “people of Jerusalem” are not in the text. They are supplied in the translation to clarify the referent of the imperative. The imperative is feminine singular and it is generally agreed that personified Zion/Jerusalem is in view. The second feminine singular has commonly been applied to Jerusalem or the people of Judah throughout the book. The reference to allies (v. 20, 22) and to leaders (v. 22) make it very probable that this is the case here too.

[22:20]  map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.

[22:20]  ² tn Heb “from Abarim.” This was the mountain range in Moab from which Moses viewed the promised land (cf. Deut 32:49).

[22:20]  ³ tn Heb “your lovers.” For the usage of this term to refer to allies see 30:14 and a semantically similar term in 4:30.

[22:20]  sn If the passages in this section are chronologically ordered, this refers to the help that Jehoiakim relied on when he rebelled against Nebuchadnezzar.

[22:21]  ⁴ tn Heb “I spoke to you in your security.” The reference is to the sending of the prophets. Compare this context with the context of 7:25. For the nuance “security” for this noun (שַׁלְוָה, shalvah) rather than “prosperity” as many translate see Pss 122:7; 30:6 and the related adjective (שָׁלֵו, shalev) in Jer 49:31; Job 16:2; 21:23.

[22:21]  ⁵ tn Heb “from your youth.” Compare the usage in 2:2; 3:24 and compare a similar idea in 7:25.

[22:22]  ⁶ tn Heb “A wind will shepherd away all your shepherds.” The figures have all been interpreted in the translation for the sake of clarity. For the use of the word “wind” as a metaphor or simile for God’s judgment (using the enemy forces) see 4:11-12; 13:24; 18:17. For the use of the word “shepherd” to refer to rulers/leaders 2:8; 10:21; and 23:1-4. For the use of the word “shepherd away” in the sense of carry off/drive away see BDB 945 s.v. רָעָה 2.d and compare Job 20:26. There is an obvious wordplay involved in two different senses of the word “shepherd,” one referring to their leaders and one referring to the loss of those leaders by the wind driving them off. There may even be a further play involving the word “wickedness” which comes from a word having the same consonants. If the oracles in this section are chronologically ordered this threat was fulfilled in 597 b.c. when many of the royal officials and nobles were carried away captive with Jehoiachin (see 2 Kgs 24:15) who is the subject of the next oracle.

[22:22]  ⁷ tn The use of the Hebrew particle כִּי (ki) is intensive here and probably also at the beginning of the last line of v. 21. (See BDB 472 s.v. כִּי 1.e.)

[1:2]  ⁸ tn Heb “her tears are on her cheek.”

[1:2]  ⁹ tn Heb “lovers.” The term “lovers” is a figurative expression (hypocatastasis), comparing Jerusalem’s false gods and foreign political alliances to sexually immoral lovers. Hosea uses similar imagery (Hos 2:5, 7, 10, 13). It may also function as a double entendre, first evoking a disconcerting picture of a funeral where the widow has no loved ones present to comfort her. God also does not appear to be present to comfort Jerusalem and will later be called her enemy. The imagery in Lamentations frequently capitalizes on changing the reader’s expectations midstream.

[1:19]  ¹⁰ sn The term “lovers” is a figurative expression (hypocatastasis), comparing Jerusalem’s false gods and political alliance with Assyria to a woman’s immoral lovers. The prophet Hosea uses similar imagery (Hos 2:5, 7, 10, 13).

[1:19]  ¹¹ tn Here the conjunction כּי (ki) functions in (1) a temporal sense in reference to a past event, following a perfect: “when” (BDB 473 s.v. 2.a; cf. KJV, NASB, NIV, NRSV) or (2) a concessive sense, following a perfect: “although” (Pss 21:12; 119:83; Mic 7:8; Nah 1:10; cf. BDB 473 s.v. 2.c.β) or (3) with an intensive force, introducing a statement with emphasis: “surely, certainly” (BDB 472 s.v. 1.e). The present translation follows the third option.

[1:19]  ¹² tn The vav (ו) prefixed to וַיָשִׁיבוּ (vayashivu) introduces a purpose clause: “they sought food for themselves, in order to keep themselves alive.”

[1:19]  ¹³ tn The noun נֶפֶשׁ (nefesh) functions as a metonymy (= soul) of association (= life) (e.g., Gen 44:30; Exod 21:23; 2 Sam 14:7; Jon 1:14). When used with נֶפֶשׁ (nefesh), the Hiphil הָשִׁיב (hashiv) of שׁוּב (shuv, “to turn, return”) may mean “to preserve a person’s life,” that is, to keep a person alive (Lam 1:14, 19).

[1:19]  ¹⁴ tc The LXX adds καὶ οὐχ εὗρον (kai ouc Jeuron, “but they did not find it”). This is probably an explanatory scribal gloss, indicated to explicate what appeared to be ambiguous. The LXX often adds explanatory glosses in many OT books.

[4:17]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “Our eyes failed in vain for help.”

[16:36]  ¹⁶ tn The Hebrew word occurs only here in the OT.

[16:37]  ¹⁷ sn Harlots suffered degradation when their nakedness was exposed (Jer 13:22, 26; Hos 2:12; Nah 3:5).

[16:38]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “and I will judge you (with) the judgments of adulteresses and of those who shed blood.”

[16:38]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “and I will give you the blood of rage and zeal.”

[16:41]  ²⁰ tn The words “to your clients” are not in the Hebrew text but are implied.

[23:9]  ²¹ tn Heb “I gave her into the hand of her lovers, into the hand of the sons of Assyria.”

[23:10]  ²² tn Heb “name.”

[23:22]  ²³ tn The word הִנֵּה (hinneh, traditionally “behold”) indicates becoming aware of something and has been translated here as a verb.

[23:23]  ²⁴ sn Pekod was the name of an Aramean tribe (known as Puqudu in Mesopotamian texts) that lived in the region of the Tigris River.

[23:23]  ²⁵ sn Shoa was the name of a nomadic people (the Sutu) that lived in Mesopotamia.

[23:23]  ²⁶ sn Koa was the name of another Mesopotamian people group (the Qutu).

[23:24]  ²⁷ tn Heb “come against.”

[23:24]  ²⁸ tn This is the only occurrence of this term in the OT. The precise meaning is uncertain.

[23:24]  ²⁹ tn Heb “an assembly of peoples.”

[23:24]  ³⁰ tn Heb “I will place before them judgment.”

[23:28]  ³¹ tn The word הִנֵּה (hinneh, traditionally “behold”) indicates becoming aware of something and has been translated here as a verb.

[23:28]  ³² tn Heb “I am giving you into the hand of.”

[23:29]  ³³ tn The Hebrew term means “labor,” but by extension it can also refer to that for which one works.

[23:29]  ³⁴ tn Heb “The nakedness of your prostitution will be exposed, and your obscene conduct and your harlotry.”

[17:2]  ³⁵ tn This is the same word translated “sexual immorality” earlier in the verse, but here the qualifier “sexual” has not been repeated for stylistic reasons.

[17:13]  ³⁶ tn The word “kings” is not in the Greek text, but has been supplied to clarify the referent.

[17:16]  ³⁷ tn Here καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style.

[17:16]  ³⁸ tn A new sentence was started here in the translation. Here καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style.

[17:16]  ³⁹ tn The final clause could also be turned into an adverbial clause of means: “They will consume her flesh by burning her with fire.”

[17:17]  ⁴⁰ tn Grk “hearts.”

[17:17]  ⁴¹ tn Or “his intent.”

[17:17]  ⁴² tn The infinitive ποιῆσαι (poihsai) was translated here as giving the logical means by which God’s purpose was carried out.

[17:17]  ⁴³ tn On this term BDAG 203 s.v. γνώμη 4 states, “declaration, decision, resolution…of God Rv 17:17.”

[17:17]  ⁴⁴ tn For this translation see BDAG 168 s.v. βασιλεία 1.a, “kingship, royal power, royal rule.”

[17:17]  ⁴⁵ tn Or “completed.”

[17:18]  ⁴⁶ tn Grk “And.” Because this remark is somewhat resumptive in nature, “as for” is used in the translation.