Yeremia 16:18

16:18 Before I restore them ¹  I will punish them in full ²  for their sins and the wrongs they have done. For they have polluted my land with the lifeless statues of their disgusting idols. They have filled the land I have claimed as my own ³  with their detestable idols.” ⁴ 

Yeremia 24:5

24:5 “I, the Lord, the God of Israel, say: ‘The exiles whom I sent away from here to the land of Babylon ⁵  are like those good figs. I consider them to be good.

Yeremia 25:14

25:14 For many nations and great kings will make slaves of the king of Babylon and his nation ⁶  too. I will repay them for all they have done!’” ⁷ 

Yeremia 42:11

42:11 Do not be afraid of the king of Babylon whom you now fear. ⁸  Do not be afraid of him because I will be with you to save you and to rescue you from his power. I, the Lord, affirm it! ⁹ 

[16:18]  ¹ tn Heb “First.” Many English versions and commentaries delete this word because it is missing from the Greek version and is considered a gloss added by a postexilic editor who is said to be responsible also for vv. 14-16. This is not the place to resolve issues of authorship and date. It is the task of the translator to translate the “original” which in this case is the MT supported by the other versions. The word here refers to order in rank or order of events. Compare Gen 38:28; 1 Kgs 18:25. Here allusion is made to the restoration previously mentioned. First in order of events is the punishment of destruction and exile, then restoration.

[16:18]  ² tn Heb “double.” However, usage in Deut 15:18 and probably Isa 40:2 argues for “full compensation.” This is supported also by usage in a tablet from Alalakh in Syria. See P. C. Craigie, P. H. Kelley, J. F. Drinkard, Jeremiah 1-25 (WBC), 218, for bibliography.

[16:18]  ³ tn Heb “my inheritance.”

[16:18]  sn For earlier references to the term used here see Jer 2:7 where it applies as here to the land, Jer 10:16; 12:8-9 where it applies to the people, and Jer 12:7 where it applies to the temple.

[16:18]  ⁴ tn Many of the English versions take “lifeless statues of their detestable idols” with “filled” as a compound object. This follows the Masoretic punctuation but violates usage. The verb “fill” never takes an object preceded by the preposition בְּ (bet).

[24:5]  ⁵ tn Heb “the land of the Chaldeans.” See the study note on 21:4.

[25:14]  ⁶ tn Heb “make slaves of them.” The verb form here indicates that the action is as good as done (the Hebrew prophetic perfect). For the use of the verb rendered “makes slaves” see parallel usage in Lev 25:39, 46 (cf. BDB 713 s.v. עָבַד 3).

[25:14]  ⁷ tn Heb “according to their deeds and according to the work of their hands.” The two phrases are synonymous; it would be hard to represent them both in translation without being redundant. The translation attempts to represent them by the qualifier “all” before the first phrase.

[42:11]  ⁸ sn See Jer 41:18 for their reason for fear.

[42:11]  ⁹ tn Heb “oracle of the Lord.”