Yeremia 1:15
Konteks1:15 For I will soon summon all the peoples of the kingdoms of the north,” says the Lord. “They will come and their kings will set up their thrones 1 near the entrances of the gates of Jerusalem. 2 They will attack all the walls surrounding it, and all the towns in Judah. 3
Yeremia 1:18
Konteks1:18 I, the Lord, 4 hereby promise to make you 5 as strong as a fortified city, an iron pillar, and a bronze wall. You will be able to stand up against all who live in 6 the land, including the kings of Judah, its officials, its priests and all the people of the land.
Yeremia 39:4
Konteks39:4 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. 7 Then they headed for the Jordan Valley. 8
Yeremia 50:15
Konteks50:15 Shout the battle cry from all around the city.
She will throw up her hands in surrender. 9
Her towers 10 will fall.
Her walls will be torn down.
Because I, the Lord, am wreaking revenge, 11
take out your vengeance on her!
Do to her as she has done!
Yeremia 51:12
Konteks51:12 Give the signal to attack Babylon’s wall! 12
Bring more guards! 13
Post them all around the city! 14
Put men in ambush! 15
For the Lord will do what he has planned.
He will do what he said he would do to the people of Babylon. 16
Yeremia 51:58
Konteks51:58 This is what the Lord who rules over all 17 says,
“Babylon’s thick wall 18 will be completely demolished. 19
Her high gates will be set on fire.
The peoples strive for what does not satisfy. 20
The nations grow weary trying to get what will be destroyed.” 21
Yeremia 52:7
Konteks52:7 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. 22 (The Babylonians had the city surrounded.) Then they headed for the Jordan Valley. 23
[1:15] 1 tn Heb “they will each set up.” The pronoun “they” refers back to the “kingdoms” in the preceding sentence. However, kingdoms do not sit on thrones; their kings do. This is an example of a figure of speech called metonymy where the kingdom is put for its king. For a similar use see 2 Chr 12:8.
[1:15] 2 map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.
[1:15] 3 tn Or “They will come and set up their thrones in the entrances of the gates of Jerusalem. They will destroy all the walls surrounding it and also destroy all the towns in Judah.” The text of v. 15b reads in Hebrew, “they will each set up his throne [near? in?] the entrance of the gates of Jerusalem and against all its walls…and against all the towns….” Commentators are divided over whether the passage refers to the kings setting up their thrones after victory in preparation for passing judgment on their defeated enemies in the city or whether it refers to setting up siege against it. There is no Hebrew preposition before the word for “the entrance” so that it could be “in” (which would imply victory) or “at/near” (which would imply siege), and the same verb + object (i.e., “they will set up their thrones”) governs all the locative statements. It is most often taken to refer to the aftermath of victory because of the supposed parallel in Jer 43:8-13 and the supposed fulfillment in Jer 39:3. Though this may fit well with the first part of the compound expression, it does not fit well with the latter part which is most naturally taken to refer to hostile attacks against Jerusalem and the other cities of Judah. The translation given in the text is intended to reflect the idea of an army setting up for siege. The alternate translation is intended to reflect the other view.
[1:18] 4 tn See the note on “Jeremiah” at the beginning of v. 17.
[1:18] 5 tn Heb “today I have made you.” The Hebrew verb form here emphasizes the certainty of a yet future act; the
[1:18] 6 tn Heb “I make you a fortified city…against all the land….” The words “as strong as” and “so you will be able to stand against all the people of…” are given to clarify the meaning of the metaphor.
[39:4] 7 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] 8 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.
[50:15] 9 tn Heb “She has given her hand.” For the idiom here involving submission/surrender see BDB 680 s.v. נָתַן Qal.1.z and compare the usage in 1 Chr 29:24; 2 Chr 30:8. For a different interpretation, however, see the rather complete discussion in G. L. Keown, P. J. Scalise, and T. G. Smothers (Jeremiah 26-52 [WBC], 366) who see this as a reference to making a covenant. The verb in this line and the next two lines are all Hebrew perfects and most translators and commentaries see them as past. God’s Word, however, treats them as prophetic perfects and translates them as future. This is more likely in the light of the imperatives both before and after.
[50:15] 10 tn The meaning of this word is uncertain. The definition here follows that of HALOT 91 s.v. אָשְׁיָה, which defines it on the basis of an Akkadian word and treats it as a loanword.
[50:15] 11 tn Heb “Because it is the
[51:12] 12 tn Heb “Raise a banner against the walls of Babylon.”
[51:12] 13 tn Heb “Strengthen the watch.”
[51:12] 14 tn Heb “Station the guards.”
[51:12] 15 tn Heb “Prepare ambushes.”
[51:12] sn The commands are here addressed to the kings of the Medes to fully blockade the city by posting watchmen and setting men in ambush to prevent people from escaping from the city (cf. 2 Kgs 25:4).
[51:12] 16 tn Heb “For the
[51:58] 17 sn See the note at Jer 2:19.
[51:58] 18 tn The text has the plural “walls,” but many Hebrew
[51:58] 19 tn The infinitive absolute emphasizes the following finite verb. Another option is to translate, “will certainly be demolished.”
[51:58] 20 tn Heb “for what is empty.”
[51:58] 21 tn Heb “and the nations for fire, and they grow weary.”
[52:7] 22 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] 23 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.