Yeremia 38:16

38:16 So King Zedekiah made a secret promise to Jeremiah and sealed it with an oath. He promised, ¹  “As surely as the Lord lives who has given us life and breath, ²  I promise you this: I will not kill you or hand you over to those men who want to kill you.” ³ 

Yeremia 40:9

40:9 Gedaliah, the son of Ahikam and grandson of Shaphan, took an oath so as to give them and their troops some assurance of safety. ⁴  “Do not be afraid to submit to the Babylonians. ⁵  Settle down in the land and submit to the king of Babylon. Then things will go well for you.

[38:16]  ¹ tn Heb “So King Zedekiah secretly swore an oath to Jeremiah, saying.”

[38:16]  ² tn Heb “who has made this life/soul/ breath [נֶפֶשׁ, nefesh] for us.” The Hebrew term נֶפֶשׁ refers to the living, breathing substance of a person which constitutes his very life (cf. BDB 659 s.v. נֶפֶשׁ 1; 3).

[38:16]  ³ tn Heb “who are seeking your life.”

[40:9]  ⁴ tn The words “so as to give them some assurance of safety” are not in the text but are generally understood by all commentators. This would be a case of substitution of cause for effect, the oath, put for the effect, the assurance of safety (NJPS translates directly “reassured them”).

[40:9]  ⁵ tn Heb “Chaldeans.” See the study note on 21:4 for explanation.