Yeremia 39:14
Konteks39:14 sent and had Jeremiah brought from the courtyard of the guardhouse. They turned him over to Gedaliah, 1 the son of Ahikam and the grandson of Shaphan, to take him home with him. 2 But Jeremiah stayed among the people. 3
Yeremia 32:1-2
Konteks32:1 In the tenth year that Zedekiah was ruling over Judah the Lord spoke to Jeremiah. 4 That was the same as the eighteenth year of Nebuchadnezzar.
32:2 Now at that time, 5 the armies of the king of Babylon were besieging Jerusalem. 6 The prophet Jeremiah was confined in the courtyard of the guardhouse 7 attached to the royal palace of Judah.
Yeremia 36:1-5
Konteks36:1 The Lord spoke to Jeremiah in the fourth year 8 that Jehoiakim son of Josiah was ruling over Judah. 9 36:2 “Get a scroll. 10 Write on it everything I have told you to say 11 about Israel, Judah, and all the other nations since I began to speak to you in the reign of Josiah until now. 12 36:3 Perhaps when the people of Judah hear about all the disaster I intend to bring on them, they will all stop doing the evil things they have been doing. 13 If they do, I will forgive their sins and the wicked things they have done.” 14
36:4 So Jeremiah summoned Baruch son of Neriah. Then Jeremiah dictated to Baruch everything the Lord had told him to say and Baruch wrote it all down in a scroll. 15 36:5 Then Jeremiah told Baruch, “I am no longer allowed to go 16 into the Lord’s temple.
Yeremia 37:21
Konteks37:21 Then King Zedekiah ordered that Jeremiah be committed to the courtyard of the guardhouse. He also ordered that a loaf of bread 17 be given to him every day from the baker’s street until all the bread in the city was gone. So Jeremiah was kept 18 in the courtyard of the guardhouse.
[39:14] 1 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] 2 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] 3 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).
[32:1] 4 tn Heb “The word which came to Jeremiah from the
[32:1] sn The dating formulas indicate that the date was 588/87
[32:2] 5 sn Jer 32:2-5 are parenthetical, giving the background for the actual report of what the
[32:2] 6 sn According to Jer 39:1 the siege began in Zedekiah’s ninth year (i.e., in 589/88
[32:2] map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.
[32:2] 7 tn Heb “the courtyard of the guarding” or “place of guarding.” This expression occurs only in the book of Jeremiah (32:2, 8, 12; 33:1; 37:21; 38:6, 12, 28; 39:14, 15) and in Neh 3:25. It is not the same as an enclosed prison which is where Jeremiah was initially confined (37:15-16; literally a “house of imprisoning” [בֵּית הָאֵסוּר, bet ha’esur] or “house of confining” [בֵּית הַכֶּלֶא, bet hakkele’]). It is said to have been in the palace compound (32:2) near the citadel or upper palace (Neh 3:25). Though it was a place of confinement (32:2; 33:1; 39:15) Jeremiah was able to receive visitors, e.g., his cousin Hanamel (32:8) and the scribe Baruch (32:12), and conduct business there (32:12). According to 32:12 other Judeans were also housed there. A cistern of one of the royal princes, Malkijah, was located in this courtyard, so this is probably not a “prison compound” as NJPS interpret but a courtyard adjacent to a guardhouse or guard post (so G. L. Keown, P. J. Scalise, T. G. Smothers, Jeremiah 26-52 [WBC], 151, and compare Neh 12:39 where reference is made to a Gate of the Guard/Guardhouse) used here for housing political prisoners who did not deserve death or solitary confinement as some of the officials though Jeremiah did.
[36:1] 8 sn The fourth year that Jehoiakim…was ruling over Judah would have been 605/4
[36:1] 9 tn Heb “This word came to Jeremiah from the
[36:2] 10 sn Heb “a roll [or scroll] of a document.” Scrolls consisted of pieces of leather or parchment sewn together and rolled up on wooden rollers. The writing was written from right to left and from top to bottom in columns and the scroll unrolled from the left roller and rolled onto the right one as the scroll was read. The scroll varied in length depending on the contents. This scroll was probably not all that long since it was read three times in a single day (vv. 10-11, 15-16, 21-23).
[36:2] 11 sn The intent is hardly that of giving a verbatim report of everything that the
[36:2] 12 sn This refers to the messages that Jeremiah delivered during the last eighteen years of Josiah, the three month reign of Jehoahaz and the first four years of Jehoiakim’s reign (the period between Josiah’s thirteenth year [cf. 1:2] and the fourth year of Jehoiakim [v. 1]). The exact content of this scroll is unknown since many of the messages in the present book are undated. It is also not known what relation this scroll had to the present form of the book of Jeremiah, since this scroll was destroyed and another one written that contained more than this one did (cf. v. 32). Since Jeremiah continued his ministry down to the fall of Jerusalem in 587/6
[36:3] 13 tn Heb “will turn each one from his wicked way.”
[36:3] 14 tn Heb “their iniquity and their sin.”
[36:3] sn The offer of withdrawal of punishment for sin is consistent with the principles of Jer 18:7-8 and the temple sermon delivered early in the reign of this king (cf. 26:1-3; 7:5-7).
[36:4] 15 tn Heb “Then Baruch wrote down on a scroll from the mouth of Jeremiah all the words of the
[36:5] 16 tn Heb “I am restrained; I cannot go into.” The word “restrained” is used elsewhere in Jeremiah of his being confined to the courtyard of the guardhouse (33:1; 39:15). However, that occurred only later during the tenth year of Zedekiah (Jer 32:1-2) and Jeremiah appears here to be free to come and go as he pleased (vv. 19, 26). The word is used in the active voice of the
[37:21] 17 tn Heb “And/Then King Zedekiah ordered and they committed Jeremiah to [or deposited…in] the courtyard of the guardhouse and they gave to him a loaf of bread.” The translation has been structured the way it has to avoid the ambiguous “they” which is the impersonal subject which is sometimes rendered passive in English (cf. GKC 460 §144.d). This text also has another example of the vav (ו) + infinitive absolute continuing a finite verbal form (וְנָתֹן [vÿnaton] = “and they gave”; cf. GKC 345 §113.y and see Jer 32:44; 36:23).