Yeremia 51:7

51:7 Babylonia had been a gold cup in the Lord’s hand.

She had made the whole world drunk.

The nations had drunk from the wine of her wrath. ¹ 

So they have all gone mad. ² 

Yeremia 18:6

18:6 “I, the Lord, say: ³  ‘O nation of Israel, can I not deal with you as this potter deals with the clay? ⁴  In my hands, you, O nation of Israel, are just like the clay in this potter’s hand.’

[51:7]  ¹ tn The words “of her wrath” are not in the Hebrew text but are supplied in the translation to help those readers who are not familiar with the figure of the “cup of the Lord’s wrath.”

[51:7]  sn The figure of the cup of the Lord’s wrath invoked in Jer 25:15-29 is invoked again here and Babylon is identified as the agent through which the wrath of the Lord is visited on the other nations. See the study note on 25:15 for explanation and further references.

[51:7]  ² tn Heb “upon the grounds of such conditions the nations have gone mad.”

[18:6]  ³ tn This phrase (literally “Oracle of the Lord”) has been handled this way on several occasions when it occurs within first person addresses where the Lord is the speaker. See, e.g., 16:16; 17:24.

[18:6]  ⁴ tn The words “deals with the clay” are not in the text. They are part of an elliptical comparison and are supplied in the translation here for clarity.