Yeremia 11:16

11:16 I, the Lord, once called ¹  you a thriving olive tree,

one that produced beautiful fruit.

But I will set you ²  on fire,

fire that will blaze with a mighty roar. ³ 

Then all your branches will be good for nothing. ⁴ 

Yeremia 21:10

21:10 For I, the Lord, say that ⁵  I am determined not to deliver this city but to bring disaster on it. ⁶  It will be handed over to the king of Babylon and he will destroy it with fire.’” ⁷ 

Yeremia 21:14

21:14 But I will punish you as your deeds deserve,’

says the Lord. ⁸ 

‘I will set fire to your palace;

it will burn up everything around it.’” ⁹ 

Yeremia 38:18

38:18 But if you do not surrender to the officers of the king of Babylon, this city will be handed over to the Babylonians ¹⁰  and they will burn it down. You yourself will not escape from them.’” ¹¹ 

Yeremia 44:6

44:6 So my anger and my wrath were poured out and burned like a fire through the towns of Judah and the streets of Jerusalem. That is why they have become the desolate ruins that they are today.’

Yeremia 44:24

44:24 Then Jeremiah spoke to all the people, particularly to all the women. ¹²  “Listen to what the Lord has to say all you people of Judah who are in Egypt.

Yeremia 51:30

51:30 The soldiers of Babylonia will stop fighting.

They will remain in their fortified cities.

They will lose their strength to do battle. ¹³ 

They will be as frightened as women. ¹⁴ 

The houses in her cities will be set on fire.

The gates of her cities will be broken down. ¹⁵ 

Yeremia 51:56

51:56 For a destroyer is attacking Babylon. ¹⁶ 

Her warriors will be captured;

their bows will be broken. ¹⁷ 

For the Lord is a God who punishes; ¹⁸ 

he pays back in full. ¹⁹ 

Yeremia 52:18

52:18 They also took the pots, shovels, ²⁰  trimming shears, ²¹  basins, pans, and all the bronze utensils used by the priests. ²² 

[11:16]  ¹ tn Heb “The Lord once called you….” This is another example of the rapid shift in person that is common to Hebrew style which is not common in English and could lead to confusion for some readers. Here and in the verses that follow the person has been shifted to first person for consistency in English.

[11:16]  ² tn The verb form used here is another example of a verb expressing that the action is as good as done (the Hebrew prophetic perfect).

[11:16]  ³ tn Heb “At the sound of a mighty roar he will set fire to it.” For the shift from third person “he” to the first person “I” see the preceding note. The Hebrew use of the pronouns in vv. 16-17 for the olive tree and the people that it represents is likely to cause confusion if retained. In v. 16 the people are “you” and the olive tree is “it.” The people are again “you” in v. 17 but part of the metaphor is carried over, i.e., “he ‘planted’ you.” It creates less confusion in the flow of the passage if the metaphorical identification is carried out throughout by addressing the people/plant as “you.”

[11:16]  ⁴ tn The verb here has most commonly been derived from a root meaning “to be broken” (cf. BDB 949 s.v. II רָעַע) which fits poorly with the metaphor of setting the plant on fire. Another common option is to emend it to a verb meaning “to be burned up” (בָּעַר, ba’ar). However, it is better to follow the lead of the Greek version which translates “be good for nothing” (ἠχρειώθησαν, hcreiwqhsan) and derive the verb from רָעַע (ra’a’) meaning “be bad/evil” (cf. BDB 949 and compare the nuance of the adjective from this verb in BDB 948 s.v. רַע 5).

[21:10]  ⁵ tn Heb “oracle of the Lord.”

[21:10]  ⁶ tn Heb “I have set my face against this city for evil [i.e., disaster] and not for good [i.e., well-being].” For the use of the idiom “set one’s face against/toward” see, e.g., usage in 1 Kgs 2:15; 2 Kgs 2:17; Jer 42:15, 17 and note the interesting interplay of usage in Jer 44:11-12.

[21:10]  ⁷ tn Heb “he will burn it with fire.”

[21:14]  ⁸ tn Heb “oracle of the Lord.”

[21:14]  ⁹ tn Heb “I will set fire in its forest and it will devour its surroundings.” The pronouns are actually third feminine singular going back to the participle “you who sit enthroned above the valley.” However, this is another example of those rapid shifts in pronouns typical of the biblical Hebrew style which are uncommon in English. They have regularly been leveled to the same person throughout in the translation to avoid possible confusion for the English reader.

[38:18]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “Chaldeans.” See the study note on 21:4 for explanation.

[38:18]  ¹¹ tn Heb “will not escape from their hand.”

[38:18]  sn Zedekiah held out this hope of escape until the end and attempted to do so but was unsuccessful (cf. 39:4-5).

[44:24]  ¹² tn Heb “and to all the women.” The “and” (ו, vav) is to be explained here according to BDB 252 s.v. וַ 1.a. The focus of the address that follows is on the women. See the translator’s note on the next verse.

[51:30]  ¹³ tn Heb “Their strength is dry.” This is a figurative nuance of the word “dry” which BDB 677 s.v. נָשַׁת Qal.1 explain as meaning “fails.” The idea of “strength to do battle” is implicit from the context and is supplied in the translation here for clarity.

[51:30]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “They have become women.” The metaphor has been turned into a simile and the significance of the comparison drawn out for the sake of clarity. See 50:37 for the same figure.

[51:30]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “Her dwelling places have been set on fire. Her bars [i.e., the bars on the gates of her cities] have been broken.” The present translation has substituted the word “gates” for “bars” because the intent of the figure is to show that the bars of the gates have been broken giving access to the city. “Gates” makes it easier for the modern reader to understand the figure.

[51:56]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “for a destroyer is coming against her, against Babylon.”

[51:56]  ¹⁷ tn The Piel form (which would be intransitive here, see GKC 142 §52.k) should probably be emended to Qal.

[51:56]  ¹⁸ tn Or “God of retribution.”

[51:56]  ¹⁹ tn The infinitive absolute emphasizes the following finite verb. Another option is to translate, “he certainly pays one back.” The translation assumes that the imperfect verbal form here describes the Lord’s characteristic actions. Another option is to take it as referring specifically to his judgment on Babylon, in which case one should translate, “he will pay (Babylon) back in full.”

[52:18]  ²⁰ sn These shovels were used to clean the altar.

[52:18]  ²¹ sn These trimming shears were used to trim the wicks of the lamps.

[52:18]  ²² tn Heb “with which they served (or “fulfilled their duty”).”