Yeremia 14:3

14:3 The leading men of the cities send their servants for water.

They go to the cisterns, ¹  but they do not find any water there.

They return with their containers ²  empty.

Disappointed and dismayed, they bury their faces in their hands. ³ 

Yeremia 31:4

31:4 I will rebuild you, my dear children Israel, ⁴ 

so that you will once again be built up.

Once again you will take up the tambourine

and join in the happy throng of dancers. ⁵ 

Yeremia 32:3

32:3 For King Zedekiah ⁶  had confined Jeremiah there after he had reproved him for prophesying as he did. He had asked Jeremiah, “Why do you keep prophesying these things? Why do you keep saying that the Lord says, ‘I will hand this city over to the king of Babylon? I will let him capture it. ⁷ 

Yeremia 32:5

32:5 Zedekiah will be carried off to Babylon and will remain there until I have fully dealt with him. ⁸  I, the Lord, affirm it! ⁹  Even if you ¹⁰  continue to fight against the Babylonians, ¹¹  you cannot win.’”

Yeremia 43:6

43:6 They also led off all the men, women, children, and royal princesses ¹²  that Nebuzaradan, the captain of the royal guard, had left with Gedaliah, ¹³  the son of Ahikam and grandson of Shaphan. This included the prophet Jeremiah and Baruch son of Neriah.

Yeremia 46:14

46:14 “Make an announcement throughout Egypt.

Proclaim it in Migdol, Memphis, and Tahpanhes. ¹⁴ 

‘Take your positions and prepare to do battle.

For the enemy army is destroying all the nations around you.’ ¹⁵ 

Yeremia 49:30

49:30 The Lord says, ¹⁶  “Flee quickly, you who live in Hazor. ¹⁷ 

Take up refuge in remote places. ¹⁸ 

For King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon has laid out plans to attack you.

He has formed his strategy on how to defeat you.” ¹⁹ 

[14:3]  ¹ tn Though the concept of “cisterns” is probably not familiar to some readers, it would be a mistake to translate this word as “well.” Wells have continual sources of water. Cisterns were pits dug in the ground and lined with plaster to hold rain water. The drought had exhausted all the water in the cisterns.

[14:3]  ² tn The word “containers” is a generic word in Hebrew = “vessels.” It would probably in this case involve water “jars” or “jugs.” But since in contemporary English one would normally associate those terms with smaller vessels, “containers” may be safer.

[14:3]  ³ tn Heb “they cover their heads.” Some of the English versions have gone wrong here because of the “normal” use of the words translated here “disappointed” and “dismayed.” They are regularly translated “ashamed” and “disgraced, humiliated, dismayed” elsewhere (see e.g., Jer 22:22); they are somewhat synonymous terms which are often parallel or combined. The key here, however, is the expression “they cover their heads” which is used in 2 Sam 15:30 for the expression of grief. Moreover, the word translated here “disappointed” (בּוֹשׁ, bosh) is used that way several times. See for example Jer 12:13 and consult examples in BDB 101 s.v. בּוֹשׁ Qal.2. A very similar context with the same figure is found in Jer 2:36-37.

[31:4]  ⁴ tn Heb “Virgin Israel.”

[31:4]  sn For the significance of this metaphor see the note on Jer 14:17. Here the emphasis appears on his special love and care for his people and the hint (further developed in vv. 21-22) that, though guilty of sin, he considers them like an innocent young virgin.

[31:4]  ⁵ sn Contrast Jer 7:34 and 25:10.

[32:3]  ⁶ tn Heb “Zedekiah king of Judah.”

[32:3]  ⁷ tn The translation represents an attempt to break up a very long Hebrew sentence with several levels of subordination and embedded quotations and also an attempt to capture the rhetorical force of the question “Why…” which is probably an example of what E. W. Bullinger (Figures of Speech, 953-54) calls a rhetorical question of expostulation or remonstrance (cf. the note on 26:9 and compare also the question in 36:29. In all three of these cases NJPS translates “How dare you…” which captures the force nicely). The Hebrew text reads, “For Zedekiah king of Judah had confined him, saying, ‘Why are you prophesying, saying, “Thus says the Lord, ‘Behold I am giving this city into the hands of the king of Babylon and he will capture it.’”’”

[32:5]  ⁸ tn This is the verb (פָּקַד, paqad) that has been met with several times in the book of Jeremiah, most often in the ominous sense of “punish” (e.g., 6:15; 11:22; 23:24) but also in the good sense of “resume concern for” (e.g., 27:22; 29:10). Here it is obviously in the ominous sense referring to his imprisonment and ultimate death (52:11).

[32:5]  sn Compare Jer 34:2-3 for this same prophecy. The incident in Jer 34:1-7 appears to be earlier than this one. Here Jeremiah is confined to the courtyard of the guardhouse; there he appears to have freedom of movement.

[32:5]  ⁹ tn Heb “Oracle of the Lord.”

[32:5]  ¹⁰ sn The pronouns are plural here, referring to the people of Judah and Jerusalem. Jeremiah had counseled that they surrender (cf. 27:12; 21:8-10) because they couldn’t succeed against the Babylonian army even under the most favorable circumstances (37:3-10).

[32:5]  ¹¹ tn Heb “The Chaldeans.” See the study note on 21:4 for further explanation.

[43:6]  ¹² tn Heb “the daughters of the king.” See the translator’s note on 41:10.

[43:6]  ¹³ sn This refers to the group mentioned in Jer 40:7 and 41:10. The two groups together constituted all the people who were at Mizpah when Gedaliah was murdered, had been taken captive by Ishmael, had been rescued by Johanan and the other army officers, and had consulted Jeremiah at Geruth Chimham.

[46:14]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “Declare in Egypt and announce in Migdol and announce in Noph [= Memphis] and in Tahpanhes.” The sentence has been restructured to reflect the fact that the first command is a general one, followed by announcements in specific (representative?) cities.

[46:14]  sn For the location of the cities of Migdol, Memphis, and Tahpanhes see the note on Jer 44:1. These were all cities in Lower or northern Egypt that would have been the first affected by an invasion.

[46:14]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “For the sword devours those who surround you.” The “sword” is again figurative of destructive forces. Here it is a reference to the forces of Nebuchadnezzar which have already destroyed the Egyptian forces at Carchemish and have made victorious forays into the Philistine plain.

[49:30]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “Oracle of the Lord.”

[49:30]  ¹⁷ map For location see Map1 D2; Map2 D3; Map3 A2; Map4 C1.

[49:30]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “Make deep to dwell.” See Jer 49:8 and the translator’s note there. The use of this same phrase here argues against the alternative there of going down from a height and going back home.

[49:30]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “has counseled a counsel against you, has planned a plan against you.”