Yeremia 2:28

2:28 But where are the gods you made for yourselves?

Let them save you when you are in trouble.

The sad fact is that ¹  you have as many gods

as you have towns, Judah.

Yeremia 2:30

2:30 “It did no good for me to punish your people.

They did not respond to such correction.

You slaughtered your prophets

like a voracious lion.” ² 

Yeremia 3:23

3:23 We know our noisy worship of false gods

on the hills and mountains did not help us. ³ 

We know that the Lord our God

is the only one who can deliver Israel. ⁴ 

Yeremia 6:6

6:6 All of this is because ⁵  the Lord who rules over all ⁶  has said:

‘Cut down the trees around Jerusalem

and build up a siege ramp against its walls. ⁷ 

This is the city which is to be punished. ⁸ 

Nothing but oppression happens in it. ⁹ 

Yeremia 6:9

6:9 This is what the Lord who rules over all ¹⁰  said to me: ¹¹ 

“Those who remain in Israel will be

like the grapes thoroughly gleaned ¹²  from a vine.

So go over them again, as though you were a grape harvester

passing your hand over the branches one last time.” ¹³ 

Yeremia 6:18

6:18 So the Lord said, ¹⁴ 

“Hear, you nations!

Be witnesses and take note of what will happen to these people. ¹⁵ 

Yeremia 6:29

6:29 The fiery bellows of judgment burn fiercely.

But there is too much dross to be removed. ¹⁶ 

The process of refining them has proved useless. ¹⁷ 

The wicked have not been purged.

Yeremia 7:26

7:26 But your ancestors ¹⁸  did not listen to me nor pay attention to me. They became obstinate ¹⁹  and were more wicked than even their own forefathers.’”

Yeremia 9:2

9:2 (9:1) I wish I had a lodging place in the desert

where I could spend some time like a weary traveler. ²⁰ 

Then I would desert my people

and walk away from them

because they are all unfaithful to God,

a congregation ²¹  of people that has been disloyal to him. ²² 

Yeremia 9:5

9:5 One friend deceives another

and no one tells the truth.

These people have trained themselves ²³  to tell lies.

They do wrong and are unable to repent.

Yeremia 9:21

9:21 ‘Death has climbed in ²⁴  through our windows.

It has entered into our fortified houses.

It has taken away our children who play in the streets.

It has taken away our young men who gather in the city squares.’

Yeremia 10:14

10:14 All these idolaters ²⁵  will prove to be stupid and ignorant.

Every goldsmith will be disgraced by the idol he made.

For the image he forges is merely a sham. ²⁶ 

There is no breath in any of those idols. ²⁷ 

Yeremia 10:22

10:22 Listen! News is coming even now. ²⁸ 

The rumble of a great army is heard approaching ²⁹  from a land in the north. ³⁰ 

It is coming to turn the towns of Judah into rubble,

places where only jackals live.

Yeremia 11:13

11:13 This is in spite of the fact that ³¹  the people of Judah have as many gods as they have towns ³²  and the citizens of Jerusalem have set up as many altars to sacrifice to that disgusting god, Baal, as they have streets in the city!’ ³³ 

Yeremia 12:13

12:13 My people will sow wheat, but will harvest weeds. ³⁴ 

They will work until they are exhausted, but will get nothing from it.

They will be disappointed in their harvests ³⁵ 

because the Lord will take them away in his fierce anger. ³⁶ 

Yeremia 13:6

13:6 Many days later the Lord said to me, “Go at once to Perath and get ³⁷  the shorts I ordered you to bury there.”

Yeremia 13:20

13:20 Then I said, ³⁸ 

“Look up, Jerusalem, ³⁹  and see

the enemy ⁴⁰  that is coming from the north.

Where now is the flock of people that were entrusted to your care? ⁴¹ 

Where now are the ‘sheep’ that you take such pride in? ⁴² 

Yeremia 16:12

16:12 And you have acted even more wickedly than your ancestors! Each one of you has followed the stubborn inclinations of your own wicked heart and not obeyed me. ⁴³ 

Yeremia 16:17

16:17 For I see everything they do. Their wicked ways are not hidden from me. Their sin is not hidden away where I cannot see it. ⁴⁴ 

Yeremia 17:2

17:2 Their children are always thinking about ⁴⁵  their ⁴⁶  altars

and their sacred poles dedicated to the goddess Asherah, ⁴⁷ 

set up beside the green trees on the high hills

Yeremia 18:12-13

18:12 But they just keep saying, ‘We do not care what you say! ⁴⁸  We will do whatever we want to do! We will continue to behave wickedly and stubbornly!’” ⁴⁹ 

18:13 Therefore, the Lord says,

“Ask the people of other nations

whether they have heard of anything like this.

Israel should have been like a virgin.

But she has done something utterly revolting!

Yeremia 21:2

21:2 “Please ask the Lord to come and help us, ⁵⁰  because King Nebuchadnezzar ⁵¹  of Babylon is attacking us. Maybe the Lord will perform one of his miracles as in times past and make him stop attacking us and leave.” ⁵² 

Yeremia 23:4

23:4 I will install rulers ⁵³  over them who will care for them. Then they will no longer need to fear or be terrified. None of them will turn up missing. ⁵⁴  I, the Lord, promise it! ⁵⁵ 

Yeremia 23:10

23:10 For the land is full of people unfaithful to him. ⁵⁶ 

They live wicked lives and they misuse their power. ⁵⁷ 

So the land is dried up ⁵⁸  because it is under his curse. ⁵⁹ 

The pastures in the wilderness are withered.

Yeremia 23:12

23:12 So the paths they follow will be dark and slippery.

They will stumble and fall headlong.

For I will bring disaster on them.

A day of reckoning is coming for them.” ⁶⁰ 

The Lord affirms it! ⁶¹ 

Yeremia 23:38

23:38 But just suppose you continue to say, ‘The message of the Lord is burdensome.’ Here is what the Lord says will happen: ‘I sent word to you that you must not say, “The Lord’s message is burdensome.” But you used the words “The Lord’s message is burdensome” anyway.

Yeremia 24:10

24:10 I will bring war, starvation, and disease ⁶²  on them until they are completely destroyed from the land I gave them and their ancestors.’” ⁶³ 

Yeremia 25:18

25:18 I made Jerusalem ⁶⁴  and the cities of Judah, its kings and its officials drink it. ⁶⁵  I did it so Judah would become a ruin. I did it so Judah, its kings, and its officials would become an object ⁶⁶  of horror and of hissing scorn, an example used in curses. ⁶⁷  Such is already becoming the case! ⁶⁸ 

Yeremia 28:8

28:8 From earliest times, the prophets who preceded you and me invariably ⁶⁹  prophesied war, disaster, ⁷⁰  and plagues against many countries and great kingdoms.

Yeremia 29:11

29:11 For I know what I have planned for you,’ says the Lord. ⁷¹  ‘I have plans to prosper you, not to harm you. I have plans to give you ⁷²  a future filled with hope. ⁷³ 

Yeremia 29:25

29:25 that the Lord God of Israel who rules over all ⁷⁴  has a message for him. ⁷⁵  Tell him, ⁷⁶  ‘On your own initiative ⁷⁷  you sent a letter ⁷⁸  to the priest Zephaniah son of Maaseiah ⁷⁹  and to all the other priests and to all the people in Jerusalem. ⁸⁰  In your letter you said to Zephaniah, ⁸¹ 

Yeremia 30:17

30:17 Yes, ⁸²  I will restore you to health.

I will heal your wounds.

I, the Lord, affirm it! ⁸³ 

For you have been called an outcast,

Zion, whom no one cares for.”

Yeremia 31:36

31:36 The Lord affirms, ⁸⁴  “The descendants of Israel will not

cease forever to be a nation in my sight.

That could only happen if the fixed ordering of the heavenly lights

were to cease to operate before me.” ⁸⁵ 

Yeremia 32:19

32:19 You plan great things and you do mighty deeds. ⁸⁶  You see everything people do. ⁸⁷  You reward each of them for the way they live and for the things they do. ⁸⁸ 

Yeremia 32:43

32:43 You and your people ⁸⁹  are saying that this land will become desolate, uninhabited by either people or animals. You are saying that it will be handed over to the Babylonians. ⁹⁰  But fields ⁹¹  will again be bought in this land. ⁹² 

Yeremia 34:10

34:10 All the people and their leaders had agreed to this. They had agreed to free their male and female slaves and not keep them enslaved any longer. They originally complied with the covenant and freed them. ⁹³ 

Yeremia 37:14

37:14 Jeremiah answered, “That’s a lie! I am not deserting to the Babylonians.” ⁹⁴  But Irijah would not listen to him. Irijah put Jeremiah under arrest and took him to the officials.

Yeremia 38:12

38:12 Ebed Melech ⁹⁵  called down to Jeremiah, “Put these rags and worn-out clothes under your armpits to pad the ropes. ⁹⁶  Jeremiah did as Ebed Melech instructed. ⁹⁷ 

Yeremia 39:9

39:9 Then Nebuzaradan, the captain of the royal guard, ⁹⁸  took captive the rest of the people who were left in the city. He carried them off to Babylon along with the people who had deserted to him. ⁹⁹ 

Yeremia 39:14

39:14 sent and had Jeremiah brought from the courtyard of the guardhouse. They turned him over to Gedaliah, ¹⁰⁰  the son of Ahikam and the grandson of Shaphan, to take him home with him. ¹⁰¹  But Jeremiah stayed among the people. ¹⁰² 

Yeremia 42:10-11

42:10 ‘If you will just stay ¹⁰³  in this land, I will build you up. I will not tear you down. I will firmly plant you. ¹⁰⁴  I will not uproot you. For I am filled with sorrow because of the disaster that I have brought on you. 42:11 Do not be afraid of the king of Babylon whom you now fear. ¹⁰⁵  Do not be afraid of him because I will be with you to save you and to rescue you from his power. I, the Lord, affirm it! ¹⁰⁶ 

Yeremia 43:5

43:5 Instead Johanan son of Kareah and all the army officers led off all the Judean remnant who had come back to live in the land of Judah from all the nations where they had been scattered. ¹⁰⁷ 

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 44:23

44:23 You have sacrificed to other gods! You have sinned against the Lord! You have not obeyed the Lord! You have not followed his laws, his statutes, and his decrees! That is why this disaster that is evident to this day has happened to you.” ¹⁰⁸ 

Yeremia 44:27

44:27 I will indeed ¹⁰⁹  see to it that disaster, not prosperity, happens to them. ¹¹⁰  All the people of Judah who are in the land of Egypt will die in war or from starvation until not one of them is left.

Yeremia 45:3

45:3 ‘You have said, “I feel so hopeless! ¹¹¹  For the Lord has added sorrow to my suffering. ¹¹²  I am worn out from groaning. I can’t find any rest.”’”

Yeremia 46:5

46:5 What do I see?” ¹¹³  says the Lord. ¹¹⁴ 

“The soldiers ¹¹⁵  are terrified.

They are retreating.

They have been defeated.

They are overcome with terror; ¹¹⁶ 

they desert quickly

without looking back.

Yeremia 46:21

46:21 Even her mercenaries ¹¹⁷ 

will prove to be like pampered, ¹¹⁸  well-fed calves.

For they too will turn and run away.

They will not stand their ground

when ¹¹⁹  the time for them to be destroyed comes,

the time for them to be punished.

Yeremia 48:17

48:17 Mourn for that nation, all you nations living around it,

all of you nations that know of its fame. ¹²⁰ 

Mourn and say, ‘Alas, its powerful influence has been broken!

Its glory and power have been done away!’ ¹²¹ 

Yeremia 49:23

Judgment Against Damascus

49:23 The Lord spoke ¹²²  about Damascus. ¹²³ 

“The people of Hamath and Arpad ¹²⁴  will be dismayed

because they have heard bad news.

Their courage will melt away because of worry.

Their hearts will not be able to rest. ¹²⁵ 

Yeremia 49:29

49:29 Their tents and their flocks will be taken away.

Their tent curtains, equipment, and camels will be carried off.

People will shout ¹²⁶  to them,

‘Terror is all around you!’” ¹²⁷ 

Yeremia 50:39

50:39 Therefore desert creatures and jackals will live there.

Ostriches ¹²⁸  will dwell in it too. ¹²⁹ 

But no people will ever live there again.

No one will dwell there for all time to come. ¹³⁰ 

Yeremia 51:9

51:9 Foreigners living there will say, ¹³¹ 

‘We tried to heal her, but she could not be healed.

Let’s leave Babylonia ¹³²  and each go back to his own country.

For judgment on her will be vast in its proportions.

It will be like it is piled up to heaven, stacked up into the clouds.’ ¹³³ 

Yeremia 51:26

51:26 No one will use any of your stones as a cornerstone.

No one will use any of them in the foundation of his house.

For you will lie desolate forever,” ¹³⁴ 

says the Lord. ¹³⁵ 

Yeremia 51:43

51:43 The towns of Babylonia have become heaps of ruins.

She has become a dry and barren desert.

No one lives in those towns any more.

No one even passes through them. ¹³⁶ 

Yeremia 51:48

51:48 Then heaven and earth and all that is in them

will sing for joy over Babylon.

For destroyers from the north will attack it,”

says the Lord. ¹³⁷ 

Yeremia 51:50

51:50 You who have escaped the sword, ¹³⁸ 

go, do not delay. ¹³⁹ 

Remember the Lord in a faraway land.

Think about Jerusalem. ¹⁴⁰ 

Yeremia 51:61

51:61 Then Jeremiah said to Seraiah, “When you arrive in Babylon, make sure ¹⁴¹  you read aloud all these prophecies. ¹⁴² 

Yeremia 52:20

52:20 The bronze of the items that King Solomon made for the Lord’s temple (including the two pillars, the large bronze basin called “The Sea,” the twelve bronze bulls under “The Sea,” and the movable stands ¹⁴³ ) was too heavy to be weighed.

[2:28]  ¹ tn This is an attempt to render the Hebrew particle כִּי (ki, “for, indeed”) contextually.

[2:30]  ² tn Heb “Your sword devoured your prophets like a destroying lion.” However, the reference to the sword in this and many similar idioms is merely idiomatic for death by violent means.

[3:23]  ³ tn Heb “Truly in vain from the hills the noise/commotion [and from] the mountains.” The syntax of the Hebrew sentence is very elliptical here.

[3:23]  ⁴ tn Heb “Truly in the Lord our God is deliverance for Israel.”

[6:6]  ⁵ tn Heb “For.” The translation attempts to make the connection clearer.

[6:6]  ⁶ tn Heb “Yahweh of armies.”

[6:6]  sn For an explanation of the significance of this title see the study note on 2:19.

[6:6]  ⁷ tn Heb “Cut down its trees and build up a siege ramp against Jerusalem.” The referent has been moved forward from the second line for clarity.

[6:6]  ⁸ tn Or “must be punished.” The meaning of this line is uncertain. The LXX reads, “Woe, city of falsehood!” The MT presents two anomalies: a masculine singular verb with a feminine singular subject in a verbal stem (Hophal) that elsewhere does not have the meaning “is to be punished.” Hence many follow the Greek which presupposes הוֹי עִיר הַשֶּׁקֶר (hoy ’ir hasheqer) instead of הִיא הָעִיר הָפְקַד (hi’ ha’ir hofqad). The Greek is the easier reading in light of the parallelism, and it would be hard to explain how the MT arose from it. KBL suggests reading a noun meaning “licentiousness” which occurs elsewhere only in Mishnaic Hebrew, hence “this is the city, the licentious one” (attributive apposition; cf. KBL 775 s.v. פֶּקֶר). Perhaps the Hophal perfect (הָפְקַד, hofÿqad) should be revocalized as a Niphal infinitive absolute (הִפָּקֹד, hippaqod); this would solve both anomalies in the MT since the Niphal is used in this nuance and the infinitive absolute can function in place of a finite verb (cf. GKC 346 §113.ee and ff). This, however, is mere speculation and is supported by no Hebrew ms.

[6:6]  ⁹ tn Heb “All of it oppression in its midst.”

[6:9]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “Yahweh of armies.”

[6:9]  sn For an explanation of the significance of this title see the study note on 2:19.

[6:9]  ¹¹ tn The words “to me” are not in the text but are supplied in the translation for clarity.

[6:9]  ¹² tn Heb “They will thoroughly glean those who are left in Israel like a vine.” That is, they will be carried off by judgment. It is not necessary to read the verb forms here as two imperatives or an infinitive absolute followed by an imperative as some English versions and commentaries do. This is an example of a third plural verb used impersonally and translated as a passive (cf. GKC 460 §144.g).

[6:9]  ¹³ tn Heb “Pass your hand back over the branches like a grape harvester.” The translation is intended to clarify the metaphor that Jeremiah should try to rescue some from the coming destruction.

[6:18]  ¹⁴ tn These words are not in the text but are implicit from the flow of the context. They are supplied in the translation for clarity.

[6:18]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “Know, congregation [or witness], what in [or against] them.” The meaning of this line is somewhat uncertain. The meaning of the noun of address in the second line (“witness,” rendered as an imperative in the translation, “Be witnesses”) is greatly debated. It is often taken as “congregation” but the lexicons and commentaries generally question the validity of reading that word since it is nowhere else applied to the nations. BDB 417 s.v. עֵדָה 3 says that the text is dubious. HALOT 747 s.v. I עֵדָה, 4 emends the text to דֵּעָה (de’ah). Several modern English versions (e.g., NIV, NCV, God’s Word) take it as the feminine singular noun “witness” (cf. BDB 729 s.v. II עֵדָה) and understand it as a collective. This solution is also proposed by J. A. Thompson (Jeremiah [NICOT], 259, n. 3) and appears to make the best sense in the context. The end of the line is very elliptical but is generally taken as either, “what I will do with/to them,” or “what is coming against them” (= “what will happen to them”) on the basis of the following context.

[6:29]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “The bellows blow fiercely; the lead is consumed by the fire.” The translation tries to clarify a metaphor involving ancient metallurgy. In the ancient refining process lead was added as a flux to remove impurities from silver ore in the process of oxidizing the lead. Jeremiah says that the lead has been used up and the impurities have not been removed. The translation is based on the recognition of an otherwise unused verb root meaning “blow” (נָחַר [nakhar]; cf. BDB 1123 s.v. I חָרַר and HALOT 651 s.v. נָחַר) and the Masoretes’ suggestion that the consonants מאשׁתם be read מֵאֵשׁ תַּם (me’esh tam) rather than as מֵאֶשָּׁתָם (me’eshatam, “from their fire”) from an otherwise unattested noun אֶשָּׁה (’eshah).

[6:29]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “The refiner refines them in vain.”

[7:26]  ¹⁸ tn Or “But your predecessors…”; Heb “But they….” There is a confusing interchange in the pronouns in vv. 25-26 which has led to some leveling in the ancient versions and the modern English versions. What is involved here are four levels of referents, the “you” of the present generation (vv. 21-22a), the ancestors who were delivered from Egypt (i.e., the “they” of vv. 22b-24), the “you” of v. 25 which involves all the Israelites from the Exodus to the time of speaking, and the “they” of v. 26 which cannot be the ancestors of vv. 22-24 (since they cannot be more wicked than themselves) but must be an indefinite entity which is a part of the “you” of v. 25, i.e., the more immediate ancestors of the present generation. If this is kept in mind, there is no need to level the pronouns to “they” and “them” or to “you” and “your” as some of the ancient versions and modern English versions have done.

[7:26]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “hardened [or made stiff] their neck.”

[9:2]  ²⁰ tn Heb “I wish I had in the desert a lodging place [inn, or place to spend the night] for travelers.”

[9:2]  ²¹ tn Or “bunch,” but this loses the irony; the word is used for the solemn assemblies at the religious feasts.

[9:2]  ²² tn Heb “they are all adulterers, a congregation of unfaithful people.” However, spiritual adultery is, of course, meant, not literal adultery. So the literal translation would be misleading.

[9:5]  ²³ tn Heb “their tongues.” However, this is probably not a natural idiom in contemporary English and the tongue may stand as a part for the whole anyway.

[9:21]  ²⁴ sn Here Death is personified (treated as though it were a person). Some have seen as possible background to this lament an allusion to Mesopotamian mythology where the demon Lamastu climbs in through the windows of houses and over their walls to kill children and babies.

[10:14]  ²⁵ tn Heb “Every man.” But in the context this is not a reference to all people without exception but to all idolaters. The referent is made explicit for the sake of clarity.

[10:14]  ²⁶ tn Or “nothing but a phony god”; Heb “a lie/falsehood.”

[10:14]  ²⁷ tn Heb “There is no breath in them.” The referent is made explicit so that no one will mistakenly take it to refer to the idolaters or goldsmiths.

[10:22]  ²⁸ tn Heb “The sound of a report, behold, it is coming.”

[10:22]  ²⁹ tn Heb “ coming, even a great quaking.”

[10:22]  ³⁰ sn Compare Jer 6:22.

[11:13]  ³¹ tn This is again an attempt to render the Hebrew particle כִּי (ki) contextually. The nuance is a little hard to establish due to the nature of the rhetoric of the passage which utilizes the figure of apostrophe where the Lord turns from talking about Judah to addressing her directly, probably in condemnatory tones. Something like “the very idea that you should…” might best represent the mood. The כִּי is probably asseverative or intensive (cf. BDB 472 s.v. כִּי 1.e).

[11:13]  ³² sn Cf. Jer 2:28.

[11:13]  ³³ tn Heb “For [or Indeed] the number of your [sing.] cities are your [sing.] gods, Judah, and the number of the streets of Jerusalem [or perhaps (your) streets, Jerusalem] you [plur.] have set up altars to the shameful thing, altars to sacrifice to Baal.” This passage involves a figure of speech where the speaker turns from describing something about someone to addressing him/her directly (a figure called apostrophe). This figure is not common in contemporary English literature or conversation and translating literally would lead to confusion on the part of some readers. Hence, the translation retains the third person in keeping with the rest of the context. The shift from singular “your cities” to plural “you have set up” is interpreted contextually to refer to a shift in addressing Judah to addressing the citizens of Jerusalem whose streets are being talked about. The appositional clause, “altars to sacrifice to Baal” has been collapsed with the preceding clause to better identify what the shameful thing is and to eliminate a complex construction. The length of this sentence runs contrary to the usual practice of breaking up long complex sentences in Hebrew into shorter equivalent ones in English. However, breaking up this sentence and possibly losing the connecting link with the preceding used to introduce it might lead to misunderstanding.

[12:13]  ³⁴ sn Invading armies lived off the land, using up all the produce and destroying everything they could not consume.

[12:13]  ³⁵ tn The pronouns here are actually second plural: Heb “Be ashamed/disconcerted because of your harvests.” Because the verb form (וּבֹשׁוּ, uvoshu) can either be Qal perfect third plural or Qal imperative masculine plural many emend the pronoun on the noun to third plural (see, e.g., BHS). However, this is the easier reading and is not supported by either the Latin or the Greek which have second plural. This is probably another case of the shift from description to direct address that has been met with several times already in Jeremiah (the figure of speech called apostrophe; for other examples see, e.g., 9:4; 11:13). As in other cases the translation has been leveled to third plural to avoid confusion for the contemporary English reader. For the meaning of the verb here see BDB 101 s.v. בּוֹשׁ Qal.2 and compare the usage in Jer 48:13.

[12:13]  ³⁶ tn Heb “be disappointed in their harvests from the fierce anger of the Lord.” The translation makes explicit what is implicit in the elliptical poetry of the Hebrew original.

[13:6]  ³⁷ tn Heb “Get from there.” The words “from there” are not necessary to the English sentence. They would lead to a redundancy later in the verse, i.e., “from there…bury there.”

[13:20]  ³⁸ tn The words “Then I said” are not in the text. They are supplied in the translation to show the shift in speaker from vv. 18-19 where the Lord is speaking to Jeremiah.

[13:20]  ³⁹ tn The word “Jerusalem” is not in the Hebrew text. It is added in the Greek text and is generally considered to be the object of address because of the second feminine singular verbs here and throughout the following verses. The translation follows the consonantal text (Kethib) and the Greek text in reading the second feminine singular here. The verbs and pronouns in vv. 20-22 are all second feminine singular with the exception of the suffix on the word “eyes” which is not reflected in the translation here (“Look up” = “Lift up your eyes”) and the verb and pronoun in v. 23. The text may reflect the same kind of alternation between singular and plural that takes place in Isa 7 where the pronouns refer to Ahaz as an individual and his entourage, the contemporary ruling class (cf., e.g., Isa 7:4-5 [singular], 9 [plural], 11 [singular], 13-14 [plural]). Here the connection with the preceding may suggest that it is initially the ruling house (the king and the queen mother), then Jerusalem personified as a woman in her role as a shepherdess (i.e., leader). However, from elsewhere in the book the leadership has included the kings, the priests, the prophets, and the citizens as well (cf., e.g., 13:13). In v. 27 Jerusalem is explicitly addressed. It may be asking too much of some readers who are not familiar with biblical metaphors to understand an extended metaphor like this. If it is helpful to them, they may substitute plural referents for “I” and “me.”

[13:20]  ⁴⁰ tn The word “enemy” is not in the text but is implicit. It supplied in the translation for clarity.

[13:20]  sn On the phrase the enemy that is coming from the north see Jer 1:14-15; 4:6; 6:1, 22; 10:22.

[13:20]  ⁴¹ tn Heb “the flock that was given to you.”

[13:20]  ⁴² tn Heb “the sheep of your pride.” The word “of your people” and the quotes around “sheep” are intended to carry over the metaphor in such a way that readers unfamiliar with the metaphor will understand it.

[16:12]  ⁴³ sn For the argumentation here compare Jer 7:23-26.

[16:17]  ⁴⁴ tn Heb “For my eyes are upon all their ways. They are not hidden from before me. And their sin is not hidden away from before my eyes.”

[17:2]  ⁴⁵ tn It is difficult to convey in good English style the connection between this verse and the preceding. The text does not have a finite verb but a temporal preposition with an infinitive: Heb “while their children remember their altars…” It is also difficult to translate the verb “literally.” (i.e., what does “remember” their altars mean?). Hence it has been rendered “always think about.” Another possibility would be “have their altars…on their minds.”

[17:2]  sn There is possibly a sarcastic irony involved here as well. The Israelites were to remember the Lord and what he had done and were to commemorate certain days, e.g., the Passover and the Sabbath which recalled their deliverance. Instead they resorted to the pagan altars and kept them in mind.

[17:2]  ⁴⁶ tc This reading follows many Hebrew mss and ancient versions. Many other Hebrew mss read “your” [masc. pl.].

[17:2]  ⁴⁷ sn Sacred poles dedicated to…Asherah. A leading deity of the Canaanite pantheon was Asherah, wife/sister of El and goddess of fertility. She was commonly worshiped at shrines in or near groves of evergreen trees, or, failing that, at places marked by wooden poles (Hebrew אֲשֵׁרִים [’asherim], plural). They were to be burned or cut down (Deut 7:5; 12:3; 16:21; Judg 6:25, 28, 30; 2 Kgs 18:4).

[18:12]  ⁴⁸ tn Heb “It is useless!” See the same expression in a similar context in Jer 2:25.

[18:12]  ⁴⁹ tn Heb “We will follow our own plans and do each one according to the stubbornness of his own wicked heart.”

[18:12]  sn This has been the consistent pattern of their behavior. See 7:24; 9:13; 13:10; 16:12.

[21:2]  ⁵⁰ tn The verb used here is often used of seeking information through a prophet (e.g., 2 Kgs 1:16; 8:8) and hence many translate “inquire of the Lord for us.” However, it is obvious from the following that they were not seeking information but help. The word is also used for that in Pss 34:4 (34:5 HT); 77:2 (77:3 HT).

[21:2]  ⁵¹ tn The dominant spelling of this name is actually Nebuchadrezzar which is closer to his Babylonian name Nebu kudduri uzzur. An alternate spelling which is found 6 times in the book of Jeremiah and 17 times elsewhere is Nebuchadnezzar which is the form of the name that is usually used in English versions.

[21:2]  sn Nebuchadnezzar was the second and greatest king of Babylon. He is known in the Bible both for his two conquests of Jerusalem in 597 b.c. (2 Kgs 24:10-17) and 587 b.c. (2 Kgs 25:1-7) and for his having built Babylon the Great (Dan 4:28-30).

[21:2]  ⁵² tn Heb “Perhaps the Lord will do according to his miracles that he may go up from against us.”

[21:2]  sn The miracles that they may have had in mind would have included the Exodus, the conquest of Jericho, the deliverance of Jehoshaphat (2 Chr 20:1-30), etc., but predominant in their minds was probably the deliverance of Jerusalem from Sennacherib in the times of Hezekiah (Isa 37:33-38).

[23:4]  ⁵³ tn Heb “shepherds.”

[23:4]  ⁵⁴ tn There are various nuances of the word פָּקַד (paqad) represented in vv. 2, 4. See Ps 8:4 (8:5 HT) and Zech 10:3 for “care for/take care of” (cf. BDB 823 s.v. פָּקַד Qal.A.1.a). See Exod 20:5; Amos 3:2; Jer 9:24; 11:22 for “punish” (cf. BDB 823 s.v. פָּקַד Qal.A.3). See 1 Kgs 20:39 and 2 Kgs 10:19 for “be missing” (cf. BDB 823 s.v. פָּקַד Niph.1).

[23:4]  sn There is an extended play on the Hebrew word פָּקַד which is a word with rather broad English equivalents. Here the word refers to the fault of the shepherds/rulers who have not “taken care” of the sheep/people (v. 2), the “punishment” for the evil they have done in not taking care of them (v. 2), and the fact that after the Lord assigns new shepherds/rulers over them they will be cared for in such a way that none of them “will turn up missing” (v. 4).

[23:4]  ⁵⁵ tn Heb “Oracle of the Lord.”

[23:10]  ⁵⁶ tn Heb “adulterers.” But spiritual adultery is clearly meant as also in 3:8-9; 9:2, and probably also 5:7.

[23:10]  ⁵⁷ tn For the word translated “They live…lives” see usage in Jer 8:6. For the idea of “misusing” their power (Heb “their power is not right” i.e., used in the wrong way) see 2 Kgs 7:9; 17:9. In the original text this line (really two lines in the Hebrew poetry) are at the end of the verse. However, this places the antecedent too far away and could lead to confusion. The lines have been rearranged to avoid such confusion.

[23:10]  ⁵⁸ tn For the use of this verb see 12:4 and the note there.

[23:10]  ⁵⁹ tc The translation follows the majority of Hebrew mss (מֵאָלָה, me’alah) rather than the Greek and Syriac version and a few Hebrew mss which read “because of these” (מֵאֵלֶּה [me’elleh], referring to the people unfaithful to him).

[23:10]  sn The curse is, of course, the covenant curse. See Deut 29:20-21 (29:19-20 HT) and for the specific curse see Deut 28:23-24. The curse is appropriate since their “adultery” lay in attributing their fertility to the god Baal (see Hos 2:9-13 (2:11-15 HT) and violating the covenant (see Hos 4:1-3).

[23:12]  ⁶⁰ tn For the last two lines see 11:23 and the notes there.

[23:12]  ⁶¹ tn Heb “Oracle of the Lord.”

[24:10]  ⁶² sn See Jer 14:12 and the study note there.

[24:10]  ⁶³ tn Heb “fathers.”

[25:18]  ⁶⁴ map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.

[25:18]  ⁶⁵ tn The words “I made” and “drink it” are not in the text. The text from v. 18 to v. 26 contains a list of the nations that Jeremiah “made drink it.” The words are supplied in the translation here and at the beginning of v. 19 for the sake of clarity. See also the note on v. 26.

[25:18]  ⁶⁶ tn Heb “in order to make them a ruin, an object of…” The sentence is broken up and the antecedents are made specific for the sake of clarity and English style.

[25:18]  ⁶⁷ tn See the study note on 24:9 for explanation.

[25:18]  ⁶⁸ tn Heb “as it is today.” This phrase would obviously be more appropriate after all these things had happened as is the case in 44:6, 23 where the verbs referring to these conditions are past. Some see this phrase as a marginal gloss added after the tragedies of 597 b.c. or 586 b.c. However, it may refer here to the beginning stages where Judah has already suffered the loss of Josiah, of its freedom, of some of its temple treasures, and of some of its leaders (Dan 1:1-3. The different date for Jehoiakim there is due to the different method of counting the king’s first year; the third year there is the same as the fourth year in 25:1).

[28:8]  ⁶⁹ tn The word “invariably” is not in the text but is implicit in the context and in the tense of the Hebrew verb. It is supplied in the translation for clarity and to help bring out the contrast in the next verse.

[28:8]  ⁷⁰ tc Many Hebrew mss read “starvation/famine” which is the second member of a common triad “sword, famine, and plague” in Jeremiah. This triad occurs thirteen times in the book and undoubtedly influenced a later scribe to read “starvation [= famine]” here. For this triad see the note on 14:14. The words “disaster and plagues” are missing in the LXX.

[29:11]  ⁷¹ tn Heb “Oracle of the Lord.”

[29:11]  ⁷² tn Heb “I know the plans that I am planning for you, oracle of the Lord, plans of well-being and not for harm to give to you….”

[29:11]  ⁷³ tn Or “the future you hope for”; Heb “a future and a hope.” This is a good example of hendiadys where two formally coordinated nouns (adjectives, verbs) convey a single idea where one of the terms functions as a qualifier of the other. For this figure see E. W. Bullinger, Figures of Speech, 658-72. This example is discussed on p. 661.

[29:25]  ⁷⁴ tn Heb “Yahweh of armies, the God of Israel.”

[29:25]  sn See study notes on 2:19 and 7:3 for the explanation of this title.

[29:25]  ⁷⁵ tn Heb “Tell Shemaiah the Nehelamite, ‘Thus says Yahweh of armies the God of Israel….” The indirect quotation is used in the translation to avoid the complexity of embedding a quotation within a quotation.

[29:25]  ⁷⁶ sn Jer 29:24-32 are concerned with Jeremiah’s interaction with a false prophet named Shemaiah. The narrative in this section is not in strict chronological order and is somewhat elliptical. It begins with a report of a message that Jeremiah appears to have delivered directly to Shemaiah and refers to a letter that Shemaiah sent to the priest Zephaniah encouraging him to reprimand Jeremiah for what Shemaiah considered treasonous words in his letter to the exiles (vv. 24-28; compare v. 28 with v. 5). However, Jeremiah is in Jerusalem and Shemaiah is in Babylon. The address must then be part of a second letter Jeremiah sent to Babylon. Following this the narrative refers to Zephaniah reading Shemaiah’s letter to Jeremiah and Jeremiah sending a further letter to the captives in Babylon (vv. 29-32). This is probably not a third letter but part of the same letter in which Jeremiah reprimands Shemaiah for sending his letter to Zephaniah (vv. 25-28; the same letter referred to in v. 29). The order of events thus is: Jeremiah sent a letter to the captives counseling them to settle down in Babylon (vv. 1-23). Shemaiah sent a letter to Zephaniah asking him to reprimand Jeremiah (vv. 26-28). After Zephaniah read that letter to Jeremiah (v. 29), Jeremiah wrote a further letter to Babylon reprimanding him (vv. 25-28, 31) and pronouncing judgment on him (v. 32). The elliptical nature of the narrative is reflected in the fact that vv. 25-27 are part of a long causal sentence which sets forth an accusation but has no corresponding main clause or announcement of judgment. This kind of construction involves a rhetorical figure (called aposiopesis) where what is begun is not finished for various rhetorical reasons. Here the sentence that is broken off is part of an announcement of judgment which is not picked up until v. 32 after a further (though related) accusation (v. 31b).

[29:25]  ⁷⁷ tn Heb “In your [own] name.” See the study note on 23:27 for the significance of this idiom.

[29:25]  ⁷⁸ tn Heb “letters.” Though GKC 397 §124.b, n. 1 denies it, this is probably a case of the plural of extension. For a similar usage see Isa 37:14 where the plural “letters” is referred to later as an “it.” Even if there were other “letters,” the focus is on the letter to Zephaniah.

[29:25]  ⁷⁹ sn According to Jer 52:24 and 2 Kgs 25:18 Zephaniah son of Maaseiah was second in command to the high priest. He was the high ranking priest who was sent along with a civic official to inquire of the Lord’s will from Jeremiah by Zedekiah on two separate occasions (Jer 21:1; 37:3).

[29:25]  ⁸⁰ map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.

[29:25]  ⁸¹ tn The words “In your letter you said to Zephaniah” are not in the text: Heb “you sent a letter to…, saying.” The sentence has been broken up to conform better to contemporary English style and these words have been supplied in the translation to make the transition to the address to Zephaniah in vv. 26-28.

[30:17]  ⁸² tn Again the particle כִּי (ki) appears to be intensive rather than causal. Compare the translator’s note on v. 12. It is possible that it has an adversative sense as an implicit contrast with v. 13 which expresses these concepts in the negative (cf. BDB 474 s.v. כִּי 3.e for this use in statements which are contextually closer to one another).

[30:17]  ⁸³ tn Heb “Oracle of the Lord.”

[31:36]  ⁸⁴ tn Heb “Oracle of the Lord.”

[31:36]  ⁸⁵ tn Heb “‘If these fixed orderings were to fail to be present before me,’ oracle of the Lord, ‘then the seed of Israel could cease from being a nation before me forever (or more literally, “all the days”).’” The sentence has been broken up to conform more to modern style. The connection has been maintained by reversing the order of condition and consequence and still retaining the condition in the second clause. For the meaning of “cease to operate” for the verb מוּשׁ (mush) compare the usage in Isa 54:10; Ps 55:11 (55:12 HT); Prov 17:13 where what is usually applied to persons or things is applied to abstract things like this (see HALOT 506 s.v. II מוּשׁ Qal for general usage).

[32:19]  ⁸⁶ tn Heb “[you are] great in counsel and mighty in deed.”

[32:19]  ⁸⁷ tn Heb “your eyes are open to the ways of the sons of men.”

[32:19]  ⁸⁸ tn Heb “giving to each according to his way [= behavior/conduct] and according to the fruit of his deeds.”

[32:43]  ⁸⁹ tn Heb “you.” However, the pronoun is plural and is addressed to more than just Jeremiah (v. 26). It includes Jeremiah and those who have accepted his prophecy of doom.

[32:43]  ⁹⁰ tn Heb “The Chaldeans.” See the study note on 21:4 for further explanation.

[32:43]  ⁹¹ tn The noun is singular with the article, but it is a case of the generic singular (cf. GKC 406 §126.m).

[32:43]  ⁹² tn Heb “Fields will be bought in this land of which you [masc. pl.] are saying, ‘It will be desolate [a perfect of certainty or prophetic perfect] without man or beast; it will be given into the hand of the Chaldeans.’” The original sentence has been broken down to better conform to contemporary English style.

[34:10]  ⁹³ tn Heb “And they complied, [that is] all the leaders and all the people who entered into the covenant that they would each let his male slave and his female slave go free so as not to hold them in bondage any longer; they complied and they let [them] go.” The verb “they complied” (Heb “they hearkened”) is repeated at the end after the lengthy description of the subject. This is characteristic of Hebrew style. The translation has resolved the complex sentence by making the relative clauses modifying the subject independent sentences describing the situational background before mentioning the main focus, “they had complied and let them go.”

[37:14]  ⁹⁴ tn Heb “the Chaldeans.” See the study note on 21:4 for explanation.

[38:12]  ⁹⁵ tn Heb “Ebed Melech the Ethiopian.” The words “the Ethiopian” are unnecessary and are not repeated in the translation because he has already been identified as such in vv. 7, 10.

[38:12]  ⁹⁶ tn Heb “under the joints of your arms under the ropes.” The two uses of “under” have different orientations and are best reflected by “between your armpits and the ropes” or “under your armpits to pad the ropes.”

[38:12]  ⁹⁷ tn Or “Jeremiah did so.” The alternate translation is what the text reads literally.

[39:9]  ⁹⁸ tn For the meaning of this phrase see BDB 371 s.v. טַבָּח 2 and compare the usage in Gen 39:1.

[39:9]  ⁹⁹ tc The translation is based on an emendation of the text which leaves out “the rest of the people who were left” as a double writing of the same phrase at the beginning of the verse. Some commentators emend the phrase “the rest of the people who were left” (הַנִּשְׁאָרִים וְאֶת יֶתֶר הָעָם, hannish’arim vÿ’et yeter ha’am) to read “the rest of the craftsmen who were left” (וְאֶת יֶתֶר הָאָמוֹן הַנִּשְׁאָרִים, vÿ’et yeter ha’amon hannish’arim) on the basis of the parallel in Jer 52:15 (which does not have הַנִּשְׁאָרִים, hannish’arim). However, it is easier to explain the phrase as a dittography of the phrase at the beginning (which is exactly the same except הָעִיר [ha’ir] follows it). The text is redundant because it refers twice to the same group of people. The Hebrew text reads: “And the rest of the people who were left in the city and the deserters who had deserted to him and the rest of the people Nebuzaradan, the captain of the guard, carried into exile to Babylon.” The text has also been divided up to create two shorter sentences to better conform with contemporary English style.

[39:14]  ¹⁰⁰ 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]  ¹⁰¹ 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]  ¹⁰² 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).

[42:10]  ¹⁰³ tn The word “just” is intended to reflect the infinitive absolute before the finite verb emphasizing here the condition rather than the verb root (see Joüon 2:423 §123.g, and compare the usage in Exod 15:26). The form looks like the infinitive absolute of the verb שׁוּב (shuv), but all the versions interpret it as though it is from יָשַׁב (yashav) which is the root of the verb that follows it. Either this is a textual error of the loss of a י (yod) or this is one of the cases that GKC 69 §19.i list as the possible loss of a weak consonant at the beginning of a word.

[42:10]  ¹⁰⁴ tn Or “I will firmly plant you in the land,” or “I will establish you.” This is part of the metaphor that has been used of God (re)establishing Israel in the land. See 24:6; 31:28; 32:41.

[42:11]  ¹⁰⁵ sn See Jer 41:18 for their reason for fear.

[42:11]  ¹⁰⁶ tn Heb “oracle of the Lord.”

[43:5]  ¹⁰⁷ sn These are the people who are referred to in Jer 40:11-12.

[44:23]  ¹⁰⁸ tn Heb “Because you have sacrificed and you have sinned against the Lord and you have not listened to the voice of the Lord and in his laws, in his statutes, and in his decrees you have not walked, therefore this disaster has happened to you as this day.” The text has been broken down and restructured to better conform with contemporary English style.

[44:27]  ¹⁰⁹ tn Heb “Behold I.” For the use of this particle see the translator’s note on 1:6. Here it announces the reality of a fact.

[44:27]  ¹¹⁰ tn Heb “Behold, I am watching over them for evil/disaster/harm not for good/prosperity/ blessing.” See a parallel usage in 31:28.

[45:3]  ¹¹¹ tn Heb “Woe to me!” See the translator’s note on 4:13 and 10:19 for the rendering of this term.

[45:3]  ¹¹² sn From the context it appears that Baruch was feeling sorry for himself (v. 5) as well as feeling anguish for the suffering that the nation would need to undergo according to the predictions of Jeremiah that he was writing down.

[46:5]  ¹¹³ tn Heb “Why do I see?” The rendering is that of J. A. Thompson (Jeremiah [NICOT], 685, 88) and J. Bright (Jeremiah [AB], 301; TEV; NIV). The question is not asking for information but is expressing surprise or wonder (see E. W. Bullinger, Figures of Speech, 951).

[46:5]  sn The passage takes an unexpected turn at v. 5. After ironically summoning the Egyptian army to battle, the Lord rhetorically expresses his surprise that they are so completely routed and defeated.

[46:5]  ¹¹⁴ tn Heb “oracle of the Lord.” This phrase, which is part of a messenger formula (i.e., that the words that are spoken are from him), are actually at the end of the verse. They have been put here for better poetic balance and to better identify the “I.”

[46:5]  ¹¹⁵ tn Heb “Their soldiers.” These words are actually at the midpoint of the stanza as the subject of the third of the five verbs. However, as G. L. Keown, P. J. Scalise, and T. G. Smothers (Jeremiah 26-52 [WBC], 291) note, this is the subject of all five verbs “are terrified,” “are retreating,” “have been defeated,” “have run away,” and “have not looked back.” The subject is put at the front to avoid an unidentified “they.”

[46:5]  ¹¹⁶ tn Heb “terror is all around.”

[46:21]  ¹¹⁷ tn Heb “her hirelings in her midst.”

[46:21]  ¹¹⁸ tn The word “pampered” is not in the text. It is supplied in the translation to explain the probable meaning of the simile. The mercenaries were well cared for like stall-fed calves, but in the face of the danger they will prove no help because they will turn and run away without standing their ground. Some see the point of the simile to be that they too are fattened for slaughter. However, the next two lines do not fit that interpretation too well.

[46:21]  ¹¹⁹ tn The temporal use of the particle כִּי (ki; BDB 472 s.v. כִּי 2.a) seems more appropriate to the context than the causal use.

[48:17]  ¹²⁰ tn For the use of the word “name” (שֵׁם, shem) to “fame” or “repute” see BDB 1028 s.v. שֵׁם 2.b and compare the usage in Ezek 16:14; 2 Chr 26:15.

[48:17]  sn This refers to both the nearby nations and those who lived further away who had heard of Moab’s power and might only by repute.

[48:17]  ¹²¹ tn Heb “How is the strong staff broken, the beautiful rod.” “How” introduces a lament which is here rendered by “Alas.” The staff and rod refer to the support that Moab gave to others not to the fact that she ruled over others which was never the case. According to BDB 739 s.v. עוֹז 1 the “strong staff” is figurative of political power.

[49:23]  ¹²² tn The words “The Lord spoke” and “he said” are not in the text. There is only a title here: “Concerning Damascus.” However, something needs to be supplied to show that these are the Lord’s words of judgment (cf. v. 26 “oracle of the Lord” and the “I” in v. 27). These words have been supplied in the translation for clarity and consistency with the introduction to the other judgment speeches.

[49:23]  ¹²³ sn Damascus is a city in Syria, located below the eastern slopes of the Anti-lebanon Mountains. It was the capital of the Aramean state that was in constant hostility with Israel from the time of David until its destruction by the Assyrians in 732 b.c. At various times it was allied with the Aramean state of Hamath which was further north. Contingents from these Aramean states were involved in harassing Judah and Jerusalem in 598 b.c. when Jehoiakim rebelled (2 Kgs 24:2) but little is heard about them in the rest of the book of Jeremiah or in the history of this period.

[49:23]  ¹²⁴ tn Heb “Hamath and Arpad.” There is no word for people in the text. The cities are being personified. However, since it is really the people who are involved and it is clearer for the modern reader, the present translation supplies the words “people of” both here and in v. 24. The verbs in vv. 23-25 are all to be interpreted as prophetic perfects, the tense of the Hebrew verb that views an action as though it were as good as done. The verbs are clearly future in vv. 26-27 which begin with a “therefore.”

[49:23]  sn Hamath was a city on the Orontes River about 110 miles (183 km) north of Damascus. Arpad was a city that was 95 miles (158 km) farther north from there. These two cities were in the path of the northern descent of the kings of Assyria and Babylonia and had been conquered earlier under the Assyrian kings (Isa 10:9; 36:19; 37:13). The apparent reference here is to their terror and loss of courage when they hear the news that Nebuchadnezzar’s armies are on the move toward them and Damascus. They would have been in the path of Nebuchadnezzar as he chased Necho south after the battle of Carchemish.

[49:23]  ¹²⁵ tc The meaning of this verse is very uncertain. The Hebrew text apparently reads “Hamath and Arpad are dismayed. They melt away because they have heard bad news. Anxiety is in the sea; it [the sea] cannot be quiet.” Many commentaries and English versions redivide the verse and read “like the sea” for “in the sea” (כַּיָּם [kayyam] for בַּיָּם [bayyam]) and read the feminine singular noun דְּאָגָה (dÿ’agam) as though it were the third masculine plural verb דָּאֲגוּ (da’agu): “They are troubled like the sea.” The translation follows the emendation proposed in BHS and accepted by a number of commentaries (e.g., J. Bright, Jeremiah [AB], 333; J. A. Thompson, Jeremiah [NICOT], 723, n. 1). That emendation involves reading נָמֹג לִבָּם מִדְּאָגָה (namog libbam middÿ’agah) instead of נָמֹגוּ בַּיָּם דְּאָגָה (namogu bayyam dÿ’agah). The translation also involves a double reading of “heart,” for the sake of English style, once in the sense of courage (BDB 525 s.v. לֵב 10) because that is the nuance that best fits “melts” in the English idiom and once in the more general sense of hearts as the seat of fear, anxiety, worry. The double translation is a concession to English style.

[49:29]  ¹²⁶ tn Or “Let their tents…be taken….Let their tent…be carried…. Let people shout….”

[49:29]  ¹²⁷ sn This expression is a favorite theme in the book of Jeremiah. It describes the terrors of war awaiting the people of Judah and Jerusalem (6:25), the Egyptians at Carchemish (46:5), and here the Kedarites.

[50:39]  ¹²⁸ tn The identification of this bird has been called into question by G. R. Driver, “Birds in the Old Testament,” PEQ 87 (1955): 137-38. He refers to this bird as an owl. That identification, however, is not reflected in any of the lexicons including the most recent, which still gives “ostrich” (HALOT 402 s.v. יַעֲנָה) as does W. S. McCullough, “Ostrich,” IDB 3:611. REB, NIV, NCV, and God’s Word all identify this bird as “owl/desert owl.”

[50:39]  ¹²⁹ tn Heb “Therefore desert creatures will live with jackals and ostriches will live in it.”

[50:39]  ¹³⁰ tn Heb “It will never again be inhabited nor dwelt in unto generation and generation.” For the meaning of this last phrase compare the usage in Ps 100:5 and Isaiah 13:20. Since the first half of the verse has spoken of animals living there, it is necessary to add “people” and turn the passive verbs into active ones.

[51:9]  ¹³¹ tn The words “Foreigners living there will say” are not in the text but are implicit from the third line. These words are generally assumed by the commentaries and are explicitly added in TEV and NCV which are attempting to clarify the text for the average reader.

[51:9]  ¹³² tn Heb “Leave/abandon her.” However, it is smoother in the English translation to make this verb equivalent to the cohortative that follows.

[51:9]  ¹³³ tn This is an admittedly very paraphrastic translation that tries to make the figurative nuance of the Hebrew original understandable for the average reader. The Hebrew text reads: “For her judgment [or punishment (cf. BDB 1078 s.v. מִשְׁפָּט 1.f) = ‘execution of judgment’] touches the heavens, and is lifted up as far as the clouds.” The figure of hyperbole or exaggeration is being used here to indicate the vastness of Babylon’s punishment which is the reason to escape (vv. 6, 9c). For this figure see Deut 1:28 in comparison with Num 13:28 and see also Deut 9:1. In both of the passages in Deut it refers to an exaggeration about the height of the walls of fortified cities. The figure also may be a play on Gen 11:4 where the nations gather in Babylon to build a tower that reaches to the skies. The present translation has interpreted the perfects here as prophetic because it has not happened yet or they would not be encouraging one another to leave and escape. For the idea here compare 50:16.

[51:26]  ¹³⁴ tn This is a fairly literal translation of the original which reads “No one will take from you a stone for a cornerstone nor a stone for foundations.” There is no unanimity of opinion in the commentaries, many feeling that the figure of the burned mountain continues and others feeling that the figure here shifts to a burned city whose stones are so burned that they are useless to be used in building. The latter is the interpretation adopted here (see, e.g., F. B. Huey, Jeremiah, Lamentations [NAC], 423; W. L. Holladay, Jeremiah [Hermeneia], 2:426; NCV).

[51:26]  sn The figure here shifts to that of a burned-up city whose stones cannot be used for building. Babylon will become a permanent heap of ruins.

[51:26]  ¹³⁵ tn Heb “Oracle of the Lord.”

[51:43]  ¹³⁶ tn Heb “Its towns have become a desolation, [it has become] a dry land and a desert, a land which no man passes through them [referring to “her towns”] and no son of man [= human being] passes through them.” Here the present translation has followed the suggestion of BHS and a number of the modern commentaries in deleting the second occurrence of the word “land,” in which case the words that follow are not a relative clause but independent statements. A number of modern English versions appear to ignore the third feminine plural suffixes which refer back to the cities and refer the statements that follow to the land.

[51:48]  ¹³⁷ tn Heb “Oracle of the Lord.”

[51:50]  ¹³⁸ sn God’s exiled people are told to leave doomed Babylon (see v. 45).

[51:50]  ¹³⁹ tn Heb “don’t stand.”

[51:50]  ¹⁴⁰ tn Heb “let Jerusalem go up upon your heart.” The “heart” is often viewed as the seat of one’s mental faculties and thought life.

[51:50]  map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.

[51:61]  ¹⁴¹ tn Heb “see [that].”

[51:61]  ¹⁴² tn Heb “words” (or “things”).

[52:20]  ¹⁴³ tc The translation follows the LXX (Greek version), which reflects the description in 1 Kgs 7:25-26. The Hebrew text reads, “the twelve bronze bulls under the movable stands.” הַיָּם (hayyam, “The Sea”) has been accidentally omitted by homoioarcton; note that the following form, הַמְּכֹנוֹת (hammÿkhonot, “the movable stands”), also begins with the article.