Yeremia 2:34

2:34 Even your clothes are stained with

the lifeblood of the poor who had not done anything wrong;

you did not catch them breaking into your homes. ¹ 

Yet, in spite of all these things you have done, ² 

Yeremia 5:27

5:27 Like a cage filled with the birds that have been caught, ³ 

their houses are filled with the gains of their fraud and deceit. ⁴ 

That is how they have gotten so rich and powerful. ⁵ 

Yeremia 10:3

10:3 For the religion ⁶  of these people is worthless.

They cut down a tree in the forest,

and a craftsman makes it into an idol with his tools. ⁷ 

Yeremia 26:7

26:7 The priests, the prophets, and all the people heard Jeremiah say these things in the Lord’s temple.

Yeremia 34:4

34:4 However, listen to what I, the Lord, promise you, King Zedekiah of Judah. I, the Lord, promise that ⁸  you will not die in battle or be executed. ⁹ 

Yeremia 40:2

40:2 The captain of the royal guard took Jeremiah aside and said to him, “The Lord your God threatened this place with this disaster.

Yeremia 41:11

Johanan Rescues the People Ishmael Had Carried Off

41:11 Johanan son of Kareah and all the army officers who were with him heard about all the atrocities ¹⁰  that Ishmael son of Nethaniah had committed.

Yeremia 41:13

41:13 When all the people that Ishmael had taken captive saw ¹¹  Johanan son of Kareah and all the army officers with him, they were glad.

Yeremia 41:17

41:17 They set out to go to Egypt to get away from the Babylonians, ¹²  but stopped at Geruth Kimham ¹³  near Bethlehem. ¹⁴ 

Yeremia 43:4

43:4 So Johanan son of Kareah, all the army officers, and all the rest of the people did not obey the Lord’s command to stay in the land.

Yeremia 50:38

50:38 A drought will come upon her land;

her rivers and canals will be dried up. ¹⁵ 

All of this will happen because her land is filled with idols. ¹⁶ 

Her people act like madmen because of ¹⁷  those idols they fear. ¹⁸ 

Yeremia 51:41

51:41 “See how Babylon ¹⁹  has been captured!

See how the pride of the whole earth has been taken!

See what an object of horror

Babylon has become among the nations! ²⁰ 

Yeremia 51:51

51:51 ‘We ²¹  are ashamed because we have been insulted. ²² 

Our faces show our disgrace. ²³ 

For foreigners have invaded

the holy rooms ²⁴  in the Lord’s temple.’

Yeremia 52:8

52:8 But the Babylonian army chased after the king. They caught up with Zedekiah in the plains of Jericho, ²⁵  and his entire army deserted him.

Yeremia 52:24

52:24 The captain of the royal guard took Seraiah the chief priest, Zephaniah the priest who was second in rank, and the three doorkeepers. ²⁶ 

[2:34]  ¹ tn The words “for example” are implicit and are supplied in the translation for clarification. This is only one example of why their death was not legitimate.

[2:34]  sn Killing a thief caught in the act of breaking and entering into a person’s home was pardonable under the law of Moses, cf. Exod 22:2.

[2:34]  ² tn KJV and ASV read this line with 2:34. The ASV makes little sense and the KJV again erroneously reads the archaic second person feminine singular perfect as first person common singular. All the modern English versions and commentaries take this line with 2:35.

[5:27]  ³ tn The words, “that have been caught” are not in the text but are implicit in the comparison.

[5:27]  ⁴ tn Heb “are filled with deceit.” The translation assumes a figure of speech of cause for effect (metonymy). Compare the same word in the same figure in Zeph 1:9.

[5:27]  ⁵ tn Heb “therefore they have gotten great and rich.”

[10:3]  ⁶ tn Heb “statutes.” According to BDB 350 s.v. חֻקָּה 2.b it refers to the firmly established customs or practices of the pagan nations. Compare the usage in Lev 20:23; 2 Kgs 17:8. Here it is essentially equivalent to דֶּרֶךְ (derekh) in v. 1, which has already been translated “religious practices.”

[10:3]  ⁷ sn This passage is dripping with sarcasm. It begins by talking about the “statutes” of the pagan peoples as a “vapor” using a singular copula and singular predicate. Then it suppresses the subject, the idol, as though it were too horrible to mention, using only the predications about it. The last two lines read literally: “[it is] a tree which one cuts down from the forest; the work of the hands of a craftsman with his chisel.”

[34:4]  ⁸ tn Heb “However, hear the word of the Lord, Zedekiah king of Judah, ‘Thus says the Lord to you, “You will not die by the sword.”’” The translation has tried to avoid the complexity created by embedding quotes within quotes and has used the first person address within the Lord’s speech as has also been done elsewhere.

[34:4]  ⁹ tn Heb “by the sword.”

[34:4]  sn The contrast is between death in battle or by execution and death in the normal course of life. Zedekiah was captured, had to witness the execution of his sons, had his eyes put out, and was taken to Babylon where he died after a lengthy imprisonment (Jer 52:10-11).

[41:11]  ¹⁰ tn Or “crimes,” or “evil things”; Heb “the evil.”

[41:13]  ¹¹ tn Heb “all the people who were with Ishmael.” However, this does not refer to his own troops but to those he had taken with him from Mizpah, i.e., the captives. The phrase is specifically clarified in the next verse, i.e. “the people whom Ishmael had taken captive from Mizpah.” Hence the phrase is translated here according to sense, not according to the literal wording.

[41:17]  ¹² tn Heb “Chaldeans.” See the study note on 21:4 for explanation.

[41:17]  ¹³ sn Geruth Kimham is nowhere else mentioned in the Bible and its precise location is unknown. Many commentators relate the second part of the name to the name of the son of David’s benefactor when he fled from Absalom (2 Sam 19:38-39) and see this as a reference to an estate that David assigned this son as reward for his father’s largess. Gibeon was about six miles northwest of Jerusalem and Benjamin is approximately the same distance southwest of it. Hence, the people mentioned here had not traveled all that far.

[41:17]  ¹⁴ map For location see Map5 B1; Map7 E2; Map8 E2; Map10 B4.

[50:38]  ¹⁵ tc Heb “a drought against her waters and they will dry up.” Several of the commentaries and modern English versions accept the emendation proposed by BHS and read here “sword” (חֶרֶב [kherev] in place of חֹרֶב [khorev], the change of only one vowel) in keeping with the rest of the context. According to BHS this reading is supported by the Lucianic and Hexaplaric recensions of the LXX (the Greek version) and the Syriac version. In this case the drying up of the waters (of the canals) is attributed to neglect brought about by war conditions. However, it is just as likely that these versions are influenced by the repetition of the word “sword” as the Hebrew and the other versions are influenced by the concept of “drying up” of the waters to read “drought.” Hence the present translation, along with the majority of modern English versions, retains the Hebrew “drought.”

[50:38]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “for it is a land of idols.” The “for,” however, goes back to the whole context not just to the preceding prediction (cf. BDB 473-74 s.v. כִּי 1.c and compare usage in Isa 21:6 listed there).

[50:38]  ¹⁷ tc Or “Her people boast in.” This translation is based on the reading of the majority of Hebrew mss which read יִתְהֹלָלוּ (yitholalu; cf. usage in Jer 46:9 and see also 25:16; 51:7). Two Hebrew mss and the versions read יִתְהַלָּלוּ (yithallalu; cf. usage in Jer 4:2; 9:23, 24 and Ps 97:7 where a parallel expression is found with “idols”). The reading is again basically the difference in one Hebrew vowel. All of the modern commentaries consulted and all the modern English versions except NEB, REB follow the Hebrew text here rather than the versions.

[50:38]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “by the terrors.” However, as HALOT 40 s.v. אֵימָה indicates these are “images that cause terror” (a substitution of the effect for the cause). The translation of this line follows the interpretation of the majority of modern English versions and all the commentaries consulted. NIV, NCV, and God’s Word reflect a different syntax, understanding the subject to be the idols just mentioned rather than “her people” which is supplied here for the sake of clarity (the Hebrew text merely says “they.”) Following that lead, one could render “but those idols will go mad with terror.” This makes excellent sense in the context which often refers to effects (vv. 36b, d, 37c, 38b) of the war that is coming. However, that interpretation does not fit as well with the following “therefore/so,” which basically introduces a judgment or consequence after an accusation of sin.

[51:41]  ¹⁹ sn Heb “Sheshach.” For an explanation of the usage of this name for Babylon see the study note on Jer 25:26 and that on 51:1 for a similar phenomenon. Babylon is here called “the pride of the whole earth” because it was renowned for its size, its fortifications, and its beautiful buildings.

[51:41]  ²⁰ tn Heb “How Sheshach has been captured, the pride of the whole earth has been seized! How Babylon has become an object of horror among the nations!” For the usage of “How” here see the translator’s note on 50:23.

[51:41]  sn This is part of a taunt song (see Isa 14:4) and assumes prophetically that the city has already been captured. The verbs in vv. 41-43a are all in the Hebrew tense that the prophets often use to look at the future as “a done deal” (the so-called prophetic perfect). In v. 44 which is still a part of this picture the verbs are in the future. The Hebrew tense has been retained here and in vv. 42-43 but it should be remembered that the standpoint is prophetic and future.

[51:51]  ²¹ sn The exiles lament the way they have been humiliated.

[51:51]  ²² tn Heb “we have heard an insult.”

[51:51]  ²³ tn Heb “disgrace covers our face.”

[51:51]  ²⁴ tn Or “holy places, sanctuaries.”

[52:8]  ²⁵ map For location see Map5 B2; Map6 E1; Map7 E1; Map8 E3; Map10 A2; Map11 A1.

[52:24]  ²⁶ sn See the note at Jer 35:4.