Jeremiah 25:23-25

25:23 the people of Dedan, Tema, Buz, ¹  all the desert people who cut their hair short at the temples; ²  25:24 all the kings of Arabia who ³  live in the desert; 25:25 all the kings of Zimri; ⁴  all the kings of Elam; ⁵  all the kings of Media; ⁶ 

Jeremiah 25:37

25:37 Their peaceful dwelling places will be laid waste ⁷ 

by the fierce anger of the Lord. ⁸ 

Jeremiah 30:22

30:22 Then you will again be my people

and I will be your God. ⁹ 

Jeremiah 31:39

31:39 The boundary line will extend beyond that, straight west from there to the Hill of Gareb and then turn southward to Goah. ¹⁰ 

Jeremiah 48:3-4

48:3 Cries of anguish will arise in Horonaim,

‘Oh, the ruin and great destruction!’

48:4 “Moab will be crushed.

Her children will cry out in distress. ¹¹ 

[25:23]  ¹ sn Dedan and Tema are mentioned together in Isa 21:13-14 and located in the desert. They were located in the northern part of the Arabian peninsula south and east of Ezion Geber. Buz is not mentioned anywhere else and its location is unknown. Judgment against Dedan and Tema is mentioned in conjunction with the judgment on Edom in Jer 47:7-8.

[25:23]  ² tn For the discussion regarding the meaning of the terms here see the notes on 9:26.

[25:24]  ³ tc Or “and all the kings of people of mixed origin who.” The Greek version gives evidence of having read the term only once; it refers to the “people of mixed origin” without reference to the kings of Arabia. While the term translated “people of mixed origin” seems appropriate in the context of a group of foreigners within a larger entity (e.g. Israel in Exod 12:38; Neh 13:3; Egypt in Jer 50:37), it seems odd to speak of them as a separate entity under their own kings. The presence of the phrase in the Hebrew text and the other versions dependent upon it can be explained as a case of dittography.

[25:25]  ⁴ sn The kingdom of Zimri is mentioned nowhere else, so its location is unknown.

[25:25]  ⁵ sn See further Jer 49:34-39 for judgment against Elam.

[25:25]  ⁶ sn Elam and Media were east of Babylon; Elam in the south and Media in the north. They were in what is now western Iran.

[25:37]  ⁷ tn For this meaning of the verb used here see HALOT 217 s.v. דָּמַם Nif. Elsewhere it refers to people dying (see, e.g., Jer 49:26; 50:30) hence some see a reference to “lifeless.”

[25:37]  ⁸ tn Heb “because of the burning anger of the Lord.”

[30:22]  ⁹ sn This was their highest privilege (cf. Exod 6:7, Lev 26:12; Jer 24:7) but also their greatest responsibility (cf. Jer 7:3; 11:4). It is a formula referring to a covenant relationship in which God pledges to protect, provide, and be present with his people and they in turn promise to be loyal and obedient to him (see Deut 26:17-18; 29:10-13).

[31:39]  ¹⁰ tn The words “west” and “southward” are not in the text but are supplied in the translation to give some orientation.

[48:4]  ¹¹ tc The reading here follows the Qere צְעִירֶיהָ (tsÿ’ireha) which is the same noun found in Jer 14:3 in the sense of “servants.” Here it refers to the young ones, i.e., the children (cf. the use of the adjective BDB 859 s.v. I צָעִיר 2 and see Gen 43:33). Many of the modern commentaries and a few of the modern English versions follow the Greek version and read “their cry is heard as far as Zoar” (reading צֹעֲרָה, tso’arah; see, for example, J. A. Thompson, Jeremiah [NICOT], 699, n. 4, and BDB 858 s.v. צֹעַר). However, that leaves the verb with an indefinite subject (the verb is active 3rd plural not passive) not otherwise identified in the preceding context. Many of the modern English versions such as NRSV, NJPS, NIV retain the Hebrew as the present translation has done. In this case the masculine plural noun furnishes a logical subject for the verb.