Yesaya 40:2

40:2 “Speak kindly to ¹  Jerusalem, ²  and tell her

that her time of warfare is over, ³ 

that her punishment is completed. ⁴ 

For the Lord has made her pay double ⁵  for all her sins.”

Yeremia 12:3

12:3 But you, Lord, know all about me.

You watch me and test my devotion to you. ⁶ 

Drag these wicked men away like sheep to be slaughtered!

Appoint a time when they will be killed! ⁷ 

Yeremia 18:6

18:6 “I, the Lord, say: ⁸  ‘O nation of Israel, can I not deal with you as this potter deals with the clay? ⁹  In my hands, you, O nation of Israel, are just like the clay in this potter’s hand.’

[40:2]  ¹ tn Heb “speak to the heart of Jerusalem.” Jerusalem is personified as a woman.

[40:2]  ² map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.

[40:2]  ³ tn Heb “that she is filled [with] her warfare.” Some understand צָבָא (tsavah, “warfare”) as meaning “hard service” or “compulsory labor” in this context.

[40:2]  ⁴ tn Heb “that her punishment is accepted [as satisfactory].”

[40:2]  ⁵ tn Heb “for she has received from the hand of the Lord double.” The principle of the double portion in punishment is also seen in Jer 16:18; 17:18 and Rev 18:6. For examples of the double portion in Israelite law, see Exod 22:4, 7, 9 (double restitution by a thief) and Deut 21:17 (double inheritance portion for the firstborn).

[12:3]  ⁶ tn Heb “You, Lord, know me. You watch me and you test my heart toward you.”

[12:3]  sn Jeremiah appears to be complaining like Job that God cares nothing about the prosperity of the wicked, but watches his every move. The reverse ought to be true. Jeremiah shouldn’t be suffering the onslaughts of his fellow countrymen as he is. The wicked who are prospering should be experiencing punishment.

[12:3]  ⁷ tn Heb “set aside for them a day of killing.”

[18:6]  ⁸ tn This phrase (literally “Oracle of the Lord”) has been handled this way on several occasions when it occurs within first person addresses where the Lord is the speaker. See, e.g., 16:16; 17:24.

[18:6]  ⁹ tn The words “deals with the clay” are not in the text. They are part of an elliptical comparison and are supplied in the translation here for clarity.