Yeremia 1:8

1:8 Do not be afraid of those to whom I send you, ¹  for I will be with you to protect ²  you,” says the Lord.

Yeremia 1:12

1:12 Then the Lord said, “You have observed correctly. This means ³  I am watching to make sure my threats are carried out.” ⁴ 

Yeremia 1:14

1:14 Then the Lord said, “This means ⁵  destruction will break out from the north on all who live in the land.

Yeremia 1:19

1:19 They will attack you but they will not be able to overcome you, for I will be with you to rescue you,” says the Lord.

Yeremia 2:12

2:12 Be amazed at this, O heavens! ⁶ 

Be shocked and utterly dumbfounded,”

says the Lord.

Yeremia 2:29

2:29 “Why do you try to refute me? ⁷ 

All of you have rebelled against me,”

says the Lord.

Yeremia 5:11

5:11 For the nations of Israel and Judah ⁸ 

have been very unfaithful to me,”

says the Lord.

Yeremia 5:18

5:18 Yet even then ⁹  I will not completely destroy you,” says the Lord.

Yeremia 9:6

9:6 They do one act of violence after another,

and one deceitful thing after another. ¹⁰ 

They refuse to pay attention to me,” ¹¹ 

says the Lord.

Yeremia 11:18

A Plot Against Jeremiah is Revealed and He Complains of Injustice

11:18 The Lord gave me knowledge, that I might have understanding. ¹² 

Then he showed me what the people were doing. ¹³ 

Yeremia 13:5

13:5 So I went and buried them at Perath ¹⁴  as the Lord had ordered me to do.

Yeremia 13:9

13:9 “I, the Lord, say: ¹⁵  ‘This shows how ¹⁶  I will ruin the highly exalted position ¹⁷  in which Judah and Jerusalem ¹⁸  take pride.

Yeremia 13:15

13:15 Then I said to the people of Judah, ¹⁹ 

“Listen and pay attention! Do not be arrogant!

For the Lord has spoken.

Yeremia 13:25

13:25 This is your fate,

the destiny to which I have appointed you,

because you have forgotten me

and have trusted in false gods.

Yeremia 17:15

17:15 Listen to what they are saying to me. ²⁰ 

They are saying, “Where are the things the Lord threatens us with?

Come on! Let’s see them happen!” ²¹ 

Yeremia 21:3

21:3 Jeremiah answered them, “Tell Zedekiah

Yeremia 22:1

22:1 The Lord told me, ²²  “Go down ²³  to the palace of the king of Judah. Give him a message from me there. ²⁴ 

Yeremia 23:29

23:29 My message is like a fire that purges dross! ²⁵  It is like a hammer that breaks a rock in pieces! ²⁶  I, the Lord, so affirm it! ²⁷ 

Yeremia 23:31

23:31 I, the Lord, affirm ²⁸  that I am opposed to those prophets who are using their own tongues to declare, ‘The Lord declares….’ ²⁹ 

Yeremia 26:1

Jeremiah Is Put on Trial as a False Prophet ³⁰ 

26:1 The Lord spoke to Jeremiah ³¹  at the beginning of the reign ³²  of Josiah’s son, King Jehoiakim of Judah.

Yeremia 27:1-2

Jeremiah Counsels Submission to Babylon

27:1 The Lord spoke to Jeremiah ³³  early in the reign of Josiah’s son, King Zedekiah of Judah. ³⁴  27:2 The Lord told me, ³⁵  “Make a yoke ³⁶  out of leather straps and wooden crossbars and put it on your neck.

Yeremia 28:12

28:12 But shortly after the prophet Hananiah had broken the yoke off the prophet Jeremiah’s neck, the Lord spoke to Jeremiah.

Yeremia 29:15

29:15 “You say, ‘The Lord has raised up prophets of good news ³⁷  for us here in Babylon.’

Yeremia 29:24

A Response to the Letter and a Subsequent Letter

29:24 The Lord told Jeremiah, “Tell ³⁸  Shemaiah the Nehelamite ³⁹ 

Yeremia 30:5

30:5 Yes, ⁴⁰  here is what he says:

“You hear cries of panic and of terror;

there is no peace in sight. ⁴¹ 

Yeremia 31:11

31:11 For the Lord will rescue the descendants of Jacob.

He will secure their release ⁴²  from those who had overpowered them. ⁴³ 

Yeremia 32:6

32:6 So now, Jeremiah said, “The Lord told me, ⁴⁴ 

Yeremia 32:16

Jeremiah’s Prayer of Praise and Bewilderment

32:16 “After I had given the copies of the deed of purchase to Baruch son of Neriah, I prayed to the Lord,

Yeremia 33:1

The Lord Promises a Second Time to Restore Israel and Judah

33:1 The Lord spoke ⁴⁵  to Jeremiah a second time while he was still confined in the courtyard of the guardhouse. ⁴⁶ 

Yeremia 36:11

36:11 Micaiah, who was the son of Gemariah and the grandson of Shaphan, heard Baruch read from the scroll everything the Lord had said. ⁴⁷ 

Yeremia 38:3

38:3 They had also heard him say, ⁴⁸  “The Lord says, ‘This city will certainly be handed over to the army of the king of Babylon. They will capture it.’” ⁴⁹ 

Yeremia 39:15

Ebed Melech Is Promised Deliverance because of His Faith

39:15 ⁵⁰ Now the Lord had spoken to Jeremiah while he was still confined in the courtyard of the guardhouse, ⁵¹ 

Yeremia 43:7

43:7 They went on to Egypt ⁵²  because they refused to obey the Lord, and came to Tahpanhes. ⁵³ 

Yeremia 48:21

48:21 “Judgment will come on the cities on the high plain: ⁵⁴  on Holon, Jahzah, and Mephaath,

Yeremia 48:40

48:40 For the Lord says,

“Look! Like an eagle with outspread wings

a nation will swoop down on Moab. ⁵⁵ 

Yeremia 48:42

48:42 Moab will be destroyed and no longer be a nation, ⁵⁶ 

because she has vaunted herself against the Lord.

Yeremia 49:6

49:6 Yet in days to come

I will reverse Ammon’s ill fortune.” ⁵⁷ 

says the Lord. ⁵⁸ 

Yeremia 49:34-35

Judgment Against Elam

49:34 Early in the reign ⁵⁹  of King Zedekiah of Judah, the Lord spoke to the prophet Jeremiah about Elam. ⁶⁰ 

49:35 The Lord who rules over all said,

“I will kill all the archers of Elam,

who are the chief source of her military might. ⁶¹ 

Yeremia 49:39--50:1

49:39 “Yet in days to come

I will reverse Elam’s ill fortune.” ⁶² 

says the Lord. ⁶³ 

Judgment Against Babylon

50:1 The Lord spoke concerning Babylon and the land of Babylonia ⁶⁴  through the prophet Jeremiah. ⁶⁵ 

Yeremia 50:10

50:10 Babylonia ⁶⁶  will be plundered.

Those who plunder it will take all they want,”

says the Lord. ⁶⁷ 

[1:8]  ¹ tn Heb “be afraid of them.” The antecedent is the “whomever” in v. 7.

[1:8]  ² tn Heb “rescue.”

[1:12]  ³ tn This represents the Hebrew particle (כִּי, ki) that is normally rendered “for” or “because.” The particle here is meant to give the significance of the vision, not the rationale for the statement “you have observed correctly.”

[1:12]  ⁴ tn Heb “watching over my word to do it.”

[1:12]  sn There is a play on the Hebrew word for “almond tree” (שָׁקֵד, shaqed), which blossoms in January/February and is the harbinger of spring, and the Hebrew word for “watching” (שֹׁקֵד, shoqed), which refers to someone watching over someone or something in preparation for action. The play on words announces the certainty and imminence of the Lord carrying out the covenant curses of Lev 26 and Deut 28 threatened by the earlier prophets.

[1:14]  ⁵ tn There is nothing in the Hebrew text for these words but it is implicit in the connection. Once again the significance of the vision is spelled out. Compare the translator’s note on v. 12.

[2:12]  ⁶ sn In earlier literature the heavens (and the earth) were called on to witness Israel’s commitment to the covenant (Deut 30:12) and were called to serve as witnesses to Israel’s fidelity or infidelity to it (Isa 1:2; Mic 6:1).

[2:29]  ⁷ sn This is still part of the Lord’s case against Israel. See 2:9 for the use of the same Hebrew verb. The Lord here denies their counter claims that they do not deserve to be punished.

[5:11]  ⁸ tn Heb “the house of Israel and the house of Judah.”

[5:18]  ⁹ tn Heb “in those days.”

[9:6]  ¹⁰ tc An alternate reading for vv. 5d-6b is: “They wear themselves out doing wrong. Jeremiah, you live in the midst of deceitful people. They deceitfully refuse to take any thought of/acknowledge me.” The translation which has been adopted is based on a redivision of the lines, a redivision of some of the words, and a revocalization of some of the consonants. The MT reads literally “doing wrong they weary themselves. Your sitting in the midst of deceit; in deceit they refuse to know me” (הַעֲוֵה נִלְאוּ׃ שִׁבְתְּךָ בְּתוֹךְ מִרְמָה בְּמִרְמָה מֵאֲנוּ דַעַת־אוֹתִי). The Greek version reads literally “they do wrong and they do not cease to turn themselves around. Usury upon usury and deceit upon deceit. They do not want to know me.” This suggests that one should read the Hebrew text as שֻׁב׃ תֹּךְ בְּתוֹךְ מִרְ־מָה בְּמִרְ־מָה מֵאֲנוּ דַעַת אוֹתִי הַעֲוֵה נִלְאוּ, which translated literally yields “doing evil [= “they do evil” using the Hiphil infinitive absolute as a finite verb (cf. GKC 346 §113.ff)] they are not able [cf. KBL 468 s.v. לָאָה Niph.3 and see Exod 7:18 for parallel use] to repent. Oppression on oppression [cf. BDB 1067 s.v. תֹּךְ, II תּוֹךְ]; deceit on deceit. They refuse to know me.” This reading has ancient support and avoids the introduction of an unexpected second masculine suffix into the context. It has been adopted here along with a number of modern commentaries (cf., e.g., W. McKane, Jeremiah [ICC], 1:201) and English versions as the more likely reading.

[9:6]  ¹¹ tn Or “do not acknowledge me”; Heb “do not know me.” See the note on the phrase “do not take any thought of me” in 9:3.

[11:18]  ¹² tn Heb “caused me to know that I might know.” Many English versions supply an unstated object “their plots” which is referred to later in the context (cf. v. 19). The presupposition of this kind of absolute ellipsis is difficult to justify and would create the need for understanding an ellipsis of “it” also after “I knew.” It is better to see a bipolar use of the verb “know” here. For the second use of the verb “know” meaning “have understanding” see BDB 394 s.v. ָידַע Qal.5.

[11:18]  ¹³ tn Heb “Then you showed me their deeds.” This is another example of the rapid shift in person which is common in Jeremiah. As elsewhere, it has been resolved for the sake of avoiding confusion for the English reader by leveling the referent to the same person throughout. The text again involves an apostrophe, talking about the Lord to addressing him.

[13:5]  ¹⁴ tc The translation reads בִּפְרָתָה (bifratah) with 4QJer^a as noted in W. L. Holladay, Jeremiah (Hermeneia), 1:393 instead of בִּפְרָת (bifrat) in the MT.

[13:9]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “Thus says the Lord.”

[13:9]  ¹⁶ tn In a sense this phrase which is literally “according to thus” or simply “thus” points both backward and forward: backward to the acted out parable and forward to the explanation which follows.

[13:9]  ¹⁷ tn Many of the English versions have erred in rendering this word “pride” or “arrogance” with the resultant implication that the Lord is going to destroy Israel’s pride, i.e., humble them through the punishment of exile. However, BDB 144-45 s.v. גָּאוֹן 1 is more probably correct when they classify this passage among those that deal with the “‘majesty, excellence’ of nations, their wealth, power, magnificence of buildings….” The closest parallels to the usage here are in Zech 10:11 (parallel to scepter of Egypt); Ps 47:4 (47:5 HT; parallel to “our heritage” = “our land”); Isa 14:11; and Amos 8:7. The term is further defined in v. 11 where it refers to their special relationship and calling. To translate it “pride” or “arrogance” also ruins the wordplay on “ruin” (נִשְׁחַת [nishkhat] in v. 7 and אַשְׁחִית [’ashkhit] in v. 9).

[13:9]  sn Scholars ancient and modern are divided over the significance of the statement I will ruin the highly exalted position in which Judah and Jerusalem take pride (Heb “I will ruin the pride of Judah and Jerusalem”). Some feel that it refers to the corrupting influence of Assyria and Babylon and others feel that it refers to the threat of Babylonian exile. However, F. B. Huey (Jeremiah, Lamentations [NAC], 144) is correct in observing that the Babylonian exile did not lead to the rottenness of Judah, the corrupting influence of the foreign nations did. In Jeremiah’s day these came through the age-old influences of the Canaanite worship of Baal but also the astral worship introduced by Ahaz and Manasseh. For an example of the corrupting influence of Assyria on Judah through Ahaz’s political alliances see 2 Kgs 16 and also compare the allegory in Ezek 23:14-21. It was while the “linen shorts” were off Jeremiah’s body and buried in the rocks that the linen shorts were ruined. So the Lord “ruined” the privileged status that resulted from Israel’s close relationship to him (cf. v. 11). For the “problem” created by the Lord ruining Israel through corrupting influence compare the notes on Jer 4:10 and compare also passages like Isa 63:17 and Isa 6:10.

[13:9]  ¹⁸ map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.

[13:15]  ¹⁹ tn The words “Then I said to the people of Judah” are not in the text but are implicit from the address in v. 15 and the content of v. 17. They are supplied in the translation for clarity to show the shift from the Lord speaking to Jeremiah.

[17:15]  ²⁰ tn Heb “Behold, they are saying to me.”

[17:15]  ²¹ tn Heb “Where is the word of the Lord. Let it come [or come to pass] please.”

[22:1]  ²² tn The word “me “ is not in the text. It is, however, implicit and is supplied in the translation for clarity.

[22:1]  ²³ sn The allusion here is to going down from the temple to the palace which was on a lower eminence. See 36:12 in its context.

[22:1]  ²⁴ tn Heb “And speak there this word:” The translation is intended to eliminate an awkward and lengthy sentence.

[23:29]  ²⁵ tn Heb “Is not my message like a fire?” The rhetorical question expects a positive answer that is made explicit in the translation. The words “that purges dross” are not in the text but are implicit to the metaphor. They are supplied in the translation for clarity.

[23:29]  ²⁶ tn Heb “Is it not like a hammer that breaks a rock in pieces?” See preceding note.

[23:29]  ²⁷ tn Heb “Oracle of the Lord.”

[23:31]  ²⁸ tn Heb “Oracle of the Lord.”

[23:31]  ²⁹ tn The word “The Lord” is not actually in the text but is implicit in the idiom. It is generally supplied in all the English versions.

[23:31]  sn Jer 23:30-33 are filled with biting sarcasm. The verses all begin with “Behold I am against the prophets who…” and go on to describe their reprehensible behavior. They “steal” one another’s messages which the Lord sarcastically calls “my words” (The passage shows that they are not; compare Marc Anthony’s use of “noble” to describe the ignoble men who killed Caesar). Here the use of the idiom translated “to use their own tongue” is really the idiom that refers to taking something in preparation for action, i.e., “they take their tongue” and “declare.” The verb “declare” is only used here and is derived from the idiom “oracle of “ which is almost universally used in the idiom “oracle of the Lord” which occurs 176 times in Jeremiah. I.e., it is their tongue that is “declaring not his mouth (v. 16). Moreover in the report of what they “declare” the Lord has left out the qualifying “of the Lord” to suggest the delusive nature of their message, i.e. they mislead people into believing that their message is from the Lord. Elsewhere in the discussion of the issue of false prophecy the Lord will use the full formula (Ezek 13:6-7). How ironic that their “Oracle of…” is punctuated by the triple “Oracle of the Lord” (vv. 30, 31, 32; translated here “I, the Lord, affirm that…).

[26:1]  ³⁰ sn Beginning with Jer 26 up to Jer 45 the book narrates in third person style incidents in the life of Jeremiah and prophecies (or sermons) he gave in obedience to the Lord’s commands. Baruch is the probable narrator, passing on information gleaned from Jeremiah himself. (See Jer 36:4, 18, 32; 45:1 and also 32:13-14 where it is clear that Baruch is Jeremiah’s scribe or secretary.) Chapters 26-29 contain narratives concerning reactions to Jeremiah’s prophecies and his conflict with the prophets who were prophesying that things would be all right (see, e.g., 14:14-15; 23:21).

[26:1]  ³¹ tn The words “to Jeremiah” are not in the Hebrew text. They are added by the Old Latin (not the Vulgate) and the Syriac versions. They are implicit, however, to the narrative style which speaks of Jeremiah in the third person (cf. vv. 7, 12). They have been supplied in the translation for clarity.

[26:1]  ³² tn It is often thought that the term here is equivalent to a technical term in Akkadian (reshsharruti) which refers to the part of the year remaining from the death or deposing of the previous king until the beginning of the calendar year when the new king officially ascended the throne. In this case it would refer to the part of the year between September, 609 b.c. when Jehoiakim was placed on the throne as a puppet king by Pharaoh Necho (2 Kgs 23:34-35) and April, 608 b.c. when he would have been officially celebrated as king. However, it will be suggested below in conjunction with the textual problems in 27:1 and 28:1 that the term does not necessarily refer to this period.

[27:1]  ³³ sn The names of Jeremiah and of Nebuchadnezzar are spelled differently in the Hebrew of chapter 27-29. That and other literary features show that these three chapters are all closely related. The events of these three chapters all take place within the space of one year (cf. 28:1; 29:17).

[27:1]  ³⁴ tc The reading here is based on a few Hebrew mss and the Syriac and Arabic versions. The majority of Hebrew mss and most of the versions read “At the beginning of the reign of Josiah’s son, Jehoiakim king of Judah” as in 26:1. The LXX does not have this whole verse. It has long been recognized that the text of 27:1 is textually corrupt. The date formula in the majority of Hebrew mss at 27:1 is contradictory both with the context of the passage which deals with an event in the reign of Zedekiah (see vv. 3, 13 and v. 20 which presupposes that Jeconiah, Jehoiakim’s son, has been taken captive [i.e., after the death of Jehoiakim!]) and the date formula in 28:1 which refers to an event “in that same year” and then qualifies it with “Early in the reign of Zedekiah.” Hence it is preferable to read “Zedekiah” here in place of “Jehoiakim” and explain the error in the Hebrew manuscripts as an erroneous copying of 26:1.

[27:1]  sn If the text of 28:1 is correct, the date here would be sometime in the fourth year of Zedekiah which would be 594/3 b.c. Zedekiah had been placed on the throne as a puppet king by Nebuchadnezzar after he deposed Zedekiah’s nephew, Jeconiah (Jehoiachin) and sent him, his family, some of the temple treasures, and some of the Judean leaders away to Babylon (2 Kgs 23:8-17). The author does not state directly why the envoys from the nations mentioned in v. 3 were in Jerusalem, but the implication is that they were there trying to interest Zedekiah in rebelling. Modern scholars have used the data here and in 28:1 and in the Babylonian Chronicles (it contains a record of major events of Nebuchadnezzar’s reign) to suggest a plausible background for such a meeting. Nebuchadnezzar had to put down an uprising in the east and quell a rebellion in Babylon itself in the two years prior to this meeting. Some “prophets” in the nation of Israel and in these other nations (see vv. 9-10) saw in these events hopes for not having to pay tribute to (i.e., submit to the yoke of) Nebuchadnezzar and were counseling rebellion. Jeremiah saw this as foolhardy and counseled otherwise. Again, there is a conflict between “prophets” which is what this whole section (Jer 27–29) is all about.

[27:2]  ³⁵ tn There is some disjunction in the narrative of this chapter. The introduction in v. 1 presents this as a third person narrative. But the rest of the passage reports the narrative in first person. Thus the text reads here “Thus the Lord said to me…” In vv. 12, 16 the narrative picks up in first person report and never indicates that Jeremiah carried out the command in vv. 2-4 that introduces the message which he repeats in summary form himself to Zedekiah. The report is thus an “unedited” first person report. This may create some confusion for some readers, but it is best to leave it in first person here because of the continuation in vv. 12, 16.

[27:2]  ³⁶ sn The yoke is a common biblical symbol of political servitude (see, e.g., Deut 28:48; 1 Kgs 12:4, 9, 10). From the context of 1 Kgs 12 it is clear that it applied to taxation and the provision of conscript labor. In international political contexts it involved the payment of heavy tribute which was often conscripted from the citizens (see, e.g., 2 Kgs 15:19-20; 23:34-35) and the furnishing of military contingents for the sovereign’s armies (see, e.g., 2 Kgs 24:2). Jeremiah’s message here combines both a symbolic action (the wearing of a yoke) and words of explanation as in Jer 19:1-13. (See Isa 20:1-6 for an example outside of Jeremiah.) The casting off of the yoke has been used earlier in Jer 2:20, 5:5 to refer to Israel’s failure to remain spiritually “subject” or faithful to God.

[29:15]  ³⁷ tn The words “of good news” are not in the text but are implicit from the context. They are supplied in the translation for clarity.

[29:24]  ³⁸ tn The words “The Lord told Jeremiah” are not in the text. They are supplied in the translation here to indicate the shift in topic and the shift in addressee (the imperative “tell” is second singular). The introduction supplied in the translation here matches that in v. 30 where the words are in the text.

[29:24]  ³⁹ tn It is unclear whether this is a family name or a place name. The word occurs nowhere else in the Hebrew Bible.

[30:5]  ⁴⁰ tn The particle כִּי (ki) is functioning here as loosely causal or epexegetical of the preceding introduction. For this usage cf. BDB 473-74 s.v. כִּי 3.c. This nuance borders on that of the intensive use of כִּי. See the discussion in BDB 472 s.v. כִּי note and כִּי 1.e.

[30:5]  ⁴¹ tn Heb “We have heard the sound of panic and of fear, and there is no peace.” It is generally agreed that the person of the verb presupposes that this is an unintroduced quote of the people.

[31:11]  ⁴² sn Two rather theologically significant metaphors are used in this verse. The Hebrew word translated “will set…free” is a word used in the legal sphere for paying a redemption price to secure the freedom of a person or thing (see, e.g., Exod 13:13, 15). It is used metaphorically and theologically to refer to Israel’s deliverance from Egyptian bondage (Deut 15:15; Mic 6:4) and its deliverance from Babylonian exile (Isa 35:10). The word translated “secure their release” is a word used in the sphere of family responsibility where a person paid the price to free an indentured relative (Lev 25:48, 49) or paid the price to restore a relative’s property seized to pay a debt (Lev 25:25, 33). This word, too, was used to refer metaphorically and theologically to Israel’s deliverance from Egyptian bondage (Exod 6:6) or release from Babylonian exile (Isa 43:1-4; 44:22). These words are traditionally translated “ransom” and “redeem” and are a part of traditional Jewish and Christian vocabulary for physical and spiritual deliverance.

[31:11]  ⁴³ tn Heb “from the hand/power of the one too strong for him.”

[32:6]  ⁴⁴ tn Heb “The word of the Lord came to me, saying.” This verse resumes the narrative introduction in v. 1 which was interrupted by the long parenthetical note about historical background. There is again some disjunction in the narrative (compare the translator’s notes on 27:2 and 28:1). What was begun as a biographical (third person) narrative turns into an autobiographical (first person) narrative until v. 26 where the third person is again resumed. Again this betrays the hand of the narrator, Baruch.

[33:1]  ⁴⁵ sn The introductory statement here ties this incident in with the preceding chapter which was the first time that the Lord spoke to him about the matters discussed here. There is no indication of how much time passed between the two incidents though it appears that the situation has worsened somewhat (cf. v. 4).

[33:1]  ⁴⁶ tn Heb “And the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah a second time…, saying.”

[36:11]  ⁴⁷ tn Heb “Micaiah son of Gemariah son of Shaphan heard all the words of the Lord from upon the scroll.” The words “heard Baruch read” are implicit from the context and are supplied in the translation for smoothness.

[38:3]  ⁴⁸ tn The words “They had also heard him say,” are not in the Hebrew text. They are supplied in the translation for clarity so as to avoid any possible confusion that might be created by saying merely “And the Lord says,” without any introduction.

[38:3]  ⁴⁹ sn See Jer 21:10; 32:28; 34:2; 37:8 for this same prophecy. Jeremiah had repeatedly said this or words to the same effect.

[39:15]  ⁵⁰ sn Jer 39:15-18. This incident is out of chronological order (see Jer 38:7-13). It is placed here either due to a desire not to interrupt the sequential ordering of events centering on Jeremiah’s imprisonment and his release (38:14–39:14) or to contrast God’s care and concern for the faithful (Ebed-Melech who, though a foreigner, trusted in God) with his harsh treatment of the faithless (Zedekiah who, though informed of God’s will, was too weak-willed in the face of opposition by his courtiers to carry it out).

[39:15]  ⁵¹ tn Heb “Now the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah while he…saying.” The form of this clause is disjunctive showing that it does not follow the preceding events in either chronological or logical sequence. For a discussion of the form and function of such disjunctive clauses see IBHS 650-52 §39.2.3. This example most closely fits the description and function of example 12, Ruth 4:18, 21-22 on p. 652.

[43:7]  ⁵² sn This had been their intention all along (41:17). Though they consulted the Lord and promised to do what he told them whether they agreed with it or not (42:5-6), it is clear that they had no intention of doing so. Jeremiah could see that (42:19-22). They refused to believe that the Lord had really said what Jeremiah told them (43:4) and feared reprisal from the Babylonians more than any potential destruction from the Lord (43:3).

[43:7]  ⁵³ sn Tahpanhes was an important fortress city on the northern border of Egypt in the northeastern Nile delta. It is generally equated with the Greek city of Daphne. It has already been mentioned in 2:16 in conjunction with Memphis (the Hebrew name is “Noph”) as a source of soldiers who did violence to the Israelites in the past.

[48:21]  ⁵⁴ sn See the study note on Jer 48:8 for reference to this tableland or high plain that lay between the Arnon and Heshbon.

[48:40]  ⁵⁵ tn Heb “Behold! Like an eagle he will swoop and will spread his wings against Moab.” The sentence has been reordered in English to give a better logical flow and the unidentified “he” has been identified as “a nation.” The nation is, of course, Babylon, but it is nowhere identified so the referent has been left ambiguous.

[48:40]  sn Conquering nations are often identified with a swiftly flying eagle swooping down on its victims (cf. Deut 28:49). In this case the eagle is to be identified with the nation (or king) of Babylon (cf. Ezek 17:3, 12 where reference is to the removal of Jehoiachin (Jeconiah) and his replacement with Zedekiah).

[48:42]  ⁵⁶ tn Heb “Moab will be destroyed from [being] a people.”

[49:6]  ⁵⁷ tn See Jer 29:14; 30:3 and the translator’s note on 29:14 for the idiom used here.

[49:6]  ⁵⁸ tn Heb “Oracle of the Lord.”

[49:34]  ⁵⁹ tn Or “In the beginning of the reign.” For a discussion of the usage of the terms here see the translator’s note on 28:1. If this refers to the accession year the dating would be 598/97 b.c.

[49:34]  ⁶⁰ tn Heb “That which came [as] the word of the Lord to Jeremiah the prophet about the Elam.” See the translator’s note on 14:1 for the construction here and compare also 46:1; 47:1; 50:1.

[49:34]  sn Elam was a country on the eastern side of the Tigris River in what is now southwestern Iran. Its capital city was Susa. It was destroyed in 640 b.c. by Ashurbanipal after a long period of conflict with the Assyrian kings. It appears from Babylonian records to have regained its independence shortly thereafter, perhaps as early as 625 b.c., and was involved in the fall of Assyria in 612 b.c. If the date refers to the first year of Zedekiah’s rule (597 b.c.), this prophecy appears to be later than the previous ones (cf. the study notes on 46:2 and 47:1).

[49:35]  ⁶¹ tn Heb “I will break the bow of Elam, the chief source of their might.” The phrase does not mean that God will break literal bows or that he will destroy their weapons (synecdoche of species for genus) or their military power (so Hos 1:5). Because of the parallelism, the “bow” here stands for the archers who wield the bow, and were the strongest force (or chief contingent) in their military.

[49:39]  ⁶² tn See Jer 29:14; 30:3 and the translator’s note on 29:14 for the idiom used here.

[49:39]  sn See a similar note on the reversal of Moab’s fortunes in Jer 48:47 and compare also 46:26 for a future restoration of Egypt.

[49:39]  ⁶³ tn Heb “Oracle of the Lord.”

[50:1]  ⁶⁴ tn Heb “the land of the Chaldeans.” See the study note on 21:4 for explanation.

[50:1]  ⁶⁵ tn Heb “The word which the Lord spoke concerning Babylon, concerning the land of the Chaldeans by the hand of Jeremiah the prophet.”

[50:10]  ⁶⁶ tn Heb “The land of the Chaldeans.” See the study note on 21:4 for explanation.

[50:10]  ⁶⁷ tn Heb “Oracle of the Lord.”