Yeremia 29:4
Konteks29:4 “The Lord God of Israel who rules over all 1 says to all those he sent 2 into exile to Babylon from Jerusalem, 3
Yeremia 29:8
Konteks29:8 “For the Lord God of Israel who rules over all 4 says, ‘Do not let the prophets or those among you who claim to be able to predict the future by divination 5 deceive you. And do not pay any attention to the dreams that you are encouraging them to dream.
Yeremia 29:16-17
Konteks29:16 But just listen to what the Lord has to say about 6 the king who occupies David’s throne and all your fellow countrymen who are still living in this city of Jerusalem 7 and were not carried off into exile with you. 29:17 The Lord who rules over all 8 says, ‘I will bring war, 9 starvation, and disease on them. I will treat them like figs that are so rotten 10 they cannot be eaten.
Yeremia 29:19-21
Konteks29:19 For they have not paid attention to what I said to them through my servants the prophets whom I sent to them over and over again,’ 11 says the Lord. 12 ‘And you exiles 13 have not paid any attention to them either,’ says the Lord. 14 29:20 ‘So pay attention to what I, the Lord, have said, 15 all you exiles whom I have sent to Babylon from Jerusalem.’
29:21 “The Lord God of Israel who rules over all 16 also has something to say about Ahab son of Kolaiah and Zedekiah son of Maaseiah, who are prophesying lies to you and claiming my authority to do so. 17 ‘I will hand them over to King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon and he will execute them before your very eyes.
Yeremia 29:23
Konteks29:23 This will happen to them because they have done what is shameful 18 in Israel. They have committed adultery with their neighbors’ wives and have spoken lies while claiming my authority. 19 They have spoken words that I did not command them to speak. I know what they have done. I have been a witness to it,’ says the Lord.” 20
Yeremia 29:25
Konteks29:25 that the Lord God of Israel who rules over all 21 has a message for him. 22 Tell him, 23 ‘On your own initiative 24 you sent a letter 25 to the priest Zephaniah son of Maaseiah 26 and to all the other priests and to all the people in Jerusalem. 27 In your letter you said to Zephaniah, 28
Yeremia 29:30-32
Konteks29:30 Then the Lord spoke to Jeremiah. 29:31 “Send a message to all the exiles in Babylon. Tell them, ‘The Lord has spoken about Shemaiah the Nehelamite. “Shemaiah has spoken to you as a prophet even though I did not send him. He is making you trust in a lie. 29 29:32 Because he has done this,” 30 the Lord says, “I will punish Shemaiah the Nehelamite and his whole family. There will not be any of them left to experience the good things that I will do for my people. I, the Lord, affirm it! For he counseled rebellion against the Lord.”’” 31
[29:4] 1 tn Heb “Yahweh of armies, the God of Israel.”
[29:4] sn See study notes on 2:19 and 7:3 for the explanation of this title.
[29:4] 2 tn Heb “I sent.” This sentence exhibits a rapid switch in person, here from the third person to the first. Such switches are common to Hebrew poetry and prophecy (cf. GKC 462 §144.p). Contemporary English, however, does not exhibit such rapid switches and it creates confusion for the careful reader. Such switches have regularly been avoided in the translation.
[29:4] sn Elsewhere Nebuchadnezzar is seen as the one who carried them into exile (cf. 27:20; 29:1). Here and in v. 14 the
[29:4] 3 map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.
[29:8] 4 tn Heb “Yahweh of armies, the God of Israel.”
[29:8] sn See study notes on 2:19 and 7:3 for the explanation of this title.
[29:8] 5 sn See the study notes on 27:9 for this term.
[29:16] 6 tn Heb “But thus says the
[29:16] sn Jeremiah answers their claims that the
[29:16] 7 tn The words “of Jerusalem” are not in the text but are supplied in the translation to identify the referent and avoid the possible confusion that “this city” refers to Babylon.
[29:17] 8 tn Heb “Yahweh of armies.” See the study note on 2:19 for explanation of this title.
[29:17] 10 tn The meaning of this word is somewhat uncertain. It occurs only here in the Hebrew Bible. BDB 1045 s.v. שֹׁעָר relates it to the noun “horrible thing” (translated “something shocking”) in Jer 5:30; 23:14 and defines it as “horrid, disgusting.” HALOT 1495 s.v. שֹׁעָר relates it to the same noun and define it as “rotten; corrupt.” That nuance is accepted here.
[29:17] sn Compare Jer 24:8-10 in its context for the figure here.
[29:19] 11 tn See the translator’s note on 7:13 for an explanation of this idiom.
[29:19] 12 tn Heb “Oracle of the
[29:19] 13 tn The word “exiles” is not in the text. It is supplied in the translation to clarify the referent of “you.”
[29:19] 14 tn Heb “Oracle of the
[29:20] 15 tn Heb “pay attention to the word of the
[29:21] 16 tn Heb “Yahweh of armies, the God of Israel.”
[29:21] sn See study notes on 2:19 and 7:3 for the explanation of this title.
[29:21] 17 tn Heb “prophesying lies in my name.” For an explanation of this idiom see the study notes on 14:14 and 23:27.
[29:23] 18 tn It is commonly assumed that this word is explained by the two verbal actions that follow. The word (נְבָלָה, nÿvalah) is rather commonly used of sins of unchastity (cf., e.g., Gen 34:7; Judg 19:23; 2 Sam 13:12) which would fit the reference to adultery. However, the word is singular and not likely to cover both actions that follow. The word is also used of the greedy act of Achan (Josh 7:15) which threatened Israel with destruction and the churlish behavior of Nabal (1 Sam 25:25) which threatened him and his household with destruction. The word is also used of foolish talk in Isa 9:17 (9:16 HT) and Isa 32:6. It is possible that this refers to a separate act, one that would have brought the death penalty from Nebuchadnezzar, i.e., the preaching of rebellion in conformity with the message of the false prophets in Jerusalem and other nations (cf. 27:9, 13). Hence it is possible that the translation should read: “This will happen because of their vile conduct. They have propagated rebellion. They have committed adultery with their neighbors’ wives. They have spoken words that I did not command them to speak. They have spoken lies while claiming my authority.”
[29:23] 19 tn Heb “prophesying lies in my name.” For an explanation of this idiom see the study notes on 14:14 and 23:27.
[29:23] 20 tn Heb “Oracle of the
[29:25] 21 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] 22 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] 23 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] 24 tn Heb “In your [own] name.” See the study note on 23:27 for the significance of this idiom.
[29:25] 25 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] 26 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
[29:25] 27 map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.
[29:25] 28 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.
[29:31] 29 tn Or “is giving you false assurances.”
[29:32] 30 tn Heb “Therefore.”
[29:32] 31 sn Compare the same charge against Hananiah in Jer 28:16 and see the note there. In this case, the false prophesy of Shemaiah is not given but it likely had the same tenor since he wants Jeremiah reprimanded for saying that the exile will be long and the people are to settle down in Babylon.
