Yeremia 29:4-10

29:4 “The Lord God of Israel who rules over all ¹  says to all those he sent ²  into exile to Babylon from Jerusalem, ³  29:5 ‘Build houses and settle down. Plant gardens and eat what they produce. 29:6 Marry and have sons and daughters. Find wives for your sons and allow your daughters get married so that they too can have sons and daughters. Grow in number; do not dwindle away. 29:7 Work to see that the city where I sent you as exiles enjoys peace and prosperity. Pray to the Lord for it. For as it prospers you will prosper.’

29:8 “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. 29:9 They are prophesying lies to you and claiming my authority to do so. ⁶  But I did not send them. I, the Lord, affirm it!’ ⁷ 

29:10 “For the Lord says, ‘Only when the seventy years of Babylonian rule ⁸  are over will I again take up consideration for you. ⁹  Then I will fulfill my gracious promise to you and restore ¹⁰  you to your homeland. ¹¹ 

Yeremia 44:12-14

44:12 I will see to it that all the Judean remnant that was determined to go ¹²  and live in the land of Egypt will be destroyed. Here in the land of Egypt they will fall in battle ¹³  or perish from starvation. People of every class ¹⁴  will die in war or from starvation. They will become an object of horror and ridicule, an example of those who have been cursed and that people use in pronouncing a curse. ¹⁵  44:13 I will punish those who live in the land of Egypt with war, starvation, and disease just as I punished Jerusalem. 44:14 None of the Judean remnant who have come to live in the land of Egypt will escape or survive to return to the land of Judah. Though they long to return and live there, none of them shall return except a few fugitives.’” ¹⁶ 

[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 Lord is seen as the one who sends them into exile. The Lord is the ultimate cause and Nebuchadnezzar is his agent or servant (cf. 25:9; 27:6 and notes).

[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.

[29:9]  ⁶ tn Heb “prophesying lies to you in my name.”

[29:9]  sn For the significance of “in my name” see the study notes on 14:14 and 23:27.

[29:9]  ⁷ tn Heb “Oracle of the Lord.”

[29:10]  ⁸ sn See the study note on Jer 25:11 for the reckoning of the seventy years.

[29:10]  ⁹ tn See the translator’s note on Jer 27:22 for this term.

[29:10]  ¹⁰ tn Verse 10 is all one long sentence in the Hebrew original: “According to the fullness of Babylon seventy years I will take thought of you and I will establish my gracious word to you by bringing you back to this place.” The sentence has been broken up to conform better to contemporary English style.

[29:10]  ¹¹ tn Heb “this place.” The text has probably been influenced by the parallel passage in 27:22. The term appears fifteen times in Jeremiah and is invariably a reference to Jerusalem or Judah.

[29:10]  sn See Jer 27:22 for this promise.

[44:12]  ¹² tn Heb “they set their face to go.” Compare 44:11 and 42:14 and see the translator’s note at 42:15.

[44:12]  ¹³ tn Heb “fall by the sword.”

[44:12]  ¹⁴ tn Or “All of them without distinction,” or “All of them from the least important to the most important”; Heb “From the least to the greatest.” See the translator’s note on 42:1 for the meaning of this idiom.

[44:12]  ¹⁵ tn See the study note on 24:9 and the usage in 29:22 for the meaning and significance of this last phrase.

[44:12]  sn See Jer 42:18 for parallel usage.

[44:14]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “There shall not be an escapee or a survivor to the remnant of Judah who came to sojourn there in the land of Egypt even to return to the land of Judah which they are lifting up their souls [= “longing/desiring” (BDB 672 s.v. נָשָׂא Piel.2)] to return to live there; for none shall return except fugitives.” The long, complex Hebrew original has been broken up and restructured to better conform with contemporary English style. Another possible structure would be “None of the Judean remnant who have come to live in the land of Egypt will escape or survive. None of them will escape or survive to return to the land of Judah where they long to return to live. Indeed (emphatic use of כִּי [ki]; cf. BDB 472 s.v. כִּי 1.e) none of them shall return except a few fugitives.” This verse is a good example of rhetorical hyperbole where a universal negative does not apply to absolutely all the particulars. Though the Lord denies at the outset that any will escape or survive the punishment of vv. 12-13 to return to Judah, he says at the end that a few fugitives will return (the two words for fugitive are from the same root and mean the same thing). (E. W. Bullinger, Figures of Speech, 618-19, might classify this as a synecdoche of genus where a universal negative does not deny particularity.) That this last statement is not a gloss or an afterthought is supported by what is said later in v. 28.