Yeremia 46:21

46:21 Even her mercenaries ¹ 

will prove to be like pampered, ²  well-fed calves.

For they too will turn and run away.

They will not stand their ground

when ³  the time for them to be destroyed comes,

the time for them to be punished.

Yeremia 50:27

50:27 Kill all her soldiers! ⁴ 

Let them be slaughtered! ⁵ 

They are doomed, ⁶  for their day of reckoning ⁷  has come,

the time for them to be punished.”

Yeremia 50:31

50:31 “Listen! I am opposed to you, you proud city,” ⁸ 

says the Lord God who rules over all. ⁹ 

“Indeed, ¹⁰  your day of reckoning ¹¹  has come,

the time when I will punish you. ¹² 

[46:21]  ¹ tn Heb “her hirelings in her midst.”

[46:21]  ² tn The word “pampered” is not in the text. It is supplied in the translation to explain the probable meaning of the simile. The mercenaries were well cared for like stall-fed calves, but in the face of the danger they will prove no help because they will turn and run away without standing their ground. Some see the point of the simile to be that they too are fattened for slaughter. However, the next two lines do not fit that interpretation too well.

[46:21]  ³ tn The temporal use of the particle כִּי (ki; BDB 472 s.v. כִּי 2.a) seems more appropriate to the context than the causal use.

[50:27]  ⁴ tn Heb “Kill all her young bulls.” Commentators are almost universally agreed that the reference to “young bulls” is figurative here for the princes and warriors (cf. BDB 831 s.v. פַּר 2.f, which compares Isa 34:7 and Ezek 39:18). This is virtually certain because of the reference to the time coming for them to be punished; this would scarcely fit literal bulls. For the verb rendered “kill” here see the translator’s note on v. 21.

[50:27]  ⁵ tn Heb “Let them go down to the slaughter.”

[50:27]  ⁶ tn Or “How terrible it will be for them”; Heb “Woe to them.” See the study note on 22:13 and compare the usage in 23:1; 48:1.

[50:27]  ⁷ tn The words “of reckoning” are not in the text but are implicit from the context. They are supplied in the translation for clarity.

[50:31]  ⁸ tn Heb “Behold, I am against you, proud one.” The word “city” is not in the text but it is generally agreed that the word is being used as a personification of the city which had “proudly defied” the Lord (v. 29). The word “city” is supplied in the translation for clarity.

[50:31]  ⁹ tn Heb “oracle of the Lord Yahweh of armies.” For the rendering of this title and an explanation of its significance see the study note on 2:19.

[50:31]  ¹⁰ tn The particle כִּי (ki) is probably asseverative here (so J. A. Thompson, Jeremiah [NICOT], 739, n. 13, and cf. BDB 472 s.v. כִּי 1.e for other examples). This has been a common use of this particle in the book of Jeremiah.

[50:31]  ¹¹ tn The words “of reckoning” are not in the text but are implicit from the context. They are supplied in the translation for clarity.

[50:31]  ¹² sn Compare v. 27.