Yeremia 52:15-30

52:15 Nebuzaradan, the captain of the royal guard, took into exile some of the poor, ¹  the rest of the people who remained in the city, those who had deserted to him, and the rest of the craftsmen. 52:16 But he ²  left behind some of the poor ³  and gave them fields and vineyards.

52:17 The Babylonians broke the two bronze pillars in the temple of the Lord, as well as the movable stands and the large bronze basin called the “The Sea.” ⁴  They took all the bronze to Babylon. 52:18 They also took the pots, shovels, ⁵  trimming shears, ⁶  basins, pans, and all the bronze utensils used by the priests. ⁷  52:19 The captain of the royal guard took the gold and silver bowls, censers, ⁸  basins, pots, lampstands, pans, and vessels. ⁹  52:20 The bronze of the items that King Solomon made for the Lord’s temple (including the two pillars, the large bronze basin called “The Sea,” the twelve bronze bulls under “The Sea,” and the movable stands ¹⁰ ) was too heavy to be weighed. 52:21 Each of the pillars was about 27 feet ¹¹  high, about 18 feet ¹²  in circumference, three inches ¹³  thick, and hollow. 52:22 The bronze top of one pillar was about seven and one-half feet ¹⁴  high and had bronze latticework and pomegranate-shaped ornaments all around it. The second pillar with its pomegranate-shaped ornaments was like it. 52:23 There were ninety-six pomegranate-shaped ornaments on the sides; in all there were one hundred pomegranate-shaped ornaments over the latticework that went around it.

52:24 The captain of the royal guard took Seraiah the chief priest, Zephaniah the priest who was second in rank, and the three doorkeepers. ¹⁵  52:25 From the city he took an official who was in charge of the soldiers, seven of the king’s advisers who were discovered in the city, an official army secretary who drafted citizens ¹⁶  for military service, and sixty citizens who were discovered in the middle of the city. 52:26 Nebuzaradan, the captain of the royal guard, took them and brought them to the king of Babylon at Riblah. 52:27 The king of Babylon ordered them to be executed ¹⁷  at Riblah in the territory of Hamath.

So Judah was taken into exile away from its land. 52:28 Here is the official record of the number of people ¹⁸  Nebuchadnezzar carried into exile: In the seventh year, ¹⁹  3,023 Jews; 52:29 in Nebuchadnezzar’s eighteenth year, ²⁰  832 people from Jerusalem; 52:30 in Nebuchadnezzar’s twenty-third year, ²¹  Nebuzaradan, the captain of the royal guard, carried into exile 745 Judeans. In all 4,600 people went into exile.

Yeremia 31:16-21

31:16 The Lord says to her, ²² 

“Stop crying! Do not shed any more tears! ²³ 

For your heartfelt repentance ²⁴  will be rewarded.

Your children will return from the land of the enemy.

I, the Lord, affirm it! ²⁵ 

31:17 Indeed, there is hope for your posterity. ²⁶ 

Your children will return to their own territory.

I, the Lord, affirm it! ²⁷ 

31:18 I have indeed ²⁸  heard the people of Israel ²⁹  say mournfully,

‘We were like a calf untrained to the yoke. ³⁰ 

You disciplined us and we learned from it. ³¹ 

Let us come back to you and we will do so, ³² 

for you are the Lord our God.

31:19 For after we turned away from you we repented.

After we came to our senses ³³  we beat our breasts in sorrow. ³⁴ 

We are ashamed and humiliated

because of the disgraceful things we did previously.’ ³⁵ 

31:20 Indeed, the people of Israel are my dear children.

They are the children I take delight in. ³⁶ 

For even though I must often rebuke them,

I still remember them with fondness.

So I am deeply moved with pity for them ³⁷ 

and will surely have compassion on them.

I, the Lord, affirm it! ³⁸ 

31:21 I will say, ³⁹  ‘My dear children of Israel, ⁴⁰  keep in mind

the road you took when you were carried off. ⁴¹ 

Mark off in your minds the landmarks.

Make a mental note of telltale signs marking the way back.

Return, my dear children of Israel.

Return to these cities of yours.

Yeremia 27:21-22

27:21 Indeed, the Lord God of Israel who rules over all ⁴²  has already spoken ⁴³  about the valuable articles that are left in the Lord’s temple, in the royal palace of Judah, and in Jerusalem. 27:22 He has said, ‘They will be carried off to Babylon. They will remain there until it is time for me to show consideration for them again. ⁴⁴  Then I will bring them back and restore them to this place.’ I, the Lord, affirm this!” ⁴⁵ 

Yeremia 29:10-14

29:10 “For the Lord says, ‘Only when the seventy years of Babylonian rule ⁴⁶  are over will I again take up consideration for you. ⁴⁷  Then I will fulfill my gracious promise to you and restore ⁴⁸  you to your homeland. ⁴⁹  29:11 For I know what I have planned for you,’ says the Lord. ⁵⁰  ‘I have plans to prosper you, not to harm you. I have plans to give you ⁵¹  a future filled with hope. ⁵²  29:12 When you call out to me and come to me in prayer, ⁵³  I will hear your prayers. ⁵⁴  29:13 When you seek me in prayer and worship, you will find me available to you. If you seek me with all your heart and soul, ⁵⁵  29:14 I will make myself available to you,’ ⁵⁶  says the Lord. ⁵⁷  ‘Then I will reverse your plight ⁵⁸  and will regather you from all the nations and all the places where I have exiled you,’ says the Lord. ⁵⁹  ‘I will bring you back to the place from which I exiled you.’

Yeremia 50:17-20

50:17 “The people of Israel are like scattered sheep

which lions have chased away.

First the king of Assyria devoured them. ⁶⁰ 

Now last of all King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon has gnawed their bones. ⁶¹ 

50:18 So I, the Lord God of Israel who rules over all, say: ⁶² 

‘I will punish the king of Babylon and his land

just as I punished the king of Assyria.

50:19 But I will restore the flock of Israel to their own pasture.

They will graze on Mount Carmel and the land of Bashan.

They will eat until they are full ⁶³ 

on the hills of Ephraim and the land of Gilead. ⁶⁴ 

50:20 When that time comes,

no guilt will be found in Israel.

No sin will be found in Judah. ⁶⁵ 

For I will forgive those of them I have allowed to survive. ⁶⁶ 

I, the Lord, affirm it!’” ⁶⁷ 

[52:15]  ¹ tn Heb “poor of the people.”

[52:16]  ² tn Heb “Nebuzaradan, the captain of the royal guard.” However, the subject is clear from the preceding and modern English style would normally avoid repeating the proper name and title.

[52:16]  ³ tn Heb “poor of the land.”

[52:17]  ⁴ sn For discussion of the items listed here, see the study notes at Jer 27:19.

[52:18]  ⁵ sn These shovels were used to clean the altar.

[52:18]  ⁶ sn These trimming shears were used to trim the wicks of the lamps.

[52:18]  ⁷ tn Heb “with which they served (or “fulfilled their duty”).”

[52:19]  ⁸ sn The censers held the embers used for the incense offerings.

[52:19]  ⁹ sn These vessels were used for drink offerings.

[52:20]  ¹⁰ tc The translation follows the LXX (Greek version), which reflects the description in 1 Kgs 7:25-26. The Hebrew text reads, “the twelve bronze bulls under the movable stands.” הַיָּם (hayyam, “The Sea”) has been accidentally omitted by homoioarcton; note that the following form, הַמְּכֹנוֹת (hammÿkhonot, “the movable stands”), also begins with the article.

[52:21]  ¹¹ tn Heb “eighteen cubits.” A “cubit” was a unit of measure, approximately equivalent to a foot and a half.

[52:21]  ¹² tn Heb “twelve cubits.” A “cubit” was a unit of measure, approximately equivalent to a foot and a half.

[52:21]  ¹³ tn Heb “four fingers.”

[52:22]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “five cubits.” A “cubit” was a unit of measure, approximately equivalent to a foot and a half.

[52:24]  ¹⁵ sn See the note at Jer 35:4.

[52:25]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “men, from the people of the land” (also later in this verse).

[52:27]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “struck them down and killed them.”

[52:28]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “these are the people.”

[52:28]  ¹⁹ sn This would be 597 b.c.

[52:29]  ²⁰ sn This would be 586 b.c.

[52:30]  ²¹ sn This would be 581 b.c.

[31:16]  ²² tn The words “to her” are not in the text but are implicit from the context. They are supplied in the translation for clarity.

[31:16]  ²³ tn Heb “Refrain your voice from crying and your eyes from tears.”

[31:16]  ²⁴ tn Heb “your work.” Contextually her “work” refers to her weeping and refusing to be comforted, that is, signs of genuine repentance (v. 15).

[31:16]  ²⁵ tn Heb “Oracle of the Lord.”

[31:17]  ²⁶ tn For this nuance for the Hebrew word אַחֲרִית (’akharit) see BDB 31 s.v. אַחֲרִית d and compare usage in Pss 37:38; 109:13. Others translate “your future” but the “future” lies with the return of her descendants, her posterity.

[31:17]  ²⁷ tn Heb “Oracle of the Lord.”

[31:18]  ²⁸ tn The use of “indeed” is intended to reflect the infinitive absolute which precedes the verb for emphasis (see IBHS 585-86 §35.3.1f).

[31:18]  ²⁹ tn Heb “Ephraim.” See the study note on 31:9. The more familiar term is used, the term “people” added to it, and plural pronouns used throughout the verse to aid in understanding.

[31:18]  ³⁰ tn Heb “like an untrained calf.” The metaphor is that of a calf who has never been broken to bear the yoke (cf. Hos 4:16; 10:11).

[31:18]  sn Jer 2:20; 5:5 already referred to Israel’s refusal to bear the yoke of loyalty and obedience to the Lord’s demands. Here Israel expresses that she has learned from the discipline of exile and is ready to bear his yoke.

[31:18]  ³¹ tn The verb here is from the same root as the preceding and is probably an example of the “tolerative Niphal,” i.e., “I let myself be disciplined/I responded to it.” See IBHS 389-90 §23.4g and note the translation of some of the examples there, especially Isa 19:22; 65:1.

[31:18]  ³² tn Heb “Bring me back in order that I may come back.” For the use of the plural pronouns see the marginal note at the beginning of the verse. The verb “bring back” and “come back” are from the same root in two different verbal stems and in the context express the idea of spiritual repentance and restoration of relationship not physical return to the land. (See BDB 999 s.v. שׁוּב Hiph.2.a for the first verb and 997 s.v. Qal.6.c for the second.) For the use of the cohortative to express purpose after the imperative see GKC 320 §108.d or IBHS 575 §34.5.2b.

[31:18]  sn There is a wordplay on several different nuances of the same Hebrew verb in vv. 16-19. The Hebrew verb shub refers both to their turning away from God (v. 19) and to their turning back to him (v. 18). It is also the word that is used for their return to their homeland (vv. 16-17).

[31:19]  ³³ tn For this meaning of the verb see HAL 374 s.v. יָדַע Nif 5 or W. L. Holladay, Concise Hebrew and Aramaic Lexicon, 129. REB translates “Now that I am submissive” relating the verb to a second root meaning “be submissive.” (See HALOT 375 s.v. II יָדַע and J. Barr, Comparative Philology and the Text of the Old Testament, 19-21, for evidence for this verb. Other passages cited with this nuance are Judg 8:16; Prov 10:9; Job 20:20.)

[31:19]  ³⁴ tn Heb “I struck my thigh.” This was a gesture of grief and anguish (cf. Ezek 21:12 [21:17 HT]). The modern equivalent is “to beat the breast.”

[31:19]  ³⁵ tn Heb “because I bear the reproach of my youth.” For the plural referents see the note at the beginning of v. 18.

[31:19]  sn The expression the disgraceful things we did in our earlier history refers to the disgrace that accompanied the sins that Israel did in her earlier years before she learned the painful lesson of submission to the Lord through the discipline of exile. For earlier references to the sins of her youth (i.e., in her earlier years as a nation) see 3:24-25; 22:21 and see also 32:29. At the time that these verses were written, neither northern Israel or Judah had expressed the kind of contrition voiced in vv. 18-19. As one commentator notes, the words here are both prophetic and instructive.

[31:20]  ³⁶ tn Heb “Is Ephraim a dear son to me or a child of delight?” For the substitution of Israel for Ephraim and the plural pronouns for the singular see the note on v. 18. According to BDB 210 s.v. הֲ 1.c the question is rhetorical having the force of an impassioned affirmation. See 1 Sam 2:27; Job 41:9 (41:1 HT) for parallel usage.

[31:20]  ³⁷ tn Heb “my stomach churns for him.” The parallelism shows that this refers to pity or compassion.

[31:20]  ³⁸ tn Heb “Oracle of the Lord.”

[31:21]  ³⁹ tn The words “I will say” are not in the text. They are supplied in the translation to mark the transition from the address about Israel in a response to Rachel’s weeping (vv. 15-20) to a direct address to Israel which is essentially the answer to Israel’s prayer of penitence (cf. G. L. Keown, P. J. Scalise, T. G. Smothers, Jeremiah 26-52 [WBC], 121.)

[31:21]  sn The Lord here invites Israel to stop dilly-dallying and prepare themselves to return because he is prepared to do something new and miraculous.

[31:21]  ⁴⁰ tn Heb “Virgin Israel.” For the significance see the study note on 31:3.

[31:21]  ⁴¹ tn Heb “Set your mind to the highway, the way which you went.” The phrase “the way you went” has been translated “the road you took when you were carried off” to help the reader see the reference to the exile implicit in the context. The verb “which you went” is another example of the old second feminine singular which the Masoretes typically revocalize (Kethib הָלָכְתִּי [halakhti]; Qere הָלָכְתְּ [halakht]). The vocative has been supplied in the translation at the beginning to help make the transition from third person reference to Ephraim/Israel in the preceding to second person in the following and to identify the referent of the imperatives. Likewise, this line has been moved to the front to show that the reference to setting up sign posts and landmarks is not literal but figurative, referring to making a mental note of the way they took when carried off so that they can easily find their way back. Lines three and four in the Hebrew text read, “Set up sign posts for yourself; set up guideposts/landmarks for yourself.” The word translated “telltale signs marking the way” occurs only here. Though its etymology and precise meaning are unknown, all the lexicons agree in translating it as “sign post” or something similar based on the parallelism.

[27:21]  ⁴² tn Heb “Yahweh of armies, the God of Israel.” For the significance of this title see the note at 2:19.

[27:21]  ⁴³ sn Some of the flavor of the repetitive nature of Hebrew narrative is apparent in vv. 19-21. In the Hebrew original vv. 19-20 are all one long sentence with complex coordination and subordinations. I.e., all the objects in v. 19 are all objects of the one verb “has spoken about” and the description in v. 20 is one long relative or descriptive clause. The introductory “For the Lord…has already spoken” is repeated in v. 21 from v. 19 and reference is made to the same articles once again, only in the terms that were used in v. 18b. By this means, attention is focused for these people (here the priests and the people) on articles which were of personal concern for them and the climax or the punch line is delayed to the end. The point being made is that the false prophets are mistaken; not only will the articles taken to Babylon not be returned “very soon” but the Lord had said that the ones that remained would be taken there as well. They ought rather pray that the Lord will change his mind and not carry them off as well.

[27:22]  ⁴⁴ tn This verb is a little difficult to render here. The word is used in the sense of taking note of something and acting according to what is noticed. It is the word that has been translated several times throughout Jeremiah as “punish [someone].” It is also used in the opposite of sense of taking note and “show consideration for” (or “care for;” see, e.g., Ruth 1:6). Here the nuance is positive and is further clarified by the actions that follow, bringing them back and restoring them.

[27:22]  ⁴⁵ tn Heb “oracle of the Lord.”

[29:10]  ⁴⁶ sn See the study note on Jer 25:11 for the reckoning of the seventy years.

[29:10]  ⁴⁷ tn See the translator’s note on Jer 27:22 for this term.

[29:10]  ⁴⁸ 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]  ⁴⁹ 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.

[29:11]  ⁵⁰ tn Heb “Oracle of the Lord.”

[29:11]  ⁵¹ tn Heb “I know the plans that I am planning for you, oracle of the Lord, plans of well-being and not for harm to give to you….”

[29:11]  ⁵² tn Or “the future you hope for”; Heb “a future and a hope.” This is a good example of hendiadys where two formally coordinated nouns (adjectives, verbs) convey a single idea where one of the terms functions as a qualifier of the other. For this figure see E. W. Bullinger, Figures of Speech, 658-72. This example is discussed on p. 661.

[29:12]  ⁵³ tn Heb “come and pray to me.” This is an example of verbal hendiadys where two verb formally joined by “and” convey a main concept with the second verb functioning as an adverbial qualifier.

[29:12]  ⁵⁴ tn Or “You will call out to me and come to me in prayer and I will hear your prayers.” The verbs are vav consecutive perfects and can be taken either as unconditional futures or as contingent futures. See GKC 337 §112.kk and 494 §159.g and compare the usage in Gen 44:22 for the use of the vav consecutive perfects in contingent futures. The conditional clause in the middle of 29:13 and the deuteronomic theology reflected in both Deut 30:1-5 and 1 Kgs 8:46-48 suggest that the verbs are continent futures here. For the same demand for wholehearted seeking in these contexts which presuppose exile see especially Deut 30:2, 1 Kgs 8:48.

[29:13]  ⁵⁵ tn Or “If you wholeheartedly seek me”; Heb “You will seek me and find [me] because you will seek me with all your heart.” The translation attempts to reflect the theological nuances of “seeking” and “finding” and the psychological significance of “heart” which refers more to intellectual and volitional concerns in the OT than to emotional ones.

[29:14]  ⁵⁶ tn Heb “I will let myself be found by you.” For this nuance of the verb see BDB 594 s.v. מָצָא Niph.1.f and compare the usage in Isa 65:1; 2 Chr 15:2. The Greek version already noted that nuance when it translated the phrase “I will manifest myself to you.”

[29:14]  ⁵⁷ tn Heb “Oracle of the Lord.”

[29:14]  ⁵⁸ tn Heb “restore your fortune.” Alternately, “I will bring you back from exile.” This idiom occurs twenty-six times in the OT and in several cases it is clearly not referring to return from exile but restoration of fortunes (e.g., Job 42:10; Hos 6:11–7:1; Jer 33:11). It is often followed as here by “regather” or “bring back” (e.g., Jer 30:3; Ezek 29:14) so it is often misunderstood as “bringing back the exiles.” The versions (LXX, Vulg., Tg., Pesh.) often translate the idiom as “to go away into captivity,” deriving the noun from שְׁבִי (shÿvi, “captivity”). However, the use of this expression in Old Aramaic documents of Sefire parallels the biblical idiom: “the gods restored the fortunes of the house of my father again” (J. A. Fitzmyer, The Aramaic Inscriptions of Sefire [BibOr], 100-101, 119-20). The idiom means “to turn someone's fortune, bring about change” or “to reestablish as it was” (HALOT 1386 s.v. 3.c). In Ezek 16:53 it is paralleled by the expression “to restore the situation which prevailed earlier.” This amounts to restitutio in integrum, which is applicable to the circumstances surrounding the return of the exiles.

[29:14]  ⁵⁹ tn Heb “Oracle of the Lord.”

[50:17]  ⁶⁰ sn The king of Assyria devoured them. This refers to the devastation wrought on northern Israel by the kings of Assyria beginning in 738 b.c. when Tiglath Pileser took Galilee and the Transjordanian territories and ending with the destruction and exile of the people of Samaria by Sargon in 722 b.c.

[50:17]  ⁶¹ tn The verb used here only occurs this one time in the Hebrew Bible. It is a denominative from the Hebrew word for “bones” (עֶצֶם, ’etsem). BDB 1126 s.v. עֶָצַם, denom Pi, define it as “break his bones.” HALOT 822 s.v. II עָצַם Pi defines it as “gnaw on his bones.”

[50:17]  sn If the prophecies which are referred to in Jer 51:59-64 refer to all that is contained in Jer 50–51 (as some believe), this would have referred to the disasters of 605 b.c. and 598 b.c. and all the harassment that Israel experienced from Babylon up until the fourth year of Zedekiah (594 b.c.). If on the other hand, the prophecy related there refers to something less than this final form, the destruction of 587/6 b.c. could be referred to as well.

[50:18]  ⁶² tn Heb “Therefore thus says Yahweh of armies, the God of Israel.” The first person is again adopted because the Lord is speaking. For this title, “Yahweh of armies,” compare 7:3 and the study note on 2:19.

[50:19]  ⁶³ tn Heb “their soul [or hunger/appetite] will be satisfied.”

[50:19]  ⁶⁴ sn The metaphor of Israel as a flock of sheep (v. 17) is continued here. The places named were all in Northern Israel and in the Transjordan, lands that were lost to the Assyrians in the period 738-722 b.c. All of these places were known for their fertility, for their woods and their pastures. The hills (hill country) of Ephraim formed the center of Northern Israel. Mount Carmel lies on the seacoast of the Mediterranean north and west of the hill country of Ephraim. Gilead formed the central part of Transjordan and was used to refer at times to the territory between the Yarmuk and Jabbok Rivers, at times to the territory between the Yarmuk and the Arnon Rivers, and at times for all of Israel in the Transjordan. Bashan refers to the territory north of Gilead.

[50:20]  ⁶⁵ tn Heb “In those days and at that time, oracle of the Lord, the iniquity [or guilt] of Israel will be sought but there will be none and the sins of Judah but they will not be found.” The passive construction “will be sought” raises the question of who is doing the seeking which is not really the main point. The translation has avoided this question by simply referring to the result which is the main point.

[50:20]  ⁶⁶ sn Compare Jer 31:34 and 33:8.

[50:20]  ⁶⁷ tn Heb “Oracle of the Lord.” In this case it is necessary to place this in the first person because this is already in a quote whose speaker is identified as the Lord (v. 18).