Yeremia 5:10
Konteks5:10 The Lord commanded the enemy, 1
“March through the vineyards of Israel and Judah and ruin them. 2
But do not destroy them completely.
Strip off their branches
for these people do not belong to the Lord. 3
Yeremia 37:10
Konteks37:10 For even if you were to defeat all the Babylonian forces 4 fighting against you so badly that only wounded men were left lying in their tents, they would get up and burn this city down.”’” 5
[5:10] 1 tn These words to not appear in the Hebrew text but have been added in the translation for the sake of clarity to identify the implied addressee.
[5:10] 2 tn Heb “through her vine rows and destroy.” No object is given but “vines” must be implicit. The word for “vineyards” (or “vine rows”) is a hapax legomenon and its derivation is debated. BDB 1004 s.v. שּׁוּרָה repoints שָׁרוֹתֶיהָ (sharoteha) to שֻׁרוֹתֶיהָ (shuroteha) and relates it to a Mishnaic Hebrew and Palestinian Aramaic word meaning “row.” HALOT 1348 s.v. שּׁוּרָה also repoints to שֻׁרוֹתֶיהָ and relates it to a noun meaning “wall,” preferring to see the reference here to the walled terraces on which the vineyards were planted. The difference in meaning is minimal.
[5:10] 3 tn Heb “for they do not belong to the
[37:10] 4 tn Heb “all the army of the Chaldeans.” For the rendering “Babylonian” in place of Chaldean see the study note on 21:4.
[37:10] 5 tn The length and complexity of this English sentence violates the more simple style that has been used to conform such sentences to contemporary English style. However, there does not seem to be any alternative that would enable a simpler style and still retain the causal and conditional connections that give this sentence the rhetorical force that it has in the original. The condition is, of course, purely hypothetical and the consequence a poetic exaggeration. The intent is to assure Zedekiah that there is absolutely no hope of the city being spared.