Yeremia 1:15

1:15 For I will soon summon all the peoples of the kingdoms of the north,” says the Lord. “They will come and their kings will set up their thrones ¹  near the entrances of the gates of Jerusalem. ²  They will attack all the walls surrounding it, and all the towns in Judah. ³ 

Yeremia 1:18

1:18 I, the Lord, ⁴  hereby promise to make you ⁵  as strong as a fortified city, an iron pillar, and a bronze wall. You will be able to stand up against all who live in ⁶  the land, including the kings of Judah, its officials, its priests and all the people of the land.

Yeremia 5:15

5:15 The Lord says, ⁷  “Listen, ⁸  nation of Israel! ⁹ 

I am about to bring a nation from far away to attack you.

It will be a nation that was founded long ago

and has lasted for a long time.

It will be a nation whose language you will not know.

Its people will speak words that you will not be able to understand.

Yeremia 13:13

13:13 Then ¹⁰  tell them, ‘The Lord says, “I will soon fill all the people who live in this land with stupor. ¹¹  I will also fill the kings from David’s dynasty, ¹²  the priests, the prophets, and the citizens of Jerusalem with stupor. ¹³ 

Yeremia 16:14

16:14 Yet ¹⁴  I, the Lord, say: ¹⁵  “A new time will certainly come. ¹⁶  People now affirm their oaths with ‘I swear as surely as the Lord lives who delivered the people of Israel out of Egypt.’

Yeremia 25:29

25:29 For take note, I am already beginning to bring disaster on the city that I call my own. ¹⁷  So how can you possibly avoid being punished? ¹⁸  You will not go unpunished! For I am proclaiming war against all who live on the earth. I, the Lord who rules over all, ¹⁹  affirm it!’ ²⁰ 

Yeremia 30:3

30:3 For I, the Lord, affirm ²¹  that the time will come when I will reverse the plight ²²  of my people, Israel and Judah,’ says the Lord. ‘I will bring them back to the land I gave their ancestors ²³  and they will take possession of it once again.’” ²⁴ 

Yeremia 44:30

44:30 I, the Lord, promise that ²⁵  I will hand Pharaoh Hophra ²⁶  king of Egypt over to his enemies who are seeking to kill him. I will do that just as surely as I handed King Zedekiah of Judah over to King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon, his enemy who was seeking to kill him.’”

Yeremia 45:5

45:5 Are you looking for great things for yourself? Do not look for such things. For I, the Lord, affirm ²⁷  that I am about to bring disaster on all humanity. ²⁸  But I will allow you to escape with your life ²⁹  wherever you go.”’”

Yeremia 46:27

A Promise of Hope for Israel

46:27 ³⁰ “You descendants of Jacob, my servants, ³¹  do not be afraid;

do not be terrified, people of Israel.

For I will rescue you and your descendants

from the faraway lands where you are captives. ³² 

The descendants of Jacob will return to their land and enjoy peace.

They will be secure and no one will terrify them.

Yeremia 50:9

50:9 For I will rouse into action and bring against Babylon

a host of mighty nations ³³  from the land of the north.

They will set up their battle lines against her.

They will come from the north and capture her. ³⁴ 

Their arrows will be like a skilled soldier ³⁵ 

who does not return from the battle empty-handed. ³⁶ 

[1:15]  ¹ tn Heb “they will each set up.” The pronoun “they” refers back to the “kingdoms” in the preceding sentence. However, kingdoms do not sit on thrones; their kings do. This is an example of a figure of speech called metonymy where the kingdom is put for its king. For a similar use see 2 Chr 12:8.

[1:15]  ² map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.

[1:15]  ³ tn Or “They will come and set up their thrones in the entrances of the gates of Jerusalem. They will destroy all the walls surrounding it and also destroy all the towns in Judah.” The text of v. 15b reads in Hebrew, “they will each set up his throne [near? in?] the entrance of the gates of Jerusalem and against all its walls…and against all the towns….” Commentators are divided over whether the passage refers to the kings setting up their thrones after victory in preparation for passing judgment on their defeated enemies in the city or whether it refers to setting up siege against it. There is no Hebrew preposition before the word for “the entrance” so that it could be “in” (which would imply victory) or “at/near” (which would imply siege), and the same verb + object (i.e., “they will set up their thrones”) governs all the locative statements. It is most often taken to refer to the aftermath of victory because of the supposed parallel in Jer 43:8-13 and the supposed fulfillment in Jer 39:3. Though this may fit well with the first part of the compound expression, it does not fit well with the latter part which is most naturally taken to refer to hostile attacks against Jerusalem and the other cities of Judah. The translation given in the text is intended to reflect the idea of an army setting up for siege. The alternate translation is intended to reflect the other view.

[1:18]  ⁴ tn See the note on “Jeremiah” at the beginning of v. 17.

[1:18]  ⁵ tn Heb “today I have made you.” The Hebrew verb form here emphasizes the certainty of a yet future act; the Lord is promising to protect Jeremiah from any future attacks which may result from his faithfully carrying out his commission. See a similar use of the same Hebrew verb tense in v. 9, and see the translator’s note there.

[1:18]  ⁶ tn Heb “I make you a fortified city…against all the land….” The words “as strong as” and “so you will be able to stand against all the people of…” are given to clarify the meaning of the metaphor.

[5:15]  ⁷ tn Heb “oracle of the Lord.”

[5:15]  ⁸ tn Heb “Behold!”

[5:15]  ⁹ tn Heb “house of Israel.”

[13:13]  ¹⁰ tn The Greek version is likely right in interpreting the construction of two perfects preceded by the conjunction as contingent or consequential here, i.e., “and when they say…then say.” See GKC 494 §159.g. However, to render literally would create a long sentence. Hence, the words “will probably” have been supplied in v. 12 in the translation to set up the contingency/consequential sequence in the English sentences.

[13:13]  ¹¹ sn It is probably impossible to convey in a simple translation all the subtle nuances that are wrapped up in the words of this judgment speech. The word translated “stupor” here is literally “drunkenness” but the word has in the context an undoubted intended double reference. It refers first to the drunken like stupor of confusion on the part of leaders and citizens of the land which will cause them to clash with one another. But it also probably refers to the reeling under God’s wrath that results from this (cf. Jer 25:15-29, especially vv. 15-16). Moreover there is still the subtle little play on wine jars. The people are like the wine jars which were supposed to be filled with wine. They were to be a special people to bring glory to God but they had become corrupt. Hence, like wine jars they would be smashed against one another and broken to pieces (v. 14). All of this, both “fill them with the stupor of confusion” and “make them reel under God’s wrath,” cannot be conveyed in one translation.

[13:13]  ¹² tn Heb “who sit on David’s throne.”

[13:13]  ¹³ tn In Hebrew this is all one long sentence with one verb governing compound objects. It is broken up here in conformity with English style.

[16:14]  ¹⁴ tn The particle translated here “Yet” (לָכֵן, lakhen) is regularly translated “So” or “Therefore” and introduces a consequence. However, in a few cases it introduces a contrasting set of conditions. Compare its use in Judg 11:8; Jer 48:12; 49:2; 51:52; and Hos 2:14 (2:16 HT).

[16:14]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “Oracle of the Lord.” The Lord has been speaking; the first person has been utilized in translation to avoid a shift which might create confusion.

[16:14]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “Behold the days are coming.”

[25:29]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “which is called by my name.” See translator’s note on 7:10 for support.

[25:29]  ¹⁸ tn This is an example of a question without the formal introductory particle following a conjunctive vav introducing an opposition. (See Joüon 2:609 §161.a.) It is also an example of the use of the infinitive before the finite verb in a rhetorical question involving doubt or denial. (See Joüon 2:422-23 §123.f, and compare usage in Gen 37:8.)

[25:29]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “Yahweh of armies.”

[25:29]  sn See the study notes on 2:19 and 7:3 for explanation of this extended title.

[25:29]  ²⁰ tn Heb “Oracle of Yahweh of armies.”

[30:3]  ²¹ tn Heb “Oracle of the Lord.”

[30:3]  ²² tn Heb “restore the fortune.” For the translation and meaning of this idiom see the note at 29:14.

[30:3]  ²³ tn Heb “fathers.”

[30:3]  ²⁴ sn As the nations of Israel and Judah were united in their sin and suffered the same fate – that of exile and dispersion – (cf. Jer 3:8; 5:11; 11:10, 17) so they will ultimately be regathered from the nations and rejoined under one king, a descendant of David, and regain possession of their ancestral lands. The prophets of both the eighth and seventh century looked forward to this ideal (see, e.g., Hos 1:11 (2:2 HT); Isa 11:11-13; Jer 23:5-6; 30:3; 33:7; Ezek 37:15-22). This has already been anticipated in Jer 3:18.

[44:30]  ²⁵ tn Heb “Thus says the Lord, ‘Behold I will hand…’” The first person and indirect quote have been chosen because the Lord is already identified as the speaker and the indirect quote eliminates an extra level of embedded quotes.

[44:30]  ²⁶ sn Hophra ruled over Egypt from 589-570 b.c. He was the Pharaoh who incited Zedekiah to rebel against Nebuchadnezzar and whose army proved ineffective in providing any long-term relief to Jerusalem when it was under siege (see Jer 37 and especially the study note on 37:5). He was assassinated following a power struggle with a court official who had earlier saved him from a rebellion of his own troops and had ruled as co-regent with him.

[45:5]  ²⁷ tn Heb “oracle of the Lord.”

[45:5]  ²⁸ sn Compare Jer 25:31, 33. The reference here to universal judgment also forms a nice transition to the judgments on the nations that follow in Jer 46-51 which may be another reason for the placement of this chapter here, out of its normal chronological order (see also the study note on v. 1).

[45:5]  ²⁹ tn Heb “I will give you your life for a spoil.” For this idiom see the translator’s note on 21:9 and compare the usage in 21:9; 38:2; 39:18.

[46:27]  ³⁰ sn Jer 46:27-28 are virtually the same as 30:10-11. The verses are more closely related to that context than to this. But the presence of a note of future hope for the Egyptians may have led to a note of encouragement also to the Judeans who were under threat of judgment at the same time (cf. the study notes on 46:2, 13 and 25:1-2 for the possible relative dating of these prophecies).

[46:27]  ³¹ tn Heb “And/But you do not be afraid, my servant Jacob.” Here and elsewhere in the verse the terms Jacob and Israel are poetic for the people of Israel descended from the patriarch Jacob. The terms have been supplied throughout with plural referents for greater clarity.

[46:27]  ³² tn Heb “For I will rescue you from far away, your descendants from the land of their captivity.”

[50:9]  ³³ sn Some of these are named in Jer 51:27-28.

[50:9]  ³⁴ tn Heb “She will be captured from there (i.e., from the north).”

[50:9]  ³⁵ tc Read Heb ַָמשְׂכִּיל (moskil) with a number of Hebrew mss and some of the versions in place of מַשְׁכִּיל (mashkil, “one who kills children”) with the majority of Hebrew mss and some of the versions. See BHS note d for the details.

[50:9]  ³⁶ tn Or more freely, “Their arrows will be as successful at hitting their mark // as a skilled soldier always returns from battle with plunder.”

[50:9]  sn I.e., none of the arrows misses its mark.