Yeremia 1:8

1:8 Do not be afraid of those to whom I send you, ¹  for I will be with you to protect ²  you,” says the Lord.

Yeremia 13:24

13:24 “The Lord says, ³ 

‘That is why I will scatter your people ⁴  like chaff

that is blown away by a desert wind. ⁵ 

Yeremia 14:1

A Lament over the Ravages of Drought ⁶ 

14:1 The Lord spoke to Jeremiah ⁷  about the drought. ⁸ 

Yeremia 51:40

51:40 “I will lead them off to be slaughtered

like lambs, rams, and male goats.” ⁹ 

Yeremia 52:33

52:33 Jehoiachin ¹⁰  took off his prison clothes and ate daily in the king’s presence for the rest of his life.

[1:8]  ¹ tn Heb “be afraid of them.” The antecedent is the “whomever” in v. 7.

[1:8]  ² tn Heb “rescue.”

[13:24]  ³ tn The words, “The Lord says” are not in the text at this point. The words “an oracle of the Lord” does, however, occur in the middle of the next verse and it is obvious the Lord is the speaker. The words have been moved up from the next verse to enhance clarity.

[13:24]  ⁴ tn Heb “them.” This is another example of the rapid shift in pronouns seen several times in the book of Jeremiah. The pronouns in the preceding and the following are second feminine singular. It might be argued that “them” goes back to the “flock”/“sheep” in v. 20, but the next verse refers the fate described here to “you” (feminine singular). This may be another example of the kind of metaphoric shifts in referents discussed in the notes on 13:20 above. Besides, it would sound a little odd in the translation to speak of scattering one person like chaff.

[13:24]  ⁵ sn Compare the threat using the same metaphor in Jer 4:11-12.

[14:1]  ⁶ sn The form of Jer 14:1–15:9 is very striking rhetorically. It consists essentially of laments and responses to them. However, what makes it so striking is its deviation from normal form (cf. 2 Chr 20:5-17 for what would normally be expected). The descriptions of the lamentable situation come from the mouth of God not the people (cf.14:1-6, 17-18). The prophet utters the petitions with statements of trust (14:7-9, 19-22) and the Lord answers not with oracles promising deliverance but promising doom (14:10; 15:1-9). In the course of giving the first oracle of doom, the Lord commands Jeremiah not to pray for the people (14:11-12) and Jeremiah tries to provide an excuse for their actions (14:13). The Lord responds to that with an oracle of doom on the false prophets (14:14-16).

[14:1]  ⁷ tn Heb “That which came [as] the word of the Lord to Jeremiah.” The introductory formula here is a variation of that found in 7:1; 10:1; 11:1, i.e., “The word of the Lord which came to Jeremiah.” The relative pronoun “which” (אֲשֶׁר, ’asher) actually precedes the noun it modifies. See BDB 82 s.v. אֲשֶׁר 6.a for discussion and further examples.

[14:1]  ⁸ sn Drought was one of the punishments for failure to adhere to the terms of their covenant with God. See Deut 28:22-24; Lev 26:18-20.

[51:40]  ⁹ tn Heb “I will bring them down like lambs to be slaughtered, like rams and he goats.”

[51:40]  sn This statement is highly ironic in light of the fact that the Babylonians were compared to lions and lion cubs (v. 38). Here they are like lambs, rams, and male goats which are to be lead off to be slaughtered.

[52:33]  ¹⁰ tn The subject is unstated in the Hebrew text, but Jehoiachin is clearly the subject of the following verb.