Yeremia 21:2

21:2 “Please ask the Lord to come and help us, ¹  because King Nebuchadnezzar ²  of Babylon is attacking us. Maybe the Lord will perform one of his miracles as in times past and make him stop attacking us and leave.” ³ 

Yeremia 25:14

25:14 For many nations and great kings will make slaves of the king of Babylon and his nation ⁴  too. I will repay them for all they have done!’” ⁵ 

Yeremia 27:3

27:3 Use it to send messages to the kings of Edom, Moab, Ammon, Tyre, ⁶  and Sidon. ⁷  Send them through ⁸  the envoys who have come to Jerusalem ⁹  to King Zedekiah of Judah.

Yeremia 34:2

34:2 The Lord God of Israel told Jeremiah ¹⁰  to go and give King Zedekiah of Judah a message. He told Jeremiah ¹¹  to tell him, “The Lord says, ‘I am going to ¹²  hand this city over to the king of Babylon and he will burn it down.

Yeremia 52:22

52:22 The bronze top of one pillar was about seven and one-half feet ¹³  high and had bronze latticework and pomegranate-shaped ornaments all around it. The second pillar with its pomegranate-shaped ornaments was like it.

[21:2]  ¹ tn The verb used here is often used of seeking information through a prophet (e.g., 2 Kgs 1:16; 8:8) and hence many translate “inquire of the Lord for us.” However, it is obvious from the following that they were not seeking information but help. The word is also used for that in Pss 34:4 (34:5 HT); 77:2 (77:3 HT).

[21:2]  ² tn The dominant spelling of this name is actually Nebuchadrezzar which is closer to his Babylonian name Nebu kudduri uzzur. An alternate spelling which is found 6 times in the book of Jeremiah and 17 times elsewhere is Nebuchadnezzar which is the form of the name that is usually used in English versions.

[21:2]  sn Nebuchadnezzar was the second and greatest king of Babylon. He is known in the Bible both for his two conquests of Jerusalem in 597 b.c. (2 Kgs 24:10-17) and 587 b.c. (2 Kgs 25:1-7) and for his having built Babylon the Great (Dan 4:28-30).

[21:2]  ³ tn Heb “Perhaps the Lord will do according to his miracles that he may go up from against us.”

[21:2]  sn The miracles that they may have had in mind would have included the Exodus, the conquest of Jericho, the deliverance of Jehoshaphat (2 Chr 20:1-30), etc., but predominant in their minds was probably the deliverance of Jerusalem from Sennacherib in the times of Hezekiah (Isa 37:33-38).

[25:14]  ⁴ tn Heb “make slaves of them.” The verb form here indicates that the action is as good as done (the Hebrew prophetic perfect). For the use of the verb rendered “makes slaves” see parallel usage in Lev 25:39, 46 (cf. BDB 713 s.v. עָבַד 3).

[25:14]  ⁵ tn Heb “according to their deeds and according to the work of their hands.” The two phrases are synonymous; it would be hard to represent them both in translation without being redundant. The translation attempts to represent them by the qualifier “all” before the first phrase.

[27:3]  ⁶ map For location see Map1 A2; Map2 G2; Map4 A1; JP3 F3; JP4 F3.

[27:3]  ⁷ sn The nations of Edom, Moab, and Ammon were east of Judah. They were sometimes allies and sometimes enemies. The nations of Tyre and Sidon were on the sea coast north and west of Judah. They are best known for their maritime trade during the reign of Solomon. They were more commonly allies of Israel and Judah than enemies.

[27:3]  map For the location of Sidon see Map1 A1; JP3 F3; JP4 F3.

[27:3]  ⁸ tn Heb “send by means of them” [i.e., the straps and crossbars made into a yoke] to…through.” The text is broken up in conformity with contemporary English style. Many English versions ignore the suffix on the end of “send” and find some support for this on the basis of its absence in the Lucianic Greek text. However, it is probably functioning metonymically here for the message which they see symbolized before them and is now explained clearly to them.

[27:3]  ⁹ map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.

[34:2]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “told him”; the referent (Jeremiah) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[34:2]  ¹¹ tn Heb “told him”; the referent (Jeremiah) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[34:2]  ¹² tn Heb 34:1 “The word which came to Jeremiah from the Lord…saying, ‘Thus says the Lord God of Israel, “Go and speak to Zedekiah king of Judah and say to him, ‘Thus says the Lord, “I am going to….”’”’” The translation has tried to avoid some of the confusion that is created by embedding quotations within quotations by using indirect quotation in some instances; the conceptualization is the same but the style is simpler.

[52:22]  ¹³ tn Heb “five cubits.” A “cubit” was a unit of measure, approximately equivalent to a foot and a half.