Yeremia 37:17

37:17 Then King Zedekiah had him brought to the palace. There he questioned him privately and asked him, ¹  “Is there any message from the Lord?” Jeremiah answered, “Yes, there is.” Then he announced, ²  “You will be handed over to the king of Babylon.” ³ 

Yeremia 38:16

38:16 So King Zedekiah made a secret promise to Jeremiah and sealed it with an oath. He promised, ⁴  “As surely as the Lord lives who has given us life and breath, ⁵  I promise you this: I will not kill you or hand you over to those men who want to kill you.” ⁶ 

Yeremia 49:16

49:16 The terror you inspire in others ⁷ 

and the arrogance of your heart have deceived you.

You may make your home in the clefts of the rocks;

you may occupy the highest places in the hills. ⁸ 

But even if you made your home where the eagles nest,

I would bring you down from there,”

says the Lord.

[37:17]  ¹ tn Heb “Then King Zedekiah sent and brought him and the king asked him privately [or more literally, in secret] and said.”

[37:17]  ² tn Heb “Then he said.”

[37:17]  ³ sn Jeremiah’s answer even under duress was the same that he had given Zedekiah earlier. (See Jer 34:3 and see the study note on 34:1 for the relative timing of these two incidents.)

[38:16]  ⁴ tn Heb “So King Zedekiah secretly swore an oath to Jeremiah, saying.”

[38:16]  ⁵ tn Heb “who has made this life/soul/ breath [נֶפֶשׁ, nefesh] for us.” The Hebrew term נֶפֶשׁ refers to the living, breathing substance of a person which constitutes his very life (cf. BDB 659 s.v. נֶפֶשׁ 1; 3).

[38:16]  ⁶ tn Heb “who are seeking your life.”

[49:16]  ⁷ tn The meaning of this Hebrew word (תִּפְלֶצֶת, tifletset) is uncertain because it occurs only here. However, it is related to a verb root that refers to the shaking of the pillars (of the earth) in Job 9:6 and a noun (מִפְלֶצֶת, mifletset) that refers to “horror” or “shuddering” used in Job 21:6; Isa 21:4; Ezek 7:18; Ps 55:6. This is the nuance that is accepted by BDB, KBL, HAL and a majority of the modern English versions. The suffix is an objective genitive. The fact that the following verb is masculine singular suggests that the text here (הִשִּׁיא אֹתָךְ, hishi’ ’otakh) is in error for הִשִּׁיאָתָךְ (hishi’atakh; so G. L. Keown, P. J. Scalise, T. G. Smothers, Jeremiah 26-52 [WBC], 327, n. 16.a).

[49:16]  ⁸ tn The Hebrew text of the first four lines reads: “Your terror [= the terror you inspire] has deceived you, [and] the arrogance of your heart, you who dwell in the clefts of the rock, who occupy the heights of the hill.” The sentence is broken up and restructured to better conform with English style.