Yeremia 4:23
Konteks4:23 “I looked at the land and saw 1 that it was an empty wasteland. 2
I looked up at the sky, and its light had vanished.
Yeremia 12:17
Konteks12:17 But I will completely uproot and destroy any of those nations that will not pay heed,’” 3 says the Lord.
Yeremia 38:21
Konteks38:21 But if you refuse to surrender, the Lord has shown me a vision of what will happen. Here is what I saw:
Yeremia 46:23
Konteks46:23 The population of Egypt is like a vast, impenetrable forest.
But I, the Lord, affirm 4 that the enemy will cut them down.
For those who chop them down will be more numerous than locusts.
They will be too numerous to count. 5
[4:23] 1 tn Heb “I looked at the land and behold...” This indicates the visionary character of Jeremiah’s description of the future condition of the land of Israel.
[4:23] 2 tn Heb “formless and empty.” This is a case of hendiadys (two nouns joined by “and” both describe the same thing): one noun retains its full nominal force, the other functions as an adjective. The words תֹהוּ וָבֹהוּ (tohu vavohu) allude to Gen 1:2, hyperbolically picturing a reversal of creation and return to the original precreation chaos.
[12:17] 3 tn Heb “But if they will not listen, I will uproot that nation, uprooting and destroying.” IBHS 590-91 §35.3.2d is likely right in seeing the double infinitive construction here as an intensifying infinitive followed by an adverbial infinitive qualifying the goal of the main verb, “uproot it in such a way as to destroy it.” However, to translate that way “literally” would not be very idiomatic in contemporary English. The translation strives for the equivalent. Likewise, to translate using the conditional structure of the original seems to put the emphasis of the passage in its context on the wrong point.
[46:23] 4 tn Heb “Oracle of the
[46:23] 5 tn The precise meaning of this verse is uncertain. The Hebrew text reads: “They [those who enter in great force] will cut down her forest, oracle of the