Yeremia 50:39

50:39 Therefore desert creatures and jackals will live there.

Ostriches ¹  will dwell in it too. ² 

But no people will ever live there again.

No one will dwell there for all time to come. ³ 

Yeremia 7:29

7:29 So, mourn, ⁴  you people of this nation. ⁵  Cut off your hair and throw it away. Sing a song of mourning on the hilltops. For the Lord has decided to reject ⁶  and forsake this generation that has provoked his wrath!’” ⁷ 

Yeremia 2:31

2:31 You people of this generation,

listen to what the Lord says.

“Have I been like a wilderness to you, Israel?

Have I been like a dark and dangerous land to you? ⁸ 

Why then do you ⁹  say, ‘We are free to wander. ¹⁰ 

We will not come to you any more?’

[50:39]  ¹ tn The identification of this bird has been called into question by G. R. Driver, “Birds in the Old Testament,” PEQ 87 (1955): 137-38. He refers to this bird as an owl. That identification, however, is not reflected in any of the lexicons including the most recent, which still gives “ostrich” (HALOT 402 s.v. יַעֲנָה) as does W. S. McCullough, “Ostrich,” IDB 3:611. REB, NIV, NCV, and God’s Word all identify this bird as “owl/desert owl.”

[50:39]  ² tn Heb “Therefore desert creatures will live with jackals and ostriches will live in it.”

[50:39]  ³ tn Heb “It will never again be inhabited nor dwelt in unto generation and generation.” For the meaning of this last phrase compare the usage in Ps 100:5 and Isaiah 13:20. Since the first half of the verse has spoken of animals living there, it is necessary to add “people” and turn the passive verbs into active ones.

[7:29]  ⁴ tn The word “mourn” is not in the text. It is supplied in the translation for clarity to explain the significance of the words “Cut your hair and throw it away.”

[7:29]  sn Cf. Mic 1:16; Job 1:20 for other examples of this practice which was involved in mourning.

[7:29]  ⁵ tn The words, “you people of this nation” are not in the text. Many English versions supply, “Jerusalem.” The address shifts from second masculine singular addressing Jeremiah (vv. 27-28a) to second feminine singular. It causes less disruption in the flow of the context to see the nation as a whole addressed here as a feminine singular entity (as, e.g., in 2:19, 23; 3:2, 3; 6:26) than to introduce a new entity, Jerusalem.

[7:29]  ⁶ tn The verbs here are the Hebrew scheduling perfects. For this use of the perfect see GKC 312 §106.m.

[7:29]  ⁷ tn Heb “the generation of his wrath.”

[2:31]  ⁸ tn Heb “a land of the darkness of Yah [= thick or deep darkness].” The idea of danger is an added connotation of the word in this context.

[2:31]  ⁹ tn Heb “my people.”

[2:31]  ¹⁰ tn Or more freely, “free to do as we please.” There is some debate about the meaning of this verb (רוּד, rud) because its usage is rare and its meaning is debated in the few passages where it does occur. The key to its meaning may rest in the emended text (reading וְרַדְתִּי [vÿradti] for וְיָרַדְתִּי [vÿyaradti]) in Judg 11:37 where it refers to the roaming of Jephthah’s daughter on the mountains of Israel.