Yeremia 9:21

9:21 ‘Death has climbed in ¹  through our windows.

It has entered into our fortified houses.

It has taken away our children who play in the streets.

It has taken away our young men who gather in the city squares.’

Yeremia 25:8

25:8 “Therefore, the Lord who rules over all ²  says, ‘You have not listened to what I said. ³ 

Yeremia 30:20

30:20 The descendants of Jacob will enjoy their former privileges.

Their community will be reestablished in my favor ⁴ 

and I will punish all who try to oppress them.

Yeremia 43:5-6

43:5 Instead Johanan son of Kareah and all the army officers led off all the Judean remnant who had come back to live in the land of Judah from all the nations where they had been scattered. ⁵  43:6 They also led off all the men, women, children, and royal princesses ⁶  that Nebuzaradan, the captain of the royal guard, had left with Gedaliah, ⁷  the son of Ahikam and grandson of Shaphan. This included the prophet Jeremiah and Baruch son of Neriah.

Yeremia 43:9

43:9 “Take some large stones ⁸  and bury them in the mortar of the clay pavement ⁹  at the entrance of Pharaoh’s residence ¹⁰  here in Tahpanhes. Do it while the people of Judah present there are watching. ¹¹ 

[9:21]  ¹ sn Here Death is personified (treated as though it were a person). Some have seen as possible background to this lament an allusion to Mesopotamian mythology where the demon Lamastu climbs in through the windows of houses and over their walls to kill children and babies.

[25:8]  ² tn Heb “Yahweh of armies.”

[25:8]  sn See the study note on 2:19 for an explanation of this title.

[25:8]  ³ tn Heb “You have not listened to my words.”

[30:20]  ⁴ tn Heb “his children will be as in former times and his congregation/community will be established before me.” “His children” refers to “Jacob” who has been referred to in v. 18 in the phrase “I will restore the fortunes of the tents of Jacob.” “His children” are thus the restored exiles. Some commentaries see the reference here to the restoration of numbers in accordance with the previous verse. However, the last line of this verse and the reference to the ruler in the following verse suggests rather restoration of the religious and political institutions to their former state. For the use of the word translated “community” (עֵדָה, ’edah) to refer to a political congregation as well as its normal use to refer to a religious one see 1 Kgs 12:20. For the idea of “in my favor” (i.e., under the eye and regard of) for the Hebrew phrase used here (לְפָנַי, lÿfanay) see BDB 817 s.v. פָּנֶה II.4.a(b).

[43:5]  ⁵ sn These are the people who are referred to in Jer 40:11-12.

[43:6]  ⁶ tn Heb “the daughters of the king.” See the translator’s note on 41:10.

[43:6]  ⁷ sn This refers to the group mentioned in Jer 40:7 and 41:10. The two groups together constituted all the people who were at Mizpah when Gedaliah was murdered, had been taken captive by Ishmael, had been rescued by Johanan and the other army officers, and had consulted Jeremiah at Geruth Chimham.

[43:9]  ⁸ tn Heb “Take some large stones in your hands.”

[43:9]  ⁹ tn The meaning of the expression “mortar of the clay pavement” is uncertain. The noun translated “mortar” occurs only here and the etymology is debated. Both BDB 572 s.v. מֶלֶט and KBL 529 s.v. מֶלֶט give the meaning “mortar.” The noun translated “clay pavement” is elsewhere used of a “brick mold.” Here BDB 527 s.v. מַלְבֵּן 2 gives “quadrangle” and KBL 527 s.v. מַלְבֵּן 2 gives “terrace of bricks.” HALOT 558 s.v. מֶלֶט and מַלְבֵּן 2 give “loamy soil” for both words, seeing the second noun as a dittography or gloss of the first (see also note c in BHS).

[43:9]  ¹⁰ sn All the commentaries point out that this was not Pharaoh’s (main) palace but a governor’s residence or other government building that Pharaoh occupied when he was in Tahpanhes.

[43:9]  ¹¹ tn Heb “in Tahpanhes in the eyes of the men of Judah.”