Yeremia 9:23
Konteks“Wise people should not boast that they are wise.
Powerful people should not boast that they are powerful. 2
Rich people should not boast that they are rich. 3
Yeremia 14:9
Konteks14:9 Why should you be like someone who is helpless, 4
like a champion 5 who cannot save anyone?
You are indeed with us, 6
and we belong to you. 7
Do not abandon us!”
Yeremia 26:21
Konteks26:21 When the king and all his bodyguards 8 and officials heard what he was prophesying, 9 the king sought to have him executed. But Uriah found out about it and fled to Egypt out of fear. 10
Yeremia 32:18
Konteks32:18 You show unfailing love to thousands. 11 But you also punish children for the sins of their parents. 12 You are the great and powerful God who is known as the Lord who rules over all. 13
Yeremia 46:5-6
Konteks46:5 What do I see?” 14 says the Lord. 15
“The soldiers 16 are terrified.
They are retreating.
They have been defeated.
They are overcome with terror; 17
they desert quickly
without looking back.
46:6 But even the swiftest cannot get away.
Even the strongest cannot escape. 18
There in the north by the Euphrates River
they stumble and fall in defeat. 19
Yeremia 46:9
Konteks46:9 Go ahead and 20 charge into battle, you horsemen!
Drive furiously, you charioteers!
Let the soldiers march out into battle,
those from Ethiopia and Libya who carry shields,
and those from Lydia 21 who are armed with the bow. 22
Yeremia 48:41
Konteks48:41 Her towns 23 will be captured.
Her fortresses will be taken.
At that time the soldiers of Moab will be frightened
like a woman in labor. 24
Yeremia 49:22
Konteks49:22 Look! Like an eagle with outspread wings,
a nation will soar up and swoop down on Bozrah.
At that time the soldiers of Edom will be as fearful
as a woman in labor.” 25
Yeremia 51:30
Konteks51:30 The soldiers of Babylonia will stop fighting.
They will remain in their fortified cities.
They will lose their strength to do battle. 26
They will be as frightened as women. 27
The houses in her cities will be set on fire.
The gates of her cities will be broken down. 28
Yeremia 51:56-57
Konteks51:56 For a destroyer is attacking Babylon. 29
Her warriors will be captured;
their bows will be broken. 30
For the Lord is a God who punishes; 31
he pays back in full. 32
51:57 “I will make her officials and wise men drunk,
along with her governors, leaders, 33 and warriors.
They will fall asleep forever and never wake up,” 34
says the King whose name is the Lord who rules over all. 35
[9:23] 1 sn It is not always clear why verses were placed in their present position in the editorial process of collecting Jeremiah’s sermons and the words the
[9:23] 2 tn Or “Strong people should not brag that they are strong.”
[9:23] 3 tn Heb “…in their wisdom…in their power…in their riches.”
[14:9] 4 tn This is the only time this word occurs in the Hebrew Bible. The lexicons generally take it to mean “confused” or “surprised” (cf., e.g., BDB 187 s.v. דָּהַם). However, the word has been found in a letter from the seventh century in a passage where it must mean something like “be helpless”; see W. L. Holladay, Jeremiah (Hermeneia), 1:433, for discussion and bibliography of an article where this letter is dealt with.
[14:9] 5 tn Heb “mighty man, warrior.” For this nuance see 1 Sam 17:51 where it parallels a technical term used of Goliath used earlier in 17:4, 23.
[14:9] 6 tn Heb “in our midst.”
[14:9] 7 tn Heb “Your name is called upon us.” See Jer 7:10, 11, 14, 30 for this idiom with respect to the temple and see the notes on Jer 7:10.
[26:21] 8 tn Heb “all his mighty men/soldiers.” It is unlikely that this included all the army. It more likely was the palace guards or royal bodyguards (see 2 Sam 23 where the same word is used of David’s elite corps).
[26:21] 10 tn Heb “But Uriah heard and feared and fled and entered Egypt.”
[32:18] 11 tn Or “to thousands of generations.” The contrast of showing steadfast love to “thousands” to the limitation of punishing the third and fourth generation of children for their parents’ sins in Exod 20:5-6; Deut 5:9-10; Exod 34:7 has suggested to many commentators and translators (cf., e.g., NRSV, TEV, NJPS) that reference here is to “thousands of generations.” The statement is, of course, rhetorical emphasizing God’s great desire to bless as opposed to the reluctant necessity to punish. It is part of the attributes of God spelled out in Exod 34:6-7.
[32:18] 12 tn Heb “pays back into the bosom of their children the sin of their parents.”
[32:18] 13 tn Heb “Nothing is too hard for you who show…and who punishes…the great [and] powerful God whose name is Yahweh of armies, [you who are] great in counsel…whose eyes are open…who did signs…” Jer 32:18-22 is a long series of relative clauses introduced by participles or relative pronouns in vv. 18-20a followed by second person vav consecutive imperfects carrying on the last of these relative clauses in vv. 20b-22. This is typical of hymnic introductions to hymns of praise (cf., e.g., Ps 136) but it is hard to sustain the relative subordination which all goes back to the suffix on “hard for you.” The sentences have been broken up but the connection with the end of v. 17 has been sacrificed for conformity to contemporary English style.
[46:5] 14 tn Heb “Why do I see?” The rendering is that of J. A. Thompson (Jeremiah [NICOT], 685, 88) and J. Bright (Jeremiah [AB], 301; TEV; NIV). The question is not asking for information but is expressing surprise or wonder (see E. W. Bullinger, Figures of Speech, 951).
[46:5] sn The passage takes an unexpected turn at v. 5. After ironically summoning the Egyptian army to battle, the
[46:5] 15 tn Heb “oracle of the
[46:5] 16 tn Heb “Their soldiers.” These words are actually at the midpoint of the stanza as the subject of the third of the five verbs. However, as G. L. Keown, P. J. Scalise, and T. G. Smothers (Jeremiah 26-52 [WBC], 291) note, this is the subject of all five verbs “are terrified,” “are retreating,” “have been defeated,” “have run away,” and “have not looked back.” The subject is put at the front to avoid an unidentified “they.”
[46:5] 17 tn Heb “terror is all around.”
[46:6] 18 tn The translation assumes that the adjectives with the article are functioning as superlatives in this context (cf. GKC 431 §133.g). It also assumes that אַל (’al) with the jussive is expressing here an emphatic negative rather than a negative wish (cf. GKC 317 §107.p and compare the usage in Ps 50:3).
[46:6] 19 tn Heb “they stumble and fall.” However, the verbs here are used of a fatal fall, of a violent death in battle (see BDB 657 s.v. נָפַל Qal.2.a), and a literal translation might not be understood by some readers.
[46:9] 20 tn The words “Go ahead and” are not in the text but are intended to suggest the ironical nature of the commands here. The
[46:9] 21 sn The peoples that are referred to here are all known to have been mercenaries in the army of Egypt (see Nah 3:9; Ezek 30:5). The place names in Hebrew are actually Cush, Put, and Lud. “Cush” has already been identified in Jer 13:23 as the region along the Nile south of Egypt most commonly referred to as Ethiopia. The identification of “Put” and “Lud” are both debated though it is generally felt that Put was a part of Libya and Lud is to be identified with Lydia in Asia Minor. For further discussion see M. J. Mellink, “Lud, Ludim” IDB 3:178, and T. O. Lambdin, “Put,” IDB 3:971.
[46:9] 22 tn Heb “who grasp and bend the bow.”
[48:41] 23 tn Parallelism argues that the word קְרִיּוֹת (qÿriyyot) be understood as the otherwise unattested feminine plural of the noun קִרְיָה (qiryah, “city”) rather than the place name Kerioth mentioned in v. 24 (cf. HALOT 1065 s.v. קִרְיָה). Both this noun and the parallel term “fortresses” are plural but are found with feminine singular verbs, being treated either as collectives or distributive plurals (cf. GKC 462-63 §145.c or 464 §145.l).
[48:41] 24 tn Heb “The heart of the soldiers of Moab will be like the heart of a woman in labor.”
[49:22] 25 sn Compare Jer 48:40-41 for a similar prophecy about Moab. The parallelism here suggests that Bozrah, like Teman in v. 20, is a poetic equivalent for Edom.
[51:30] 26 tn Heb “Their strength is dry.” This is a figurative nuance of the word “dry” which BDB 677 s.v. נָשַׁת Qal.1 explain as meaning “fails.” The idea of “strength to do battle” is implicit from the context and is supplied in the translation here for clarity.
[51:30] 27 tn Heb “They have become women.” The metaphor has been turned into a simile and the significance of the comparison drawn out for the sake of clarity. See 50:37 for the same figure.
[51:30] 28 tn Heb “Her dwelling places have been set on fire. Her bars [i.e., the bars on the gates of her cities] have been broken.” The present translation has substituted the word “gates” for “bars” because the intent of the figure is to show that the bars of the gates have been broken giving access to the city. “Gates” makes it easier for the modern reader to understand the figure.
[51:56] 29 tn Heb “for a destroyer is coming against her, against Babylon.”
[51:56] 30 tn The Piel form (which would be intransitive here, see GKC 142 §52.k) should probably be emended to Qal.
[51:56] 31 tn Or “God of retribution.”
[51:56] 32 tn The infinitive absolute emphasizes the following finite verb. Another option is to translate, “he certainly pays one back.” The translation assumes that the imperfect verbal form here describes the
[51:57] 33 sn For discussion of the terms “governors” and “leaders” see the note at Jer 51:23.
[51:57] 34 sn See the note at Jer 51:39.
[51:57] 35 tn For the title “Yahweh of armies” see the study note on Jer 2:19.
