Jeremiah 25:12-14
Context25:12 “‘But when the seventy years are over, I will punish the king of Babylon and his nation 1 for their sins. I will make the land of Babylon 2 an everlasting ruin. 3 I, the Lord, affirm it! 4 25:13 I will bring on that land everything that I said I would. I will bring on it everything that is written in this book. I will bring on it everything that Jeremiah has prophesied against all the nations. 5 25:14 For many nations and great kings will make slaves of the king of Babylon and his nation 6 too. I will repay them for all they have done!’” 7
Jeremiah 25:16
Context25:16 When they have drunk it, they will stagger to and fro 8 and act insane. For I will send wars sweeping through them.” 9
[25:12] 1 tn Heb “that nation.”
[25:12] 2 tn Heb “the land of the Chaldeans.” See the study note on 21:4 for the use of the term “Chaldeans.”
[25:12] 3 tn Heb “I will visit upon the king of Babylon and upon that nation, oracle of the
[25:12] 4 tn Heb “Oracle of the
[25:13] 5 tn Or “I will bring upon it everything that is to be written in this book. I will bring upon it everything that Jeremiah is going to prophesy concerning all the nations.” The reference to “this book” and “what Jeremiah has prophesied against the nations” raises issues about the editorial process underlying the current form of the book of Jeremiah. As the book now stands there is no earlier reference to any judgments against Babylon or any book (really “scroll”; books were a development of the first or second century
[25:14] 6 tn Heb “make slaves of them.” The verb form here indicates that the action is as good as done (the Hebrew prophetic perfect). For the use of the verb rendered “makes slaves” see parallel usage in Lev 25:39, 46 (cf. BDB 713 s.v. עָבַד 3).
[25:14] 7 tn Heb “according to their deeds and according to the work of their hands.” The two phrases are synonymous; it would be hard to represent them both in translation without being redundant. The translation attempts to represent them by the qualifier “all” before the first phrase.
[25:16] 8 tn There is some debate about the meaning of the verb here. Both BDB 172 s.v. גָּעַשׁ Hithpo and KBL 191 s.v. גָּעַשׁ Hitpol interpret this of the back and forth movement of staggering. HALOT 192 s.v. גָּעַשׁ Hitpo interprets it as vomiting. The word is used elsewhere of the up and down movement of the mountains (2 Sam 22:8) and the up and down movement of the rolling waves of the Nile (Jer 46:7, 8). The fact that a different verb is used in v. 27 for vomiting would appear to argue against it referring to vomiting (contra W. L. Holladay, Jeremiah [Hermeneia], 1:674; it is “they” that do this not their stomachs).
[25:16] 9 tn Heb “because of the sword that I will send among them.” Here, as often elsewhere in Jeremiah, the sword is figurative for warfare which brings death. See, e.g., 15:2. The causal particle here is found in verbal locutions where it is the cause of emotional states or action. Hence there are really two “agents” which produce the effects of “staggering” and “acting insane,” the cup filled with God’s wrath and the sword. The sword is the “more literal” and the actual agent by which the first agent’s action is carried out.