Jeremiah 39:3 - Commentary

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Text -- Jeremiah 39:3 (NET)

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Context

39:3 Then Nergal-Sharezer of Samgar, Nebo-Sarsekim, who was a chief officer, Nergal-Sharezer, who was a high official, and all the other officers of the king of Babylon came and set up quarters in the Middle Gate.

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Cross Reference (TSK)

ITL

Names, People and Places, Dictionary Themes and Topics

Names, People and Places:

· Babylon a country of Babylon in lower Mesopotamia

· Jerusalem the capital city of Israel,a town; the capital of Israel near the southern border of Benjamin

· Nergal-Sharezer a high official (NASB margin)

· Rabmag a high official (NASB margin)

· Rabsaris a chief official (NASB margin)

· Samgar-nebo the prince of Babylon who judged Jerusalem when it was captured

· Samgar-Nebo the prince of Babylon who judged Jerusalem when it was captured

· Sarsechim a prince of Babylon who judged Jerusalem when it was captured

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Verse Notes / Footnotes NET Notes

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Commentary -- Verse Notes / Footnotes

NET Notes: Jer 39:3 The identification of the location of the Middle Gate is uncertain since it is mentioned nowhere else in the OT.

¹tn English versions and commentaries differ on the number of officials named here and the exact spelling of their names. For a good discussion of the options see F. B. Huey, Jeremiah, Lamentations (NAC), 341, n. 71. Most commentaries follow the general lead of J. Bright (Jeremiah [AB], 243) as the present translation has done here. However, the second name is not emended on the basis of v. 13 as Bright does, nor is the second Nergal-Sharezer regarded as the same man as the first and the information on the two combined as he does. The first Nergal-Sharezer is generally identified on the basis of Babylonian records as the man who usurped the throne from Nebuchadnezzar’s son, Awel-Marduk or Evil-Merodach as he is known in the OT (Jer 52:31; 2 Kgs 25:27). The present translation renders the two technical Babylonian terms “Rab-Saris” (only in Jer 39:3, 13; 2 Kgs 18:17) and “Rab-Mag” (only in Jer 39:3, 13) as “chief officer” and “high official” without knowing precisely what offices they held. This has been done to give the modern reader some feeling of their high position without specifying exactly what their precise positions were (i.e., the generic has been used for the [unknown] specific).

²tn Heb “sat.” The precise meaning of this phrase is not altogether clear, but J. Bright (Jeremiah [AB], 243) is undoubtedly correct in assuming that it had to do with setting up a provisional military government over the city.

³tn The Hebrew style here is typically full or redundant, giving a general subject first and then listing the specifics. The Hebrew text reads: “Then all the officers of the king of Babylon came and sat in the Middle Gate, Nergal-Sharezer…and all the rest of the officers of the king of Babylon.” In the translation the general subject has been eliminated and the list of the “real” subjects used instead; this eliminates the dashes or commas typical of some modern English versions.

sn The identification of the location of the Middle Gate is uncertain since it is mentioned nowhere else in the OT.

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Text -- Jeremiah 39:3 (NET)

Names, People and Places, Dictionary Themes and Topics

expand allCommentary -- Verse Notes / Footnotes

NET Notes -> Jer 39:3; Jer 39:3; Jer 39:3; Jer 39:3

NET Notes: Jer 39:3 The identification of the location of the Middle Gate is uncertain since it is mentioned nowhere else in the OT.

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Commentary -- Verse Notes / Footnotes