Text -- Jeremiah 49:31-39 (NET)

49:31 The Lord says, “Army of Babylon, go and attack a nation that lives in peace and security. They have no gates or walls to protect them. They live all alone. 49:32 Their camels will be taken as plunder. Their vast herds will be taken as spoil. I will scatter to the four winds those desert peoples who cut their hair short at the temples. I will bring disaster against them from every direction,” says the Lord. 49:33 “Hazor will become a permanent wasteland, a place where only jackals live. No one will live there. No human being will settle in it.”

Judgment Against Elam

49:34 Early in the reign of King Zedekiah of Judah, the Lord spoke to the prophet Jeremiah about Elam. 49:35 The Lord who rules over all said, “I will kill all the archers of Elam, who are the chief source of her military might. 49:36 I will cause enemies to blow through Elam from every direction like the winds blowing in from the four quarters of heaven. I will scatter the people of Elam to the four winds. There will not be any nation where the refugees of Elam will not go. 49:37 I will make the people of Elam terrified of their enemies, who are seeking to kill them. I will vent my fierce anger and bring disaster upon them,” says the Lord. “I will send armies chasing after them until I have completely destroyed them. 49:38 I will establish my sovereignty over Elam. I will destroy their king and their leaders,” says the Lord. 49:39 “Yet in days to come I will reverse Elam’s ill fortune.” says the Lord.

Commentary -- Verse Notes / Footnotes

NET Notes: Jer 49:31

¹ tn Heb “Oracle of the Lord.”

² tn The words “Army of Babylon” are not in the text but are implicit from the context. They are supplied in the translation for clarity.

³ tn Heb “no gates and no bar,” i.e., “that lives securely without gates or bars.” The phrase is used by the figure of species for genus (synecdoche) to refer to the fact that they have no defenses, i.e., no walls, gates, or bars on the gates. The figure has been interpreted in the translation for the benefit of the average reader.

NET Notes: Jer 49:32

¹ tn See the translator’s note at Jer 9:26 and compare the usage in 9:26 and 25:23.

² tn Heb “Oracle of the Lord.”

NET Notes: Jer 49:33

¹ sn Compare Jer 9:11.

² sn Compare Jer 49:18 and 50:40 where the same thing is said about Edom and Babylon.

NET Notes: Jer 49:34

¹ tn Or “In the beginning of the reign.” For a discussion of the usage of the terms here see the translator’s note on 28:1. If this refers to the accession year the dating would be 598/97 b.c.

² tn Heb “That which came [as] the word of the Lord to Jeremiah the prophet about the Elam.” See the translator’s note on 14:1 for the construction here and compare also 46:1; 47:1; 50:1.

sn Elam was a country on the eastern side of the Tigris River in what is now southwestern Iran. Its capital city was Susa. It was destroyed in 640 b.c. by Ashurbanipal after a long period of conflict with the Assyrian kings. It appears from Babylonian records to have regained its independence shortly thereafter, perhaps as early as 625 b.c., and was involved in the fall of Assyria in 612 b.c. If the date refers to the first year of Zedekiah’s rule (597 b.c.), this prophecy appears to be later than the previous ones (cf. the study notes on 46:2 and 47:1).

NET Notes: Jer 49:35

¹ tn Heb “I will break the bow of Elam, the chief source of their might.” The phrase does not mean that God will break literal bows or that he will destroy their weapons (synecdoche of species for genus) or their military power (so Hos 1:5). Because of the parallelism, the “bow” here stands for the archers who wield the bow, and were the strongest force (or chief contingent) in their military.

NET Notes: Jer 49:36

¹ tn Or more simply, “I will bring enemies against Elam from every direction. / And I will scatter the people of Elam to the four winds. // There won’t be any nation / where the refugees of Elam will not go.” Or more literally, “I will bring the four winds against Elam / from the four quarters of heaven. / I will scatter….” However, the winds are not to be understood literally here. God isn’t going to “blow the Elamites” out of Elam with natural forces. The winds must figuratively represent enemy forces that God will use to drive them out. Translating literally would be misleading at this point.

NET Notes: Jer 49:37

¹ tn Heb “I will bring disaster upon them, even my fierce anger.”

² tn Heb “Oracle of the Lord.”

³ tn Heb “I will send the sword after them.”

NET Notes: Jer 49:38

¹ tn Or “I will sit in judgment over Elam”; Heb “I will set up my throne in Elam.” Commentators are divided over whether this refers to a king sitting in judgment over his captured enemies or whether it refers to formally establishing his rule over the country. Those who argue for the former idea point to the supposed parallels in 1:15 (which the present translation understands not to refer to this but to setting up siege) and 43:8-13. The parallelism in the verse here, however, argues that it refers to the Lord taking over the reins of government by destroying their former leaders.

² tn Heb “I will destroy king and leaders from there.”

³ tn Heb “Oracle of the Lord.”

NET Notes: Jer 49:39

¹ tn See Jer 29:14; 30:3 and the translator’s note on 29:14 for the idiom used here.

sn See a similar note on the reversal of Moab’s fortunes in Jer 48:47 and compare also 46:26 for a future restoration of Egypt.

² tn Heb “Oracle of the Lord.”