9:36 “So today we are slaves! In the very land you gave to our ancestors to eat its fruit and to enjoy 5 its good things – we are slaves! 9:37 Its abundant produce goes to the kings you have placed over us due to our sins. They rule over our bodies and our livestock as they see fit, 6 and we are in great distress!
17:4 You will lose your hold on the land 11
which I gave to you as a permanent possession.
I will make you serve your enemies in a land that you know nothing about.
For you have made my anger burn like a fire that will never be put out.” 12
“‘A great eagle 14 with broad wings, long feathers, 15
with full plumage which was multi-hued, 16
came to Lebanon 17 and took the top of the cedar.
17:7 “‘There was another great eagle 18
with broad wings and thick plumage.
Now this vine twisted its roots toward him
and sent its branches toward him
to be watered from the soil where it was planted.
1 tn Heb “so they may know my service and the service of the kingdoms of the lands.”
2 tn Heb “great.”
3 tn Heb “given them.”
4 tn Heb “given.”
5 tn The expression “to enjoy” is not included in the Hebrew text, but has been supplied in the translation for clarity.
6 tn Heb “according to their desire.”
7 tn The word, “Jeremiah,” is not in the text but the second person address in the second half of the verse is obviously to him. The word is supplied in the translation here for clarity.
8 tn The MT reads the second masculine plural; this is probably a case of attraction to the second masculine plural pronoun in the preceding line. An alternative would be to understand a shift from speaking first to the people in the first half of the verse and then speaking to Jeremiah in the second half where the verb is second masculine singular. E.g., “When you [people] say, “Why…?” then you, Jeremiah, tell them…”
9 tn Heb “As you left me and…, so you will….” The translation was chosen so as to break up a rather long and complex sentence.
10 sn This is probably a case of deliberate ambiguity (double entendre). The adjective “foreigners” is used for both foreign people (so Jer 30:8; 51:51) and foreign gods (so Jer 2:25; 3:13). See also Jer 16:13 for the idea of having to serve other gods in the lands of exile.
11 tc Or “Through your own fault you will lose the land…” As W. McKane (Jeremiah [ICC], 1:386) notes the ancient versions do not appear to be reading וּבְךָ (uvÿkha) as in the MT but possibly לְבַדְּךָ (lÿvaddÿkha; see BHS fn). The translation follows the suggestion in BHS fn that יָדְךָ (yadÿkha, literally “your hand”) be read for MT וּבְךָ. This has the advantage of fitting the idiom of this verb with “hand” in Deut 15:2 (see also v. 3 there). The Hebrew text thus reads “You will release your hand from your heritage.”
12 tc A few Hebrew
13 tn The parable assumes the defection of Zedekiah to Egypt and his rejection of Babylonian lordship.
14 sn The great eagle symbolizes Nebuchadnezzar (17:12).
15 tn Hebrew has two words for wings; it is unknown whether they are fully synonymous or whether one term distinguishes a particular part of the wing such as the wing coverts (nearest the shoulder), secondaries (mid-feathers of the wing) or primaries (last and longest section of the wing).
16 tn This term was used in 16:10, 13, and 18 of embroidered cloth.
17 sn In the parable Lebanon apparently refers to Jerusalem (17:12).
18 sn The phrase another great eagle refers to Pharaoh Hophra.
19 tn The words “of Israel” are not in the Hebrew text, but are supplied in the translation as a clarification of the referent.
20 sn The narrative description of this interpretation of the riddle is given in 2 Kgs 24:11-15.
21 map For location see Map5-B1; Map6-F3; Map7-E2; Map8-F2; Map10-B3; JP1-F4; JP2-F4; JP3-F4; JP4-F4.