25:12 “‘But when the seventy years are over, I will punish the king of Babylon and his nation 6 for their sins. I will make the land of Babylon 7 an everlasting ruin. 8 I, the Lord, affirm it! 9
29:10 “For the Lord says, ‘Only when the seventy years of Babylonian rule 12 are over will I again take up consideration for you. 13 Then I will fulfill my gracious promise to you and restore 14 you to your homeland. 15
32:42 “For I, the Lord, say: 16 ‘I will surely bring on these people all the good fortune that I am hereby promising them. I will be just as sure to do that as I have been in bringing all this great disaster on them. 17 32:43 You and your people 18 are saying that this land will become desolate, uninhabited by either people or animals. You are saying that it will be handed over to the Babylonians. 19 But fields 20 will again be bought in this land. 21 32:44 Fields will again be bought with silver, and deeds of purchase signed, sealed, and witnessed. This will happen in the territory of Benjamin, the villages surrounding Jerusalem, the towns in Judah, the southern hill country, the western foothills, and southern Judah. 22 For I will restore them to their land. 23 I, the Lord, affirm it!’” 24
33:10 “I, the Lord, say: 25 ‘You and your people are saying 26 about this place, “It lies in ruins. There are no people or animals in it.” That is true. The towns of Judah and the streets of Jerusalem 27 will soon be desolate, uninhabited either by people or by animals. But happy sounds will again be heard in these places. 33:11 Once again there will be sounds 28 of joy and gladness and the glad celebrations of brides and grooms. 29 Once again people will bring their thank offerings to the temple of the Lord and will say, “Give thanks to the Lord who rules over all. For the Lord is good and his unfailing love lasts forever.” 30 For I, the Lord, affirm 31 that I will restore the land to what it was 32 in days of old.’ 33
33:12 “I, the Lord who rules over all, say: 34 ‘This place will indeed lie in ruins. There will be no people or animals in it. But there will again be in it and in its towns sheepfolds where shepherds can rest their sheep. 33:13 I, the Lord, say that shepherds will once again count their sheep as they pass into the fold. 35 They will do this in all the towns in the southern hill country, the western foothills, the southern hill country, the territory of Benjamin, the villages surrounding Jerusalem, and the towns of Judah.’ 36
33:14 “I, the Lord, affirm: 37 ‘The time will certainly come when I will fulfill my gracious promise concerning the nations of Israel and Judah. 38
1 tn Heb “to fulfill the word of the
2 tn Or “accepted.”
3 sn According to Lev 25:4, the land was to remain uncultivated every seventh year. Lev 26:33-35 warns that the land would experience a succession of such sabbatical rests if the people disobeyed God, for he would send them away into exile.
4 sn Concerning the seventy years see Jer 25:11.
5 tn Heb “all the days of the desolation it rested to fulfill the seventy years.”
6 tn Heb “that nation.”
7 tn Heb “the land of the Chaldeans.” See the study note on 21:4 for the use of the term “Chaldeans.”
8 tn Heb “I will visit upon the king of Babylon and upon that nation, oracle of the
9 tn Heb “Oracle of the
10 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).
11 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.
12 sn See the study note on Jer 25:11 for the reckoning of the seventy years.
13 tn See the translator’s note on Jer 27:22 for this term.
14 tn Verse 10 is all one long sentence in the Hebrew original: “According to the fullness of Babylon seventy years I will take thought of you and I will establish my gracious word to you by bringing you back to this place.” The sentence has been broken up to conform better to contemporary English style.
15 tn Heb “this place.” The text has probably been influenced by the parallel passage in 27:22. The term appears fifteen times in Jeremiah and is invariably a reference to Jerusalem or Judah.
16 tn Heb “For thus says the
17 tn Heb “As I have brought all this great disaster on these people so I will bring upon them all the good fortune which I am promising them.” The translation has broken down the longer Hebrew sentence to better conform to English style.
18 tn Heb “you.” However, the pronoun is plural and is addressed to more than just Jeremiah (v. 26). It includes Jeremiah and those who have accepted his prophecy of doom.
19 tn Heb “The Chaldeans.” See the study note on 21:4 for further explanation.
20 tn The noun is singular with the article, but it is a case of the generic singular (cf. GKC 406 §126.m).
21 tn Heb “Fields will be bought in this land of which you [masc. pl.] are saying, ‘It will be desolate [a perfect of certainty or prophetic perfect] without man or beast; it will be given into the hand of the Chaldeans.’” The original sentence has been broken down to better conform to contemporary English style.
22 tn Heb “They will buy fields with silver and write in the deed and seal [it] and have witnesses witness [it] in the land of Benjamin, in the environs of Jerusalem, in the towns in Judah, in the towns in the hill country, in the towns in the Shephelah, and in the towns in the Negev.” The long Hebrew sentence has again been restructured to better conform to contemporary English style. The indefinite “they will buy” is treated as a passive. It is followed by three infinitive absolutes which substitute for the finite verb (cf. GKC 345 §113.y) which is a common feature of the style of the book of Jeremiah.
23 tn Or “I will reverse their fortunes.” For this idiom see the translator’s note on 29:14 and compare the usage in 29:14; 30:3, 18; 31:23.
24 tn Heb “Oracle of the
25 tn Heb “Thus says the
26 tn Heb “You.” However, the pronoun is plural as in 32:36, 43. See the translator’s note on 32:36.
27 map For location see Map5-B1; Map6-F3; Map7-E2; Map8-F2; Map10-B3; JP1-F4; JP2-F4; JP3-F4; JP4-F4.
28 tn Heb “33:10 Thus says the
29 sn What is predicted here is a reversal of the decimation caused by the Babylonian conquest that had been threatened in 7:34; 16:9; 25:10.
30 sn This is a common hymnic introduction to both individual songs of thanksgiving (e.g., Ps 118:1) and communal songs of thanksgiving (e.g., Ps 136 where it is a liturgical refrain accompanying a recital of Israel’s early history and of the
31 tn Heb “Oracle of the
32 tn Or “I will restore the fortunes of the land.”
33 tn This phrase simply means “as formerly” (BDB 911 s.v. רִאשׁוֹן 3.a). The reference to the “as formerly” must be established from the context. See the usage in Judg 20:32; 1 Kgs 13:6; Isa 1:26.
34 tn Heb “Thus says Yahweh of armies.” For the explanation for the first person introduction see the translator’s notes on 33:2, 10. Verses 4, 10, 12 introduce three oracles, all under the answer to the
35 sn Heb “Sheep will again pass under the hands of the counter.” This appears to be a reference to counting the sheep to make sure that none was missing as they returned to the fold. See the same idiom in Lev 27:52 and in the metaphor in Ezek 20:37.
36 sn Compare Jer 32:44.
37 tn Heb “Oracle of the
38 sn This refers at the very least to the promises of Jer 23:5-6, 7-8; 30:3; 31:27, 31 where the same formula “The time will certainly come (Heb “Behold the days are coming”)” occurs. Reference may also be to the promises through the earlier prophets of what is alluded to here, i.e., the restoration of Israel and Judah under a Davidic ruler and the revival of the offerings (cf. Hos 1:10-11; 3:4-5; Amos 9:11-12; Isa 11:1-5, 10-16; Jer 30:9, 21 for the former and Jer 31:14; 33:11 for the latter).