2 Kings 20:17

20:17 ‘Look, a time is ¹  coming when everything in your palace and the things your ancestors have accumulated to this day will be carried away to Babylon; nothing will be left,’ says the Lord.

2 Kings 20:2

20:2 He turned his face to the wall and prayed to the Lord,

2 Kings 1:18

1:18 The rest of the events of Ahaziah’s reign, including his accomplishments, are recorded in the scroll called the Annals of the Kings of Israel. ² 

Jeremiah 27:19-22

27:19 For the Lord who rules over all ³  has already spoken about the two bronze pillars, ⁴  the large bronze basin called ‘The Sea,’ ⁵  and the movable bronze stands. ⁶  He has already spoken about the rest of the valuable articles that are left in this city. 27:20 He has already spoken about these things that King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon did not take away when he carried Jehoiakim’s son King Jeconiah of Judah and the nobles of Judah and Jerusalem away as captives. ⁷  27:21 Indeed, the Lord God of Israel who rules over all ⁸  has already spoken ⁹  about the valuable articles that are left in the Lord’s temple, in the royal palace of Judah, and in Jerusalem. 27:22 He has said, ‘They will be carried off to Babylon. They will remain there until it is time for me to show consideration for them again. ¹⁰  Then I will bring them back and restore them to this place.’ I, the Lord, affirm this!” ¹¹ 

Jeremiah 52:17-20

52:17 The Babylonians broke the two bronze pillars in the temple of the Lord, as well as the movable stands and the large bronze basin called the “The Sea.” ¹²  They took all the bronze to Babylon. 52:18 They also took the pots, shovels, ¹³  trimming shears, ¹⁴  basins, pans, and all the bronze utensils used by the priests. ¹⁵  52:19 The captain of the royal guard took the gold and silver bowls, censers, ¹⁶  basins, pots, lampstands, pans, and vessels. ¹⁷  52:20 The bronze of the items that King Solomon made for the Lord’s temple (including the two pillars, the large bronze basin called “The Sea,” the twelve bronze bulls under “The Sea,” and the movable stands ¹⁸ ) was too heavy to be weighed.

Lamentations 1:10

י (Yod)

1:10 An enemy grabbed ¹⁹ 

all her valuables. ²⁰ 

Indeed she watched in horror ²¹  as Gentiles ²² 

invaded her holy temple ²³  –

those whom you ²⁴  had commanded:

“They must not enter ²⁵  your assembly place.” ²⁶ 

¹ tn Heb “days are.”

² tn Heb “As for the rest of the acts of Ahaziah which he did, are they not recorded in the scroll of the events of the days of the kings of Israel?”

³ tn Heb “Yahweh of armies.” For the significance of this title see the note at 2:19.

⁴ tn The words “two bronze” are not in the text. They have been supplied in the translation to help identify the referent.

⁵ tn The words “the large bronze basin called” are not in the text. They have been supplied in the translation to help identify the referent.

⁶ tn The words “movable bronze” are not in the text. They have been supplied in the translation to help identify the referent. See the study note for further reference.

⁷ tn 27:19-20 are all one long sentence in Hebrew. It has been broken up for the sake of English style. Some of the sentences still violate contemporary English style (e.g., v. 20) but breaking them down any further would lose the focus. For further discussion see the study note on v. 21.

⁸ tn Heb “Yahweh of armies, the God of Israel.” For the significance of this title see the note at 2:19.

⁹ sn Some of the flavor of the repetitive nature of Hebrew narrative is apparent in vv. 19-21. In the Hebrew original vv. 19-20 are all one long sentence with complex coordination and subordinations. I.e., all the objects in v. 19 are all objects of the one verb “has spoken about” and the description in v. 20 is one long relative or descriptive clause. The introductory “For the Lord…has already spoken” is repeated in v. 21 from v. 19 and reference is made to the same articles once again, only in the terms that were used in v. 18b. By this means, attention is focused for these people (here the priests and the people) on articles which were of personal concern for them and the climax or the punch line is delayed to the end. The point being made is that the false prophets are mistaken; not only will the articles taken to Babylon not be returned “very soon” but the Lord had said that the ones that remained would be taken there as well. They ought rather pray that the Lord will change his mind and not carry them off as well.

¹⁰ tn This verb is a little difficult to render here. The word is used in the sense of taking note of something and acting according to what is noticed. It is the word that has been translated several times throughout Jeremiah as “punish [someone].” It is also used in the opposite of sense of taking note and “show consideration for” (or “care for;” see, e.g., Ruth 1:6). Here the nuance is positive and is further clarified by the actions that follow, bringing them back and restoring them.

¹¹ tn Heb “oracle of the Lord.”

¹² sn For discussion of the items listed here, see the study notes at Jer 27:19.

¹³ sn These shovels were used to clean the altar.

¹⁴ sn These trimming shears were used to trim the wicks of the lamps.

¹⁵ tn Heb “with which they served (or “fulfilled their duty”).”

¹⁶ sn The censers held the embers used for the incense offerings.

¹⁷ sn These vessels were used for drink offerings.

¹⁸ tc The translation follows the LXX (Greek version), which reflects the description in 1 Kgs 7:25-26. The Hebrew text reads, “the twelve bronze bulls under the movable stands.” הַיָּם (hayyam, “The Sea”) has been accidentally omitted by homoioarcton; note that the following form, הַמְּכֹנוֹת (hammÿkhonot, “the movable stands”), also begins with the article.

¹⁹ tn Heb “stretched out his hand.” The war imagery is of seizure of property; the anthropomorphic element pictures rape. This is an idiom that describes greedy actions (BDB 831 s.v. פָרַשׂ), meaning “to seize” (HALOT 976 s.v. 2).

²⁰ tc The Kethib is written מַחֲמוֹדֵּיהֶם (makhamodehem, “her desired things”); the Qere and many medieval Hebrew mss read מַחֲמַדֵּיהֶם (makhamaddehem, “her desirable things”). The Qere reading should be adopted.

²¹ tn Heb “she watched” or “she saw.” The verb רָאָה (ra’ah, “to see”) has a broad range of meanings, including “to see” a spectacle causing grief (Gen 21:16; 44:34; Num 11:15; 2 Kgs 22:20; 2 Chr 34:28; Esth 8:6) or abhorrence (Isa 66:24). The words “in horror” are added to “she watched” to bring out this nuance.

²² sn The syntax of the sentence is interrupted by the insertion of the following sentence, “they invaded…,” then continued with “whom…” The disruption of the syntax is a structural device intended to help convey the shock of the situation.

²³ tn Heb “her sanctuary.” The term מִקְדָּשָׁהּ (miqdashah, “her sanctuary”) refers to the temple. Anthropomorphically, translating as “her sacred place” would also allow for the rape imagery.

²⁴ sn Lam 1-2 has two speaking voices: a third person voice reporting the horrific reality of Jerusalem’s suffering and Jerusalem’s voice. See W. F. Lanahan, “The Speaking Voice in the Book of Lamentations” JBL 93 (1974): 41-49. The reporting voice has been addressing the listener, referring to the Lord in the third person. Here he switches to a second person address to God, also changing the wording of the following command to second person. The revulsion of the Reporter is so great that he is moved to address God directly.

²⁵ tn Heb “enter.” The Hebrew term בּוֹא (bo’) is also a sexual metaphor.

²⁶ tn The noun קָהָל (qahal, “assembly”) does not refer here to the collective group of people assembled to worship the Lord, but to the place of their assembly: the temple. This is an example of a synecdoche of the people contained (= assembly) for the container (= temple). The intent is to make the violation feel more personal than someone walking into a building.