6:9 All of them were wanting 5 to scare us, supposing, “Their hands will grow slack from the work, and it won’t get done.”
So now, strengthen my hands! 6
13:7 For this reason all hands hang limp, 7
every human heart loses its courage. 8
35:3 Strengthen the hands that have gone limp,
steady the knees that shake! 9
6:24 The people cry out, 10 “We have heard reports about them!
We have become helpless with fear! 11
Anguish grips us,
agony like that of a woman giving birth to a baby!
50:43 The king of Babylon will become paralyzed with fear 12
when he hears news of their coming. 13
Anguish will grip him,
agony like that of a woman giving birth to a baby. 14
3:16 On that day they will say 15 to Jerusalem,
“Don’t be afraid, Zion!
Your hands must not be paralyzed from panic! 16
1 tn Heb “and I will come upon him.”
2 tn Heb “exhausted and slack of hands.”
3 tn Heb “the people of the land.” Elsewhere this expression sometimes has a negative connotation, referring to a lay population that was less zealous for Judaism than it should have been. Here, however, it seems to refer to the resident population of the area without any negative connotation.
4 tn Heb “were making slack the hands of.”
5 tn The participle has a desiderative nuance here, describing the desire of the subject and not necessarily the actual outcome. See also v. 14.
6 tn The statement “So now, strengthen my hands” is frequently understood as an implied prayer, but is taken differently by NAB (“But instead, I now redoubled my efforts”).
7 tn Heb “drop”; KJV “be faint”; ASV “be feeble”; NAB “fall helpless.”
8 tn Heb “melts” (so NAB).
9 tn Heb “staggering knees”; KJV, ASV, NRSV “feeble knees”; NIV “knees that give way.”
10 tn These words are not in the text, but, from the context, someone other than God is speaking and is speaking for and to the people (either Jeremiah or the people themselves). These words are supplied in the translation for clarity.
11 tn Or “We have lost our strength to do battle”; Heb “Our hands hang limp [or helpless at our sides].” According to BDB 951 s.v. רָפָה Qal.2, this idiom is used figuratively for losing heart or energy. The best example of its figurative use of loss of strength or the feeling of helplessness is in Ezek 21:12 where it appears in the context of the heart (courage) melting, the spirit sinking, and the knees becoming like water. For other examples compare 2 Sam 4:1; Zeph 3:16. In Neh 6:9 it is used literally of the builders “dropping their hands from the work” out of fear. The words “with fear” are supplied in the translation because they are implicit in the context.
12 tn Heb “his hands will drop/hang limp.” For the meaning of this idiom see the translator’s note on 6:24.
13 tn Heb “The king of Babylon hears report of them and his hands hang limp.” The verbs are translated as future because the passage is prophetic and the verbs may be interpreted as prophetic perfects (the action viewed as if it were as good as done). In the parallel passage in 6:24 the verbs could be understood as present perfects because the passage could be viewed as in the present. Here it is future.
14 sn Compare Jer 6:22-24 where almost the same exact words as 50:41-43 are applied to the people of Judah. The repetition of prophecies here and in the following verses emphasizes the talionic nature of God’s punishment of Babylon; as they have done to others, so it will be done to them (cf. 25:14; 50:15).
15 tn Heb “it will be said.” The passive construction has been translated as active for stylistic reasons.
16 tn Heb “your hands must not go limp.”