Ezekiel 17:15

17:15 But this one from Israel’s royal family ¹  rebelled against the king of Babylon ²  by sending his emissaries to Egypt to obtain horses and a large army. Will he prosper? Will the one doing these things escape? Can he break the covenant and escape?

Ezekiel 17:2

17:2 “Son of man, offer a riddle, ³  and tell a parable to the house of Israel.

Ezekiel 24:20

24:20 So I said to them: “The word of the Lord came to me:

Ezekiel 24:2

24:2 “Son of man, write down the name of this day, this very day. The king of Babylon has laid siege ⁴  to Jerusalem ⁵  this very day.

Ezekiel 26:13

26:13 I will silence ⁶  the noise of your songs; the sound of your harps will be heard no more.

Jeremiah 37:5-7

37:5 At that time the Babylonian forces ⁷  had temporarily given up their siege against Jerusalem. ⁸  They had had it under siege, but withdrew when they heard that the army of Pharaoh had set out from Egypt. ⁹ ) 37:6 The Lord gave the prophet Jeremiah a message for them. He told him to tell them, ¹⁰  37:7 “The Lord God of Israel says, ‘Give a message to the king of Judah who sent you to ask me to help him. ¹¹  Tell him, “The army of Pharaoh that was on its way to help you will go back home to Egypt. ¹² 

¹ tn Heb “he”; the referent (the member of the royal family, v. 13) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

² tn Heb “him”; the referent (the king of Babylon) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

³ sn The verb occurs elsewhere in the OT only in Judg 14:12-19, where Samson supplies a riddle.

⁴ tn Heb “lean on, put pressure on.”

⁵ map For location see Map5-B1; Map6-F3; Map7-E2; Map8-F2; Map10-B3; JP1-F4; JP2-F4; JP3-F4; JP4-F4.

⁶ tn Heb “cause to end.”

⁷ tn Heb “the Chaldeans.” See the study note on 21:4 for the rendering “Babylonian.” The word “forces” is supplied in the translation here for the sake of clarity.

⁸ map For location see Map5-B1; Map6-F3; Map7-E2; Map8-F2; Map10-B3; JP1-F4; JP2-F4; JP3-F4; JP4-F4.

⁹ tn Heb “And the army of Pharaoh had set out from Egypt and the Chaldeans who were besieging Jerusalem heard a report about them and they went up from besieging them.” The sentence has been restructured and reworded to give greater emphasis to the most pertinent fact, i.e., that the siege had been temporarily lifted. The word “temporarily” is not in the text but is implicit from the rest of the context. It is supplied in the translation here to better show that the information in vv. 4-5 is all parenthetical, providing a background for the oracle that will follow. For the meaning “given up their siege against” (Heb “had taken themselves away from against”) see BDB 749 s.v. עָלָה Niph.1.c(2); 759 s.v. עַל IV.2.b.

¹⁰ tn Heb “And the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah, saying.”

¹¹ tn Or “to ask me what will happen.” The dominant usage of the verb דָּרַשׁ (darash) is to “inquire” in the sense of gaining information about what will happen (cf., e.g., 1 Kgs 14:5; 2 Kgs 8:8; 22:7-8) but it is also used in the sense of “seeking help” from (cf., e.g., Isa 31:1; 2 Chr 16:12; 20:3). The latter nuance appears appropriate in Jer 20:2 where Zedekiah is hoping for some miraculous intervention. That nuance also appears appropriate here where Zedekiah has sent messengers to ask Jeremiah to intercede on their behalf. However, it is also possible that the intent of both verbs is to find out from God whether the Egyptian mission will succeed and more permanent relief from the siege will be had.

¹² tn Heb “will go back to its land, Egypt.”