Jeremiah 11:8

11:8 But they did not listen to me or pay any attention to me! Each one of them followed the stubborn inclinations of his own wicked heart. So I brought on them all the punishments threatened in the covenant because they did not carry out its terms as I commanded them to do.’” ¹ 

Jeremiah 27:5

27:5 “I made the earth and the people and animals on it by my mighty power and great strength, ²  and I give it to whomever I see fit. ³ 

Jeremiah 32:17

32:17 ‘Oh, Lord God, ⁴  you did indeed ⁵  make heaven and earth by your mighty power and great strength. ⁶  Nothing is too hard for you!

Jeremiah 34:14

34:14 “Every seven years each of you must free any fellow Hebrews who have sold themselves to you. After they have served you for six years, you shall set them free.” ⁷  But your ancestors did not obey me or pay any attention to me.

Jeremiah 43:10

43:10 Then tell them, ⁸  ‘The Lord God of Israel who rules over all ⁹  says, “I will bring ¹⁰  my servant ¹¹  King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon. I will set his throne over these stones which I ¹²  have buried. He will pitch his royal tent ¹³  over them.

Jeremiah 51:25

51:25 The Lord says, ¹⁴  “Beware! I am opposed to you, Babylon! ¹⁵ 

You are like a destructive mountain that destroys all the earth.

I will unleash my power against you; ¹⁶ 

I will roll you off the cliffs and make you like a burned-out mountain. ¹⁷ 

¹ tn Heb “So I brought on them all the terms of this covenant which I commanded to do and they did not do.” There is an interesting polarity that is being exploited by two different nuances implicit in the use of the word “terms” (דִּבְרֵי [divre], literally “words”), i.e., what the Lord “brings on” them, namely, the curses that are the penalty for disobedience and the stipulations that they are “to do,” that is, to carry out. The sentence is broken up this way in keeping with contemporary English style to avoid the long and complicated style of the original.

² tn Heb “by my great power and my outstretched arm.” Again “arm” is symbolical for “strength.” Compare the similar expression in 21:5.

³ sn See Dan 4:17 for a similar statement.

³ tn Heb “Lord Yahweh.” For an explanation of the rendering here see the study note on 1:6.

⁴ tn This is an attempt to render the Hebrew particle normally translated “behold.” See the translator’s note on 1:6 for the usage of this particle.

⁵ tn Heb “by your great power and your outstretched arm.” See 21:5; 27:5 and the marginal note on 27:5 for this idiom.

⁴ sn Compare Deut 15:12-18 for the complete statement of this law. Here only the first part of it is cited.

⁵ sn This is another of those symbolic prophecies of Jeremiah which involved an action and an explanation. Compare Jer 19, 27.

⁶ tn Heb “Yahweh of armies, the God of Israel.” Compare 7:3 and see the study note on 2:19 for explanation of the translation and significance of this title.

⁷ tn Heb “send and take/fetch.”

⁸ sn See the study note on Jer 25:9 for the use of this epithet for foreign rulers. The term emphasizes God’s sovereignty over history.

⁹ tn The Greek version reads the verbs in this sentence as third person, “he will set,” and second person, “you have buried.” This fits the context better but it is difficult to explain how the Hebrew could have arisen from this smoother reading. The figure of substitution (metonymy of cause for effect) is probably involved: “I will have him set” and “I have had you bury.” The effect of these substitutions is to emphasize the sovereignty of God.

¹⁰ tn The meaning of this word is uncertain. The word here (שַׁפְרִירוֹ [shafriro] Qere, שַׁפְרוּרוֹ [shafruro] Kethib) occurs only here in the Hebrew Bible. According to the lexicons it refers to either the carpet for his throne or the canopy over it. See, e.g., HALOT 1510 s.v. שַׁפְרִיר.

⁶ tn Heb “Oracle of the Lord.”

⁷ tn The word “Babylon” is not in the text but is universally understood as the referent. It is supplied in the translation here to clarify the referent for the sake of the average reader.

⁸ tn Heb “I will reach out my hand against you.” See the translator’s note on 6:12 for explanation.

⁹ tn Heb “I am against you, oh destroying mountain that destroys all the earth. I will reach out my hand against you and roll you down from the cliffs and make you a mountain of burning.” The interpretation adopted here follows the lines suggested by S. R. Driver, Jeremiah, 318, n. c and reflected also in BDB 977 s.v. שְׂרֵפָה. Babylon is addressed as a destructive mountain because it is being compared to a volcano. The Lord, however, will make it a “burned-out mountain,” i.e., an extinct volcano which is barren and desolate. This interpretation seems to this translator to fit the details of the text more consistently than alternative ones which separate the concept of “destroying/destructive” from “mountain” and explain the figure of the mountain to refer to the dominating political position of Babylon and the reference to a “mountain of burning” to be a “burned [or burned over] mountain.” The use of similes in place of metaphors makes it easier for the modern reader to understand the figures and also more easily incorporates the dissonant figure of “rolling you down from the cliffs” which involves the figure of personification.