15:9 The mother who had seven children 1 will grow faint.
All the breath will go out of her. 2
Her pride and joy will be taken from her in the prime of their life.
It will seem as if the sun had set while it was still day. 3
She will suffer shame and humiliation. 4
I will cause any of them who are still left alive
to be killed in war by the onslaughts of their enemies,” 5
says the Lord.
49:2 Because you did that,
I, the Lord, affirm that 9 a time is coming
when I will make Rabbah, the capital city of Ammon,
hear the sound of the battle cry.
It will become a mound covered with ruins. 10
Its villages will be burned to the ground. 11
Then Israel will take back its land
from those who took their land from them.
I, the Lord, affirm it! 12
1 tn Heb “who gave birth to seven.”
2 tn The meaning of this line is debated. Some understand this line to mean “she has breathed out her life” (cf., e.g., BDB 656 s.v. נָפַח and 656 s.v. ֶנפֶשׁ 1.c). However, as several commentaries have noted (e.g., W. McKane, Jeremiah [ICC], 1:341; J. Bright, Jeremiah [AB], 109) it makes little sense to talk about her suffering shame and embarrassment if she has breathed her last. Both the Greek and Latin versions understand “soul” not as the object but as the subject and the idea being one of fainting under despair. This idea seems likely in light of the parallelism. Bright suggests the phrase means either “she gasped out her breath” or “her throat gasped.” The former is more likely. One might also render “she fainted dead away,” but that idiom might not be familiar to all readers.
3 tn Heb “Her sun went down while it was still day.”
4 sn She has lost her position of honor and the source of her pride. For the concepts here see 1 Sam 2:5.
5 tn Heb “I will deliver those of them that survive to the sword before their enemies.” The referent of “them” is ambiguous. Does it refer to the children of the widow (nearer context) or the people themselves (more remote context, v. 7)? Perhaps it was meant to include both. Verse seven spoke of the destruction of the people and the killing off of the children.
6 tn These two verses which constitute one long sentence with compound, complex subordinations has been broken up for sake of English style. It reads, “Therefore, behold the days are coming, says the
11 tn The Hebrew particle כִּי (ki) is probably intensive here as it has been on a number of occasions in the book of Jeremiah (see BDB 472 s.v. כִּי 1.e for the category).
12 tn Or “I will make them prosperous once again,” or “I will bring them back from captivity.”
16 tn Heb “oracle of the
17 tn Heb “a desolate tel.” For the explanation of what a “tel” is see the study note on 30:18.
18 tn Heb “Its daughters will be burned with fire.” For the use of the word “daughters” to refer to the villages surrounding a larger city see BDB 123 s.v. I בַּת 4 and compare the usage in Judg 1:27.
19 tn Heb “says the