44:1 The Lord spoke to Jeremiah concerning 20 all the Judeans who were living in the land of Egypt, those in Migdol, Tahpanhes, Memphis, and in the region of southern Egypt. 21
9:7 Therefore the Lord who rules over all says, 22
“I will now purify them in the fires of affliction 23 and test them.
The wickedness of my dear people 24 has left me no choice.
What else can I do? 25
9:2 (9:1) I wish I had a lodging place in the desert
where I could spend some time like a weary traveler. 26
Then I would desert my people
and walk away from them
because they are all unfaithful to God,
a congregation 27 of people that has been disloyal to him. 28
44:13 You made us 32 an object of disdain to our neighbors;
those who live on our borders taunt and insult us. 33
44:14 You made us 34 an object of ridicule 35 among the nations;
foreigners treat us with contempt. 36
ס (Samek)
2:15 All who passed by on the road
clapped their hands to mock you. 37
They sneered and shook their heads
at Daughter Jerusalem.
“Ha! Is this the city they called 38
‘The perfection of beauty, 39
the source of joy of the whole earth!’?” 40
פ (Pe)
2:16 All your enemies
gloated over you. 41
They sneered and gnashed their teeth;
they said, “We have destroyed 42 her!
Ha! We have waited a long time for this day.
We have lived to see it!” 43
ע (Ayin)
2:17 The Lord has done what he planned;
he has fulfilled 44 his promise 45
that he threatened 46 long ago: 47
He has overthrown you without mercy 48
and has enabled the enemy to gloat over you;
he has exalted your adversaries’ power. 49
1 sn See 18:16 and the study note there.
2 tn Heb “all its smitings.” This word has been used several times for the metaphorical “wounds” that Israel has suffered as a result of the blows from its enemies. See, e.g., 14:17. It is used in the Hebrew Bible of scourging, both literally and metaphorically (cf. Deut 25:3; Isa 10:26), and of slaughter and defeat (1 Sam 4:10; Josh 10:20). Here it refers to the results of the crushing blows at the hands of her enemies which has made her the object of scorn.
3 map For location see Map5-B1; Map6-F3; Map7-E2; Map8-F2; Map10-B3; JP1-F4; JP2-F4; JP3-F4; JP4-F4.
4 tn The words “I made” and “drink it” are not in the text. The text from v. 18 to v. 26 contains a list of the nations that Jeremiah “made drink it.” The words are supplied in the translation here and at the beginning of v. 19 for the sake of clarity. See also the note on v. 26.
5 tn Heb “in order to make them a ruin, an object of…” The sentence is broken up and the antecedents are made specific for the sake of clarity and English style.
6 tn See the study note on 24:9 for explanation.
7 tn Heb “as it is today.” This phrase would obviously be more appropriate after all these things had happened as is the case in 44:6, 23 where the verbs referring to these conditions are past. Some see this phrase as a marginal gloss added after the tragedies of 597
8 tn 26:4-6 are all one long sentence containing a long condition with subordinate clauses (vv. 4-5) and a compound consequence in v. 6: Heb “If you will not obey me by walking in my law…by paying attention to the words of the prophets which…and you did not pay heed, then I will make…and I will make…” The sentence has been broken down in conformity to contemporary English style but an attempt has been made to reflect all the subordinations in the English translation.
9 sn See the study note on Jer 7:13.
10 tn Or “Indeed.”
11 tn Heb “Yahweh of armies, the God of Israel.” See the study note on 2:19 for the translation and significance of this title.
12 map For location see Map5-B1; Map6-F3; Map7-E2; Map8-F2; Map10-B3; JP1-F4; JP2-F4; JP3-F4; JP4-F4.
13 tn See the study note on 24:9 and the usage in 29:22 for the meaning and significance of this last phrase.
14 tn Or “land.” The reference is, of course, to the land of Judah.
15 tn Heb “they set their face to go.” Compare 44:11 and 42:14 and see the translator’s note at 42:15.
16 tn Heb “fall by the sword.”
17 tn Or “All of them without distinction,” or “All of them from the least important to the most important”; Heb “From the least to the greatest.” See the translator’s note on 42:1 for the meaning of this idiom.
18 tn See the study note on 24:9 and the usage in 29:22 for the meaning and significance of this last phrase.
19 tn Heb “And/Then the
20 tn Heb “The word came to Jeremiah concerning.” Though the phrase “from the
21 sn The first three cities, Migdol, Tahpanhes, and Memphis, are located in Northern or Lower Egypt. Memphis (Heb “Noph”) was located south of Heliopolis (which was referred to earlier as “the temple of the sun”) and was about fourteen miles (23 km) south of Cairo. For the identification and location of Tahpanhes see the study note on Jer 43:7. The location of Migdol has been debated but is tentatively identified with a border fortress about twenty-five miles (42 km) east-northeast of Tahpanhes. The “region of southern Egypt” is literally “the land of Pathros,” the long Nile valley extending north and south between Cairo and Aswan (biblical Syene). For further information see the discussion in G. L. Keown, P. J. Scalise, T. G. Smothers, Jeremiah 26-52 (WBC), 262-63. Reference here is to Judean exiles who had fled earlier as well as to those from Mizpah who were led into Egypt by Johanan and the other arrogant men (43:3, 5).
22 tn Heb “Yahweh of armies.”
23 tn Heb “I will refine/purify them.” The words “in the fires of affliction” are supplied in the translation to give clarity to the metaphor.
24 tn Heb “daughter of my people.” For the translation given here see 4:11 and the note on the phrase “dear people” there.
25 tc Heb “For how else shall I deal because of the wickedness of the daughter of my people.” The MT does not have the word “wickedness.” The word, however, is read in the Greek version. This is probably a case of a word dropping out because of its similarities to the consonants preceding or following it (i.e., haplography). The word “wickedness” (רַעַת, ra’at) has dropped out before the words “my dear people” (בַּת־עַמִּי, bat-’ammi). The causal nuance which is normal for מִפְּנֵי (mippÿne) does not make sense without some word like this, and the combination of רַעַת מִפְּנֵי (mippÿne ra’at) does occur in Jer 7:12 and one very like it occurs in Jer 26:3.
26 tn Heb “I wish I had in the desert a lodging place [inn, or place to spend the night] for travelers.”
27 tn Or “bunch,” but this loses the irony; the word is used for the solemn assemblies at the religious feasts.
28 tn Heb “they are all adulterers, a congregation of unfaithful people.” However, spiritual adultery is, of course, meant, not literal adultery. So the literal translation would be misleading.
29 tn Heb “Lord Yahweh.” The translation follows the ancient Jewish tradition of substituting the Hebrew word for God for the proper name Yahweh.
30 tn Heb “this place.” Some see this as a reference to the temple but the context has been talking about what goes on in the towns of Judah and Jerusalem and the words that follow, meant as a further explanation, are applied to the whole land.
31 tn Heb “the trees of/in the field and the fruit of/in the ground.”
32 tn The prefixed verbal form is a preterite (without vav [ו] consecutive).
33 tn Heb “an [object of] taunting and [of] mockery to those around us.”
34 tn The prefixed verbal form is a preterite (without vav [ו] consecutive).
35 tn Heb “a proverb,” or “[the subject of] a mocking song.”
36 tn Heb “a shaking of the head among the peoples.” Shaking the head was a derisive gesture (see Jer 18:16; Lam 2:15).
37 tn Heb “clap their hands at you.” Clapping hands at someone was an expression of malicious glee, derision and mockery (Num 24:10; Job 27:23; Lam 2:15).
38 tn Heb “of which they said.”
39 tn Heb “perfection of beauty.” The noun יֹפִי (yofi, “beauty”) functions as a genitive of respect in relation to the preceding construct noun: Jerusalem was perfect in respect to its physical beauty.
40 tn Heb “the joy of all the earth.” This is similar to statements found in Pss 48:2 and 50:2.
41 tn Heb “they have opened wide their mouth against you.”
42 tn Heb “We have swallowed!”
43 tn Heb “We have attained, we have seen!” The verbs מָצָאנוּ רָאִינוּ (matsa’nu ra’inu) form a verbal hendiadys in which the first retains its full verbal sense and the second functions as an object complement. It forms a Hebrew idiom that means something like, “We have lived to see it!” The three asyndetic 1st person common plural statements in 2:16 (“We waited, we destroyed, we saw!”) are spoken in an impassioned, staccato style reflecting the delight of the conquerors.
44 tn The verb בָּצַע (batsa’) has a broad range of meanings: (1) “to cut off, break off,” (2) “to injure” a person, (3) “to gain by violence,” (4) “to finish, complete” and (5) “to accomplish, fulfill” a promise.
45 tn Heb “His word.” When used in collocation with the verb בָּצַע (batsa’, “to fulfill,” see previous tn), the accusative noun אִמְרָה (’imrah) means “promise.”
46 tn Heb “commanded” or “decreed.” If a reference to prophetic oracles is understood, then “decreed” is preferable. If understood as a reference to the warnings in the covenant, then “threatened” is a preferable rendering.
47 tn Heb “from days of old.”
48 tn Heb “He has overthrown and has not shown mercy.” The two verbs חָרַס וְלֹא חָמָל (kharas vÿlo’ khamal) form a verbal hendiadys in which the first retains its verbal sense and the second functions adverbially: “He has overthrown you without mercy.” וְלֹא חָמָל (vÿlo’ khamal) alludes to 2:2.
49 tn Heb “He has exalted the horn of your adversaries.” The term “horn” (קֶרֶן, qeren) normally refers to the horn of a bull, one of the most powerful animals in ancient Israel. This term is often used figuratively as a symbol of strength, usually in reference to the military might of an army (Deut 33:17; 1 Sam 2:1, 10; 2 Sam 22:3; Pss 18:3; 75:11; 89:18, 25; 92:11; 112:9; 1 Chr 25:5; Jer 48:25; Lam 2:3; Ezek 29:21), just as warriors are sometimes figuratively described as “bulls.” To lift up the horn often means to boast and to lift up someone else’s horn is to give victory or cause to boast.
50 sn Tyre was located on the Mediterranean coast north of Israel.
51 map For location see Map5-B1; Map6-F3; Map7-E2; Map8-F2; Map10-B3; JP1-F4; JP2-F4; JP3-F4; JP4-F4.
52 tn Heb “I will be filled.”
53 sn That is, Jerusalem.
54 tn Or “high places.”
55 tn Heb “lip of the tongue.”