Jeremiah 2:30

2:30 “It did no good for me to punish your people.

They did not respond to such correction.

You slaughtered your prophets

like a voracious lion.” ¹ 

Jeremiah 3:24

3:24 From earliest times our worship of that shameful god, Baal,

has taken away ²  all that our ancestors ³  worked for.

It has taken away our flocks and our herds,

and even our sons and daughters.

Jeremiah 46:14

46:14 “Make an announcement throughout Egypt.

Proclaim it in Migdol, Memphis, and Tahpanhes. ⁴ 

‘Take your positions and prepare to do battle.

For the enemy army is destroying all the nations around you.’ ⁵ 

Jeremiah 12:12

12:12 A destructive army ⁶  will come marching

over the hilltops in the desert.

For the Lord will use them as his destructive weapon ⁷ 

against ⁸  everyone from one end of the land to the other.

No one will be safe. ⁹ 

¹ tn Heb “Your sword devoured your prophets like a destroying lion.” However, the reference to the sword in this and many similar idioms is merely idiomatic for death by violent means.

² tn Heb “From our youth the shameful thing has eaten up…” The shameful thing is specifically identified as Baal in Jer 11:13. Compare also the shift in certain names such as Ishbaal (“man of Baal”) to Ishbosheth (“man of shame”).

³ tn Heb “fathers” (also in v. 25).

³ tn Heb “Declare in Egypt and announce in Migdol and announce in Noph [= Memphis] and in Tahpanhes.” The sentence has been restructured to reflect the fact that the first command is a general one, followed by announcements in specific (representative?) cities.

⁴ tn Heb “For the sword devours those who surround you.” The “sword” is again figurative of destructive forces. Here it is a reference to the forces of Nebuchadnezzar which have already destroyed the Egyptian forces at Carchemish and have made victorious forays into the Philistine plain.

⁴ tn Heb “destroyers.”

⁵ tn Heb “It is the Lord’s consuming sword.”

⁶ tn Heb “For a sword of the Lord will devour.” The sword is often symbolic for destructive forces of all kinds. Here and in Isa 34:6; Jer 47:6 it is symbolic of the enemy armies that the Lord uses to carry out destructive punishment against his enemies, hence the translation “his destructive weapon.” A similar figure is use in Isa 10:5 where the figure is more clearly identified; Assyria is the rod/club that the Lord will use to discipline unfaithful Israel.

⁷ tn Heb “There is no peace to all flesh.”