Jeremiah 25:29-32

25:29 For take note, I am already beginning to bring disaster on the city that I call my own. ¹  So how can you possibly avoid being punished? ²  You will not go unpunished! For I am proclaiming war against all who live on the earth. I, the Lord who rules over all, ³  affirm it!’ ⁴ 

25:30 “Then, Jeremiah, ⁵  make the following prophecy ⁶  against them:

‘Like a lion about to attack, ⁷  the Lord will roar from the heights of heaven;

from his holy dwelling on high he will roar loudly.

He will roar mightily against his land. ⁸ 

He will shout in triumph like those stomping juice from the grapes ⁹ 

against all those who live on the earth.

25:31 The sounds of battle ¹⁰  will resound to the ends of the earth.

For the Lord will bring charges against the nations. ¹¹ 

He will pass judgment on all humankind

and will hand the wicked over to be killed in war.’ ¹² 

The Lord so affirms it! ¹³ 

25:32 The Lord who rules over all ¹⁴  says,

‘Disaster will soon come on one nation after another. ¹⁵ 

A mighty storm of military destruction ¹⁶  is rising up

from the distant parts of the earth.’

¹ tn Heb “which is called by my name.” See translator’s note on 7:10 for support.

² tn This is an example of a question without the formal introductory particle following a conjunctive vav introducing an opposition. (See Joüon 2:609 §161.a.) It is also an example of the use of the infinitive before the finite verb in a rhetorical question involving doubt or denial. (See Joüon 2:422-23 §123.f, and compare usage in Gen 37:8.)

³ tn Heb “Yahweh of armies.”

⁴ tn Heb “Oracle of Yahweh of armies.”

⁵ tn The word “Jeremiah” is not in the text. It is supplied in the translation to make clear who is being addressed.

⁶ tn Heb “Prophesy against them all these words.”

⁷ tn The words “like a lion about to attack” are not in the text but are implicit in the metaphor. The explicit comparison of the Lord to a lion is made at the end of the passage in v. 38. The words are supplied in the translation here for clarity.

⁸ sn The word used here (Heb “his habitation”) refers to the land of Canaan which the Lord chose to make his earthly dwelling (Exod 15:13) and which was the dwelling place of his chosen people (Jer 10:25; Isa 32:18). Judgment would begin at the “house of God” (v. 29; 1 Pet 4:17) but would extend to the rest of the earth (v. 29).

⁹ sn The metaphor shifts from God as a lion to God as a mighty warrior (Jer 20:11; Isa 42:13; Zeph 3:17) shouting in triumph over his foes. Within the metaphor is a simile where the warrior is compared to a person stomping on grapes to remove the juice from them in the making of wine. The figure will be invoked later in a battle scene where the sounds of joy in the grape harvest are replaced by the sounds of joy of the enemy soldiers (Jer 48:33). The picture is drawn in more gory detail in Isa 63:1-6.

¹⁰ tn For the use of this word see Amos 2:2; Hos 10:14; Ps 74:23. See also the usage in Isa 66:6 which is very similar to the metaphorical usage here.

¹¹ tn Heb “the Lord has a lawsuit against the nations.” For usage of the term see Hos 4:1; Mic 6:2, and compare the usage of the related verb in Jer 2:9; 12:1.

¹² tn Heb “give the wicked over to the sword.”

¹³ tn Heb “Oracle of the Lord.”

¹⁴ tn Heb “Yahweh of armies.”

¹⁵ tn Heb “will go forth from nation to nation.”

¹⁶ tn The words “of military destruction” have been supplied in the translation to make the metaphor clear. The metaphor has shifted from that of God as a lion, to God as a warrior, to God as a judge, to God as the author of the storm winds of destruction.