Jeremiah 25:38

25:38 The Lord is like a lion who has left his lair. ¹ 

So their lands will certainly ²  be laid waste

by the warfare of the oppressive nation ³ 

and by the fierce anger of the Lord.”

Jeremiah 25:37

25:37 Their peaceful dwelling places will be laid waste ⁴ 

by the fierce anger of the Lord. ⁵ 

Jeremiah 4:26

4:26 I looked and saw that the fruitful land had become a desert

and that all of the cities had been laid in ruins.

The Lord had brought this all about

because of his blazing anger. ⁶ 

Jeremiah 4:8

4:8 So put on sackcloth!

Mourn and wail, saying,

‘The fierce anger of the Lord

has not turned away from us!’” ⁷ 

Jeremiah 30:24

30:24 The anger of the Lord will not turn back

until he has fully carried out his intended purposes.

In days to come you will come to understand this. ⁸ 

Jeremiah 49:37

49:37 I will make the people of Elam terrified of their enemies,

who are seeking to kill them.

I will vent my fierce anger

and bring disaster upon them,” ⁹  says the Lord. ¹⁰ 

“I will send armies chasing after them ¹¹ 

until I have completely destroyed them.

¹ tn Heb “Like a lion he has left his lair.”

² tn This is a way of rendering the Hebrew particle כִּי (ki) which is probably here for emphasis rather than indicating cause (see BDB 473 s.v. כִּי 1.e and compare usage in Jer 22:22).

³ tc Heb “by the sword of the oppressors.” The reading here follows a number of Hebrew mss and the Greek version. The majority of Hebrew mss read “the anger of the oppressor.” The reading “the sword of the oppressors” is supported also by the parallel use of this phrase in Jer 46:16; 50:16. The error in the MT may be explained by confusion with the following line which has the same beginning combination (מִפְּנֵי חֲרוֹן [mippÿne kharon] confused for מִפְּנֵי חֶרֶב [mippÿne kherev]). This reading is also supported by the Targum, the Aramaic paraphrase of the OT. According to BDB 413 s.v. יָנָה Qal the feminine singular participle (הַיּוֹנָה, hayyonah) is functioning as a collective in this idiom (see GKC 394 §122.s for this phenomenon).

⁴ tn For this meaning of the verb used here see HALOT 217 s.v. דָּמַם Nif. Elsewhere it refers to people dying (see, e.g., Jer 49:26; 50:30) hence some see a reference to “lifeless.”

⁵ tn Heb “because of the burning anger of the Lord.”

⁷ tn Heb “because of the Lord, because of his blazing anger.”

¹⁰ tn Or “wail because the fierce anger of the Lord has not turned away from us.” The translation does not need to assume a shift in speaker as the alternate reading does.

¹³ sn Jer 30:23-24 are almost a verbatim repetition of 23:19-20. There the verses were addressed to the people of Jerusalem as a warning that the false prophets had no intimate awareness of the Lord’s plans which were plans of destruction for wicked Israel not plans of peace and prosperity. Here they function as further assurance that the Lord will judge the wicked nations oppressing them when he reverses their fortunes and restores them once again to the land as his special people (cf. vv. 18-22).

¹⁶ tn Heb “I will bring disaster upon them, even my fierce anger.”

¹⁷ tn Heb “Oracle of the Lord.”

¹⁸ tn Heb “I will send the sword after them.”