Jeremiah 38:3

38:3 They had also heard him say, ¹  “The Lord says, ‘This city will certainly be handed over to the army of the king of Babylon. They will capture it.’” ² 

Jeremiah 38:23

38:23 “All your wives and your children will be turned over to the Babylonians. ³  You yourself will not escape from them but will be captured by the ⁴  king of Babylon. This city will be burned down.” ⁵ 

¹ tn The words “They had also heard him say,” are not in the Hebrew text. They are supplied in the translation for clarity so as to avoid any possible confusion that might be created by saying merely “And the Lord says,” without any introduction.

² sn See Jer 21:10; 32:28; 34:2; 37:8 for this same prophecy. Jeremiah had repeatedly said this or words to the same effect.

³ tn Heb “Chaldeans.” See the study note on 21:4 for explanation.

⁴ tn Heb “you yourself will not escape from their hand but will be seized by [caught in] the hand of the king of Babylon.” Neither use of “hand” is natural to the English idiom.

⁵ tc This translation follows the reading of the Greek version and a few Hebrew mss. The majority of the Hebrew mss read “and you will burn down this city.” This reading is accepted by the majority of modern commentaries and English versions. Few of the commentaries, however, bother to explain the fact that the particle אֶת (’et), which normally marks the accusative object, is functioning here as the subject. For this point of grammar see BDB 85 s.v. I אֵת 1.b. Or this may be another case where אֵת introduces a new subject (see BDB 85 s.v. אֵת 3.α and see usage in 27:8; 36:22).