Jeremiah 4:16-17

4:16 They are saying, ¹ 

‘Announce to the surrounding nations, ² 

“The enemy is coming!” ³ 

Proclaim this message ⁴  to Jerusalem:

“Those who besiege cities ⁵  are coming from a distant land.

They are ready to raise the battle cry against ⁶  the towns in Judah.”’

4:17 They will surround Jerusalem ⁷ 

like men guarding a field ⁸ 

because they have rebelled against me,”

says the Lord.

Jeremiah 39:1-3

39:1 King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon came against Jerusalem with his whole army and laid siege to it. The siege began in the tenth month of the ninth year that Zedekiah ruled over Judah. ⁹  39:2 It lasted until the ninth day of the fourth month of Zedekiah’s eleventh year. ¹⁰  On that day they broke through the city walls. 39:3 Then Nergal-Sharezer of Samgar, Nebo-Sarsekim, who was a chief officer, Nergal-Sharezer, who was a high official, ¹¹  and all the other officers of the king of Babylon came and set up quarters ¹²  in the Middle Gate. ¹³ 

Jeremiah 39:2

39:2 It lasted until the ninth day of the fourth month of Zedekiah’s eleventh year. ¹⁴  On that day they broke through the city walls.

Jeremiah 24:2

24:2 One basket had very good-looking figs in it. They looked like those that had ripened early. ¹⁵  The other basket had very bad-looking figs in it, so bad they could not be eaten.

Jeremiah 24:10--25:4

24:10 I will bring war, starvation, and disease ¹⁶  on them until they are completely destroyed from the land I gave them and their ancestors.’” ¹⁷ 

Seventy Years of Servitude for Failure to Give Heed

25:1 In the fourth year that Jehoiakim son of Josiah was king of Judah, the Lord spoke to Jeremiah ¹⁸  concerning all the people of Judah. (That was the same as the first year that Nebuchadnezzar was king of Babylon.) ¹⁹  25:2 So the prophet Jeremiah spoke to all the people of Judah and to all the people who were living in Jerusalem. ²⁰  25:3 “For the last twenty-three years, from the thirteenth year that Josiah son of Amon was ruling in Judah ²¹  until now, the Lord has been speaking to me. I told you over and over again ²²  what he said. ²³  But you would not listen. 25:4 Over and over again ²⁴  the Lord has sent ²⁵  his servants the prophets to you. But you have not listened or paid attention. ²⁶ 

Luke 19:43

19:43 For the days will come upon you when your enemies will build ²⁷  an embankment ²⁸  against you and surround you and close in on you from every side.

¹ tn The words “They are saying” are not in the text but are implicit in the connection and are supplied in the translation for clarification.

² tn The word “surrounding” is not in the text but is implicit and is supplied in the translation for clarification.

³ tc Or “Here they come!” Heb “Look!” or “Behold!” Or “Announce to the surrounding nations, indeed [or yes] proclaim to Jerusalem, ‘Besiegers…’” The text is very elliptical here. Some of the modern English versions appear to be emending the text from הִנֵּה (hinneh, “behold”) to either הֵנָּה (hennah, “these things”; so NEB), or הַזֶּה (hazzeh, “this”; so NIV). The solution proposed here is as old as the LXX which reads, “Behold, they have come.”

⁴ tn The words, “this message,” are not in the text but are supplied in the translation to make the introduction of the quote easier.

⁵ tn Heb “Besiegers.” For the use of this verb to refer to besieging a city compare Isa 1:8.

⁶ tn Heb “They have raised their voices against.” The verb here, a vav (ו) consecutive with an imperfect, continues the nuance of the preceding participle “are coming.”

⁷ tn Heb “will surround her.” The antecedent is Jerusalem in the preceding verse. The referent is again made explicit in the translation to avoid any possible lack of clarity. The verb form here is a form of the verb that emphasizes the fact as being as good as done (i.e., it is a prophetic perfect).

⁸ sn There is some irony involved in the choice of the simile since the men guarding a field were there to keep thieves from getting in and stealing the crops. Here the besiegers are guarding the city to keep people from getting out.

⁹ sn 2 Kgs 25:1 and Jer 52:4 give the more precise date of the tenth day of the tenth month of the ninth year which would have been Jan 15, 588 b.c. The reckoning is based on the calendar that begins the year in the spring (Nisan = March/April).

¹⁰ sn According to modern reckoning that would have been July 18, 586 b.c. The siege thus lasted almost a full eighteen months.

¹¹ tn English versions and commentaries differ on the number of officials named here and the exact spelling of their names. For a good discussion of the options see F. B. Huey, Jeremiah, Lamentations (NAC), 341, n. 71. Most commentaries follow the general lead of J. Bright (Jeremiah [AB], 243) as the present translation has done here. However, the second name is not emended on the basis of v. 13 as Bright does, nor is the second Nergal-Sharezer regarded as the same man as the first and the information on the two combined as he does. The first Nergal-Sharezer is generally identified on the basis of Babylonian records as the man who usurped the throne from Nebuchadnezzar’s son, Awel-Marduk or Evil-Merodach as he is known in the OT (Jer 52:31; 2 Kgs 25:27). The present translation renders the two technical Babylonian terms “Rab-Saris” (only in Jer 39:3, 13; 2 Kgs 18:17) and “Rab-Mag” (only in Jer 39:3, 13) as “chief officer” and “high official” without knowing precisely what offices they held. This has been done to give the modern reader some feeling of their high position without specifying exactly what their precise positions were (i.e., the generic has been used for the [unknown] specific).

¹² tn Heb “sat.” The precise meaning of this phrase is not altogether clear, but J. Bright (Jeremiah [AB], 243) is undoubtedly correct in assuming that it had to do with setting up a provisional military government over the city.

¹³ tn The Hebrew style here is typically full or redundant, giving a general subject first and then listing the specifics. The Hebrew text reads: “Then all the officers of the king of Babylon came and sat in the Middle Gate, Nergal-Sharezer…and all the rest of the officers of the king of Babylon.” In the translation the general subject has been eliminated and the list of the “real” subjects used instead; this eliminates the dashes or commas typical of some modern English versions.

¹⁴ sn According to modern reckoning that would have been July 18, 586 b.c. The siege thus lasted almost a full eighteen months.

¹⁵ sn See Isa 28:4; Hos 9:10.

¹⁶ sn See Jer 14:12 and the study note there.

¹⁷ tn Heb “fathers.”

¹⁸ tn Heb “The word was to Jeremiah.” It is implicit from the context that it was the Lord’s word. The verbal expression is more in keeping with contemporary English style.

¹⁹ sn The year referred to would be 605 b.c. Jehoiakim had been placed on the throne of Judah as a puppet king by Pharaoh Necho after the defeat of Josiah at Megiddo in 609 b.c. (2 Kgs 23:34-35). According to Jer 46:2 Nebuchadnezzar defeated Necho at Carchemish in that same year. After defeating Necho, Nebuchadnezzar had hurried back to Babylon where he was made king. After being made king he then returned to Judah and attacked Jerusalem (Dan 1:1. The date given there is the third year of Jehoiakim but scholars are generally agreed that the dating there is based on a different system than the one here. It did not count the part of the year before New Year’s day as an official part of the king’s official rule. Hence, the third year there is the fourth year here.) The identity of the foe from the north referred to in general terms (4:6; 6:1; 15:12) now becomes clear.

²⁰ map For location see Map5-B1; Map6-F3; Map7-E2; Map8-F2; Map10-B3; JP1-F4; JP2-F4; JP3-F4; JP4-F4.

²¹ sn The year referred to would be 627 b.c. The same year is referred to in 1:2 in reference to his call to be a prophet.

²² tn For the idiom involved here see the notes at 7:13 and 11:7.

²³ tn The words “what he said” are not in the text but are implicit. They are supplied in the translation for clarity.

²⁴ tn For the idiom involved here see the notes at 7:13 and 11:7.

²⁵ tn The vav consecutive with the perfect in a past narrative is a little unusual. Here it is probably indicating repeated action in past time in keeping with the idiom that precedes and follows it. See GKC 332 §112.f for other possible examples.

²⁶ tn Heb “inclined your ear to hear.” This is idiomatic for “paying attention.” It is often parallel with “listen” as here or with “pay attention” (see, e.g., Prov 4:20; 51:1).

²⁷ sn Jesus now predicted the events that would be fulfilled in the fall of Jerusalem in a.d. 70. The details of the siege have led some to see Luke writing this after Jerusalem’s fall, but the language of the verse is like God’s exilic judgment for covenant unfaithfulness (Hab 2:8; Jer 6:6, 14; 8:13-22; 9:1; Ezek 4:2; 26:8; Isa 29:1-4). Specific details are lacking and the procedures described (build an embankment against you) were standard Roman military tactics.

²⁸ sn An embankment refers to either wooden barricades or earthworks, or a combination of the two.