Jeremiah 42:11

42:11 Do not be afraid of the king of Babylon whom you now fear. ¹  Do not be afraid of him because I will be with you to save you and to rescue you from his power. I, the Lord, affirm it! ² 

Jeremiah 5:22

5:22 “You should fear me!” says the Lord.

“You should tremble in awe before me! ³ 

I made the sand to be a boundary for the sea,

a permanent barrier that it can never cross.

Its waves may roll, but they can never prevail.

They may roar, but they can never cross beyond that boundary.” ⁴ 

Jeremiah 10:5

10:5 Such idols are like scarecrows in a cucumber field.

They cannot talk.

They must be carried

because they cannot walk.

Do not be afraid of them

because they cannot hurt you.

And they do not have any power to help you.” ⁵ 

Jeremiah 40:9

40:9 Gedaliah, the son of Ahikam and grandson of Shaphan, took an oath so as to give them and their troops some assurance of safety. ⁶  “Do not be afraid to submit to the Babylonians. ⁷  Settle down in the land and submit to the king of Babylon. Then things will go well for you.

¹ sn See Jer 41:18 for their reason for fear.

² tn Heb “oracle of the Lord.”

³ tn Heb “Should you not fear me? Should you not tremble in awe before me?” The rhetorical questions expect the answer explicit in the translation.

⁴ tn Heb “it.” The referent is made explicit to avoid any possible confusion.

⁵ tn Heb “And it is not in them to do good either.”

⁷ tn The words “so as to give them some assurance of safety” are not in the text but are generally understood by all commentators. This would be a case of substitution of cause for effect, the oath, put for the effect, the assurance of safety (NJPS translates directly “reassured them”).

⁸ tn Heb “Chaldeans.” See the study note on 21:4 for explanation.