Jeremiah 51:42

51:42 The sea has swept over Babylon.

She has been covered by a multitude ¹  of its waves. ² 

Jeremiah 47:7

47:7 But how can it rest ³ 

when I, the Lord, have ⁴  given it orders?

I have ordered it to attack

the people of Ashkelon and the seacoast. ⁵ 

Jeremiah 25:22

25:22 all the kings of Tyre, ⁶  all the kings of Sidon; ⁷  all the kings of the coastlands along the sea; ⁸ 

Jeremiah 27:19

27:19 For the Lord who rules over all ⁹  has already spoken about the two bronze pillars, ¹⁰  the large bronze basin called ‘The Sea,’ ¹¹  and the movable bronze stands. ¹²  He has already spoken about the rest of the valuable articles that are left in this city.

Jeremiah 31:35

The Lord Guarantees Israel’s Continuance

31:35 The Lord has made a promise to Israel.

He promises it as the one who fixed the sun to give light by day

and the moon and stars to give light by night.

He promises it as the one who stirs up the sea so that its waves roll.

He promises it as the one who is known as the Lord who rules over all. ¹³ 

Jeremiah 33:22

33:22 I will make the children who follow one another in the line of my servant David very numerous. I will also make the Levites who minister before me very numerous. I will make them all as numerous as the stars in the sky and as the sands which are on the seashore.’” ¹⁴ 

Jeremiah 52:20

52:20 The bronze of the items that King Solomon made for the Lord’s temple (including the two pillars, the large bronze basin called “The Sea,” the twelve bronze bulls under “The Sea,” and the movable stands ¹⁵ ) was too heavy to be weighed.

¹ tn For the meaning “multitude” here rather than “tumult” see BDB 242 s.v. הָמוֹן 3.c, where reference is made that this refers to a great throng of people under the figure of an overwhelming mass of waves. The word is used of a multitude of soldiers, or a vast army in 1 Sam 14:16; 1 Kgs 20:13, 18 (cf. BDB 242 s.v. הָמוֹן 3.a for further references).

² tn Heb “The sea has risen up over Babylon. She has been covered by the multitude of its waves.”

³ tn The reading here follows the Greek, Syriac, and Latin versions. The Hebrew text reads “how can you rest” as a continuation of the second person in v. 6.

⁴ tn Heb “When the Lord has.” The first person is again adopted because the Lord has been speaking.

⁵ tn Heb “Against Ashkelon and the sea coast, there he has appointed it.” For the switch to the first person see the preceding translator’s note. “There” is poetical and redundant and the idea of “attacking” is implicit in “against.”

⁵ map For location see Map1-A2; Map2-G2; Map4-A1; JP3-F3; JP4-F3.

⁶ sn Tyre and Sidon are mentioned within the judgment on the Philistines in Jer 47:4. They were Phoenician cities to the north and west of Judah on the coast of the Mediterranean Sea in what is now Lebanon.

⁷ sn The connection with Tyre and Sidon suggests that these were Phoenician colonies. See also Isa 23:2.

⁷ tn Heb “Yahweh of armies.” For the significance of this title see the note at 2:19.

⁸ tn The words “two bronze” are not in the text. They have been supplied in the translation to help identify the referent.

⁹ tn The words “the large bronze basin called” are not in the text. They have been supplied in the translation to help identify the referent.

¹⁰ tn The words “movable bronze” are not in the text. They have been supplied in the translation to help identify the referent. See the study note for further reference.

⁹ tn Heb “Yahweh of armies.” See the study note on 2:19 for this title. In the Hebrew text the verse reads: “Thus says the Lord who provides the sun for light by day, the fixed ordering of the moon and stars for light by night, who stirs up the sea and its waves roar, whose name is Yahweh of armies, ‘…’” The hymnic introduction to the quote which does not begin until v. 36 has been broken down to avoid a long awkward sentence in English. The word “said” has been translated “made a promise” to reflect the nature of the content in vv. 36-37. The first two lines of the Hebrew poetry are a case of complex or supplementary ellipsis where the complete idea of “providing/establishing the fixed laws” is divided between the two lines (cf. E. W. Bullinger, Figures of Speech, 110-13). The necessity for recombining the ellipsis is obvious from reference to the fixed ordering in the next verse. (Some commentators prefer to delete the word as an erroneous glossing of the word in the following line (see, e.g., J. Bright, Jeremiah [AB], 277, n. y).

¹¹ tn Heb “Just as the stars in the sky cannot be numbered or the sand on the seashore cannot be measured, so I will greatly increase [or multiply] the seed of my servant David and the Levites who minister before me.” The word “seed of” does not carry over to the “the Levites” as a noun governing two genitives because “the Levites” has the accusative marker in front of it. The sentence has been broken down in conformity with contemporary English style.

¹³ tc The translation follows the LXX (Greek version), which reflects the description in 1 Kgs 7:25-26. The Hebrew text reads, “the twelve bronze bulls under the movable stands.” הַיָּם (hayyam, “The Sea”) has been accidentally omitted by homoioarcton; note that the following form, הַמְּכֹנוֹת (hammÿkhonot, “the movable stands”), also begins with the article.