9:3 The Lord says, 1
“These people are like soldiers who have readied their bows.
Their tongues are always ready to shoot out lies. 2
They have become powerful in the land,
but they have not done so by honest means. 3
Indeed, they do one evil thing after another 4
and do not pay attention to me. 5
25:30 “Then, Jeremiah, 6 make the following prophecy 7 against them:
‘Like a lion about to attack, 8 the Lord will roar from the heights of heaven;
from his holy dwelling on high he will roar loudly.
He will roar mightily against his land. 9
He will shout in triumph like those stomping juice from the grapes 10
against all those who live on the earth.
50:29 “Call for archers 11 to come against Babylon!
Summon against her all who draw the bow!
Set up camp all around the city!
Do not allow anyone to escape!
Pay her back for what she has done.
Do to her what she has done to others.
For she has proudly defied me, 12
the Holy One of Israel. 13
1 tn The words “The
2 tn Heb “They have readied [or strung] their tongue as their bow for lies.”
3 tn Heb “but not through honesty.”
4 tn Heb “they go from evil to evil.”
5 tn Or “do not acknowledge me”; Heb “do not know me.” But “knowing” in Hebrew thought often involves more than intellectual knowledge; it involves emotional and volitional commitment as well. For יָדַע meaning “acknowledge” see 1 Chr 28:9; Isa 29:21; Hos 2:20; Prov 3:6. This word is also found in ancient Near Eastern treaty contexts where it has the idea of a vassal king acknowledging the sovereignty of a greater king (cf. H. Huffmon, “The Treaty Background of Hebrew yada,” BASOR 181 [1966]: 31-37).
6 tn The word “Jeremiah” is not in the text. It is supplied in the translation to make clear who is being addressed.
7 tn Heb “Prophesy against them all these words.”
8 tn The words “like a lion about to attack” are not in the text but are implicit in the metaphor. The explicit comparison of the
9 sn The word used here (Heb “his habitation”) refers to the land of Canaan which the
10 sn The metaphor shifts from God as a lion to God as a mighty warrior (Jer 20:11; Isa 42:13; Zeph 3:17) shouting in triumph over his foes. Within the metaphor is a simile where the warrior is compared to a person stomping on grapes to remove the juice from them in the making of wine. The figure will be invoked later in a battle scene where the sounds of joy in the grape harvest are replaced by the sounds of joy of the enemy soldiers (Jer 48:33). The picture is drawn in more gory detail in Isa 63:1-6.
11 tn For this word see BDB 914 s.v. III רַב and compare usage in Prov 26:10 and Job 16:12 and compare the usage of the verb in Gen 49:23. Based on this evidence, it is not necessary to emend the form to רֹבִים (rovim) as many commentators contend.
12 tn Heb “for she has acted insolently against the
13 sn The Holy One of Israel is a common title for the