2 Chronicles 36:10

36:10 At the beginning of the year King Nebuchadnezzar ordered him to be brought ¹  to Babylon, along with the valuable items in the Lord’s temple. In his place he made his relative ²  Zedekiah king over Judah and Jerusalem.

Jeremiah 25:34

25:34 Wail and cry out in anguish, you rulers!

Roll in the dust, you who shepherd flocks of people! ³ 

The time for you to be slaughtered has come.

You will lie scattered and fallen like broken pieces of fine pottery. ⁴ 

Ezekiel 26:12

26:12 They will steal your wealth and loot your merchandise. They will tear down your walls and destroy your luxurious ⁵  homes. Your stones, your trees, and your soil he will throw ⁶  into the water. ⁷ 

Daniel 11:8

11:8 He will also take their gods into captivity to Egypt, along with their cast images and prized utensils of silver and gold. Then he will withdraw for some years from ⁸  the king of the north.

[36:10]  ¹ tn Heb “sent and brought him.”

[36:10]  ² tn Heb “and he made Zedekiah his brother king.” According to the parallel text in 2 Kgs 24:17, Zedekiah was Jehoiachin’s uncle, not his brother. Therefore many interpreters understand אח here in its less specific sense of “relative” (NEB “made his father’s brother Zedekiah king”; NASB “made his kinsman Zedekiah king”; NIV “made Jehoiachin’s uncle, Zedekiah, king”; NRSV “made his brother Zedekiah king”).

[25:34]  ³ tn Heb “Wail and cry out, you shepherds. Roll in the dust, you leaders of the flock.” The terms have been reversed to explain the figure.

[25:34]  ⁴ tn The meaning of this line is debated. The Greek version does not have the words “lie scattered” and it reads the words “like broken pieces of fine pottery” (Heb “like choice vessels”; כִּכְלִי חֶמְדָּה, kikhli khemdah) as “like choice rams” (כְּאֵילֵי חֶמְדָּה, kÿ’ele khemdah); i.e., “the days have been completed for you to be slaughtered and you will fall like choice rams.” The reading of the Greek version fits the context better, but is probably secondary for that very reason. The word translated “lie scattered” (תְּפוֹצָה, tÿfotsah) occurs nowhere else and the switch to the simile of “choice vessels” is rather abrupt. However, this section has been characterized by switching metaphors. The key to the interpretation and translation here is the consequential nature of the verbal actions involved. “Fall” does not merely refer to the action but the effect, i.e., “lie fallen” (cf. BDB 657 s.v. נָפַל 7 and compare Judg 3:25; 1 Sam 31:8). Though the noun translated “lie scattered” does not occur elsewhere, the verb does. It is quite commonly used of dispersing people and that has led many to see that as the reference here. The word, however, can be used of scattering other things like seed (Isa 28:25), arrows (2 Sam 22:15; metaphorical for lightning), etc. Here it follows “slaughtered” and refers to their dead bodies. The simile (Heb “ fallen like choice vessels”) is elliptical, referring to “broken pieces” of choice vessels. In this sense the simile fits in perfectly with v. 33.

[26:12]  ⁵ tn Heb “desirable.”

[26:12]  ⁶ tn Heb “set.”

[26:12]  ⁷ tn Heb “into the midst of the water.”

[11:8]  ⁸ tn The Hebrew preposition מִן (min) is used here with the verb עָמַד (’amad, “to stand”). It probably has a sense of separation (“stand away from”), although it may also be understood in an adversative sense (“stand against”).