Jeremiah 10:21

10:21 For our leaders ¹  are stupid.

They have not sought the Lord’s advice. ² 

So they do not act wisely,

and the people they are responsible for ³  have all been scattered.

Jeremiah 22:22

22:22 My judgment will carry off all your leaders like a storm wind! ⁴ 

Your allies will go into captivity.

Then you will certainly ⁵  be disgraced and put to shame

because of all the wickedness you have done.

[10:21]  ¹ tn Heb “the shepherds.”

[10:21]  ² tn Heb “They have not sought the Lord.”

[10:21]  ³ tn Heb “all their flock (or “pasturage”).”

[22:22]  ⁴ tn Heb “A wind will shepherd away all your shepherds.” The figures have all been interpreted in the translation for the sake of clarity. For the use of the word “wind” as a metaphor or simile for God’s judgment (using the enemy forces) see 4:11-12; 13:24; 18:17. For the use of the word “shepherd” to refer to rulers/leaders 2:8; 10:21; and 23:1-4. For the use of the word “shepherd away” in the sense of carry off/drive away see BDB 945 s.v. רָעָה 2.d and compare Job 20:26. There is an obvious wordplay involved in two different senses of the word “shepherd,” one referring to their leaders and one referring to the loss of those leaders by the wind driving them off. There may even be a further play involving the word “wickedness” which comes from a word having the same consonants. If the oracles in this section are chronologically ordered this threat was fulfilled in 597 b.c. when many of the royal officials and nobles were carried away captive with Jehoiachin (see 2 Kgs 24:15) who is the subject of the next oracle.

[22:22]  ⁵ tn The use of the Hebrew particle כִּי (ki) is intensive here and probably also at the beginning of the last line of v. 21. (See BDB 472 s.v. כִּי 1.e.)