Jeremiah 12:10

12:10 Many foreign rulers ¹  will ruin the land where I planted my people. ² 

They will trample all over my chosen land. ³ 

They will turn my beautiful land

into a desolate wasteland.

Jeremiah 51:4

51:4 Let them fall ⁴  slain in the land of Babylonia, ⁵ 

mortally wounded in the streets of her cities. ⁶ 

[12:10]  ¹ tn Heb “Many shepherds.” For the use of the term “shepherd” as a figure for rulers see the notes on 10:21.

[12:10]  ² tn Heb “my vineyard.” To translate literally would presuppose an unlikely familiarity of this figure on the part of some readers. To translate as “vineyards” as some do would be misleading because that would miss the figurative nuance altogether.

[12:10]  ³ tn Heb “my portion.”

[51:4]  ⁴ tn The majority of English versions and the commentaries understand the vav (ו) consecutive + perfect as a future here “They will fall.” However, it makes better sense in the light of the commands in the previous verse to understand this as an indirect third person command (= a jussive; see GKC 333 §112.q, r) as REB and NJPS do.

[51:4]  ⁵ tn Heb “the land of the Chaldeans.” See the study note on 21:4 for explanation.

[51:4]  ⁶ tn The words “cities” is not in the text. The text merely says “in her streets” but the antecedent is “land” and must then refer to the streets of the cities in the land.