Jeremiah 14:9

14:9 Why should you be like someone who is helpless, ¹ 

like a champion ²  who cannot save anyone?

You are indeed with us, ³ 

and we belong to you. ⁴ 

Do not abandon us!”

Jeremiah 20:11

20:11 But the Lord is with me to help me like an awe-inspiring warrior. ⁵ 

Therefore those who persecute me will fail and will not prevail over me.

They will be thoroughly disgraced because they did not succeed.

Their disgrace will never be forgotten.

Jeremiah 50:9

50:9 For I will rouse into action and bring against Babylon

a host of mighty nations ⁶  from the land of the north.

They will set up their battle lines against her.

They will come from the north and capture her. ⁷ 

Their arrows will be like a skilled soldier ⁸ 

who does not return from the battle empty-handed. ⁹ 

[14:9]  ¹ tn This is the only time this word occurs in the Hebrew Bible. The lexicons generally take it to mean “confused” or “surprised” (cf., e.g., BDB 187 s.v. דָּהַם). However, the word has been found in a letter from the seventh century in a passage where it must mean something like “be helpless”; see W. L. Holladay, Jeremiah (Hermeneia), 1:433, for discussion and bibliography of an article where this letter is dealt with.

[14:9]  ² tn Heb “mighty man, warrior.” For this nuance see 1 Sam 17:51 where it parallels a technical term used of Goliath used earlier in 17:4, 23.

[14:9]  ³ tn Heb “in our midst.”

[14:9]  ⁴ tn Heb “Your name is called upon us.” See Jer 7:10, 11, 14, 30 for this idiom with respect to the temple and see the notes on Jer 7:10.

[20:11]  ⁵ sn This line has some interesting ties with Jer 15:20-21 where Jeremiah is assured by God that he is indeed with him as he promised him when he called him (1:8, 19) and will deliver him from the clutches of wicked and violent people. The word translated here “awe-inspiring” is the same as the word “violent people” there. Jeremiah is confident that his “awe-inspiring” warrior will overcome “violent people.” The statement of confidence here is, by the way, a common element in the psalms of petition in the Psalter. The common elements of that type of psalm are all here: invocation (v. 7), lament (vv. 7-10), confession of trust/confidence in being heard (v. 11), petition (v. 12), thanksgiving or praise (v. 13). For some examples of this type of psalm see Pss 3, 7, 26.

[50:9]  ⁹ sn Some of these are named in Jer 51:27-28.

[50:9]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “She will be captured from there (i.e., from the north).”

[50:9]  ¹¹ tc Read Heb ַָמשְׂכִּיל (moskil) with a number of Hebrew mss and some of the versions in place of מַשְׁכִּיל (mashkil, “one who kills children”) with the majority of Hebrew mss and some of the versions. See BHS note d for the details.

[50:9]  ¹² tn Or more freely, “Their arrows will be as successful at hitting their mark // as a skilled soldier always returns from battle with plunder.”