Jeremiah 17:15-16

17:15 Listen to what they are saying to me. ¹ 

They are saying, “Where are the things the Lord threatens us with?

Come on! Let’s see them happen!” ² 

17:16 But I have not pestered you to bring disaster. ³ 

I have not desired the time of irreparable devastation. ⁴ 

You know that.

You are fully aware of every word that I have spoken. ⁵ 

Jeremiah 21:2

21:2 “Please ask the Lord to come and help us, ⁶  because King Nebuchadnezzar ⁷  of Babylon is attacking us. Maybe the Lord will perform one of his miracles as in times past and make him stop attacking us and leave.” ⁸ 

Jeremiah 37:3

The Lord Responds to Zedekiah’s Hope for Help

37:3 King Zedekiah sent ⁹  Jehucal ¹⁰  son of Shelemiah and the priest Zephaniah ¹¹  son of Maaseiah to the prophet Jeremiah. He told them to say, “Please pray to the Lord our God on our behalf.”

Exodus 8:28

8:28 Pharaoh said, “I will release you ¹²  so that you may sacrifice ¹³  to the Lord your God in the desert. Only you must not go very far. ¹⁴  Do ¹⁵  pray for me.”

Exodus 9:28

9:28 Pray to the Lord, for the mighty ¹⁶  thunderings and hail are too much! ¹⁷  I will release you and you will stay no longer.” ¹⁸ 

Exodus 9:1

The Fifth Blow: Disease

9:1 ¹⁹ Then the Lord said to Moses, “Go to Pharaoh and tell him, ‘Thus says the Lord, the God of the Hebrews, “Release my people that they may serve me!

Exodus 7:8

7:8 The Lord said ²⁰  to Moses and Aaron, ²¹ 

Exodus 12:19

12:19 For seven days ²²  yeast must not be found in your houses, for whoever eats what is made with yeast – that person ²³  will be cut off from the community of Israel, whether a foreigner ²⁴  or one born in the land.

Exodus 12:23

12:23 For the Lord will pass through to strike Egypt, and when he sees ²⁵  the blood on the top of the doorframe and the two side posts, then the Lord will pass over the door, and he will not permit the destroyer ²⁶  to enter your houses to strike you. ²⁷ 

Exodus 12:1

The Institution of the Passover

12:1 ²⁸ The Lord said ²⁹  to Moses and Aaron in the land of Egypt, ³⁰ 

Exodus 13:6

13:6 For seven days ³¹  you must eat ³²  bread made without yeast, and on the seventh day there is to be ³³  a festival to the Lord.

Isaiah 1:15

1:15 When you spread out your hands in prayer,

I look the other way; ³⁴ 

when you offer your many prayers,

I do not listen,

because your hands are covered with blood. ³⁵ 

Isaiah 37:4

37:4 Perhaps the Lord your God will hear all these things the chief adviser has spoken on behalf of his master, the king of Assyria, who sent him to taunt the living God. ³⁶  When the Lord your God hears, perhaps he will punish him for the things he has said. ³⁷  So pray for this remnant that remains.’” ³⁸ 

Acts 8:24

8:24 But Simon replied, ³⁹  “You pray to the Lord for me so that nothing of what you have said may happen to ⁴⁰  me.”

James 5:16

5:16 So confess your sins to one another and pray for one another so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person has great effectiveness. ⁴¹ 

[17:15]  ¹ tn Heb “Behold, they are saying to me.”

[17:15]  ² tn Heb “Where is the word of the Lord. Let it come [or come to pass] please.”

[17:16]  ³ tc Heb “I have not run after you for the sake of disaster.” The translation follows the suggestion of some ancient versions. The Hebrew text reads “I have not run from being a shepherd after you.” The translation follows two Greek versions (Aquila and Symmachus) and the Syriac in reading the word “evil” or “disaster” here in place of the word “shepherd” in the Hebrew text. The issue is mainly one of vocalization. The versions mentioned are reading a form מֵרָעָה (mera’ah) instead of מֵרֹעֶה (mero’eh). There does not appear to be any clear case of a prophet being called a shepherd, especially in Jeremiah where it is invariably used of the wicked leaders/rulers of Judah, the leaders/rulers of the enemy that he brings to punish them, or the righteous ruler that he will bring in the future. Moreover, there are no cases where the preposition “after” is used with the verb “shepherd.” Parallelism also argues for the appropriateness of this reading; “disaster” parallels the “incurable day.” The thought also parallels the argument thus far. Other than 11:20; 12:3; 15:15 where he has prayed for vindication by the Lord punishing his persecutors as they deserve, he has invariably responded to the Lord’s word of disaster with laments and prayers for his people (see 4:19-21; 6:24; 8:18; 10:19-25; 14:7-9, 19-22).

[17:16]  ⁴ tn Heb “the incurable day.” For the use of this word see the note on 17:9.

[17:16]  ⁵ tn Heb “that which goes out of my lip is right in front of your face.”

[21:2]  ⁶ tn The verb used here is often used of seeking information through a prophet (e.g., 2 Kgs 1:16; 8:8) and hence many translate “inquire of the Lord for us.” However, it is obvious from the following that they were not seeking information but help. The word is also used for that in Pss 34:4 (34:5 HT); 77:2 (77:3 HT).

[21:2]  ⁷ tn The dominant spelling of this name is actually Nebuchadrezzar which is closer to his Babylonian name Nebu kudduri uzzur. An alternate spelling which is found 6 times in the book of Jeremiah and 17 times elsewhere is Nebuchadnezzar which is the form of the name that is usually used in English versions.

[21:2]  ⁸ tn Heb “Perhaps the Lord will do according to his miracles that he may go up from against us.”

[37:3]  ⁹ sn This is the second of two delegations that Zedekiah sent to Jeremiah to ask him to pray for a miraculous deliverance. Both of them are against the background of the siege of Jerusalem which was instigated by Zedekiah’s rebelling against Nebuchadnezzar and sending to Egypt for help (cf. Ezek 17:15). The earlier delegation (21:1-2) was sent before Nebuchadnezzar had clamped down on Jerusalem because the Judean forces at that time were still fighting against the Babylonian forces in the open field (see 21:4 and the translator’s note there). Here the siege has been lifted because the Babylonian troops had heard a report that the Egyptian army was on the way into Palestine to give the Judeans the promised aid (vv. 5, 7). The request is briefer here than in 21:2 but the intent is no doubt the same (see also the study note on 21:2).

[37:3]  ¹⁰ sn Jehucal was one of the officials who later sought to have Jeremiah put to death for what they considered treason (38:1-4).

[37:3]  ¹¹ sn The priest Zephaniah son of Maaseiah was a member of the earlier delegation (21:2) and the chief of security in the temple to whom the Babylonian false prophet wrote a letter complaining that Jeremiah should be locked up for his treasonous prophecies (29:25-26). See the study notes on 21:2 and 29:25 for further details.

[8:28]  ¹² sn By changing from “the people” to “you” (plural) the speech of Pharaoh was becoming more personal.

[8:28]  ¹³ tn This form, a perfect tense with vav (ו) consecutive, is equivalent to the imperfect tense that precedes it. However, it must be subordinate to the preceding verb to express the purpose. He is not saying “I will release…and you will sacrifice,” but rather “I will release…that you may sacrifice” or even “to sacrifice.”

[8:28]  ¹⁴ tn The construction is very emphatic. First, it uses a verbal hendiadys with a Hiphil imperfect and the Qal infinitive construct: לֹא־תַרְחִיקוּ לָלֶכֶת (lo’ tarkhiqu lalekhet, “you will not make far to go”), meaning “you will not go far.” But this prohibition is then emphasized with the additional infinitive absolute הַרְחֵק (harkheq) – “you will in no wise go too far.” The point is very strong to safeguard the concession.

[8:28]  ¹⁵ tn “Do” has been supplied here to convey that this somewhat unexpected command is tacked onto Pharaoh’s instructions as his ultimate concern, which Moses seems to understand as such, since he speaks about it immediately (v. 29).

[9:28]  ¹⁶ sn The text has Heb “the voices of God.” The divine epithet can be used to express the superlative (cf. Jonah 3:3).

[9:28]  ¹⁷ tn The expression וְרַב מִהְיֹת (vÿrav mihyot, “[the mighty thunder and hail] is much from being”) means essentially “more than enough.” This indicates that the storm was too much, or, as one might say, “It is enough.”

[9:28]  ¹⁸ tn The last clause uses a verbal hendiadys: “you will not add to stand,” meaning “you will no longer stay.”

[9:1]  ¹⁹ sn This plague demonstrates that Yahweh has power over the livestock of Egypt. He is able to strike the animals with disease and death, thus delivering a blow to the economic as well as the religious life of the land. By the former plagues many of the Egyptian religious ceremonies would have been interrupted and objects of veneration defiled or destroyed. Now some of the important deities will be attacked. In Goshen, where the cattle are merely cattle, no disease hits, but in the rest of Egypt it is a different matter. Osiris, the savior, cannot even save the brute in which his own soul is supposed to reside. Apis and Mnevis, the ram of Ammon, the sheep of Sais, and the goat of Mendes, perish together. Hence, Moses reminds Israel afterward, “On their gods also Yahweh executed judgments” (Num 33:4). When Jethro heard of all these events, he said, “Now I know that Yahweh is greater than all the gods” (Exod 18:11).

[7:8]  ²⁰ tn Heb “And Yahweh said.”

[7:8]  ²¹ tn Heb “said to Moses and Aaron, saying.”

[12:19]  ²² tn “Seven days” is an adverbial accusative of time (see R. J. Williams, Hebrew Syntax, 12, §56).

[12:19]  ²³ tn The term is נֶפֶשׁ (nefesh), often translated “soul.” It refers to the whole person, the soul within the body. The noun is feminine, agreeing with the feminine verb “be cut off.”

[12:19]  ²⁴ tn Or “alien”; or “stranger.”

[12:23]  ²⁵ tn The first of the two clauses begun with perfects and vav consecutives may be subordinated to form a temporal clause: “and he will see…and he will pass over,” becomes “when he sees…he will pass over.”

[12:23]  ²⁶ tn Here the form is the Hiphil participle with the definite article. Gesenius says this is now to be explained as “the destroyer” although some take it to mean “destruction” (GKC 406 §126.m, n. 1).

[12:23]  ²⁷ tn “you” has been supplied.

[12:1]  ²⁸ sn Chapter 12 details the culmination of the ten plagues on Egypt and the beginning of the actual deliverance from bondage. Moreover, the celebration of this festival of Passover was to become a central part of the holy calendar of Israel. The contents of this chapter have significance for NT studies as well, since the Passover was a type of the death of Jesus. The structure of this section before the crossing of the sea is as follows: the institution of the Passover (12:1-28), the night of farewell and departure (12:29-42), slaves and strangers (12:43-51), and the laws of the firstborn (13:1-16). In this immediate section there is the institution of the Passover itself (12:1-13), then the Unleavened Bread (12:14-20), and then the report of the response of the people (12:21-28).

[12:1]  ²⁹ tn Heb “and Yahweh said.”

[12:1]  ³⁰ tn Heb “saying.”

[13:6]  ³¹ tn Heb “Seven days.”

[13:6]  ³² tn The imperfect tense functions with the nuance of instruction or injunction. It could also be given an obligatory nuance: “you must eat” or “you are to eat.” Some versions have simply made it an imperative.

[13:6]  ³³ tn The phrase “there is to be” has been supplied.

[1:15]  ³⁴ tn Heb “I close my eyes from you.”

[1:15]  ³⁵ sn This does not just refer to the blood of sacrificial animals, but also the blood, as it were, of their innocent victims. By depriving the poor and destitute of proper legal recourse and adequate access to the economic system, the oppressors have, for all intents and purposes, “killed” their victims.

[37:4]  ³⁶ tn Heb “all the words of the chief adviser whom his master, the king of Assyria, sent to taunt the living God.”

[37:4]  ³⁷ tn Heb “and rebuke the words which the Lord your God hears.”

[37:4]  ³⁸ tn Heb “and lift up a prayer on behalf of the remnant that is found.”

[8:24]  ³⁹ tn Grk “Simon answered and said.”

[8:24]  ⁴⁰ tn Grk “may come upon.”

[5:16]  ⁴¹ tn Or “the fervent prayer of a righteous person is very powerful”; Grk “is very powerful in its working.”