Jeremiah 17:16

17:16 But I have not pestered you to bring disaster. ¹ 

I have not desired the time of irreparable devastation. ² 

You know that.

You are fully aware of every word that I have spoken. ³ 

Jeremiah 22:25

22:25 I will hand you over to those who want to take your life and of whom you are afraid. I will hand you over to King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon and his Babylonian ⁴  soldiers.

Jeremiah 25:33

25:33 Those who have been killed by the Lord at that time

will be scattered from one end of the earth to the other.

They will not be mourned over, gathered up, or buried. ⁵ 

Their dead bodies will lie scattered over the ground like manure.

Jeremiah 41:6

41:6 Ishmael son of Nethaniah went out from Mizpah to meet them. He was pretending to cry ⁶  as he walked along. When he met them, he said to them, “Come with me to meet Gedaliah son of Ahikam.” ⁷ 

[17:16]  ¹ 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]  ² tn Heb “the incurable day.” For the use of this word see the note on 17:9.

[17:16]  ³ tn Heb “that which goes out of my lip is right in front of your face.”

[22:25]  ⁴ tn Heb “the Chaldeans.” See the study note on 21:4.

[25:33]  ⁷ sn The intent here is to emphasize the large quantity of those who are killed – there will be too many to insure proper mourning rites and proper burial.

[41:6]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “he was weeping/crying.” The translation is intended to better reflect the situation.

[41:6]  ¹¹ tn Heb “Come to Gedaliah the son of Ahikam.” The words that are supplied in the translation are implicit to the situation and are added for clarity.