Jeremiah 17:18

17:18 May those who persecute me be disgraced.

Do not let me be disgraced.

May they be dismayed.

Do not let me be dismayed.

Bring days of disaster on them.

Bring on them the destruction they deserve.” ¹ 

Jeremiah 23:9

Oracles Against the False Prophets ² 

23:9 Here is what the Lord says concerning the false prophets: ³ 

My heart and my mind are deeply disturbed.

I tremble all over. ⁴ 

I am like a drunk person,

like a person who has had too much wine, ⁵ 

because of the way the Lord

and his holy word are being mistreated. ⁶ 

Jeremiah 28:12-13

28:12 But shortly after the prophet Hananiah had broken the yoke off the prophet Jeremiah’s neck, the Lord spoke to Jeremiah. 28:13 “Go and tell Hananiah that the Lord says, ⁷  ‘You have indeed broken the wooden yoke. But you have ⁸  only succeeded in replacing it with an iron one! ⁹ 

Jeremiah 30:8

30:8 When the time for them to be rescued comes,” ¹⁰ 

says the Lord who rules over all, ¹¹ 

“I will rescue you from foreign subjugation. ¹² 

I will deliver you from captivity. ¹³ 

Foreigners will then no longer subjugate them.

Jeremiah 43:13

43:13 He will demolish the sacred pillars in the temple of the sun ¹⁴  in Egypt and will burn down the temples of the gods of Egypt.”’”

Jeremiah 48:17

48:17 Mourn for that nation, all you nations living around it,

all of you nations that know of its fame. ¹⁵ 

Mourn and say, ‘Alas, its powerful influence has been broken!

Its glory and power have been done away!’ ¹⁶ 

Jeremiah 48:38

48:38 On all the housetops in Moab

and in all its public squares

there will be nothing but mourning.

For I will break Moab like an unwanted jar.

I, the Lord, affirm it! ¹⁷ 

Jeremiah 51:30

51:30 The soldiers of Babylonia will stop fighting.

They will remain in their fortified cities.

They will lose their strength to do battle. ¹⁸ 

They will be as frightened as women. ¹⁹ 

The houses in her cities will be set on fire.

The gates of her cities will be broken down. ²⁰ 

[17:18]  ¹ tn Or “complete destruction.” See the translator’s note on 16:18.

[23:9]  ² sn Jeremiah has already had a good deal to say about the false prophets and their fate. See 2:8, 26; 5:13, 31; 14:13-15. Here he parallels the condemnation of the wicked prophets and their fate (23:9-40) with that of the wicked kings (21:11-22:30).

[23:9]  ³ tn The word “false” is not in the text, but it is clear from the context that these are whom the sayings are directed against. The words “Here is what the Lord says” are also not in the text. But comparison with 46:2; 48:1; 49:1, 7, 23, 28; and 21:11 will show that this is a heading. The words are supplied in the translation for clarity.

[23:9]  ⁴ tn Heb “My heart is crushed within me. My bones tremble.” It has already been noted several times that the “heart” in ancient Hebrew psychology was the intellectual and volitional center of the person, the kidneys were the emotional center, and the bones the locus of strength and also the subject of joy, distress, and sorrow. Here Jeremiah is speaking of his distress of heart and mind in modern psychology, a distress that leads him to trembling of body which he compares to that of a drunken person staggering around under the influence of wine.

[23:9]  ⁵ tn Heb “wine has passed over him.”

[23:9]  ⁶ tn Heb “wine because of the Lord and because of his holy word.” The words that are supplied in the translation are implicit from the context and are added for clarity.

[28:13]  ³ tn Heb “Hananiah, ‘Thus says the Lord….” The translation uses an indirect quotation here used to eliminate one level of embedded quotation.

[28:13]  ⁴ tn The Greek version reads “I have made/put” rather than “you have made/put.” This is the easier reading and is therefore rejected.

[28:13]  ⁵ tn Heb “the yoke bars of wood you have broken, but you have made in its stead yoke bars of iron.”

[30:8]  ⁴ tn Heb “And it shall happen in that day.”

[30:8]  ⁵ tn Heb “Oracle of Yahweh of armies.” See the study note on 2:19 for explanation of the title for God.

[30:8]  ⁶ tn Heb “I will break his yoke from upon your neck.” For the explanation of the figure see the study note on 27:2. The shift from third person at the end of v. 7 to second person in v. 8c, d and back to third person in v. 8e is typical of Hebrew poetry in the book of Psalms and in the prophetic books (cf., GKC 351 §114.p and compare usage in Deut 32:15; Isa 5:8 listed there). The present translation, like several other modern ones, has typically leveled them to the same person to avoid confusion for modern readers who are not accustomed to this poetic tradition.

[30:8]  ⁷ tn Heb “I will tear off their bands.” The “bands” are the leather straps which held the yoke bars in place (cf. 27:2). The metaphor of the “yoke on the neck” is continued. The translation reflects the sense of the metaphor but not the specific referent.

[43:13]  ⁵ sn It is generally agreed that the temple of the sun was located in Heliopolis, which is elsewhere referred to as On (cf. Gen 41:45). It was the center for the worship of Amon-Re, the Egyptian sun god, and was famous for its obelisks (conical shaped pillars) dedicated to that god. It was located about 6 miles (10 km) northeast of modern-day Cairo.

[48:17]  ⁶ tn For the use of the word “name” (שֵׁם, shem) to “fame” or “repute” see BDB 1028 s.v. שֵׁם 2.b and compare the usage in Ezek 16:14; 2 Chr 26:15.

[48:17]  ⁷ tn Heb “How is the strong staff broken, the beautiful rod.” “How” introduces a lament which is here rendered by “Alas.” The staff and rod refer to the support that Moab gave to others not to the fact that she ruled over others which was never the case. According to BDB 739 s.v. עוֹז 1 the “strong staff” is figurative of political power.

[48:38]  ⁷ tn Heb “Oracle of the Lord.”

[51:30]  ⁸ tn Heb “Their strength is dry.” This is a figurative nuance of the word “dry” which BDB 677 s.v. נָשַׁת Qal.1 explain as meaning “fails.” The idea of “strength to do battle” is implicit from the context and is supplied in the translation here for clarity.

[51:30]  ⁹ tn Heb “They have become women.” The metaphor has been turned into a simile and the significance of the comparison drawn out for the sake of clarity. See 50:37 for the same figure.

[51:30]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “Her dwelling places have been set on fire. Her bars [i.e., the bars on the gates of her cities] have been broken.” The present translation has substituted the word “gates” for “bars” because the intent of the figure is to show that the bars of the gates have been broken giving access to the city. “Gates” makes it easier for the modern reader to understand the figure.