Jeremiah 21:2

21:2 “Please ask the Lord to come and help us, ¹  because King Nebuchadnezzar ²  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.” ³ 

Jeremiah 42:2

42:2 They said to him, “Please grant our request ⁴  and pray to the Lord your God for all those of us who are still left alive here. ⁵  For, as you yourself can see, there are only a few of us left out of the many there were before. ⁶ 

[21:2]  ¹ 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]  ² 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]  ³ tn Heb “Perhaps the Lord will do according to his miracles that he may go up from against us.”

[42:2]  ⁴ tn Heb “please let our petition fall before you.” For the idiom here see 37:20 and the translator’s note there.

[42:2]  ⁵ tn Heb “on behalf of us, [that is] on behalf of all this remnant.”

[42:2]  ⁶ tn Heb “For we are left a few from the many as your eyes are seeing us.” The words “used to be” are not in the text but are implicit. These words are supplied in the translation for clarity and smoothness of English style.