Jeremiah 23:19-20

23:19 But just watch! ¹  The wrath of the Lord

will come like a storm! ² 

Like a raging storm it will rage down ³ 

on the heads of those who are wicked.

23:20 The anger of the Lord will not turn back

until he has fully carried out his intended purposes. ⁴ 

In days to come ⁵ 

you people will come to understand this clearly. ⁶ 

[23:19]  ¹ tn Heb “Behold!”

[23:19]  ² tn The syntax of this line has generally been misunderstood, sometimes to the point that some want to delete the word wrath. Both here and in 30:23 where these same words occur the word “anger” stands not as an accusative of attendant circumstance but an apposition, giving the intended referent to the figure. Comparison should be made with Jer 25:15 where “this wrath” is appositional to “the cup of wine” (cf. GKC 425 §131.k).

[23:19]  ³ tn The translation is deliberate, intending to reflect the repetition of the Hebrew root which is “swirl/swirling.”

[23:20]  ⁴ tn Heb “until he has done and until he has carried out the purposes of his heart.”

[23:20]  ⁵ tn Heb “in the latter days.” However, as BDB 31 s.v. אַחֲרִית b suggests, the meaning of this idiom must be determined from the context. Sometimes it has remote, even eschatological, reference and other times it has more immediate reference as it does here and in Jer 30:23 where it refers to the coming days of Babylonian conquest and exile.

[23:20]  ⁶ tn The translation is intended to reflect a Hebrew construction where a noun functions as the object of a verb from the same root word (the Hebrew cognate accusative).