Jeremiah 25:11

25:11 This whole area ¹  will become a desolate wasteland. These nations will be subject to the king of Babylon for seventy years.’ ² 

Jeremiah 27:17

27:17 Do not listen to them. Be subject to the king of Babylon. Then you ³  will continue to live. Why should this city be made a pile of rubble?’” ⁴ 

Jeremiah 28:2

28:2 “The Lord God of Israel who rules over all ⁵  says, ‘I will break the yoke of servitude ⁶  to the king of Babylon.

Jeremiah 29:20

29:20 ‘So pay attention to what I, the Lord, have said, ⁷  all you exiles whom I have sent to Babylon from Jerusalem.’

Jeremiah 37:19

37:19 Where now are the prophets who prophesied to you that ⁸  the king of Babylon would not attack you or this land?

Jeremiah 39:7

39:7 Then he had Zedekiah’s eyes put out and had him bound in chains ⁹  to be led off to Babylon.

Jeremiah 50:1

Judgment Against Babylon

50:1 The Lord spoke concerning Babylon and the land of Babylonia ¹⁰  through the prophet Jeremiah. ¹¹ 

Jeremiah 50:8

50:8 “People of Judah, ¹²  get out of Babylon quickly!

Leave the land of Babylonia! ¹³ 

Be the first to depart! ¹⁴ 

Be like the male goats that lead the herd.

Jeremiah 51:1

51:1 The Lord says,

“I will cause a destructive wind ¹⁵  to blow

against ¹⁶  Babylon and the people who inhabit Babylonia. ¹⁷ 

Jeremiah 51:37

51:37 Babylon will become a heap of ruins.

Jackals will make their home there. ¹⁸ 

It will become an object of horror and of hissing scorn,

a place where no one lives. ¹⁹ 

Jeremiah 51:54

51:54 Cries of anguish will come from Babylon,

the sound of great destruction from the land of the Babylonians.

Jeremiah 51:61

51:61 Then Jeremiah said to Seraiah, “When you arrive in Babylon, make sure ²⁰  you read aloud all these prophecies. ²¹ 

Jeremiah 52:10

52:10 The king of Babylon had Zedekiah’s sons put to death while Zedekiah was forced to watch. He also had all the nobles of Judah put to death there at Riblah.

Jeremiah 52:26

52:26 Nebuzaradan, the captain of the royal guard, took them and brought them to the king of Babylon at Riblah.

Jeremiah 52:32

52:32 He spoke kindly to him and gave him a more prestigious position than ²²  the other kings who were with him in Babylon.

[25:11]  ¹ tn Heb “All this land.”

[25:11]  ² sn It should be noted that the text says that the nations will be subject to the king of Babylon for seventy years, not that they will lie desolate for seventy years. Though several proposals have been made for dating this period, many ignore this fact. This most likely refers to the period beginning with Nebuchadnezzar’s defeat of Pharaoh Necho at Carchemish in 605 b.c. and the beginning of his rule over Babylon. At this time Babylon became the dominant force in the area and continued to be so until the fall of Babylon in 538 b.c. More particularly Judah became a vassal state (cf. Jer 46:2; 2 Kgs 24:1) in 605 b.c. and was allowed to return to her homeland in 538 when Cyrus issued his edict allowing all the nations exiled by Babylon to return to their homelands. (See 2 Chr 36:21 and Ezra 1:2-4; the application there is made to Judah but the decree of Cyrus was broader.)

[27:17]  ³ tn The imperative with vav (ו) here and in v. 12 after another imperative are a good example of the use of the imperative to introduce a consequence. (See GKC 324-25 §110.f and see Gen 42:18. This is a common verb in this idiom.)

[27:17]  ⁴ tn According to E. W. Bullinger (Figures of Speech, 954) both this question and the one in v. 13 are examples of rhetorical questions of prohibition / “don’t let this city be made a pile of rubble.”

[28:2]  ⁵ tn Heb “Yahweh of armies, the God of Israel.” See the study notes on 2:19 and 7:3 for the explanation of this title.

[28:2]  ⁶ sn See the study note on 27:2 for this figure. Hananiah is given the same title “the prophet” as Jeremiah throughout the chapter and claims to speak with the same authority (compare v. 2a with 27:21a). He even speaks like the true prophet; the verb form “I will break” is in the “prophetic perfect” emphasizing certitude. His message here is a contradiction of Jeremiah’s message recorded in the preceding chapter (compare especially v. 3 with 27:16, 19-22 and v. 4 with 22:24-28). The people and the priests are thus confronted with a choice of whom to believe. Who is the “true” prophet and who is the “false” one? Only fulfillment of their prophecies will prove which is which (see Deut 18:21-22).

[29:20]  ⁷ tn Heb “pay attention to the word of the Lord.” However, the Lord is speaking in the words just previous to this and in the words which follow (“whom I have sent”). This is another example of the shift from third person referent to first person which is common in Hebrew poetry and prophecy but is not common in English style. The person has been adjusted in the translation to avoid confusion.

[37:19]  ⁹ tn Heb “And where are your prophets who prophesied to you, saying, ‘The king of Babylon will not come against you or against this land?’” The indirect quote has been used in the translation because of its simpler, more direct style.

[39:7]  ¹¹ tn Heb “fetters of bronze.” The more generic “chains” is used in the translation because “fetters” is a word unfamiliar to most modern readers.

[50:1]  ¹³ tn Heb “the land of the Chaldeans.” See the study note on 21:4 for explanation.

[50:1]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “The word which the Lord spoke concerning Babylon, concerning the land of the Chaldeans by the hand of Jeremiah the prophet.”

[50:8]  ¹⁵ tn The words “People of Judah” are not in the Hebrew text but are implicit from the context. They have been supplied in the translation to clarify the subject of the address.

[50:8]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “the land of the Chaldeans.” See the study note on 21:4 for explanation.

[50:8]  ¹⁷ tn The words “Be the first to leave” are not in the text but spell out the significance of the simile that follows. They have been supplied in the translation for clarity.

[51:1]  ¹⁷ sn The destructive wind is a figurative reference to the “foreign people” who will “winnow” Babylon and drive out all the people (v. 2). This figure has already been used in 4:11-12 and in 49:36. See the study note on 4:11-12 and the translator’s notes on 22:22 and 49:36.

[51:1]  ¹⁸ tn Or “I will arouse the spirit of hostility of a destroying nation”; Heb “I will stir up against Babylon…a destroying wind [or the spirit of a destroyer].” The word רוּחַ (ruakh) can refer to either a wind (BDB 924 s.v. רוּחַ 2.a) or a spirit (BDB 925 s.v. רוּחַ 2.g). It can be construed as either a noun followed by an adjectival participle (so, “a destroying wind”) or a noun followed by another noun in the “of” relationship (a construct or genitival relationship; so, “spirit of a destroyer”). The same noun with this same verb is translated “stir up the spirit of” in 1 Chr 5:26; 2 Chr 21:16; 36:22; Hag 1:14; and most importantly in Jer 51:11 where it refers to the king of the Medes. However, the majority of the exegetical tradition (all the commentaries consulted and all the English versions except NASB and NIV) opt for the “destructive wind” primarily because of the figure of winnowing that is found in the next verse. The translation follows the main line exegetical tradition here for that same reason.

[51:1]  ¹⁹ sn Heb “the people who live in Leb-qamai.” “Leb-qamai” is a code name for “Chaldeans” formed on the principle of substituting the last letter of the alphabet for the first, the next to the last for the second, and so on. This same principle is used in referring to Babylon in 25:26 and 51:41 as “Sheshach.” See the study note on 25:26 where further details are given. There is no consensus on why the code name is used because the terms Babylon and Chaldeans (= Babylonians) have appeared regularly in this prophecy or collection of prophecies.

[51:37]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “a heap of ruins, a haunt for jackals.” Compare 9:11.

[51:37]  ²⁰ tn Heb “without an inhabitant.”

[51:61]  ²¹ tn Heb “see [that].”

[51:61]  ²² tn Heb “words” (or “things”).

[52:32]  ²³ tn Heb “made his throne above the throne of