Jeremiah 25:14

25:14 For many nations and great kings will make slaves of the king of Babylon and his nation ¹  too. I will repay them for all they have done!’” ² 

Jeremiah 49:31

49:31 The Lord says, ³  “Army of Babylon, ⁴  go and attack

a nation that lives in peace and security.

They have no gates or walls to protect them. ⁵ 

They live all alone.

Jeremiah 50:27

50:27 Kill all her soldiers! ⁶ 

Let them be slaughtered! ⁷ 

They are doomed, ⁸  for their day of reckoning ⁹  has come,

the time for them to be punished.”

Jeremiah 50:31-32

50:31 “Listen! I am opposed to you, you proud city,” ¹⁰ 

says the Lord God who rules over all. ¹¹ 

“Indeed, ¹²  your day of reckoning ¹³  has come,

the time when I will punish you. ¹⁴ 

50:32 You will stumble and fall, you proud city;

no one will help you get up.

I will set fire to your towns;

it will burn up everything that surrounds you.” ¹⁵ 

Jeremiah 51:26

51:26 No one will use any of your stones as a cornerstone.

No one will use any of them in the foundation of his house.

For you will lie desolate forever,” ¹⁶ 

says the Lord. ¹⁷ 

Jeremiah 51:50

51:50 You who have escaped the sword, ¹⁸ 

go, do not delay. ¹⁹ 

Remember the Lord in a faraway land.

Think about Jerusalem. ²⁰ 

Jeremiah 51:52

51:52 Yes, but the time will certainly come,” ²¹  says the Lord, ²² 

“when I will punish her idols.

Throughout her land the mortally wounded will groan.

[25:14]  ¹ tn Heb “make slaves of them.” The verb form here indicates that the action is as good as done (the Hebrew prophetic perfect). For the use of the verb rendered “makes slaves” see parallel usage in Lev 25:39, 46 (cf. BDB 713 s.v. עָבַד 3).

[25:14]  ² tn Heb “according to their deeds and according to the work of their hands.” The two phrases are synonymous; it would be hard to represent them both in translation without being redundant. The translation attempts to represent them by the qualifier “all” before the first phrase.

[49:31]  ³ tn Heb “Oracle of the Lord.”

[49:31]  ⁴ tn The words “Army of Babylon” are not in the text but are implicit from the context. They are supplied in the translation for clarity.

[49:31]  ⁵ tn Heb “no gates and no bar,” i.e., “that lives securely without gates or bars.” The phrase is used by the figure of species for genus (synecdoche) to refer to the fact that they have no defenses, i.e., no walls, gates, or bars on the gates. The figure has been interpreted in the translation for the benefit of the average reader.

[50:27]  ⁵ tn Heb “Kill all her young bulls.” Commentators are almost universally agreed that the reference to “young bulls” is figurative here for the princes and warriors (cf. BDB 831 s.v. פַּר 2.f, which compares Isa 34:7 and Ezek 39:18). This is virtually certain because of the reference to the time coming for them to be punished; this would scarcely fit literal bulls. For the verb rendered “kill” here see the translator’s note on v. 21.

[50:27]  ⁶ tn Heb “Let them go down to the slaughter.”

[50:27]  ⁷ tn Or “How terrible it will be for them”; Heb “Woe to them.” See the study note on 22:13 and compare the usage in 23:1; 48:1.

[50:27]  ⁸ tn The words “of reckoning” are not in the text but are implicit from the context. They are supplied in the translation for clarity.

[50:31]  ⁷ tn Heb “Behold, I am against you, proud one.” The word “city” is not in the text but it is generally agreed that the word is being used as a personification of the city which had “proudly defied” the Lord (v. 29). The word “city” is supplied in the translation for clarity.

[50:31]  ⁸ tn Heb “oracle of the Lord Yahweh of armies.” For the rendering of this title and an explanation of its significance see the study note on 2:19.

[50:31]  ⁹ tn The particle כִּי (ki) is probably asseverative here (so J. A. Thompson, Jeremiah [NICOT], 739, n. 13, and cf. BDB 472 s.v. כִּי 1.e for other examples). This has been a common use of this particle in the book of Jeremiah.

[50:31]  ¹⁰ tn The words “of reckoning” are not in the text but are implicit from the context. They are supplied in the translation for clarity.

[50:31]  ¹¹ sn Compare v. 27.

[50:32]  ⁹ tn Heb “And the proud one will fall and there will be no one to help him up. I will start a fire in his towns and it will consume all that surround him.” The personification continues but now the stance is indirect (third person) rather than direct (second person). It is easier for the modern reader who is not accustomed to such sudden shifts if the second person is maintained. The personification of the city (or nation) as masculine is a little unusual; normally cities and nations are personified as feminine, as daughters or mothers.

[51:26]  ¹¹ tn This is a fairly literal translation of the original which reads “No one will take from you a stone for a cornerstone nor a stone for foundations.” There is no unanimity of opinion in the commentaries, many feeling that the figure of the burned mountain continues and others feeling that the figure here shifts to a burned city whose stones are so burned that they are useless to be used in building. The latter is the interpretation adopted here (see, e.g., F. B. Huey, Jeremiah, Lamentations [NAC], 423; W. L. Holladay, Jeremiah [Hermeneia], 2:426; NCV).

[51:26]  ¹² tn Heb “Oracle of the Lord.”

[51:50]  ¹³ sn God’s exiled people are told to leave doomed Babylon (see v. 45).

[51:50]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “don’t stand.”

[51:50]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “let Jerusalem go up upon your heart.” The “heart” is often viewed as the seat of one’s mental faculties and thought life.

[51:52]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “that being so, look, days are approaching.” Here לָכֵן (lakhen) introduces the Lord’s response to the people’s lament (v. 51). It has the force of “yes, but” or “that may be true.” See Judg 11:8 and BDB 486-87 s.v. כֵּן 3.d.

[51:52]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “Oracle of the Lord.”