Jeremiah 27:12

27:12 I told King Zedekiah of Judah the same thing. I said, ¹  “Submit ²  to the yoke of servitude to ³  the king of Babylon. Be subject to him and his people. Then you will continue to live.

Jeremiah 27:17

27:17 Do not listen to them. Be subject to the king of Babylon. Then you ⁴  will continue to live. Why should this city be made a pile of rubble?’” ⁵ 

[27:12]  ¹ tn Heb “I spoke to Zedekiah…according to all these words, saying.”

[27:12]  ² sn The verbs in this verse are all plural. They are addressed to Zedekiah and his royal advisers (compare 22:2).

[27:12]  ³ tn Heb “put their necks in the yoke of.” See the study note on v. 2 for the figure.

[27:17]  ⁴ 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]  ⁵ 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.”