Jeremiah 29:10

29:10 “For the Lord says, ‘Only when the seventy years of Babylonian rule ¹  are over will I again take up consideration for you. ²  Then I will fulfill my gracious promise to you and restore ³  you to your homeland. ⁴ 

Jeremiah 34:5

34:5 You will die a peaceful death. They will burn incense at your burial just as they did at the burial of your ancestors, the former kings who preceded you. ⁵  They will mourn for you, saying, “Poor, poor master!” ⁶  Indeed, you have my own word on this. ⁷  I, the Lord, affirm it!’” ⁸ 

Jeremiah 52:17-21

52:17 The Babylonians broke the two bronze pillars in the temple of the Lord, as well as the movable stands and the large bronze basin called the “The Sea.” ⁹  They took all the bronze to Babylon. 52:18 They also took the pots, shovels, ¹⁰  trimming shears, ¹¹  basins, pans, and all the bronze utensils used by the priests. ¹²  52:19 The captain of the royal guard took the gold and silver bowls, censers, ¹³  basins, pots, lampstands, pans, and vessels. ¹⁴  52:20 The bronze of the items that King Solomon made for the Lord’s temple (including the two pillars, the large bronze basin called “The Sea,” the twelve bronze bulls under “The Sea,” and the movable stands ¹⁵ ) was too heavy to be weighed. 52:21 Each of the pillars was about 27 feet ¹⁶  high, about 18 feet ¹⁷  in circumference, three inches ¹⁸  thick, and hollow.

Jeremiah 52:2

52:2 He did what displeased the Lord ¹⁹  just as Jehoiakim had done.

Jeremiah 24:1-2

Good Figs and Bad Figs

24:1 The Lord showed me two baskets of figs sitting before his temple. This happened after King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon deported Jehoiakim’s son, King Jeconiah of Judah. He deported him and the leaders of Judah, along with the craftsmen and metal workers, and took them to Babylon. ²⁰  24:2 One basket had very good-looking figs in it. They looked like those that had ripened early. ²¹  The other basket had very bad-looking figs in it, so bad they could not be eaten.

Jeremiah 36:17-18

36:17 Then they asked Baruch, “How did you come to write all these words? Do they actually come from Jeremiah’s mouth?” ²²  36:18 Baruch answered, “Yes, they came from his own mouth. He dictated all these words to me and I wrote them down in ink on this scroll.” ²³ 

Daniel 5:1-4

Belshazzar Sees Mysterious Handwriting on a Wall

5:1 King Belshazzar ²⁴  prepared a great banquet ²⁵  for a thousand of his nobles, and he was drinking wine in front of ²⁶  them all. ²⁷  5:2 While under the influence ²⁸  of the wine, Belshazzar issued an order to bring in the gold and silver vessels – the ones that Nebuchadnezzar his father ²⁹  had confiscated ³⁰  from the temple in Jerusalem ³¹  – so that the king and his nobles, together with his wives and his concubines, could drink from them. ³²  5:3 So they brought the gold and silver ³³  vessels that had been confiscated from the temple, the house of God ³⁴  in Jerusalem, and the king and his nobles, together with his wives and concubines, drank from them. 5:4 As they drank wine, they praised the gods of gold and silver, bronze, iron, wood, and stone.

Daniel 5:23

5:23 Instead, you have exalted yourself against the Lord of heaven. You brought before you the vessels from his temple, and you and your nobles, together with your wives and concubines, drank wine from them. You praised the gods of silver, gold, bronze, iron, wood, and stone – gods ³⁵  that cannot see or hear or comprehend! But you have not glorified the God who has in his control ³⁶  your very breath and all your ways!

[29:10]  ¹ sn See the study note on Jer 25:11 for the reckoning of the seventy years.

[29:10]  ² tn See the translator’s note on Jer 27:22 for this term.

[29:10]  ³ tn Verse 10 is all one long sentence in the Hebrew original: “According to the fullness of Babylon seventy years I will take thought of you and I will establish my gracious word to you by bringing you back to this place.” The sentence has been broken up to conform better to contemporary English style.

[29:10]  ⁴ tn Heb “this place.” The text has probably been influenced by the parallel passage in 27:22. The term appears fifteen times in Jeremiah and is invariably a reference to Jerusalem or Judah.

[34:5]  ⁵ tn Heb “And like the burning [of incense] for your fathers, the former kings who were before you, so will they burn [incense] for you.” The sentence has been reversed for easier style and the technical use of the terms interpreted.

[34:5]  ⁶ sn The intent of this oracle may have been to contrast the fate of Zedekiah with that of Jehoiakim who was apparently executed, went unmourned, and was left unburied (contrast Jer 22:18-19).

[34:5]  ⁷ tn Heb “For [or Indeed] I myself have spoken [this] word.”

[34:5]  ⁸ tn Heb “Oracle of the Lord.”

[52:17]  ⁹ sn For discussion of the items listed here, see the study notes at Jer 27:19.

[52:18]  ¹⁰ sn These shovels were used to clean the altar.

[52:18]  ¹¹ sn These trimming shears were used to trim the wicks of the lamps.

[52:18]  ¹² tn Heb “with which they served (or “fulfilled their duty”).”

[52:19]  ¹³ sn The censers held the embers used for the incense offerings.

[52:19]  ¹⁴ sn These vessels were used for drink offerings.

[52:20]  ¹⁵ tc The translation follows the LXX (Greek version), which reflects the description in 1 Kgs 7:25-26. The Hebrew text reads, “the twelve bronze bulls under the movable stands.” הַיָּם (hayyam, “The Sea”) has been accidentally omitted by homoioarcton; note that the following form, הַמְּכֹנוֹת (hammÿkhonot, “the movable stands”), also begins with the article.

[52:21]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “eighteen cubits.” A “cubit” was a unit of measure, approximately equivalent to a foot and a half.

[52:21]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “twelve cubits.” A “cubit” was a unit of measure, approximately equivalent to a foot and a half.

[52:21]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “four fingers.”

[52:2]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “what was evil in the eyes of the Lord.”

[24:1]  ²⁰ sn See 2 Kgs 24:10-17 (especially vv. 14-16). Nebuchadnezzar left behind the poorest people of the land under the puppet king Zedekiah. Jeconiah has already been referred to earlier in 13:18; 22:25-26. The deportation referred to here occurred in 597 b.c. and included the priest Ezekiel.

[24:2]  ²¹ sn See Isa 28:4; Hos 9:10.

[36:17]  ²² tn Or “Did Jeremiah dictate them to you?” The words “Do they actually come from Jeremiah’s mouth?” assume that the last phrase (מִפִּיו, mippiv) is a question, either without the formal he (הֲ) interrogative (see GKC 473 §150.a and compare usage in 1 Sam 16:4; Prov 5:16) or with a letter supplied from the end of the preceding word (single writing of a letter following the same letter [haplography]; so the majority of modern commentaries). The word is missing in the Greek version. The presence of this same word at the beginning of the answer in the next verse suggests that this was a question (probably without the he [הֲ] interrogative to make it more emphatic) since the common way to answer affirmatively is to repeat the emphatic word in the question (cf. GKC 476 §150.n and compare usage in Gen 24:58). The intent of the question is to make sure that these were actually Jeremiah’s words not Baruch’s own creation (cf. Jer 42:2-3 for a similar suspicion).

[36:18]  ²³ tn The verbal forms emphasize that each word came from his mouth. The first verb is an imperfect which emphasizes repeated action in past time and the second verb is a participle which emphasizes ongoing action. However, it is a little awkward to try to express this nuance in contemporary English. Even though it is not reflected in the translation, it is noted here for future reference.

[5:1]  ²⁴ sn As is clear from the extra-biblical records, it was actually Nabonidus (ca. 556-539 B.C.) who was king of Babylon at this time. However, Nabonidus spent long periods of time at Teima, and during those times Belshazzar his son was de facto king of Babylon. This arrangement may help to explain why later in this chapter Belshazzar promises that the successful interpreter of the handwriting on the wall will be made third ruler in the kingdom. If Belshazzar was in effect second ruler in the kingdom, this would be the highest honor he could grant.

[5:1]  ²⁵ sn This scene of a Babylonian banquet calls to mind a similar grandiose event recorded in Esth 1:3-8. Persian kings were also renowned in the ancient Near Eastern world for their lavish banquets.

[5:1]  ²⁶ sn The king probably sat at an elevated head table.

[5:1]  ²⁷ tn Aram “the thousand.”

[5:2]  ²⁸ tn Or perhaps, “when he had tasted” (cf. NASB) in the sense of officially initiating the commencement of the banquet. The translation above seems preferable, however, given the clear evidence of inebriation in the context (cf. also CEV “he got drunk and ordered”).

[5:2]  ²⁹ tn Or “ancestor”; or “predecessor” (also in vv. 11, 13, 18). The Aramaic word translated “father” can on occasion denote these other relationships.

[5:2]  ³⁰ tn Or “taken.”

[5:2]  ³¹ map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.

[5:2]  ³² sn Making use of sacred temple vessels for an occasion of reveling and drunkenness such as this would have been a religious affront of shocking proportions to the Jewish captives.

[5:3]  ³³ tc The present translation reads וְכַסְפָּא (vÿkhaspa’, “and the silver”) with Theodotion and the Vulgate. Cf. v. 2. The form was probably accidentally dropped from the Aramaic text by homoioteleuton.

[5:3]  ³⁴ tn Aram “the temple of the house of God.” The phrase seems rather awkward. The Vulgate lacks “of the house of God,” while Theodotion and the Syriac lack “the house.”

[5:23]  ³⁵ tn Aram “which.”

[5:23]  ³⁶ tn Aram “in whose hand [are].”