Discovery BoxJeremiah 29:17-29
Context29:17 The Lord who rules over all 1 says, ‘I will bring war, 2 starvation, and disease on them. I will treat them like figs that are so rotten 3 they cannot be eaten. 29:18 I will chase after them with war, 4 starvation, and disease. I will make all the kingdoms of the earth horrified at what happens to them. I will make them examples of those who are cursed, objects of horror, hissing scorn, and ridicule among all the nations where I exile them. 29:19 For they have not paid attention to what I said to them through my servants the prophets whom I sent to them over and over again,’ 5 says the Lord. 6 ‘And you exiles 7 have not paid any attention to them either,’ says the Lord. 8 29:20 ‘So pay attention to what I, the Lord, have said, 9 all you exiles whom I have sent to Babylon from Jerusalem.’
29:21 “The Lord God of Israel who rules over all 10 also has something to say about Ahab son of Kolaiah and Zedekiah son of Maaseiah, who are prophesying lies to you and claiming my authority to do so. 11 ‘I will hand them over to King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon and he will execute them before your very eyes. 29:22 And all the exiles of Judah who are in Babylon will use them as examples when they put a curse on anyone. They will say, “May the Lord treat you like Zedekiah and Ahab whom the king of Babylon roasted to death in the fire!” 12 29:23 This will happen to them because they have done what is shameful 13 in Israel. They have committed adultery with their neighbors’ wives and have spoken lies while claiming my authority. 14 They have spoken words that I did not command them to speak. I know what they have done. I have been a witness to it,’ says the Lord.” 15
29:24 The Lord told Jeremiah, “Tell 16 Shemaiah the Nehelamite 17 29:25 that the Lord God of Israel who rules over all 18 has a message for him. 19 Tell him, 20 ‘On your own initiative 21 you sent a letter 22 to the priest Zephaniah son of Maaseiah 23 and to all the other priests and to all the people in Jerusalem. 24 In your letter you said to Zephaniah, 25 29:26 “The Lord has made you priest in place of Jehoiada. 26 He has put you in charge in the Lord’s temple of controlling 27 any lunatic 28 who pretends to be a prophet. 29 And it is your duty to put any such person in the stocks 30 with an iron collar around his neck. 31 29:27 You should have reprimanded Jeremiah from Anathoth who is pretending to be a prophet among you! 32 29:28 For he has even sent a message to us here in Babylon. He wrote and told us, 33 “You will be there a long time. Build houses and settle down. Plant gardens and eat what they produce.”’” 34
29:29 Zephaniah the priest read that letter to the prophet Jeremiah. 35
[29:17] 1 tn Heb “Yahweh of armies.” See the study note on 2:19 for explanation of this title.
[29:17] 3 tn The meaning of this word is somewhat uncertain. It occurs only here in the Hebrew Bible. BDB 1045 s.v. שֹׁעָר relates it to the noun “horrible thing” (translated “something shocking”) in Jer 5:30; 23:14 and defines it as “horrid, disgusting.” HALOT 1495 s.v. שֹׁעָר relates it to the same noun and define it as “rotten; corrupt.” That nuance is accepted here.
[29:18] 4 tn Heb “with the sword.”
[29:19] 5 tn See the translator’s note on 7:13 for an explanation of this idiom.
[29:19] 6 tn Heb “Oracle of the
[29:19] 7 tn The word “exiles” is not in the text. It is supplied in the translation to clarify the referent of “you.”
[29:19] 8 tn Heb “Oracle of the
[29:20] 9 tn Heb “pay attention to the word of the
[29:21] 10 tn Heb “Yahweh of armies, the God of Israel.”
[29:21] 11 tn Heb “prophesying lies in my name.” For an explanation of this idiom see the study notes on 14:14 and 23:27.
[29:22] 12 sn Being roasted to death in the fire appears to have been a common method of execution in Babylon. See Dan 3:6, 19-21. The famous law code of the Babylonian king Hammurabi also mandated this method of execution for various crimes a thousand years earlier. There is a satirical play on words involving their fate, “roasted them to death” (קָלָם, qalam), and the fact that that fate would become a common topic of curse (קְלָלָה, qÿlalah) pronounced on others in Babylon.
[29:23] 13 tn It is commonly assumed that this word is explained by the two verbal actions that follow. The word (נְבָלָה, nÿvalah) is rather commonly used of sins of unchastity (cf., e.g., Gen 34:7; Judg 19:23; 2 Sam 13:12) which would fit the reference to adultery. However, the word is singular and not likely to cover both actions that follow. The word is also used of the greedy act of Achan (Josh 7:15) which threatened Israel with destruction and the churlish behavior of Nabal (1 Sam 25:25) which threatened him and his household with destruction. The word is also used of foolish talk in Isa 9:17 (9:16 HT) and Isa 32:6. It is possible that this refers to a separate act, one that would have brought the death penalty from Nebuchadnezzar, i.e., the preaching of rebellion in conformity with the message of the false prophets in Jerusalem and other nations (cf. 27:9, 13). Hence it is possible that the translation should read: “This will happen because of their vile conduct. They have propagated rebellion. They have committed adultery with their neighbors’ wives. They have spoken words that I did not command them to speak. They have spoken lies while claiming my authority.”
[29:23] 14 tn Heb “prophesying lies in my name.” For an explanation of this idiom see the study notes on 14:14 and 23:27.
[29:23] 15 tn Heb “Oracle of the
[29:24] 16 tn The words “The
[29:24] 17 tn It is unclear whether this is a family name or a place name. The word occurs nowhere else in the Hebrew Bible.
[29:25] 18 tn Heb “Yahweh of armies, the God of Israel.”
[29:25] 19 tn Heb “Tell Shemaiah the Nehelamite, ‘Thus says Yahweh of armies the God of Israel….” The indirect quotation is used in the translation to avoid the complexity of embedding a quotation within a quotation.
[29:25] 20 sn Jer 29:24-32 are concerned with Jeremiah’s interaction with a false prophet named Shemaiah. The narrative in this section is not in strict chronological order and is somewhat elliptical. It begins with a report of a message that Jeremiah appears to have delivered directly to Shemaiah and refers to a letter that Shemaiah sent to the priest Zephaniah encouraging him to reprimand Jeremiah for what Shemaiah considered treasonous words in his letter to the exiles (vv. 24-28; compare v. 28 with v. 5). However, Jeremiah is in Jerusalem and Shemaiah is in Babylon. The address must then be part of a second letter Jeremiah sent to Babylon. Following this the narrative refers to Zephaniah reading Shemaiah’s letter to Jeremiah and Jeremiah sending a further letter to the captives in Babylon (vv. 29-32). This is probably not a third letter but part of the same letter in which Jeremiah reprimands Shemaiah for sending his letter to Zephaniah (vv. 25-28; the same letter referred to in v. 29). The order of events thus is: Jeremiah sent a letter to the captives counseling them to settle down in Babylon (vv. 1-23). Shemaiah sent a letter to Zephaniah asking him to reprimand Jeremiah (vv. 26-28). After Zephaniah read that letter to Jeremiah (v. 29), Jeremiah wrote a further letter to Babylon reprimanding him (vv. 25-28, 31) and pronouncing judgment on him (v. 32). The elliptical nature of the narrative is reflected in the fact that vv. 25-27 are part of a long causal sentence which sets forth an accusation but has no corresponding main clause or announcement of judgment. This kind of construction involves a rhetorical figure (called aposiopesis) where what is begun is not finished for various rhetorical reasons. Here the sentence that is broken off is part of an announcement of judgment which is not picked up until v. 32 after a further (though related) accusation (v. 31b).
[29:25] 21 tn Heb “In your [own] name.” See the study note on 23:27 for the significance of this idiom.
[29:25] 22 tn Heb “letters.” Though GKC 397 §124.b, n. 1 denies it, this is probably a case of the plural of extension. For a similar usage see Isa 37:14 where the plural “letters” is referred to later as an “it.” Even if there were other “letters,” the focus is on the letter to Zephaniah.
[29:25] 23 sn According to Jer 52:24 and 2 Kgs 25:18 Zephaniah son of Maaseiah was second in command to the high priest. He was the high ranking priest who was sent along with a civic official to inquire of the
[29:25] 24 map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.
[29:25] 25 tn The words “In your letter you said to Zephaniah” are not in the text: Heb “you sent a letter to…, saying.” The sentence has been broken up to conform better to contemporary English style and these words have been supplied in the translation to make the transition to the address to Zephaniah in vv. 26-28.
[29:26] 26 tn Heb “in place of Jehoiada the priest.” The word “the priest” is unnecessary to the English sentence.
[29:26] 27 tc Heb “The
[29:26] 28 sn The Hebrew term translated lunatic applies to anyone who exhibits irrational behavior. It was used for example of David who drooled and scratched on the city gate to convince Achish not to arrest him as a politically dangerous threat (1 Sam 21:14). It was often used contemptuously of the prophets by those who wanted to play down the significance of their words (2 Kgs 9:11; Hos 9:7 and here).
[29:26] 29 tn The verb here is a good example of what IBHS 431 §26.2f calls the estimative-declarative reflexive where a person presents himself in a certain light. For examples of this usage see 2 Sam 13:5; Prov 13:7.
[29:26] 30 tn See the translator’s note on 20:2 for this word which only occurs here and in 20:2-3.
[29:26] 31 tn This word only occurs here in the Hebrew Bible. All the lexicons are agreed as seeing it referring to a collar placed around the neck. The basis for this definition are the cognate languages (see, e.g., HALOT 958-59 s.v. צִינֹק for the most complete discussion).
[29:27] 32 tn Heb “So why have you not reprimanded Jeremiah…?” The rhetorical question functions as an emphatic assertion made explicit in the translation.
[29:28] 33 tn Heb “For he has sent to us in Babylon, saying….” The quote, however, is part of the earlier letter.
