Jeremiah 34:2-3

34:2 The Lord God of Israel told Jeremiah ¹  to go and give King Zedekiah of Judah a message. He told Jeremiah ²  to tell him, “The Lord says, ‘I am going to ³  hand this city over to the king of Babylon and he will burn it down. 34:3 You yourself will not escape his clutches, but will certainly be captured and handed over to him. You must confront the king of Babylon face to face and answer to him personally. ⁴  Then you must go to Babylon.

Jeremiah 34:2

34:2 The Lord God of Israel told Jeremiah ⁵  to go and give King Zedekiah of Judah a message. He told Jeremiah ⁶  to tell him, “The Lord says, ‘I am going to ⁷  hand this city over to the king of Babylon and he will burn it down.

Jeremiah 25:4

25:4 Over and over again ⁸  the Lord has sent ⁹  his servants the prophets to you. But you have not listened or paid attention. ¹⁰ 

[34:2]  ¹ tn Heb “told him”; the referent (Jeremiah) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[34:2]  ² tn Heb “told him”; the referent (Jeremiah) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[34:2]  ³ tn Heb 34:1 “The word which came to Jeremiah from the Lord…saying, ‘Thus says the Lord God of Israel, “Go and speak to Zedekiah king of Judah and say to him, ‘Thus says the Lord, “I am going to….”’”’” The translation has tried to avoid some of the confusion that is created by embedding quotations within quotations by using indirect quotation in some instances; the conceptualization is the same but the style is simpler.

[34:3]  ⁴ tn Heb “Your eyes will see the eyes of the king of Babylon and his mouth will speak with your mouth.” For this same idiom in reverse order see 32:4 and consult the translator’s note there for the obligatory nuance given to the verbs.

[34:2]  ⁵ tn Heb “told him”; the referent (Jeremiah) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[34:2]  ⁶ tn Heb “told him”; the referent (Jeremiah) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[34:2]  ⁷ tn Heb 34:1 “The word which came to Jeremiah from the Lord…saying, ‘Thus says the Lord God of Israel, “Go and speak to Zedekiah king of Judah and say to him, ‘Thus says the Lord, “I am going to….”’”’” The translation has tried to avoid some of the confusion that is created by embedding quotations within quotations by using indirect quotation in some instances; the conceptualization is the same but the style is simpler.

[25:4]  ⁸ tn For the idiom involved here see the notes at 7:13 and 11:7.

[25:4]  ⁹ tn The vav consecutive with the perfect in a past narrative is a little unusual. Here it is probably indicating repeated action in past time in keeping with the idiom that precedes and follows it. See GKC 332 §112.f for other possible examples.

[25:4]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “inclined your ear to hear.” This is idiomatic for “paying attention.” It is often parallel with “listen” as here or with “pay attention” (see, e.g., Prov 4:20; 51:1).