Jeremiah 37:20

37:20 But now please listen, your royal Majesty, ¹  and grant my plea for mercy. ²  Do not send me back to the house of Jonathan, the royal secretary. If you do, I will die there.” ³ 

Jeremiah 39:18

39:18 I will certainly save you. You will not fall victim to violence. ⁴  You will escape with your life ⁵  because you trust in me. I, the Lord, affirm it!”’” ⁶ 

Jeremiah 36:7

36:7 Perhaps then they will ask the Lord for mercy and will all stop doing the evil things they have been doing. ⁷  For the Lord has threatened to bring great anger and wrath against these people.” ⁸ 

Jeremiah 42:2

42:2 They said to him, “Please grant our request ⁹  and pray to the Lord your God for all those of us who are still left alive here. ¹⁰  For, as you yourself can see, there are only a few of us left out of the many there were before. ¹¹ 

[37:20]  ¹ tn Heb “My lord, the king.”

[37:20]  ² tn Heb “let my plea for mercy fall before you.” I.e., let it come before you and be favorably received (= granted; by metonymical extension).

[37:20]  ³ tn Or “So that I will not die there,” or “or I will die there”; Heb “and I will not die there.” The particle that introduces this clause (וְלֹא) regularly introduces negative purpose clauses after the volitive sequence (אַל [’al] + jussive here) according to GKC 323 §109.g. However, purpose and result clauses in Hebrew (and Greek) are often indistinguishable. Here the clause is more in the nature of a negative result.

[39:18]  ⁴ sn Heb “you will not fall by the sword.” In the context this would include death in battle and execution as a prisoner of war.

[39:18]  ⁵ tn Heb “your life will be to you for spoil.” For the meaning of this idiom see the study note on 21:9 and compare the usage in 21:9; 38:2; 45:4.

[39:18]  ⁶ tn Heb “Oracle of the Lord.”

[36:7]  ⁷ tn Heb “will turn each one from his wicked way.”

[36:7]  ⁸ tn Heb “For great is the anger and the wrath which the Lord has spoken against this people.” The translation uses the more active form which is more in keeping with contemporary English style.

[42:2]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “please let our petition fall before you.” For the idiom here see 37:20 and the translator’s note there.

[42:2]  ¹¹ tn Heb “on behalf of us, [that is] on behalf of all this remnant.”

[42:2]  ¹² tn Heb “For we are left a few from the many as your eyes are seeing us.” The words “used to be” are not in the text but are implicit. These words are supplied in the translation for clarity and smoothness of English style.