Jeremiah 38:19

38:19 Then King Zedekiah said to Jeremiah, “I am afraid of the Judeans who have deserted to the Babylonians. ¹  The Babylonians might hand me over to them and they will torture me.” ² 

Jeremiah 39:9

39:9 Then Nebuzaradan, the captain of the royal guard, ³  took captive the rest of the people who were left in the city. He carried them off to Babylon along with the people who had deserted to him. ⁴ 

Jeremiah 50:15

50:15 Shout the battle cry from all around the city.

She will throw up her hands in surrender. ⁵ 

Her towers ⁶  will fall.

Her walls will be torn down.

Because I, the Lord, am wreaking revenge, ⁷ 

take out your vengeance on her!

Do to her as she has done!

Jeremiah 52:15

52:15 Nebuzaradan, the captain of the royal guard, took into exile some of the poor, ⁸  the rest of the people who remained in the city, those who had deserted to him, and the rest of the craftsmen.

[38:19]  ¹ tn Heb “Chaldeans.” See the study note on 21:4 for explanation.

[38:19]  ² tn Or “and they will badly abuse me.” For the usage of this verb in the situation presupposed see Judg 19:25 and 1 Sam 31:4.

[39:9]  ³ tn For the meaning of this phrase see BDB 371 s.v. טַבָּח 2 and compare the usage in Gen 39:1.

[39:9]  ⁴ tc The translation is based on an emendation of the text which leaves out “the rest of the people who were left” as a double writing of the same phrase at the beginning of the verse. Some commentators emend the phrase “the rest of the people who were left” (הַנִּשְׁאָרִים וְאֶת יֶתֶר הָעָם, hannish’arim vÿ’et yeter ha’am) to read “the rest of the craftsmen who were left” (וְאֶת יֶתֶר הָאָמוֹן הַנִּשְׁאָרִים, vÿ’et yeter ha’amon hannish’arim) on the basis of the parallel in Jer 52:15 (which does not have הַנִּשְׁאָרִים, hannish’arim). However, it is easier to explain the phrase as a dittography of the phrase at the beginning (which is exactly the same except הָעִיר [ha’ir] follows it). The text is redundant because it refers twice to the same group of people. The Hebrew text reads: “And the rest of the people who were left in the city and the deserters who had deserted to him and the rest of the people Nebuzaradan, the captain of the guard, carried into exile to Babylon.” The text has also been divided up to create two shorter sentences to better conform with contemporary English style.

[50:15]  ⁵ tn Heb “She has given her hand.” For the idiom here involving submission/surrender see BDB 680 s.v. נָתַן Qal.1.z and compare the usage in 1 Chr 29:24; 2 Chr 30:8. For a different interpretation, however, see the rather complete discussion in G. L. Keown, P. J. Scalise, and T. G. Smothers (Jeremiah 26-52 [WBC], 366) who see this as a reference to making a covenant. The verb in this line and the next two lines are all Hebrew perfects and most translators and commentaries see them as past. God’s Word, however, treats them as prophetic perfects and translates them as future. This is more likely in the light of the imperatives both before and after.

[50:15]  ⁶ tn The meaning of this word is uncertain. The definition here follows that of HALOT 91 s.v. אָשְׁיָה, which defines it on the basis of an Akkadian word and treats it as a loanword.

[50:15]  ⁷ tn Heb “Because it is the Lord’s vengeance.” The first person has again been used because the Lord is the speaker and the nominal expression has been turned into a verbal one more in keeping with contemporary English style.

[52:15]  ⁷ tn Heb “poor of the people.”