Jeremiah 39:4-7

39:4 When King Zedekiah of Judah and all his soldiers saw them, they tried to escape. They departed from the city during the night. They took a path through the king’s garden and passed out through the gate between the two walls. ¹  Then they headed for the Jordan Valley. ²  39:5 But the Babylonian ³  army chased after them. They caught up with Zedekiah in the plains of Jericho ⁴  and captured him. ⁵  They took him to King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon at Riblah ⁶  in the territory of Hamath and Nebuchadnezzar passed sentence on him there. 39:6 There at Riblah the king of Babylon had Zedekiah’s sons put to death while Zedekiah was forced to watch. The king of Babylon also had all the nobles of Judah put to death. 39:7 Then he had Zedekiah’s eyes put out and had him bound in chains ⁷  to be led off to Babylon.

Jeremiah 49:26

49:26 For her young men will fall in her city squares.

All her soldiers will be destroyed at that time,”

says the Lord who rules over all. ⁸ 

Jeremiah 51:32

51:32 They will report that the fords have been captured,

the reed marshes have been burned,

the soldiers are terrified. ⁹ 

Leviticus 26:17

26:17 I will set my face against you. You will be struck down before your enemies, those who hate you will rule over you, and you will flee when there is no one pursuing you.

Leviticus 26:36

26:36 “‘As for ¹⁰  the ones who remain among you, I will bring despair into their hearts in the lands of their enemies. The sound of a blowing leaf will pursue them, and they will flee as one who flees the sword and fall down even though there is no pursuer.

Deuteronomy 28:25

Curses by Defeat and Deportation

28:25 “The Lord will allow you to be struck down before your enemies; you will attack them from one direction but flee from them in seven directions and will become an object of terror ¹¹  to all the kingdoms of the earth.

Deuteronomy 32:30

32:30 How can one man chase a thousand of them, ¹² 

and two pursue ten thousand;

unless their Rock had delivered them up, ¹³ 

and the Lord had handed them over?

Joshua 7:8-12

7:8 If only we had been satisfied to live on the other side of the Jordan! O Lord, what can I say now that Israel has retreated ¹⁴  before its enemies? 7:9 When the Canaanites and all who live in the land hear about this, they will turn against us and destroy the very memory of us ¹⁵  from the earth. What will you do to protect your great reputation?” ¹⁶ 

7:10 The Lord responded ¹⁷  to Joshua, “Get up! Why are you lying there face down? ¹⁸  7:11 Israel has sinned; they have violated my covenantal commandment! ¹⁹  They have taken some of the riches; ²⁰  they have stolen them and deceitfully put them among their own possessions. ²¹  7:12 The Israelites are unable to stand before their enemies; they retreat because they have become subject to annihilation. ²²  I will no longer be with you, ²³  unless you destroy what has contaminated you. ²⁴ 

[39:4]  ¹ sn The king’s garden is mentioned again in Neh 3:15 in conjunction with the pool of Siloam and the stairs that go down from the city of David. This would have been in the southern part of the city near the Tyropean Valley which agrees with the reference to the “two walls” which were probably the walls on the eastern and western hills.

[39:4]  ² sn Heb “toward the Arabah.” The Arabah was the rift valley north and south of the Dead Sea. Here the intention was undoubtedly to escape across the Jordan to Moab or Ammon. It appears from 40:14; 41:15 that the Ammonites were known to harbor fugitives from the Babylonians.

[39:5]  ³ tn Heb “The Chaldeans.” See the study note on 21:4 for explanation.

[39:5]  ⁴ map For location see Map5 B2; Map6 E1; Map7 E1; Map8 E3; Map10 A2; Map11 A1.

[39:5]  ⁵ sn 2 Kgs 25:5 and Jer 52:8 mention that the soldiers all scattered from him. That is why the text focuses on Zedekiah here.

[39:5]  ⁶ sn Riblah was a strategic town on the Orontes River in Syria. It was at a crossing of the major roads between Egypt and Mesopotamia. Pharaoh Necho had earlier received Jehoahaz there and put him in chains (2 Kgs 23:33) prior to taking him captive to Egypt. Nebuchadnezzar had set up his base camp for conducting his campaigns against the Palestinian states there and was now sitting in judgment on prisoners brought to him.

[39:7]  ⁷ tn Heb “fetters of bronze.” The more generic “chains” is used in the translation because “fetters” is a word unfamiliar to most modern readers.

[49:26]  ⁸ tn Heb “Oracle of Yahweh of armies.” For this title for God see the study note on 2:19.

[51:32]  ⁹ tn The words “They will report that” have been supplied in the translation to show the linkage between this verse and the previous one. This is still a part of the report of the messengers. The meaning of the word translated “reed marshes” has seemed inappropriate to some commentators because it elsewhere refers to “pools.” However, all the commentaries consulted agree that the word here refers to the reedy marshes that surrounded Babylon. (For a fuller discussion regarding the meaning of this word and attempts to connect it with a word meaning “fortress” see W. L. Holladay, Jeremiah [Hermeneia], 2:427.)

[26:36]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “And.”

[28:25]  ¹¹ tc The meaningless MT reading זַעֲוָה (za’avah) is clearly a transposition of the more commonly attested Hebrew noun זְוָעָה (zÿva’ah, “terror”).

[32:30]  ¹² tn The words “man” and “of them” are not in the Hebrew text, but are supplied in the translation for clarity.

[32:30]  ¹³ tn Heb “sold them” (so NAB, NIV, NRSV, NLT).

[7:8]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “turned [the] back.”

[7:9]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “and cut off our name.”

[7:9]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “What will you do for your great name?”

[7:10]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “said.”

[7:10]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “Why are you falling on your face?”

[7:11]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “They have violated my covenant which I commanded them.”

[7:11]  ²⁰ tn Heb “what was set apart [to the Lord].”

[7:11]  ²¹ tn Heb “and also they have stolen, and also they have lied, and also they have placed [them] among their items.”

[7:12]  ²² tn Heb “they turn [the] back before their enemies because they are set apart [to destruction by the Lord].”

[7:12]  ²³ tn The second person pronoun is plural in Hebrew, indicating these words are addressed to the entire nation.

[7:12]  ²⁴ tn Heb “what is set apart [to destruction by the Lord] from your midst.”