Jeremiah 4:13

4:13 Look! The enemy is approaching like gathering clouds. ¹ 

The roar of his chariots is like that of a whirlwind. ² 

His horses move more swiftly than eagles.”

I cry out, ³  “We are doomed, ⁴  for we will be destroyed!”

Jeremiah 4:31

4:31 In fact, ⁵  I hear a cry like that of a woman in labor,

a cry of anguish like that of a woman giving birth to her first baby.

It is the cry of Daughter Zion ⁶  gasping for breath,

reaching out for help, ⁷  saying, “I am done in! ⁸ 

My life is ebbing away before these murderers!”

[4:13]  ¹ tn Heb “he is coming up like clouds.” The words “The enemy” are supplied in the translation to identify the referent and the word “gathering” is supplied to try to convey the significance of the simile, i.e., that of quantity and of an approaching storm.

[4:13]  ² tn Heb “his chariots [are] like a whirlwind.” The words “roar” and “sound” are supplied in the translation to clarify the significance of the simile.

[4:13]  ³ tn The words “I cry out” are not in the text, but the words that follow are obviously not the Lord’s. They are either those of the people or of Jeremiah. Taking them as Jeremiah’s parallels the interjection of Jeremiah’s response in 4:10 which is formally introduced.

[4:13]  ⁴ tn Heb “Woe to us!” The words “woe to” are common in funeral laments and at the beginning of oracles of judgment. In many contexts they carry the connotation of hopelessness or apprehensiveness of inevitable doom.

[4:31]  ⁵ tn The particle כִּי (ki) is more likely asseverative here than causal.

[4:31]  ⁶ sn Jerusalem is personified as a helpless maiden.

[4:31]  ⁷ tn Heb “spreading out her hands.” The idea of asking or pleading for help is implicit in the figure.

[4:31]  ⁸ tn Heb “Woe, now to me!” See the translator’s note on 4:13 for the usage of “Woe to…”