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!”

Isaiah 5:26-30

5:26 He lifts a signal flag for a distant nation, ⁵ 

he whistles for it to come from the far regions of the earth.

Look, they ⁶  come quickly and swiftly.

5:27 None tire or stumble,

they don’t stop to nap or sleep.

They don’t loosen their belts,

or unstrap their sandals to rest. ⁷ 

5:28 Their arrows are sharpened,

and all their bows are prepared. ⁸ 

The hooves of their horses are hard as flint, ⁹ 

and their chariot wheels are like a windstorm. ¹⁰ 

5:29 Their roar is like a lion’s;

they roar like young lions.

They growl and seize their prey;

they drag it away and no one can come to the rescue.

5:30 At that time ¹¹  they will growl over their prey, ¹² 

it will sound like sea waves crashing against rocks. ¹³ 

One will look out over the land and see the darkness of disaster,

clouds will turn the light into darkness. ¹⁴ 

Luke 21:25-26

The Arrival of the Son of Man

21:25 “And there will be signs in the sun and moon and stars, ¹⁵  and on the earth nations will be in distress, ¹⁶  anxious ¹⁷  over the roaring of the sea and the surging waves. 21:26 People will be fainting from fear ¹⁸  and from the expectation of what is coming on the world, for the powers of the heavens will be shaken. ¹⁹ 

[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.

[5:26]  ⁵ tc The Hebrew text has literally, “for nations from a distance.” The following verses use singular forms to describe this nation, so the final mem (ם) on לְגּוֹיִם (lÿgoyim) may be enclitic or dittographic. In the latter case one could read לְגוֹי מֵרָחוֹק (lÿgoy merakhoq, “for a nation from a distance”; see Deut 28:49; Joel 3:8). Another possibility is to emend the text from לַגּוֹיִם מֵרָחוֹק (laggoyim merakhoq) to לְגוֹי מִמֶּרְחָק (lÿgoy mimmerkhaq, “for a nation from a distant place”) a phrase which occurs in Jer 5:15. In this case an error of misdivision has occurred in MT, the mem of the prefixed preposition being accidentally taken as a plural ending on the preceding word.

[5:26]  ⁶ tn Heb “he.” Singular forms are used throughout vv. 26-30 to describe this nation, but for stylistic reasons the translation uses the plural for these collective singulars.

[5:27]  ⁷ tn Heb “and the belt on his waist is not opened, and the thong of his sandals is not torn in two.”

[5:28]  ⁸ tn Heb “bent” (so KJV, NAB, NASB, NRSV); NIV “are strung.”

[5:28]  ⁹ tn Heb “regarded like flint.”

[5:28]  ¹⁰ sn They are like a windstorm in their swift movement and in the way they kick up dust.

[5:30]  ¹¹ tn Or “in that day” (KJV).

[5:30]  ¹² tn Heb “over it”; the referent (the prey) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[5:30]  ¹³ tn Heb “like the growling of the sea.”

[5:30]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “and one will gaze toward the land, and look, darkness of distress, and light will grow dark by its [the land’s?] clouds.”

[21:25]  ¹⁵ sn Signs in the sun and moon and stars are cosmic signs that turn our attention to the end and the Son of Man’s return for the righteous. OT imagery is present: See Isa 13:9-10; 24:18-20; 34:4; Ezek 32:7-8; Joel 2:1, 30-31; 3:15.

[21:25]  ¹⁶ tn Grk “distress of nations.”

[21:25]  ¹⁷ tn Or “in consternation” (L&N 32.9).

[21:26]  ¹⁸ tn According to L&N 23.184 this could be mainly a psychological experience rather than actual loss of consciousness. It could also refer to complete discouragement because of fear, leading people to give up hope (L&N 25.293).

[21:26]  ¹⁹ sn An allusion to Isa 34:4. The heavens were seen as the abode of heavenly forces, so their shaking indicates distress in the spiritual realm. Although some take the powers as a reference to bodies in the heavens (like stars and planets, “the heavenly bodies,” NIV) this is not as likely.