Jeremiah 4:20

4:20 I see ¹  one destruction after another taking place,

so that the whole land lies in ruins.

I see our ²  tents suddenly destroyed,

their ³  curtains torn down in a mere instant. ⁴ 

Jeremiah 50:24

50:24 I set a trap for you, Babylon;

you were caught before you knew it.

You fought against me.

So you were found and captured. ⁵ 

Jeremiah 50:1

Judgment Against Babylon

50:1 The Lord spoke concerning Babylon and the land of Babylonia ⁶  through the prophet Jeremiah. ⁷ 

Jeremiah 4:12-18

4:12 No, ⁸  a wind too strong for that will come at my bidding.

Yes, even now I, myself, am calling down judgment on them.’ ⁹ 

4:13 Look! The enemy is approaching like gathering clouds. ¹⁰ 

The roar of his chariots is like that of a whirlwind. ¹¹ 

His horses move more swiftly than eagles.”

I cry out, ¹²  “We are doomed, ¹³  for we will be destroyed!”

4:14 “Oh people of Jerusalem, purify your hearts from evil ¹⁴ 

so that you may yet be delivered.

How long will you continue to harbor up

wicked schemes within you?

4:15 For messengers are coming, heralding disaster,

from the city of Dan and from the hills of Ephraim. ¹⁵ 

4:16 They are saying, ¹⁶ 

‘Announce to the surrounding nations, ¹⁷ 

“The enemy is coming!” ¹⁸ 

Proclaim this message ¹⁹  to Jerusalem:

“Those who besiege cities ²⁰  are coming from a distant land.

They are ready to raise the battle cry against ²¹  the towns in Judah.”’

4:17 They will surround Jerusalem ²² 

like men guarding a field ²³ 

because they have rebelled against me,”

says the Lord.

4:18 “The way you have lived and the things you have done ²⁴ 

will bring this on you.

This is the punishment you deserve, and it will be painful indeed. ²⁵ 

The pain will be so bad it will pierce your heart.” ²⁶ 

Jeremiah 4:2

4:2 You must be truthful, honest and upright

when you take an oath saying, ‘As surely as the Lord lives!’ ²⁷ 

If you do, ²⁸  the nations will pray to be as blessed by him as you are

and will make him the object of their boasting.” ²⁹ 

Jeremiah 18:19

18:19 Then I said, ³⁰ 

“Lord, pay attention to me.

Listen to what my enemies are saying. ³¹ 

Jeremiah 18:2

18:2 “Go down at once ³²  to the potter’s house. I will speak to you further there.” ³³ 

Jeremiah 30:6

30:6 Ask yourselves this and consider it carefully: ³⁴ 

Have you ever seen a man give birth to a baby?

Why then do I see all these strong men

grabbing their stomachs in pain like ³⁵  a woman giving birth?

And why do their faces

turn so deathly pale?

Esther 3:13-15

3:13 Letters were sent by the runners to all the king’s provinces stating that ³⁶  they should destroy, kill, and annihilate all the Jews, from youth to elderly, both women and children, ³⁷  on a particular day, namely the thirteenth day ³⁸  of the twelfth month (that is, the month of Adar), and to loot and plunder their possessions. 3:14 A copy of this edict was to be presented as law throughout every province; it was to be made known to all the inhabitants, ³⁹  so that they would be prepared for this day. 3:15 The messengers ⁴⁰  scurried forth ⁴¹  with the king’s order. ⁴²  The edict was issued in Susa the citadel. While the king and Haman sat down to drink, the city of Susa was in an uproar! ⁴³ 

Esther 8:10

8:10 Mordecai ⁴⁴  wrote in the name of King Ahasuerus and sealed it with the king’s signet ring. He then sent letters by couriers on horses, who rode royal horses that were very swift.

Esther 8:14

8:14 The couriers who were riding the royal horses went forth with the king’s edict without delay. ⁴⁵  And the law was presented in Susa the citadel as well.

Job 9:25

Renewed Complaint

9:25 “My days ⁴⁶  are swifter than a runner, ⁴⁷ 

they speed by without seeing happiness.

[4:20]  ¹ tn The words, “I see” are not in the text here or at the beginning of the third line. They are supplied in the translation to show that this is Jeremiah’s vision of what will happen as a result of the invasion announced in 4:5-9, 11-17a.

[4:20]  ² tn Heb “my.” This is probably not a reference to Jeremiah’s own tents since he foresees the destruction of the whole land. Jeremiah so identifies with the plight of his people that he sees the destruction of their tents as though they were his very own. It would probably lead to confusion to translate literally and it is not uncommon in Hebrew laments for the community or its representative to speak of the community as an “I.” See for example the interchange between first singular and first plural pronouns in Ps 44:4-8.

[4:20]  ³ tn Heb “my.”

[4:20]  ⁴ tn It is not altogether clear what Jeremiah intends by the use of this metaphor. In all likelihood he means that the defenses of Israel’s cities and towns have offered no more resistance than nomads’ tents. However, in light of the fact that the word “tent” came to be used generically for a person’s home (cf. 1 Kgs 8:66; 12:16), it is possible that Jeremiah is here referring to the destruction of their homes and the resultant feeling of homelessness and loss of even elementary protection. Given the lack of certainty the present translation is rather literal here.

[50:24]  ⁵ tn Heb “You were found [or found out] and captured because you fought against the Lord.” The same causal connection is maintained by the order of the translation but it puts more emphasis on the cause and connects it also more closely with the first half of the verse. The first person is used because the Lord is speaking of himself first in the first person “I set” and then in the third. The first person has been maintained throughout. Though it would be awkward, perhaps one could retain the reference to the Lord by translating, “I, the Lord.”

[50:1]  ⁶ tn Heb “the land of the Chaldeans.” See the study note on 21:4 for explanation.

[50:1]  ⁷ tn Heb “The word which the Lord spoke concerning Babylon, concerning the land of the Chaldeans by the hand of Jeremiah the prophet.”

[4:12]  ⁸ tn The word “No” is not in the text but is carried over from the connection with the preceding line “not for…”

[4:12]  ⁹ tn Heb “will speak judgments against them.”

[4:13]  ¹⁰ 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]  ¹¹ 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]  ¹² 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]  ¹³ 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.

[4:14]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “Oh, Jerusalem, wash your heart from evil.”

[4:15]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “For a voice declaring from Dan and making heard disaster from the hills of Ephraim.”

[4:16]  ¹⁶ tn The words “They are saying” are not in the text but are implicit in the connection and are supplied in the translation for clarification.

[4:16]  ¹⁷ tn The word “surrounding” is not in the text but is implicit and is supplied in the translation for clarification.

[4:16]  ¹⁸ tc Or “Here they come!” Heb “Look!” or “Behold!” Or “Announce to the surrounding nations, indeed [or yes] proclaim to Jerusalem, ‘Besiegers…’” The text is very elliptical here. Some of the modern English versions appear to be emending the text from הִנֵּה (hinneh, “behold”) to either הֵנָּה (hennah, “these things”; so NEB), or הַזֶּה (hazzeh, “this”; so NIV). The solution proposed here is as old as the LXX which reads, “Behold, they have come.”

[4:16]  ¹⁹ tn The words, “this message,” are not in the text but are supplied in the translation to make the introduction of the quote easier.

[4:16]  ²⁰ tn Heb “Besiegers.” For the use of this verb to refer to besieging a city compare Isa 1:8.

[4:16]  ²¹ tn Heb “They have raised their voices against.” The verb here, a vav (ו) consecutive with an imperfect, continues the nuance of the preceding participle “are coming.”

[4:17]  ²² tn Heb “will surround her.” The antecedent is Jerusalem in the preceding verse. The referent is again made explicit in the translation to avoid any possible lack of clarity. The verb form here is a form of the verb that emphasizes the fact as being as good as done (i.e., it is a prophetic perfect).

[4:17]  ²³ sn There is some irony involved in the choice of the simile since the men guarding a field were there to keep thieves from getting in and stealing the crops. Here the besiegers are guarding the city to keep people from getting out.

[4:18]  ²⁴ tn Heb “Your way and your deeds.”

[4:18]  ²⁵ tn Heb “How bitter!”

[4:18]  ²⁶ tn Heb “Indeed, it reaches to your heart.” The subject must be the pain alluded to in the last half of the preceding line; the verb is masculine, agreeing with the adjective translated “painful.” The only other possible antecedent “punishment” is feminine.

[4:2]  ²⁷ tn Heb “If you [= you must, see the translator’s note on the word “do” later in this verse] swear/take an oath, ‘As the Lord lives,’ in truth, justice, and righteousness…”

[4:2]  ²⁸ tn 4:1-2a consists of a number of “if” clauses, two of which are formally introduced by the Hebrew particle אִם (’im) while the others are introduced by the conjunction “and,” followed by a conjunction (“and” = “then”) with a perfect in 4:2b which introduces the consequence. The translation “You must…. If you do,” was chosen to avoid a long and complicated sentence.

[4:2]  ²⁹ tn Heb “bless themselves in him and make their boasts in him.”

[18:19]  ³⁰ tn The words “Then I said” are not in the text. They are supplied in the translation for clarity to show that Jeremiah turns from description of the peoples’ plots to his address to God to deal with the plotters.

[18:19]  ³¹ tn Heb “the voice of my adversaries.”

[18:2]  ³² tn Heb “Get up and go down.” The first verb is not literal but is idiomatic for the initiation of an action. See 13:4, 6 for other occurrences of this idiom.

[18:2]  ³³ tn Heb “And I will cause you to hear my word there.”

[30:6]  ³⁴ tn Heb “Ask and see/consider.”

[30:6]  ³⁵ tn Heb “with their hands on their loins.” The word rendered “loins” refers to the area between the ribs and the thighs.

[3:13]  ³⁶ tn The words “stating that” are not in the Hebrew text but have been supplied in the translation for clarity.

[3:13]  ³⁷ tn Heb “children and women.” The translation follows contemporary English idiom, which reverses the order.

[3:13]  ³⁸ tc The LXX does not include the words “on the thirteenth day.”

[3:14]  ³⁹ tn Heb “peoples” (so NASB, NRSV).

[3:15]  ⁴⁰ tn Heb “runners.” So also in 8:10, 14. Cf. NAB, NASB, NIV, NRSV “couriers.”

[3:15]  ⁴¹ tn Or “went forth in haste” (so ASV).

[3:15]  ⁴² tn Heb “with the word of the king.”

[3:15]  ⁴³ sn The city of Susa was in an uproar. This final statement of v. 15 is a sad commentary on the pathetic disregard of despots for the human misery and suffering that they sometimes inflict on those who are helpless to resist their power. Here, while common people braced for the reckless loss of life and property that was about to begin, the perpetrators went about their mundane activities as though nothing of importance was happening.

[8:10]  ⁴⁴ tn Heb “He”; the referent (Mordecai) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[8:14]  ⁴⁵ tn Heb “making haste and hurrying”; KJV, ASV “being hastened and pressed.”

[9:25]  ⁴⁶ tn The text has “and my days” following the thoughts in the previous section.

[9:25]  ⁴⁷ sn Job returns to the thought of the brevity of his life (7:6). But now the figure is the swift runner instead of the weaver’s shuttle.