Jeremiah 46:11

46:11 Go up to Gilead and get medicinal ointment, ¹ 

you dear poor people of Egypt. ² 

But it will prove useless no matter how much medicine you use; ³ 

there will be no healing for you.

Jeremiah 48:5

48:5 Indeed they will climb the slopes of Luhith,

weeping continually as they go. ⁴ 

For on the road down to Horonaim

they will hear the cries of distress over the destruction. ⁵ 

[46:11]  ¹ tn Heb “balm.” See 8:22 and the notes on this phrase there.

[46:11]  ² sn Heb “Virgin Daughter of Egypt.” See the study note on Jer 14:17 for the significance of the use of this figure. The use of the figure here perhaps refers to the fact that Egypt’s geographical isolation allowed her safety and protection that a virgin living at home would enjoy under her father’s protection (so F. B. Huey, Jeremiah, Lamentations [NAC], 379). By her involvement in the politics of Palestine she had forfeited that safety and protection and was now suffering for it.

[46:11]  ³ tn Heb “In vain you multiply [= make use of many] medicines.”

[48:5]  ⁴ tn Or “Indeed her fugitives will…” It is unclear what the subject of the verbs are in this verse. The verb in the first two lines “climb” (יַעֲלֶה, ya’aleh) is third masculine singular and the verb in the second two lines “will hear” (שָׁמֵעוּ, shame’u) is third common plural. The causal particles at the beginning of the two halves of the verse suggest some connection with the preceding, so the translation assumes that the children are still the subject. In this case the singular verb would be a case of the distributive singular already referred to in the translator’s note on 46:15. The parallel passage in Isa 15:5 refers to the “fugitives” (בְּרִיחֶהָ, bÿrikheha) with the same singular verb as here and that may be the implied subject here.

[48:5]  ⁵ tn Heb “the distresses of the cry of destruction.” Many commentaries want to leave out the word “distresses” because it is missing from the Greek version and the parallel passage in Isa 15:5. However, it is in all the Hebrew mss and in the other early versions, and it is hard to see why it would be added here if it were not original.