Discovery BoxJeremiah 46:5
Context46:5 What do I see?” 1 says the Lord. 2
“The soldiers 3 are terrified.
They are retreating.
They have been defeated.
They are overcome with terror; 4
they desert quickly
without looking back.
Jeremiah 46:21
Contextwill prove to be like pampered, 6 well-fed calves.
For they too will turn and run away.
They will not stand their ground
when 7 the time for them to be destroyed comes,
the time for them to be punished.
Isaiah 42:17
Context42:17 Those who trust in idols
will turn back and be utterly humiliated, 8
those who say to metal images, ‘You are our gods.’”
Lamentations 1:13
Contextמ (Mem)
into my bones, and it overcame 10 them.
He spread out a trapper’s net 11 for my feet;
he made me turn back.
He has made me desolate;
I am faint all day long.
[46:5] 1 tn Heb “Why do I see?” The rendering is that of J. A. Thompson (Jeremiah [NICOT], 685, 88) and J. Bright (Jeremiah [AB], 301; TEV; NIV). The question is not asking for information but is expressing surprise or wonder (see E. W. Bullinger, Figures of Speech, 951).
[46:5] 2 tn Heb “oracle of the
[46:5] 3 tn Heb “Their soldiers.” These words are actually at the midpoint of the stanza as the subject of the third of the five verbs. However, as G. L. Keown, P. J. Scalise, and T. G. Smothers (Jeremiah 26-52 [WBC], 291) note, this is the subject of all five verbs “are terrified,” “are retreating,” “have been defeated,” “have run away,” and “have not looked back.” The subject is put at the front to avoid an unidentified “they.”
[46:5] 4 tn Heb “terror is all around.”
[46:21] 5 tn Heb “her hirelings in her midst.”
[46:21] 6 tn The word “pampered” is not in the text. It is supplied in the translation to explain the probable meaning of the simile. The mercenaries were well cared for like stall-fed calves, but in the face of the danger they will prove no help because they will turn and run away without standing their ground. Some see the point of the simile to be that they too are fattened for slaughter. However, the next two lines do not fit that interpretation too well.
[46:21] 7 tn The temporal use of the particle כִּי (ki; BDB 472 s.v. כִּי 2.a) seems more appropriate to the context than the causal use.
[42:17] 8 tn Heb “be ashamed with shame”; ASV, NASB “be utterly put to shame.”
[1:13] 9 tn Heb “He sent fire from on high.” Normally God sends fire from heaven. The idiom מִמָּרוֹם (mimmarom, “from on high”) can still suggest the location but as an idiom may focus on the quality of the referent. For example, “to speak from on high” means “to presume to speak as if from heaven” = arrogantly (Ps 73:8); “they fight against me from on high” = proudly (Ps 56:3) (BDB 928-29 s.v. מָרוֹם). As a potential locative, מִמָּרוֹם (mimmarom, “from on high”) designates God as the agent; idiomatically the same term paints him as pitiless.
[1:13] 10 tc The MT reads וַיִּרְדֶּנָּה (vayyirdennah, “it prevailed against them”), representing a vav (ו) consecutive + Qal preterite 3rd person masculine singular + 3rd person feminine plural suffix from רָדָה (radah, “to prevail”). The LXX κατήγαγεν αὐτό (kathgagen auto, “it descended”) reflects an alternate vocalization tradition of וַיֹּרִדֶנָּה (vayyoridennah, “it descended against them”), representing a vav (ו) consecutive + Hiphil preterite 3rd person masculine singular + 3rd person feminine plural suffix from יָרָד (yarad, “to go down”), or הֹרִידָהּ (horidah, “it descended against her”), a Hiphil perfect ms + 3rd person feminine singular suffix from from יָרָד (yarad, “to go down”). Internal evidence favors the MT. The origin of the LXX vocalization can be explained by the influence of the preceding line, “He sent down fire from on high.”
[1:13] 11 tn Heb “net.” The term “trapper’s” is supplied in the translation as a clarification.
