Jeremiah 48:46

48:46 Moab, you are doomed! ¹ 

You people who worship Chemosh will be destroyed.

Your sons will be taken away captive.

Your daughters will be carried away into exile. ² 

Jeremiah 5:7

5:7 The Lord asked, ³ 

“How can I leave you unpunished, Jerusalem? ⁴ 

Your people ⁵  have rejected me

and have worshiped gods that are not gods at all. ⁶ 

Even though I supplied all their needs, ⁷  they were like an unfaithful wife to me. ⁸ 

They went flocking ⁹  to the houses of prostitutes. ¹⁰ 

Jeremiah 5:17

5:17 They will eat up your crops and your food.

They will kill off ¹¹  your sons and your daughters.

They will eat up your sheep and your cattle.

They will destroy your vines and your fig trees. ¹² 

Their weapons will batter down ¹³ 

the fortified cities you trust in.

Jeremiah 38:23

38:23 “All your wives and your children will be turned over to the Babylonians. ¹⁴  You yourself will not escape from them but will be captured by the ¹⁵  king of Babylon. This city will be burned down.” ¹⁶ 

[48:46]  ¹ tn Heb “Woe to you, Moab.” For the usage of this expression see 4:13, 31; 13:17 and the translator’s note on 4:13 and 10:19.

[48:46]  ² tn Heb “Your sons will be taken away into captivity, your daughters into exile.”

[5:7]  ³ tn These words are not in the text, but are supplied in the translation to make clear who is speaking.

[5:7]  ⁴ tn Heb “How can I forgive [or pardon] you.” The pronoun “you” is second feminine singular, referring to the city. See v. 1.

[5:7]  ⁵ tn Heb “your children.”

[5:7]  ⁶ tn Heb “and they have sworn [oaths] by not-gods.”

[5:7]  ⁷ tn Heb “I satisfied them to the full.”

[5:7]  ⁸ tn Heb “they committed adultery.” It is difficult to decide whether literal adultery with other women or spiritual adultery with other gods is meant. The word for adultery is used for both in the book of Jeremiah. For examples of its use for spiritual adultery see 3:8, 9; 9:2. For examples of its use for literal adultery see 7:9; 23:14. The context here could argue for either. The swearing by other gods and the implicit contradiction in their actions in contrast to the expected gratitude for supplying their needs argues for spiritual adultery. However, the reference to prostitution in the next line and the reference to chasing after their neighbor’s wives argues for literal adultery. The translation opts for spiritual adultery because of the contrast implicit in the concessive clause.

[5:7]  ⁹ tn There is a great deal of debate about the meaning of this word. Most of the modern English versions follow the lead of lexicographers who relate this word to a noun meaning “troop” and understand it to mean “they trooped together” (cf. BDB 151 s.v. גָּדַד Hithpo.2 and compare the usage in Mic 5:1 [4:14 HT]). A few of the modern English versions and commentaries follow the reading of the Greek and read a word meaning “they lodged” (reading ִיתְגּוֹרְרוּ [yitggorÿru] from I גּוּר [gur; cf. HALOT 177 s.v. Hithpo. and compare the usage in 1 Kgs 17:20] instead of יִתְגֹּדָדוּ [yitggodadu]). W. L. Holladay (Jeremiah [Hermeneia], 1:180) sees a reference here to the cultic practice of cutting oneself in supplication to pagan gods (cf. BDB 151 s.v. גָּדַד Hithpo.1 and compare the usage in 1 Kgs 18:28). The houses of prostitutes would then be a reference to ritual prostitutes at the pagan shrines. The translation follows BDB and the majority of modern English versions.

[5:7]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “to a house of a prostitute.”

[5:17]  ⁵ tn Heb “eat up.”

[5:17]  ⁶ tn Or “eat up your grapes and figs”; Heb “eat up your vines and your fig trees.”

[5:17]  ⁷ tn Heb “They will beat down with the sword.” The term “sword” is a figure of speech (synecdoche) for military weapons in general. Siege ramps, not swords, beat down city walls; swords kill people, not city walls.

[38:23]  ⁷ tn Heb “Chaldeans.” See the study note on 21:4 for explanation.

[38:23]  ⁸ tn Heb “you yourself will not escape from their hand but will be seized by [caught in] the hand of the king of Babylon.” Neither use of “hand” is natural to the English idiom.

[38:23]  ⁹ tc This translation follows the reading of the Greek version and a few Hebrew mss. The majority of the Hebrew mss read “and you will burn down this city.” This reading is accepted by the majority of modern commentaries and English versions. Few of the commentaries, however, bother to explain the fact that the particle אֶת (’et), which normally marks the accusative object, is functioning here as the subject. For this point of grammar see BDB 85 s.v. I אֵת 1.b. Or this may be another case where אֵת introduces a new subject (see BDB 85 s.v. אֵת 3.α and see usage in 27:8; 36:22).