Jeremiah 49:28-33

Judgment Against Kedar and Hazor

49:28 The Lord spoke about Kedar ¹  and the kingdoms of Hazor ²  that King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon conquered.

“Army of Babylon, ³  go and attack Kedar.

Lay waste those who live in the eastern desert. ⁴ 

49:29 Their tents and their flocks will be taken away.

Their tent curtains, equipment, and camels will be carried off.

People will shout ⁵  to them,

‘Terror is all around you!’” ⁶ 

49:30 The Lord says, ⁷  “Flee quickly, you who live in Hazor. ⁸ 

Take up refuge in remote places. ⁹ 

For King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon has laid out plans to attack you.

He has formed his strategy on how to defeat you.” ¹⁰ 

49:31 The Lord says, ¹¹  “Army of Babylon, ¹²  go and attack

a nation that lives in peace and security.

They have no gates or walls to protect them. ¹³ 

They live all alone.

49:32 Their camels will be taken as plunder.

Their vast herds will be taken as spoil.

I will scatter to the four winds

those desert peoples who cut their hair short at the temples. ¹⁴ 

I will bring disaster against them

from every direction,” says the Lord. ¹⁵ 

49:33 “Hazor will become a permanent wasteland,

a place where only jackals live. ¹⁶ 

No one will live there.

No human being will settle in it.” ¹⁷ 

[49:28]  ¹ sn Kedar appears to refer to an Arabic tribe of nomads descended from Ishmael (Gen 25:13). They are associated here with the people who live in the eastern desert (Heb “the children of the east”; בְּנֵי־קֶדֶם, bÿne-qedem). In Isa 21:16 they are associated with the Temanites and the Dedanites, Arabic tribes in the north Arabian desert. They were sheep breeders (Isa 60:7) who lived in tents (Ps 120:5) and unwalled villages (Isa 42:11). According to Assyrian records they clashed with Assyria from the time of Shalmaneser in 850 until the time of Esarhaddon and Ashurbanipal in the late seventh century. According to the Babylonian Chronicles, Nebuchadnezzar defeated them in 599 b.c.

[49:28]  ² sn Hazor. Nothing is know about this Hazor other than what is said here in vv. 28, 30, 33. They appear to also be nomadic tent dwellers who had a loose association with the Kedarites.

[49:28]  ³ tn The words “Army of Babylon” are not in the Hebrew text but are implicit from the context. They are supplied in the translation for clarity.

[49:28]  ⁴ sn Heb “the children of the east.” Nothing much is known about them other than their association with the Midianites and Amalekites in their attack on Israel in the time of Gideon (Judg 6:3, 33) and the fact that God would let tribes from the eastern desert capture Moab and Ammon in the future (Ezek 25:4, 10). Midian and Amalek were consider to be located in the region in north Arabia east of Ezion Geber. That would put them in the same general locality as the region of Kedar. The parallelism here suggests that they are the same as the people of Kedar. The words here are apparently addressed to the armies of Nebuchadnezzar.

[49:29]  ⁵ tn Or “Let their tents…be taken….Let their tent…be carried…. Let people shout….”

[49:29]  ⁶ sn This expression is a favorite theme in the book of Jeremiah. It describes the terrors of war awaiting the people of Judah and Jerusalem (6:25), the Egyptians at Carchemish (46:5), and here the Kedarites.

[49:30]  ⁷ tn Heb “Oracle of the Lord.”

[49:30]  ⁸ map For location see Map1 D2; Map2 D3; Map3 A2; Map4 C1.

[49:30]  ⁹ tn Heb “Make deep to dwell.” See Jer 49:8 and the translator’s note there. The use of this same phrase here argues against the alternative there of going down from a height and going back home.

[49:30]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “has counseled a counsel against you, has planned a plan against you.”

[49:31]  ¹¹ tn Heb “Oracle of the Lord.”

[49:31]  ¹² tn The words “Army of Babylon” are not in the text but are implicit from the context. They are supplied in the translation for clarity.

[49:31]  ¹³ tn Heb “no gates and no bar,” i.e., “that lives securely without gates or bars.” The phrase is used by the figure of species for genus (synecdoche) to refer to the fact that they have no defenses, i.e., no walls, gates, or bars on the gates. The figure has been interpreted in the translation for the benefit of the average reader.

[49:32]  ¹⁴ tn See the translator’s note at Jer 9:26 and compare the usage in 9:26 and 25:23.

[49:32]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “Oracle of the Lord.”

[49:33]  ¹⁶ sn Compare Jer 9:11.

[49:33]  ¹⁷ sn Compare Jer 49:18 and 50:40 where the same thing is said about Edom and Babylon.