Discovery BoxJeremiah 5:26
Context5:26 “Indeed, there are wicked scoundrels among my people.
They lie in wait like bird catchers hiding in ambush. 1
They set deadly traps 2 to catch people.
Jeremiah 23:19
Context23:19 But just watch! 3 The wrath of the Lord
will come like a storm! 4
Like a raging storm it will rage down 5
on the heads of those who are wicked.
Jeremiah 30:23
Context30:23 Just watch! The wrath of the Lord
will come like a storm.
Like a raging storm it will rage down
on the heads of those who are wicked.
Jeremiah 12:1
Context12:1 Lord, you have always been fair
whenever I have complained to you. 6
However, I would like to speak with you about the disposition of justice. 7
Why are wicked people successful? 8
Why do all dishonest people have such easy lives?
Jeremiah 25:31
Context25:31 The sounds of battle 9 will resound to the ends of the earth.
For the Lord will bring charges against the nations. 10
He will pass judgment on all humankind
and will hand the wicked over to be killed in war.’ 11
The Lord so affirms it! 12
[5:26] 1 tn The meaning of the last three words is uncertain. The pointing and meaning of the Hebrew word rendered “hiding in ambush” is debated. BDB relates the form (כְּשַׁךְ, kÿshakh) to a root שָׁכַךְ (shakhakh), which elsewhere means “decrease, abate” (cf. BDB 1013 s.v. שָׁכַךְ), and notes that this is usually understood as “like the crouching of fowlers,” but they say this meaning is dubious. HALOT 1345 s.v. I שׁוֹר questions the validity of the text and offers three proposals; the second appears to create the least textual modification, i.e., reading כְּשַׂךְ (kesakh, “as in the hiding place of (bird catchers)”; for the word שַׂךְ (sakh) see HALOT 1236 s.v. שׂךְ 4 and compare Lam 2:6 for usage. The versions do not help. The Greek does not translate the first two words of the line. The proposal given in HALOT is accepted with some hesitancy.
[5:26] 2 tn Heb “a destroying thing.”
[23:19] 4 tn The syntax of this line has generally been misunderstood, sometimes to the point that some want to delete the word wrath. Both here and in 30:23 where these same words occur the word “anger” stands not as an accusative of attendant circumstance but an apposition, giving the intended referent to the figure. Comparison should be made with Jer 25:15 where “this wrath” is appositional to “the cup of wine” (cf. GKC 425 §131.k).
[23:19] 5 tn The translation is deliberate, intending to reflect the repetition of the Hebrew root which is “swirl/swirling.”
[12:1] 5 tn Or “
[12:1] 6 tn Heb “judgments” or “matters of justice.” For the nuance of “complain to,” “fair,” “disposition of justice” assumed here, see BDB 936 s.v. רִיב Qal.4 (cf. Judg 21:22); BDB 843 s.v. צַדִּיק 1.d (cf. Ps 7:12; 11:7); BDB 1049 s.v. מִשְׁפָּט 1.f (cf. Isa 26:8; Ps 10:5; Ezek 7:27).
[12:1] 7 tn Heb “Why does the way [= course of life] of the wicked prosper?”
[25:31] 7 tn For the use of this word see Amos 2:2; Hos 10:14; Ps 74:23. See also the usage in Isa 66:6 which is very similar to the metaphorical usage here.
[25:31] 8 tn Heb “the
