Jeremiah 50:19

50:19 But I will restore the flock of Israel to their own pasture.

They will graze on Mount Carmel and the land of Bashan.

They will eat until they are full ¹ 

on the hills of Ephraim and the land of Gilead. ² 

Jeremiah 50:2

50:2 “Announce ³  the news among the nations! Proclaim it!

Signal for people to pay attention! ⁴ 

Declare the news! Do not hide it! Say:

‘Babylon will be captured.

Bel ⁵  will be put to shame.

Marduk will be dismayed.

Babylon’s idols will be put to shame.

Her disgusting images ⁶  will be dismayed. ⁷ 

Jeremiah 13:4

13:4 “Take the shorts that you bought and are wearing ⁸  and go at once ⁹  to Perath. ¹⁰  Bury the shorts there ¹¹  in a crack in the rocks.”

Jeremiah 30:5-11

30:5 Yes, ¹²  here is what he says:

“You hear cries of panic and of terror;

there is no peace in sight. ¹³ 

30:6 Ask yourselves this and consider it carefully: ¹⁴ 

Have you ever seen a man give birth to a baby?

Why then do I see all these strong men

grabbing their stomachs in pain like ¹⁵  a woman giving birth?

And why do their faces

turn so deathly pale?

30:7 Alas, what a terrible time of trouble it is! ¹⁶ 

There has never been any like it.

It is a time of trouble for the descendants of Jacob,

but some of them will be rescued out of it. ¹⁷ 

30:8 When the time for them to be rescued comes,” ¹⁸ 

says the Lord who rules over all, ¹⁹ 

“I will rescue you from foreign subjugation. ²⁰ 

I will deliver you from captivity. ²¹ 

Foreigners will then no longer subjugate them.

30:9 But they will be subject ²²  to the Lord their God

and to the Davidic ruler whom I will raise up as king over them. ²³ 

30:10 So I, the Lord, tell you not to be afraid,

you descendants of Jacob, my servants. ²⁴ 

Do not be terrified, people of Israel.

For I will rescue you and your descendants

from a faraway land where you are captives. ²⁵ 

The descendants of Jacob will return to their land and enjoy peace.

They will be secure and no one will terrify them. ²⁶ 

30:11 For I, the Lord, affirm ²⁷  that

I will be with you and will rescue you.

I will completely destroy all the nations where I scattered you.

But I will not completely destroy you.

I will indeed discipline you, but only in due measure.

I will not allow you to go entirely unpunished.” ²⁸ 

Acts 8:5-8

8:5 Philip went down to the main city of Samaria ²⁹  and began proclaiming ³⁰  the Christ ³¹  to them. 8:6 The crowds were paying attention with one mind to what Philip said, ³²  as they heard and saw the miraculous signs ³³  he was performing. 8:7 For unclean spirits, ³⁴  crying with loud shrieks, were coming out of many who were possessed, ³⁵  and many paralyzed and lame people were healed. 8:8 So there was ³⁶  great joy ³⁷  in that city.

[50:19]  ¹ tn Heb “their soul [or hunger/appetite] will be satisfied.”

[50:19]  ² sn The metaphor of Israel as a flock of sheep (v. 17) is continued here. The places named were all in Northern Israel and in the Transjordan, lands that were lost to the Assyrians in the period 738-722 b.c. All of these places were known for their fertility, for their woods and their pastures. The hills (hill country) of Ephraim formed the center of Northern Israel. Mount Carmel lies on the seacoast of the Mediterranean north and west of the hill country of Ephraim. Gilead formed the central part of Transjordan and was used to refer at times to the territory between the Yarmuk and Jabbok Rivers, at times to the territory between the Yarmuk and the Arnon Rivers, and at times for all of Israel in the Transjordan. Bashan refers to the territory north of Gilead.

[50:2]  ³ tn The verbs are masculine plural. Jeremiah is calling on other unnamed messengers to spread the news.

[50:2]  ⁴ tn Heb “Raise a signal flag.”

[50:2]  ⁵ sn Bel was originally the name or title applied to the Sumerian storm god. During the height of Babylon’s power it became a title that was applied to Marduk who was Babylon’s chief deity. As a title it means “Lord.” Here it is a poetical parallel reference to Marduk mentioned in the next line.

[50:2]  ⁶ tn The Hebrew word used here (גִּלּוּלִים, gillulim) is always used as a disdainful reference to idols. It is generally thought to have originally referred to “dung pellets” (cf. KBL 183 s.v. גִלּוּלִים). It is only one of several terms used in this way, such as “worthless things” (אַלִילִים, ’alilim), “vanities,” or “empty winds” (הֲבָלִים, havalim).

[50:2]  ⁷ tn The verbs here are all in the tense that views the actions as though they were already done (the Hebrew prophetic perfect). The verbs in the next verse are a mixture of prophetic perfects and imperfects which announce future actions.

[13:4]  ⁸ tn Heb “which are upon your loins.” See further the notes on v. 1.

[13:4]  ⁹ tn Heb “Get up and go.” The first verb is not literal but is idiomatic for the initiation of an action.

[13:4]  ¹⁰ tn There has been a great deal of debate about whether the place referred to here is a place (Parah [= Perath] mentioned in Josh 18:23, modern Khirbet Farah, near a spring ’ain Farah) about three and a half miles from Anathoth which was Jeremiah’s home town or the Euphrates River. Elsewhere the word “Perath” always refers to the Euphrates but it is either preceded by the word “river of” or there is contextual indication that the Euphrates is being referred to. Because a journey to the Euphrates and back would involve a journey of more than 700 miles (1,100 km) and take some months, scholars both ancient and modern have questioned whether “Perath” refers to the Euphrates here and if it does whether a real journey was involved. Most of the attempts to identify the place with the Euphrates involve misguided assumptions that this action was a symbolic message to Israel about exile or the corrupting influence of Assyria and Babylon. However, unlike the other symbolic acts in Jeremiah (and in Isaiah and Ezekiel) the symbolism is not part of a message to the people but to Jeremiah; the message is explained to him (vv. 9-11) not the people. In keeping with some of the wordplays that are somewhat common in Jeremiah it is likely that the reference here is to a place, Parah, which was near Jeremiah’s hometown, but whose name would naturally suggest to Jeremiah later in the Lord’s explanation in vv. 9-11 Assyria-Babylon as a place connected with Judah’s corruption (see the notes on vv. 9-10). For further discussion the reader should consult the commentaries, especially W. Holladay, Jeremiah (Hermeneia), 1:396 and W. McKane, Jeremiah (ICC), 1:285-92 who take opposite positions on this issue.

[13:4]  ¹¹ sn The significance of this act is explained in vv. 9-10. See the notes there for explanation.

[30:5]  ¹² tn The particle כִּי (ki) is functioning here as loosely causal or epexegetical of the preceding introduction. For this usage cf. BDB 473-74 s.v. כִּי 3.c. This nuance borders on that of the intensive use of כִּי. See the discussion in BDB 472 s.v. כִּי note and כִּי 1.e.

[30:5]  ¹³ tn Heb “We have heard the sound of panic and of fear, and there is no peace.” It is generally agreed that the person of the verb presupposes that this is an unintroduced quote of the people.

[30:6]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “Ask and see/consider.”

[30:6]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “with their hands on their loins.” The word rendered “loins” refers to the area between the ribs and the thighs.

[30:7]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “Alas [or Woe] for that day will be great.” For the use of the particle “Alas” to signal a time of terrible trouble, even to sound the death knell for someone, see the translator’s note on 22:13.

[30:7]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “It is a time of trouble for Jacob but he will be saved out of it.”

[30:8]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “And it shall happen in that day.”

[30:8]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “Oracle of Yahweh of armies.” See the study note on 2:19 for explanation of the title for God.

[30:8]  ²⁰ tn Heb “I will break his yoke from upon your neck.” For the explanation of the figure see the study note on 27:2. The shift from third person at the end of v. 7 to second person in v. 8c, d and back to third person in v. 8e is typical of Hebrew poetry in the book of Psalms and in the prophetic books (cf., GKC 351 §114.p and compare usage in Deut 32:15; Isa 5:8 listed there). The present translation, like several other modern ones, has typically leveled them to the same person to avoid confusion for modern readers who are not accustomed to this poetic tradition.

[30:8]  ²¹ tn Heb “I will tear off their bands.” The “bands” are the leather straps which held the yoke bars in place (cf. 27:2). The metaphor of the “yoke on the neck” is continued. The translation reflects the sense of the metaphor but not the specific referent.

[30:9]  ²² tn The word “subject” in this verse and “subjugate” are from the same root word in Hebrew. A deliberate contrast is drawn between the two powers that they will serve.

[30:9]  ²³ tn Heb “and to David their king whom I will raise up for them.”

[30:10]  ²⁴ tn Heb “So do not be afraid, my servant Jacob, oracle of the Lord.” Here and elsewhere in the verse the terms Jacob and Israel are poetic for the people of Israel descended from the patriarch Jacob. The terms have been supplied throughout with plural referents for greater clarity.

[30:10]  ²⁵ tn Heb “For I will rescue you from far away, your descendants from the land of their captivity.”

[30:10]  ²⁶ sn Compare the ideals of the Mosaic covenant in Lev 26:6, the Davidic covenant in 2 Sam 7:10-11, and the new covenant in Ezek 34:25-31.

[30:11]  ²⁷ tn Heb “Oracle of the Lord.”

[30:11]  ²⁸ tn The translation “entirely unpunished” is intended to reflect the emphatic construction of the infinitive absolute before the finite verb.

[8:5]  ²⁹ tn The word “main” is supplied in the translation to clarify that “Samaria” is not the name of the city (at least in NT times). See both BDAG 912 s.v. Σαμάρεια, and L&N 93.568.

[8:5]  ³⁰ tn The imperfect ἐκήρυσσεν (ekhrussen) has been translated as an ingressive, since this is probably the first time such preaching took place.

[8:5]  ³¹ tn Or “Messiah”; both “Christ” (Greek) and “Messiah” (Hebrew and Aramaic) mean “one who has been anointed.”

[8:6]  ³² tn Grk “to what was being said by Philip,” a passive construction that has been changed to active voice in the translation.

[8:6]  ³³ tn Here the following context indicates the miraculous nature of the signs mentioned. This term appears 13 times in Acts, but only twice more after Acts 8:13 (i.e., 14:3; 15:12).

[8:7]  ³⁴ sn The expression unclean spirits refers to evil supernatural spirits which were ceremonially unclean, and which caused the persons possessed by them to be ceremonially unclean.

[8:7]  ³⁵ tn Grk “For [in the case of] many who had unclean spirits, they were coming out, crying in a loud voice.”

[8:8]  ³⁶ tn Grk “and there came about,” but this is somewhat awkward in English.

[8:8]  ³⁷ sn Great joy. The reason for eschatological joy was that such events pointed to God’s decisive deliverance (Luke 7:22-23). Note how the acts of healing extend beyond the Twelve here.