Jeremiah 50:27

50:27 Kill all her soldiers! ¹ 

Let them be slaughtered! ² 

They are doomed, ³  for their day of reckoning ⁴  has come,

the time for them to be punished.”

Jeremiah 5:31

5:31 The prophets prophesy lies.

The priests exercise power by their own authority. ⁵ 

And my people love to have it this way.

But they will not be able to help you when the time of judgment comes! ⁶ 

Jeremiah 48:15

48:15 Moab will be destroyed. Its towns will be invaded.

Its finest young men will be slaughtered. ⁷ 

I, the King, the Lord who rules over all, ⁸  affirm it! ⁹ 

[50:27]  ¹ tn Heb “Kill all her young bulls.” Commentators are almost universally agreed that the reference to “young bulls” is figurative here for the princes and warriors (cf. BDB 831 s.v. פַּר 2.f, which compares Isa 34:7 and Ezek 39:18). This is virtually certain because of the reference to the time coming for them to be punished; this would scarcely fit literal bulls. For the verb rendered “kill” here see the translator’s note on v. 21.

[50:27]  ² tn Heb “Let them go down to the slaughter.”

[50:27]  ³ tn Or “How terrible it will be for them”; Heb “Woe to them.” See the study note on 22:13 and compare the usage in 23:1; 48:1.

[50:27]  ⁴ tn The words “of reckoning” are not in the text but are implicit from the context. They are supplied in the translation for clarity.

[5:31]  ⁵ tn Heb “they shall rule at their hands.” Since the word “hand” can be used figuratively for authority or mean “side” and the pronoun “them” can refer to the priests themselves or the prophets, the following translations have also been suggested: “the priests rule under their [the prophets’] directions,” or “the priests rule in league with them [the prophets].” From the rest of the book it would appear that the prophets did not exercise authority over the priests nor did they exercise the same authority over the people that the priests did. Hence it probably mean “by their own hand/power/authority.”

[5:31]  ⁶ tn Heb “But what will you do at its end?” The rhetorical question implies a negative answer: “Nothing!”

[48:15]  ⁹ tn Heb “will go down to the slaughter.”

[48:15]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “Yahweh of armies.” For an explanation of the translation and meaning of this title see the study note on 2:19.

[48:15]  ¹¹ tn Heb “Oracle of the King whose name is Yahweh of armies.” The first person form has again been adopted because the Lord is the speaker throughout this oracle/ these oracles (cf. v. 1).