Jeremiah 51:9

51:9 Foreigners living there will say, ¹ 

‘We tried to heal her, but she could not be healed.

Let’s leave Babylonia ²  and each go back to his own country.

For judgment on her will be vast in its proportions.

It will be like it is piled up to heaven, stacked up into the clouds.’ ³ 

Matthew 23:37

Judgment on Israel

23:37 “O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, ⁴  you who kill the prophets and stone those who are sent to you! ⁵  How often I have longed ⁶  to gather your children together as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but ⁷  you would have none of it! ⁸ 

Luke 13:34

13:34 O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, ⁹  you who kill the prophets and stone those who are sent to you! ¹⁰  How often I have longed ¹¹  to gather your children together as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but ¹²  you would have none of it! ¹³ 

Luke 19:42

19:42 saying, “If you had only known on this day, ¹⁴  even you, the things that make for peace! ¹⁵  But now they are hidden ¹⁶  from your eyes.

[51:9]  ¹ tn The words “Foreigners living there will say” are not in the text but are implicit from the third line. These words are generally assumed by the commentaries and are explicitly added in TEV and NCV which are attempting to clarify the text for the average reader.

[51:9]  ² tn Heb “Leave/abandon her.” However, it is smoother in the English translation to make this verb equivalent to the cohortative that follows.

[51:9]  ³ tn This is an admittedly very paraphrastic translation that tries to make the figurative nuance of the Hebrew original understandable for the average reader. The Hebrew text reads: “For her judgment [or punishment (cf. BDB 1078 s.v. מִשְׁפָּט 1.f) = ‘execution of judgment’] touches the heavens, and is lifted up as far as the clouds.” The figure of hyperbole or exaggeration is being used here to indicate the vastness of Babylon’s punishment which is the reason to escape (vv. 6, 9c). For this figure see Deut 1:28 in comparison with Num 13:28 and see also Deut 9:1. In both of the passages in Deut it refers to an exaggeration about the height of the walls of fortified cities. The figure also may be a play on Gen 11:4 where the nations gather in Babylon to build a tower that reaches to the skies. The present translation has interpreted the perfects here as prophetic because it has not happened yet or they would not be encouraging one another to leave and escape. For the idea here compare 50:16.

[23:37]  ⁴ sn The double use of the city’s name betrays intense emotion.

[23:37]  ⁵ tn Although the opening address (“Jerusalem, Jerusalem”) is direct (second person), the remainder of this sentence in the Greek text is third person (“who kills the prophets and stones those sent to her”). The following sentences then revert to second person (“your… you”), so to keep all this consistent in English, the third person pronouns in the present verse were translated as second person (“you who kill… sent to you”).

[23:37]  ⁶ sn How often I have longed to gather your children. Jesus, like a lamenting prophet, speaks for God here, who longed to care tenderly for Israel and protect her.

[23:37]  ⁷ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “but” to indicate the contrast present in this context.

[23:37]  ⁸ tn Grk “you were not willing.”

[13:34]  ⁹ sn The double use of the city’s name betrays intense emotion.

[13:34]  ¹⁰ tn Although the opening address (“Jerusalem, Jerusalem”) is direct (second person), the remainder of this sentence in the Greek text is third person (“who kills the prophets and stones those sent to her”). The following sentences then revert to second person (“your… you”), so to keep all this consistent in English, the third person pronouns in the present verse were translated as second person (“you who kill… sent to you”).

[13:34]  ¹¹ sn How often I have longed to gather your children. Jesus, like a lamenting prophet, speaks for God here, who longed to care tenderly for Israel and protect her.

[13:34]  ¹² tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “but” to indicate the contrast present in this context.

[13:34]  ¹³ tn Grk “you were not willing.”

[19:42]  ¹⁴ sn On this day. They had missed the time of Messiah’s coming; see v. 44.

[19:42]  ¹⁵ tn Grk “the things toward peace.” This expression seems to mean “the things that would ‘lead to,’ ‘bring about,’ or ‘make for’ peace.”

[19:42]  ¹⁶ sn But now they are hidden from your eyes. This becomes an oracle of doom in the classic OT sense; see Luke 13:31-35; 11:49-51; Jer 9:2; 13:7; 14:7. They are now blind and under judgment (Jer 15:5; Ps 122:6).