Jeremiah 6:26

6:26 So I said, ¹  “Oh, my dear people, ²  put on sackcloth

and roll in ashes.

Mourn with painful sobs

as though you had lost your only child.

For any moment now ³  that destructive army ⁴ 

will come against us.”

Jeremiah 9:19

9:19 For the sound of wailing is soon to be heard in Zion.

They will wail, ⁵  ‘We are utterly ruined! ⁶  We are completely disgraced!

For our houses have been torn down

and we must leave our land.’” ⁷ 

Jeremiah 10:20

10:20 But our tents have been destroyed.

The ropes that held them in place have been ripped apart. ⁸ 

Our children are gone and are not coming back. ⁹ 

There is no survivor to put our tents back up,

no one left to hang their tent curtains in place.

Jeremiah 15:8

15:8 Their widows will become in my sight more numerous ¹⁰ 

than the grains of sand on the seashores.

At noontime I will bring a destroyer

against the mothers of their young men. ¹¹ 

I will cause anguish ¹²  and terror

to fall suddenly upon them. ¹³ 

Jeremiah 48:1

Judgment Against Moab

48:1 The Lord God of Israel who rules over all ¹⁴  spoke about Moab. ¹⁵ 

“Sure to be judged is Nebo! Indeed, ¹⁶  it will be destroyed!

Kiriathaim ¹⁷  will suffer disgrace. It will be captured!

Its fortress ¹⁸  will suffer disgrace. It will be torn down! ¹⁹ 

Jeremiah 48:8

48:8 The destroyer will come against every town.

Not one town will escape.

The towns in the valley will be destroyed.

The cities on the high plain will be laid waste. ²⁰ 

I, the Lord, have spoken! ²¹ 

Jeremiah 48:15

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

Its finest young men will be slaughtered. ²² 

I, the King, the Lord who rules over all, ²³  affirm it! ²⁴ 

Jeremiah 48:18

48:18 Come down from your place of honor;

sit on the dry ground, ²⁵  you who live in Dibon. ²⁶ 

For the one who will destroy Moab will attack you;

he will destroy your fortifications.

Jeremiah 49:10

49:10 But I will strip everything away from Esau’s descendants.

I will uncover their hiding places so they cannot hide.

Their children, relatives, and neighbors will all be destroyed.

Not one of them will be left!

Jeremiah 51:48

51:48 Then heaven and earth and all that is in them

will sing for joy over Babylon.

For destroyers from the north will attack it,”

says the Lord. ²⁷ 

Jeremiah 51:53

51:53 Even if Babylon climbs high into the sky ²⁸ 

and fortifies her elevated stronghold, ²⁹ 

I will send destroyers against her,” ³⁰ 

says the Lord. ³¹ 

Jeremiah 51:55-56

51:55 For the Lord is ready to destroy Babylon,

and put an end to her loud noise.

Their waves ³²  will roar like turbulent ³³  waters.

They will make a deafening noise. ³⁴ 

51:56 For a destroyer is attacking Babylon. ³⁵ 

Her warriors will be captured;

their bows will be broken. ³⁶ 

For the Lord is a God who punishes; ³⁷ 

he pays back in full. ³⁸ 

[6:26]  ¹ tn These words are not in the text but are implicit from the context.

[6:26]  ² tn Heb “daughter of my people.” For the translation given here see 4:11 and the translator’s note there.

[6:26]  ³ tn Heb “suddenly.”

[6:26]  ⁴ tn Heb “the destroyer.”

[9:19]  ⁵ tn The words “They will wail” are not in the text. They are supplied in the translation to make clear that this is the wailing that will be heard.

[9:19]  ⁶ tn Heb “How we are ruined!”

[9:19]  ⁷ tn The order of these two lines has been reversed for English stylistic reasons. The text reads in Hebrew “because we have left our land because they have thrown down our dwellings.” The two clauses offer parallel reasons for the cries “How ruined we are! [How] we are greatly disgraced!” But the first line must contain a prophetic perfect (because the lament comes from Jerusalem) and the second a perfect referring to a destruction that is itself future. This seems the only way to render the verse that would not be misleading.

[10:20]  ⁹ tn Heb “My tent has been destroyed and my tent cords have been ripped apart.” For a very similar identification of Jeremiah’s plight with the plight of the personified community see 4:20 and the notes there.

[10:20]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “my children have gone from me and are no more.”

[15:8]  ¹³ tn Heb “to me.” BDB 513 s.v. ל 5.a(d) compares the usage of the preposition “to” here to that in Jonah 3:3, “Nineveh was a very great city to God [in God’s estimation].” The NEB/REB interpret as though it were the agent after a passive verb, “I have made widows more numerous.” Most English versions ignore it. The present translation follows BDB though the emphasis on God’s agency has been strong in the passage.

[15:8]  ¹⁴ tn The translation of this line is a little uncertain because of the double prepositional phrase which is not represented in this translation or most of the others. The Hebrew text reads: “I will bring in to them, against mother of young men, a destroyer at noon time.” Many commentaries delete the phrase with the Greek text. If the preposition read “against” like the following one this would be a case of apposition of nearer definition. There is some evidence of that in the Targum and the Syriac according to BHS. Both nouns “mothers” and “young men” are translated as plural here though they are singular; they are treated by most as collectives. It would be tempting to translate these two lines “In broad daylight I have brought destroyers against the mothers of her fallen young men.” But this may be too interpretive. In the light of 6:4, noontime was a good time to attack. NJPS has “I will bring against them – young men and mothers together – ….” In this case “mother” and “young men” would be a case of asyndetic coordination.

[15:8]  ¹⁵ tn This word is used only here and in Hos 11:9. It is related to the root meaning “to rouse” (so BDB 735 s.v. I עִיר). Here it refers to the excitement or agitation caused by terror. In Hos 11:9 it refers to the excitement or arousal of anger.

[15:8]  ¹⁶ tn The “them” in the Hebrew text is feminine referring to the mothers.

[48:1]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “Yahweh of armies, the God of Israel.” For this title see 7:3 and the study note on 2:19.

[48:1]  ¹⁸ sn Moab was a country east of the Dead Sea whose boundaries varied greatly over time. Basically, it was the tableland between the Arnon River about halfway up the Dead Sea and the Zered River which is roughly at the southern tip of the Dead Sea. When the Israelites entered Palestine they were forbidden to take any of the Moabite territory but they did capture the kingdom of Sihon north of the Arnon which Sihon had taken from Moab. Several of the towns mentioned in the oracles of judgment against Moab here are in this territory north of the Arnon and were assigned to Reuben and Gad. Several are mentioned on the famous Moabite Stone which details how Mesha king of Moab recovered from Israel many of these cities during the reign of Joram (852-841 b.c.; cf. 2 Kgs 3:4-5). It is usually assumed that Moab submitted to Nebuchadnezzar after the battle of Carchemish and that they remained loyal to him throughout most of this period, though representatives were present at Jerusalem in 594 b.c. when plans for revolt were apparently being discussed (Jer 27:3). Moabite contingents were used by Nebuchadnezzar in 598 b.c. to harass Jehoiakim after he rebelled (2 Kgs 24:2) so they must have remained loyal at that time. According to the Jewish historian Josephus, Nebuchadnezzar conquered Moab in 582 b.c. and destroyed many of its cities.

[48:1]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “Woe to Nebo for it is destroyed.” For the use of the Hebrew particle “Woe” (הוֹי, hoy) see the translator’s note on 22:13. The translation has taken this form because the phrase “Woe to” probably does not convey the proper meaning or significance to the modern reader. The verbs again are in the tense (Hebrew prophetic perfect) that views the action as if it were as good as done. The particle כִּי (ki) probably is causal but the asseverative works better in the modified translation.

[48:1]  ²⁰ sn Nebo and Kiriathaim were both north of the Arnon and were assigned to Reuben (Num 32:3, Josh 13:19). They are both mentioned on the Moabite Stone as having been recovered from Israel.

[48:1]  ²¹ tn Or “Misgab.” The translation here follows the majority of commentaries and English versions. Only REB sees this as a place name, “Misgab,” which is otherwise unknown. The constant use of this word to refer to a fortress, the presence of the article on the front of it, and the lack of any reference to a place of this name anywhere else argues against it being a place name. However, the fact that the verbs that accompany it are feminine while the noun for “fortress” is masculine causes some pause.

[48:1]  ²² tn For the meaning of the verb here see BDB 369 s.v. חָתַת Qal.1 and compare usage in Isa 7:8; 30:31.

[48:8]  ²¹ tn Heb “The valley will be destroyed and the tableland be laid waste.” However, in the context this surely refers to the towns and not to the valley and the tableland itself.

[48:8]  ²² tn Heb “which/for/as the Lord has spoken.” The first person form has again been adopted because the Lord is the speaker throughout (cf. v. 1).

[48:15]  ²⁵ tn Heb “will go down to the slaughter.”

[48:15]  ²⁶ 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]  ²⁷ 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).

[48:18]  ²⁹ tn Heb “sit in thirst.” The abstract “thirst” is put for the concrete, i.e., thirsty or parched ground (cf. Deut 8:19; Isa 35:7; Ps 107:33) for the concrete. There is no need to emend to “filth” (צֹאָה [tso’ah] for צָמָא [tsama’]) as is sometimes suggested.

[48:18]  ³⁰ tn Heb “inhabitant of Daughter Dibon.” “Daughter” is used here as often in Jeremiah for the personification of a city, a country, or its inhabitants. The word “inhabitant” is to be understood as a collective as also in v. 19.

[51:48]  ³³ tn Heb “Oracle of the Lord.”

[51:53]  ³⁷ tn Or “ascends [into] heaven.” Note the use of the phrase in Deut 30:12; 2 Kgs 2:11; and Amos 9:2.

[51:53]  ³⁸ tn Heb “and even if she fortifies her strong elevated place.”

[51:53]  ³⁹ tn Heb “from me destroyers will go against her.”

[51:53]  ⁴⁰ tn Heb “Oracle of the Lord.”

[51:55]  ⁴¹ tn The antecedent of the third masculine plural pronominal suffix is not entirely clear. It probably refers back to the “destroyers” mentioned in v. 53 as the agents of God’s judgment on Babylon.

[51:55]  ⁴² tn Or “mighty waters.”

[51:55]  ⁴³ tn Heb “and the noise of their sound will be given,”

[51:56]  ⁴⁵ tn Heb “for a destroyer is coming against her, against Babylon.”

[51:56]  ⁴⁶ tn The Piel form (which would be intransitive here, see GKC 142 §52.k) should probably be emended to Qal.

[51:56]  ⁴⁷ tn Or “God of retribution.”

[51:56]  ⁴⁸ tn The infinitive absolute emphasizes the following finite verb. Another option is to translate, “he certainly pays one back.” The translation assumes that the imperfect verbal form here describes the Lord’s characteristic actions. Another option is to take it as referring specifically to his judgment on Babylon, in which case one should translate, “he will pay (Babylon) back in full.”