Jeremiah 7:33

7:33 Then the dead bodies of these people will be left on the ground for the birds and wild animals to eat. ¹  There will not be any survivors to scare them away.

Jeremiah 16:4

16:4 They will die of deadly diseases. No one will mourn for them. They will not be buried. Their dead bodies will lie like manure spread on the ground. They will be killed in war or die of starvation. Their corpses will be food for the birds and wild animals.

Jeremiah 19:7

19:7 In this place I will thwart ²  the plans of the people of Judah and Jerusalem. I will deliver them over to the power of their enemies who are seeking to kill them. They will die by the sword ³  at the hands of their enemies. ⁴  I will make their dead bodies food for the birds and wild beasts to eat.

Jeremiah 19:1

An Object Lesson from a Broken Clay Jar

19:1 The Lord told Jeremiah, ⁵  “Go and buy a clay jar from a potter. ⁶  Take with you ⁷  some of the leaders of the people and some of the leaders ⁸  of the priests.

Jeremiah 17:1

17:1 ⁹ The sin of Judah is engraved with an iron chisel

on their stone-hard ¹⁰  hearts.

It is inscribed with a diamond ¹¹  point

on the horns of their altars. ¹² 

Jeremiah 17:1

17:1 ¹³ The sin of Judah is engraved with an iron chisel

on their stone-hard ¹⁴  hearts.

It is inscribed with a diamond ¹⁵  point

on the horns of their altars. ¹⁶ 

Jeremiah 17:1

17:1 ¹⁷ The sin of Judah is engraved with an iron chisel

on their stone-hard ¹⁸  hearts.

It is inscribed with a diamond ¹⁹  point

on the horns of their altars. ²⁰ 

Jeremiah 14:11

Judgment for Believing the Misleading Lies of the False Prophets

14:11 Then the Lord said to me, “Do not pray for good to come to these people! ²¹ 

Jeremiah 16:4

16:4 They will die of deadly diseases. No one will mourn for them. They will not be buried. Their dead bodies will lie like manure spread on the ground. They will be killed in war or die of starvation. Their corpses will be food for the birds and wild animals.

Jeremiah 21:1

The Lord Will Hand Jerusalem over to Enemies

21:1 The Lord spoke to Jeremiah ²²  when King Zedekiah ²³  sent to him Pashhur son of Malkijah and the priest Zephaniah son of Maaseiah. ²⁴  Zedekiah sent them to Jeremiah to ask, ²⁵ 

Jeremiah 21:1-2

The Lord Will Hand Jerusalem over to Enemies

21:1 The Lord spoke to Jeremiah ²⁶  when King Zedekiah ²⁷  sent to him Pashhur son of Malkijah and the priest Zephaniah son of Maaseiah. ²⁸  Zedekiah sent them to Jeremiah to ask, ²⁹  21:2 “Please ask the Lord to come and help us, ³⁰  because King Nebuchadnezzar ³¹  of Babylon is attacking us. Maybe the Lord will perform one of his miracles as in times past and make him stop attacking us and leave.” ³² 

Jeremiah 9:1

9:1 (8:23) ³³  I wish that my head were a well full of water ³⁴ 

and my eyes were a fountain full of tears!

If they were, I could cry day and night

for those of my dear people ³⁵  who have been killed.

Ezekiel 29:5

29:5 I will leave you in the wilderness,

you and all the fish of your waterways;

you will fall in the open field and will not be gathered up or collected. ³⁶ 

I have given you as food to the beasts of the earth and the birds of the skies.

Ezekiel 32:4

32:4 I will leave you on the ground,

I will fling you on the open field,

I will allow ³⁷  all the birds of the sky to settle ³⁸  on you,

and I will permit ³⁹  all the wild animals ⁴⁰  to gorge themselves on you.

Ezekiel 39:17-20

39:17 “As for you, son of man, this is what the sovereign Lord says: Tell every kind of bird and every wild beast: ‘Assemble and come! Gather from all around to my slaughter ⁴¹  which I am going to make for you, a great slaughter on the mountains of Israel! You will eat flesh and drink blood. 39:18 You will eat the flesh of warriors ⁴²  and drink the blood of the princes of the earth – the rams, lambs, goats, and bulls, all of them fattened animals of Bashan. 39:19 You will eat fat until you are full, and drink blood until you are drunk, ⁴³  at my slaughter ⁴⁴  which I have made for you. 39:20 You will fill up at my table with horses and charioteers, ⁴⁵  with warriors and all the soldiers,’ declares the sovereign Lord.

Revelation 19:17-21

19:17 Then ⁴⁶  I saw one angel standing in ⁴⁷  the sun, and he shouted in a loud voice to all the birds flying high in the sky: ⁴⁸ 

“Come, gather around for the great banquet ⁴⁹  of God,

19:18 to eat ⁵⁰  your fill ⁵¹  of the flesh of kings,

the flesh of generals, ⁵² 

the flesh of powerful people,

the flesh of horses and those who ride them,

and the flesh of all people, both free and slave, ⁵³ 

and small and great!”

19:19 Then ⁵⁴  I saw the beast and the kings of the earth and their armies assembled to do battle with the one who rode the horse and with his army. 19:20 Now ⁵⁵  the beast was seized, and along with him the false prophet who had performed the signs on his behalf ⁵⁶  – signs by which he deceived those who had received the mark of the beast and those who worshiped his image. Both of them were thrown alive into the lake of fire burning with sulfur. ⁵⁷  19:21 The ⁵⁸  others were killed by the sword that extended from the mouth of the one who rode the horse, and all the birds gorged ⁵⁹  themselves with their flesh.

[7:33]  ¹ tn Heb “Their dead bodies will be food for the birds of the air and the beasts of the earth.”

[19:7]  ² sn There is perhaps a two-fold wordplay in the use of this word. One involves the sound play with the word for “jar,” which has been explained as a water decanter. The word here is בַקֹּתִי (vaqqoti). The word for jar in v. 1 is בַקְבֻּק (vaqbuq). There may also be a play on the literal use of this word to refer to the laying waste or destruction of a land (see Isa 24:3; Nah 2:3). Many modern commentaries think that at this point Jeremiah emptied out the contents of the jar, symbolizing the “emptying” out of their plans.

[19:7]  ³ sn This refers to the fact that they will die in battle. The sword would be only one of the weapons that strikes them down. It is one of the trio of “sword,” “starvation,” and “disease” which were the concomitants of war referred to so often in the book of Jeremiah. Starvation is referred to in v. 9.

[19:7]  ⁴ tn Heb “I will cause them to fall by the sword before their enemies and in the hand of those who seek their soul [= life].” In this context the two are meant as obvious qualifications of one entity, not two. Some rearrangement of the qualifiers had to be made in the English translation to convey this.

[19:1]  ⁵ tn The word “Jeremiah” is not in the text. Some Hebrew mss and some of the versions have “to me.” This section, 19:1–20:6 appears to be one of the biographical sections of the book of Jeremiah where incidents in his life are reported in third person. See clearly 9:14 and 20:1-3. The mss and versions do not represent a more original text but are translational or interpretive attempts to fill in a text which had no referent. They are like the translational addition that has been supplied on the basis of contextual indicators.

[19:1]  ⁶ tn Heb “an earthenware jar of the potter.”

[19:1]  ⁷ tc The words “Take with you” follow the reading of the Syriac version and to a certain extent the reading of the Greek version (the latter does not have “with you”). The Hebrew text does not have these words but they are undoubtedly implicit.

[19:1]  ⁸ tn Heb “elders” both here and before “of the people.”

[17:1]  ⁹ tn The chapter division which was not a part of the original text but was added in the middle ages obscures the fact that there is no new speech here. The division may have resulted from the faulty identification of the “them” in the preceding verse. See the translator’s note on that verse.

[17:1]  ¹⁰ tn The adjective “stone-hard” is not in the Hebrew text. It is implicit in the metaphor and is supplied in the translation for clarity. Cf. Ezek 11:19; 36:26; and Job 19:24 for the figure.

[17:1]  ¹¹ tn Heb “adamant.” The word “diamond” is an accommodation to modern times. There is no evidence that diamond was known in ancient times. This hard stone (perhaps emery) became metaphorical for hardness; see Ezek 3:9 and Zech 7:12. For discussion see W. E. Staples, “Adamant,” IDB 1:45.

[17:1]  ¹² tn This verse has been restructured for the sake of the English poetry: Heb “The sin of Judah is engraved [or written] with an iron pen, inscribed with a point of a diamond [or adamant] upon the tablet of their hearts and on the horns of their altars.”

[17:1]  ¹³ tn The chapter division which was not a part of the original text but was added in the middle ages obscures the fact that there is no new speech here. The division may have resulted from the faulty identification of the “them” in the preceding verse. See the translator’s note on that verse.

[17:1]  ¹⁴ tn The adjective “stone-hard” is not in the Hebrew text. It is implicit in the metaphor and is supplied in the translation for clarity. Cf. Ezek 11:19; 36:26; and Job 19:24 for the figure.

[17:1]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “adamant.” The word “diamond” is an accommodation to modern times. There is no evidence that diamond was known in ancient times. This hard stone (perhaps emery) became metaphorical for hardness; see Ezek 3:9 and Zech 7:12. For discussion see W. E. Staples, “Adamant,” IDB 1:45.

[17:1]  ¹⁶ tn This verse has been restructured for the sake of the English poetry: Heb “The sin of Judah is engraved [or written] with an iron pen, inscribed with a point of a diamond [or adamant] upon the tablet of their hearts and on the horns of their altars.”

[17:1]  ¹⁷ tn The chapter division which was not a part of the original text but was added in the middle ages obscures the fact that there is no new speech here. The division may have resulted from the faulty identification of the “them” in the preceding verse. See the translator’s note on that verse.

[17:1]  ¹⁸ tn The adjective “stone-hard” is not in the Hebrew text. It is implicit in the metaphor and is supplied in the translation for clarity. Cf. Ezek 11:19; 36:26; and Job 19:24 for the figure.

[17:1]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “adamant.” The word “diamond” is an accommodation to modern times. There is no evidence that diamond was known in ancient times. This hard stone (perhaps emery) became metaphorical for hardness; see Ezek 3:9 and Zech 7:12. For discussion see W. E. Staples, “Adamant,” IDB 1:45.

[17:1]  ²⁰ tn This verse has been restructured for the sake of the English poetry: Heb “The sin of Judah is engraved [or written] with an iron pen, inscribed with a point of a diamond [or adamant] upon the tablet of their hearts and on the horns of their altars.”

[14:11]  ²¹ tn Heb “on behalf of these people for benefit.”

[21:1]  ²² tn Heb “The word which came to Jeremiah from the Lord.”

[21:1]  ²³ sn Zedekiah was the last king of Judah. He ruled from 597 b.c. when he was placed on the throne by Nebuchadnezzar (2 Kgs 24:17) until the fall of Jerusalem in 587/6 b.c. He acquiesced to some of his anti-Babylonian counselors, rebelled against Nebuchadnezzar, and sought help from the Egyptians (Ezek 17:12-15). This brought Nebuchadnezzar against the city in 588 b.c. This is the first of two delegations to Jeremiah. The later one was sent after Nebuchadnezzar withdrew to take care of the Egyptian threat (cf. Jer 37:1-9).

[21:1]  ²⁴ sn The Pashhur son of Malkijah referred to here is not the same as the Pashhur referred to in 20:1-6 who was the son of Immer. This Pashhur is referred to later in 38:1. The Zephaniah referred to here was the chief of security referred to later in Jer 29:25-26. He appears to have been favorably disposed toward Jeremiah.

[21:1]  ²⁵ tn Heb “sent to him…Maaseiah, saying,….”

[21:1]  ²⁶ tn Heb “The word which came to Jeremiah from the Lord.”

[21:1]  ²⁷ sn Zedekiah was the last king of Judah. He ruled from 597 b.c. when he was placed on the throne by Nebuchadnezzar (2 Kgs 24:17) until the fall of Jerusalem in 587/6 b.c. He acquiesced to some of his anti-Babylonian counselors, rebelled against Nebuchadnezzar, and sought help from the Egyptians (Ezek 17:12-15). This brought Nebuchadnezzar against the city in 588 b.c. This is the first of two delegations to Jeremiah. The later one was sent after Nebuchadnezzar withdrew to take care of the Egyptian threat (cf. Jer 37:1-9).

[21:1]  ²⁸ sn The Pashhur son of Malkijah referred to here is not the same as the Pashhur referred to in 20:1-6 who was the son of Immer. This Pashhur is referred to later in 38:1. The Zephaniah referred to here was the chief of security referred to later in Jer 29:25-26. He appears to have been favorably disposed toward Jeremiah.

[21:1]  ²⁹ tn Heb “sent to him…Maaseiah, saying,….”

[21:2]  ³⁰ tn The verb used here is often used of seeking information through a prophet (e.g., 2 Kgs 1:16; 8:8) and hence many translate “inquire of the Lord for us.” However, it is obvious from the following that they were not seeking information but help. The word is also used for that in Pss 34:4 (34:5 HT); 77:2 (77:3 HT).

[21:2]  ³¹ tn The dominant spelling of this name is actually Nebuchadrezzar which is closer to his Babylonian name Nebu kudduri uzzur. An alternate spelling which is found 6 times in the book of Jeremiah and 17 times elsewhere is Nebuchadnezzar which is the form of the name that is usually used in English versions.

[21:2]  ³² tn Heb “Perhaps the Lord will do according to his miracles that he may go up from against us.”

[9:1]  ³³ sn Beginning with 9:1, the verse numbers through 9:26 in the English Bible differ from the verse numbers in the Hebrew text (BHS), with 9:1 ET = 8:23 HT, 9:2 ET = 9:1 HT, 9:3 ET = 9:2 HT, etc., through 9:26 ET = 9:25 HT. Beginning with 10:1 the verse numbers in the ET and HT are again the same.

[9:1]  ³⁴ tn Heb “I wish that my head were water.”

[9:1]  ³⁵ tn Heb “daughter of my people.” For the translation given here see 4:11 and the note on the phrase “dear people” there.

[29:5]  ³⁶ tc Some Hebrew mss, the Targum, and the LXX read “buried.”

[32:4]  ³⁷ tn Or “cause.”

[32:4]  ³⁸ tn Heb “live.”

[32:4]  ³⁹ tn Or “cause.”

[32:4]  ⁴⁰ tn Heb “the beasts of the field,” referring to wild as opposed to domesticated animals.

[39:17]  ⁴¹ tn Or “sacrifice” (so also in the rest of this verse).

[39:18]  ⁴² sn See Rev 19:17-18.

[39:19]  ⁴³ sn Eating the fat and drinking blood were God’s exclusive rights in Israelite sacrifices (Lev 3:17).

[39:19]  ⁴⁴ tn Or “sacrifice” (so also in the rest of this verse).

[39:20]  ⁴⁵ tn Heb “chariots.”

[19:17]  ⁴⁶ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence within the narrative.

[19:17]  ⁴⁷ tn The precise significance of ἐν (en) here is difficult to determine.

[19:17]  ⁴⁸ tn On μεσουρανήματι (mesouranhmati) here see L&N 1.10: “high in the sky, midpoint in the sky, directly overhead, straight above in the sky.” The birds mentioned here are carrion birds like vultures, circling high overhead, and now being summoned to feast on the corpses.

[19:17]  ⁴⁹ tn This is the same Greek word (δεῖπνον, deipnon) used in 19:9.

[19:18]  ⁵⁰ tn The ἵνα (Jina) clause, insofar as it is related to the first imperative, has the force of an imperative.

[19:18]  ⁵¹ tn The idea of eating “your fill” is evident in the context with the use of χορτάζω (cortazw) in v. 21.

[19:18]  ⁵² tn Grk “chiliarchs”; normally a chiliarch was a military officer commanding a thousand soldiers, but here probably used of higher-ranking commanders like generals (see L&N 55.15; cf. Rev 6:15).

[19:18]  ⁵³ tn See the note on the word “servants” in 1:1.

[19:19]  ⁵⁴ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence within the narrative.

[19:20]  ⁵⁵ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “now” to indicate the introduction of an unexpected development in the account: The opposing armies do not come together in battle; rather the leader of one side is captured.

[19:20]  ⁵⁶ tn For this meaning see BDAG 342 s.v. ἐνώπιον 4.b, “by the authority of, on behalf of Rv 13:12, 14; 19:20.”

[19:20]  ⁵⁷ tn Traditionally, “brimstone.”

[19:21]  ⁵⁸ tn Here καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style.

[19:21]  ⁵⁹ tn On the translation of ἐχορτάσθησαν (ecortasqhsan) BDAG 1087 s.v. χορτάζω 1.a states, “of animals, pass. in act. sense πάντα τὰ ὄρνεα ἐχορτάσθησαν ἐκ τῶν σαρκῶν αὐτῶν all the birds gorged themselves with their flesh Rv 19:21 (cp. TestJud. 21:8).”