Discovery BoxJeremiah 9:1
Context9:1 (8:23) 1 I wish that my head were a well full of water 2
and my eyes were a fountain full of tears!
If they were, I could cry day and night
for those of my dear people 3 who have been killed.
Jeremiah 51:47
Context51:47 “So the time will certainly come 4
when I will punish the idols of Babylon.
Her whole land will be put to shame.
All her mortally wounded will collapse in her midst. 5
Jeremiah 51:52
Context51:52 Yes, but the time will certainly come,” 6 says the Lord, 7
“when I will punish her idols.
Throughout her land the mortally wounded will groan.
[9:1] 1 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] 2 tn Heb “I wish that my head were water.”
[9:1] 3 tn Heb “daughter of my people.” For the translation given here see 4:11 and the note on the phrase “dear people” there.
[51:47] 4 tn Heb “That being so, look, days are approaching.” לָכֵן (lakhen) often introduces the effect of an action. That may be the case here, the turmoil outlined in v. 46 serving as the catalyst for the culminating divine judgment described in v. 47. Another possibility is that לָכֵן here has an asseverative force (“certainly”), as in Isa 26:14 and perhaps Jer 5:2 (see the note there). In this case the word almost has the force of “for, since,” because it presents a cause for an accompanying effect. See Judg 8:7 and the discussion of Isa 26:14 in BDB 486-87 s.v. כֵּן 3.d.
[51:47] 5 tn Or “all her slain will fall in her midst.” In other words, her people will be overtaken by judgment and be unable to escape. The dead will lie in heaps in the very heart of the city and land.
[51:52] 7 tn Heb “that being so, look, days are approaching.” Here לָכֵן (lakhen) introduces the Lord’s response to the people’s lament (v. 51). It has the force of “yes, but” or “that may be true.” See Judg 11:8 and BDB 486-87 s.v. כֵּן 3.d.
