Jeremiah 9:21

9:21 ‘Death has climbed in ¹  through our windows.

It has entered into our fortified houses.

It has taken away our children who play in the streets.

It has taken away our young men who gather in the city squares.’

Jeremiah 37:4

37:4 (Now Jeremiah had not yet been put in prison. ²  So he was still free to come and go among the people as he pleased. ³ 

Jeremiah 48:21

48:21 “Judgment will come on the cities on the high plain: ⁴  on Holon, Jahzah, and Mephaath,

Jeremiah 50:27

50:27 Kill all her soldiers! ⁵ 

Let them be slaughtered! ⁶ 

They are doomed, ⁷  for their day of reckoning ⁸  has come,

the time for them to be punished.”

Jeremiah 50:31

50:31 “Listen! I am opposed to you, you proud city,” ⁹ 

says the Lord God who rules over all. ¹⁰ 

“Indeed, ¹¹  your day of reckoning ¹²  has come,

the time when I will punish you. ¹³ 

Jeremiah 50:41

50:41 “Look! An army is about to come from the north.

A mighty nation and many kings ¹⁴  are stirring into action

in faraway parts of the earth.

Jeremiah 51:13

51:13 “You who live along the rivers of Babylon, ¹⁵ 

the time of your end has come.

You who are rich in plundered treasure,

it is time for your lives to be cut off. ¹⁶ 

[9:21]  ¹ sn Here Death is personified (treated as though it were a person). Some have seen as possible background to this lament an allusion to Mesopotamian mythology where the demon Lamastu climbs in through the windows of houses and over their walls to kill children and babies.

[37:4]  ² sn This statement anticipates v. 15. Verses 3-4 are parenthetical to the narrative thread which is picked up in v. 5. They provide background information necessary for understanding the situation at the time the delegation comes to Jeremiah.

[37:4]  ³ tn The words “as he pleased” are not in the text but are implicit in the idiom both in Hebrew and in English. They have been supplied in the translation for clarity and the sake of English idiom.

[48:21]  ³ sn See the study note on Jer 48:8 for reference to this tableland or high plain that lay between the Arnon and Heshbon.

[50:27]  ⁴ 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]  ⁵ tn Heb “Let them go down to the slaughter.”

[50:27]  ⁶ 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]  ⁷ tn The words “of reckoning” are not in the text but are implicit from the context. They are supplied in the translation for clarity.

[50:31]  ⁵ tn Heb “Behold, I am against you, proud one.” The word “city” is not in the text but it is generally agreed that the word is being used as a personification of the city which had “proudly defied” the Lord (v. 29). The word “city” is supplied in the translation for clarity.

[50:31]  ⁶ tn Heb “oracle of the Lord Yahweh of armies.” For the rendering of this title and an explanation of its significance see the study note on 2:19.

[50:31]  ⁷ tn The particle כִּי (ki) is probably asseverative here (so J. A. Thompson, Jeremiah [NICOT], 739, n. 13, and cf. BDB 472 s.v. כִּי 1.e for other examples). This has been a common use of this particle in the book of Jeremiah.

[50:31]  ⁸ tn The words “of reckoning” are not in the text but are implicit from the context. They are supplied in the translation for clarity.

[50:31]  ⁹ sn Compare v. 27.

[50:41]  ⁶ sn A mighty nation and many kings is an allusion to the Medo-Persian empire and the vassal kings who provided forces for the Medo-Persian armies.

[51:13]  ⁷ sn Babylon was situated on the Euphrates River and was surrounded by canals (also called “rivers”).

[51:13]  ⁸ tn Heb “You who live upon [or beside] many waters, rich in treasures, your end has come, the cubit of your cutting off.” The sentence has been restructured and paraphrased to provide clarity for the average reader. The meaning of the last phrase is debated. For a discussion of the two options see W. L. Holladay, Jeremiah (Hermeneia), 2:423. Most modern commentaries and English versions see an allusion to the figure in Isa 38:12 where the reference is to the end of life compared to a tapestry which is suddenly cut off from the loom. Hence, NRSV renders the last line as “the thread of your life is cut” and TEV renders “its thread of life is cut.” That idea is accepted also in HALOT 141 s.v. בצע Qal.1.