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 6:9

6:9 This is what the Lord who rules over all ²  said to me: ³ 

“Those who remain in Israel will be

like the grapes thoroughly gleaned ⁴  from a vine.

So go over them again, as though you were a grape harvester

passing your hand over the branches one last time.” ⁵ 

[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.

[6:9]  ² tn Heb “Yahweh of armies.”

[6:9]  ³ tn The words “to me” are not in the text but are supplied in the translation for clarity.

[6:9]  ⁴ tn Heb “They will thoroughly glean those who are left in Israel like a vine.” That is, they will be carried off by judgment. It is not necessary to read the verb forms here as two imperatives or an infinitive absolute followed by an imperative as some English versions and commentaries do. This is an example of a third plural verb used impersonally and translated as a passive (cf. GKC 460 §144.g).

[6:9]  ⁵ tn Heb “Pass your hand back over the branches like a grape harvester.” The translation is intended to clarify the metaphor that Jeremiah should try to rescue some from the coming destruction.