Lamentations 4:16

פ (Pe)

4:16 The Lord himself ¹  has scattered them;

he no longer watches over them.

They did not honor the priests; ² 

they did not show favor to the elders. ³ 

Lamentations 4:20

ר (Resh)

4:20 Our very life breath – the Lord’s anointed king ⁴  –

was caught in their traps, ⁵ 

of whom we thought, ⁶ 

“Under his protection ⁷  we will survive among the nations.”

Lamentations 5:12

5:12 Princes were hung by their hands;

elders were mistreated. ⁸ 

Isaiah 43:28

43:28 So I defiled your holy princes,

and handed Jacob over to destruction,

and subjected ⁹  Israel to humiliating abuse.”

Jeremiah 52:11-27

52:11 He had Zedekiah’s eyes put out and had him bound in chains. ¹⁰  Then the king of Babylon had him led off to Babylon and he was imprisoned there until the day he died.

52:12 On the tenth ¹¹  day of the fifth month, ¹²  in the nineteenth year of King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon, Nebuzaradan, the captain of the royal guard ¹³  who served ¹⁴  the king of Babylon, arrived in Jerusalem. 52:13 He burned down the Lord’s temple, the royal palace, and all the houses in Jerusalem, including every large house. 52:14 The whole Babylonian army that came with the captain of the royal guard tore down the walls that surrounded Jerusalem. 52:15 Nebuzaradan, the captain of the royal guard, took into exile some of the poor, ¹⁵  the rest of the people who remained in the city, those who had deserted to him, and the rest of the craftsmen. 52:16 But he ¹⁶  left behind some of the poor ¹⁷  and gave them fields and vineyards.

52:17 The Babylonians broke the two bronze pillars in the temple of the Lord, as well as the movable stands and the large bronze basin called the “The Sea.” ¹⁸  They took all the bronze to Babylon. 52:18 They also took the pots, shovels, ¹⁹  trimming shears, ²⁰  basins, pans, and all the bronze utensils used by the priests. ²¹  52:19 The captain of the royal guard took the gold and silver bowls, censers, ²²  basins, pots, lampstands, pans, and vessels. ²³  52:20 The bronze of the items that King Solomon made for the Lord’s temple (including the two pillars, the large bronze basin called “The Sea,” the twelve bronze bulls under “The Sea,” and the movable stands ²⁴ ) was too heavy to be weighed. 52:21 Each of the pillars was about 27 feet ²⁵  high, about 18 feet ²⁶  in circumference, three inches ²⁷  thick, and hollow. 52:22 The bronze top of one pillar was about seven and one-half feet ²⁸  high and had bronze latticework and pomegranate-shaped ornaments all around it. The second pillar with its pomegranate-shaped ornaments was like it. 52:23 There were ninety-six pomegranate-shaped ornaments on the sides; in all there were one hundred pomegranate-shaped ornaments over the latticework that went around it.

52:24 The captain of the royal guard took Seraiah the chief priest, Zephaniah the priest who was second in rank, and the three doorkeepers. ²⁹  52:25 From the city he took an official who was in charge of the soldiers, seven of the king’s advisers who were discovered in the city, an official army secretary who drafted citizens ³⁰  for military service, and sixty citizens who were discovered in the middle of the city. 52:26 Nebuzaradan, the captain of the royal guard, took them and brought them to the king of Babylon at Riblah. 52:27 The king of Babylon ordered them to be executed ³¹  at Riblah in the territory of Hamath.

So Judah was taken into exile away from its land.

Ezekiel 12:12-13

12:12 “The prince ³²  who is among them will raise his belongings ³³  onto his shoulder in darkness, and will go out. He ³⁴  will dig a hole in the wall to leave through. He will cover his face so that he cannot see the land with his eyes. 12:13 But I will throw my net over him, and he will be caught in my snare. I will bring him to Babylon, the land of the Chaldeans ³⁵  (but he will not see it), ³⁶  and there he will die. ³⁷ 

Ezekiel 17:18

17:18 He despised the oath by breaking the covenant. Take note ³⁸  – he gave his promise ³⁹  and did all these things – he will not escape!

Malachi 2:9

2:9 “Therefore, I have caused you to be ignored and belittled before all people to the extent to which you are not following after me and are showing partiality in your ⁴⁰  instruction.”

[4:16]  ¹ tn Heb “the face of the Lord.” The term פָּנֶה (paneh, “face”) is a synecdoche of part (= face) for the whole person (= the Lord himself). The phrase is often translated “the presence of the Lord.” The term “face” also functions anthropomorphically, depicting the invisible spirit God as though he had a physical face.

[4:16]  ² tc The MT reads the plural verb לֹא נָשָׂאוּ (lo’ nasa’u, “they did not lift up”), Qal perfect 3rd person common plural from נָשָׂא (nasa’, “to lift up” the face); however, the ancient versions (LXX, Aramaic Targum, Latin Vulgate, Syriac Peshitta) have singular verbs, reflecting a Vorlage of לֹא נָשָׂא (lo’ nasa’, “he did not lift up”), Qal perfect 3rd person masculine singular from נָשָׂא (nasa’). D. R. Hillers suggests that the MT plural is an intentional scribe change, to avoid the appearance that God brought about evil on the priests and elders. Equally possible is that consonantal לא חננו (l’ khnnv) should be revocalized as Qal passive perfect 3rd person common plural, and that כֹהֲנִים (kohanim, “the priests”) functions as the subject of a passive verb rather than the accusative direct object of an active verb: “(the faces of ) the priests were not lifted up.”

[4:16]  ³ tc The MT reads the plural verb לֹא חָנָנוּ (lo’ khananu, “they did not show favor”), Qal perfect 3rd person common plural from חָנַן (khanan, “to show favor, be merciful”); however, the ancient versions (LXX, Aramaic Targum, Latin Vulgate, Syriac Peshitta) have singular verbs, reflecting a Vorlage of לֹא חָנַן (lo’ khanan, “he did not show favor”), Qal perfect 3rd person masculine singular from חָנַן (khanan). D. R. Hillers suggests that the MT plural is an intentional scribe change, to avoid the appearance that God brought about evil on the priests and elders. Equally possible is that consonantal לא חננו (l’ khnnv) should be revocalized as Qal passive perfect 3rd person common plural, and that זְקֵנִים (zÿqenim, “the elders”) functions as the subject of a passive verb rather than the accusative direct object of an active verb: “the elders were not shown favor/mercy.”

[4:20]  ⁴ tn Heb “the anointed one of the Lord.” The term “king” is added in the translation to clarify the referent of the phrase “the Lord’s anointed.”

[4:20]  ⁵ tn Heb “was captured in their pits.”

[4:20]  ⁶ tn Heb “of whom we had said.”

[4:20]  ⁷ tn Heb “under his shadow.” The term צֵל (tsel, “shadow”) is used figuratively here to refer the source of protection from military enemies. In the same way that the shade of a tree gives physical relief and protection from the heat of the sun (e.g., Judg 9:15; Job 40:22; Ps 80:11; Song 2:3; Ezek 17:23; 31:6, 12, 17; Hos 4:13; 14:8; Jon 4:5, 6), a faithful and powerful king can provide “shade” (= protection) from enemies and military attack (Num 14:19; Ps 91:1; Isa 30:2, 3; 49:2; 51:16; Jer 48:45; Lam 4:20).

[5:12]  ⁸ tn Heb “elders were shown no respect.” The phrase “shown no respect” is an example of tapeinosis, a figurative expression of understatement: to show no respect to elders = to terribly mistreat elders.

[43:28]  ⁹ tn The word “subjected” is supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[52:11]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “fetters of bronze.” The more generic “chains” is used in the translation because “fetters” is a word unfamiliar to most modern readers.

[52:12]  ¹¹ tn The parallel account in 2 Kgs 25:8 has “seventh.”

[52:12]  ¹² sn The tenth day of the month would have been August 17, 586 b.c. in modern reckoning.

[52:12]  ¹³ tn For the meaning of this phrase see BDB 371 s.v. טַבָּח 2 and compare the usage in Gen 39:1.

[52:12]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “stood before.”

[52:15]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “poor of the people.”

[52:16]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “Nebuzaradan, the captain of the royal guard.” However, the subject is clear from the preceding and modern English style would normally avoid repeating the proper name and title.

[52:16]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “poor of the land.”

[52:17]  ¹⁸ sn For discussion of the items listed here, see the study notes at Jer 27:19.

[52:18]  ¹⁹ sn These shovels were used to clean the altar.

[52:18]  ²⁰ sn These trimming shears were used to trim the wicks of the lamps.

[52:18]  ²¹ tn Heb “with which they served (or “fulfilled their duty”).”

[52:19]  ²² sn The censers held the embers used for the incense offerings.

[52:19]  ²³ sn These vessels were used for drink offerings.

[52:20]  ²⁴ tc The translation follows the LXX (Greek version), which reflects the description in 1 Kgs 7:25-26. The Hebrew text reads, “the twelve bronze bulls under the movable stands.” הַיָּם (hayyam, “The Sea”) has been accidentally omitted by homoioarcton; note that the following form, הַמְּכֹנוֹת (hammÿkhonot, “the movable stands”), also begins with the article.

[52:21]  ²⁵ tn Heb “eighteen cubits.” A “cubit” was a unit of measure, approximately equivalent to a foot and a half.

[52:21]  ²⁶ tn Heb “twelve cubits.” A “cubit” was a unit of measure, approximately equivalent to a foot and a half.

[52:21]  ²⁷ tn Heb “four fingers.”

[52:22]  ²⁸ tn Heb “five cubits.” A “cubit” was a unit of measure, approximately equivalent to a foot and a half.

[52:24]  ²⁹ sn See the note at Jer 35:4.

[52:25]  ³⁰ tn Heb “men, from the people of the land” (also later in this verse).

[52:27]  ³¹ tn Heb “struck them down and killed them.”

[12:12]  ³² sn The prince is a reference to Zedekiah.

[12:12]  ³³ tn The words “his belongings” are not in the Hebrew text but are implied.

[12:12]  ³⁴ tc The MT reads “they”; the LXX and Syriac read “he.”

[12:13]  ³⁵ tn Or “Babylonians” (NCV, NLT).

[12:13]  ³⁶ sn He will not see it. This prediction was fulfilled in 2 Kgs 25:7 and Jer 52:11, which recount how Zedekiah was blinded before being deported to Babylon.

[12:13]  ³⁷ sn There he will die. This was fulfilled when King Zedekiah died in exile (Jer 52:11).

[17:18]  ³⁸ tn The word הִנֵּה (hinneh, traditionally “behold”) indicates being aware of or taking notice of something.

[17:18]  ³⁹ sn Heb “hand.” “Giving one’s hand” is a gesture of promise (2 Kgs 10:15).

[2:9]  ⁴⁰ tn Heb “in the instruction” (so NASB). The Hebrew article is used here as a possessive pronoun (cf. NRSV, NLT).