Psalms 107:4

107:4 They wandered through the wilderness on a desert road;

they found no city in which to live.

Job 12:24

12:24 He deprives the leaders of the earth ¹ 

of their understanding; ² 

he makes them wander

in a trackless desert waste. ³ 

Jeremiah 13:15-18

13:15 Then I said to the people of Judah, ⁴ 

“Listen and pay attention! Do not be arrogant!

For the Lord has spoken.

13:16 Show the Lord your God the respect that is due him. ⁵ 

Do it before he brings the darkness of disaster. ⁶ 

Do it before you stumble ⁷  into distress

like a traveler on the mountains at twilight. ⁸ 

Do it before he turns the light of deliverance you hope for

into the darkness and gloom of exile. ⁹ 

13:17 But if you will not pay attention to this warning, ¹⁰ 

I will weep alone because of your arrogant pride.

I will weep bitterly and my eyes will overflow with tears ¹¹ 

because you, the Lord’s flock, ¹²  will be carried ¹³  into exile.”

13:18 The Lord told me, ¹⁴ 

“Tell the king and the queen mother,

‘Surrender your thrones, ¹⁵ 

for your glorious crowns

will be removed ¹⁶  from your heads. ¹⁷ 

[12:24]  ¹ tn Heb “the heads of the people of the earth.”

[12:24]  ² tn Heb “heart.”

[12:24]  ³ tn The text has בְּתֹהוּ לֹא־דָרֶךְ (bÿtohu lo’ darekh): “in waste – no way,” or “in a wasteland [where there is] no way,” thus, “trackless” (see the discussion of negative attributes using לֹא [lo’] in GKC 482 §152.u).

[13:15]  ⁴ tn The words “Then I said to the people of Judah” are not in the text but are implicit from the address in v. 15 and the content of v. 17. They are supplied in the translation for clarity to show the shift from the Lord speaking to Jeremiah.

[13:16]  ⁵ tn Heb “Give glory/respect to the Lord your God.” For this nuance of the word “glory” (כָּבוֹד, kavod), see BDB 459 s.v. כָּבוֹד 6.b and compare the usage in Mal 1:6 and Josh 7:19.

[13:16]  ⁶ tn The words “of disaster” are not in the text. They are supplied in the translation to explain the significance of the metaphor to readers who may not be acquainted with the metaphorical use of light and darkness for salvation and joy and distress and sorrow respectively.

[13:16]  ⁷ tn Heb “your feet stumble.”

[13:16]  ⁸ tn Heb “you stumble on the mountains at twilight.” The added words are again supplied in the translation to help explain the metaphor to the uninitiated reader.

[13:16]  ⁹ tn Heb “and while you hope for light he will turn it into deep darkness and make [it] into gloom.” The meaning of the metaphor is again explained through the addition of the “of” phrases for readers who are unacquainted with the metaphorical use of these terms.

[13:17]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “If you will not listen to it.” For the use of the feminine singular pronoun to refer to the idea(s) expressed in the preceding verse(s), see GKC 440-41 §135.p.

[13:17]  ¹¹ tn Heb “Tearing [my eye] will tear and my eye will run down [= flow] with tears.”

[13:17]  ¹² tn Heb “because the Lord’s flock will…” The pronoun “you” is supplied in the translation to avoid the shift in English from the second person address at the beginning to the third person affirmation at the end. It also helps explain the metaphor of the people of Israel as God’s flock for some readers who may be unfamiliar with that metaphor.

[13:17]  ¹³ tn The verb is once again in the form of “as good as done” (the Hebrew prophetic perfect).

[13:18]  ¹⁴ tn The words “The Lord told me” are not in the text but are implicit in the shift from second plural pronouns in vv. 15-17 to second singular in the Hebrew text of this verse. These words are supplied in the translation for clarity.

[13:18]  ¹⁵ tn Or “You will come down from your thrones”; Heb “Make low! Sit!” This is a case of a construction where two forms in the same case, mood, or tense are joined in such a way that one (usually the first) is intended as an adverbial or adjectival modifier of the other (a figure called hendiadys). This is also probably a case where the imperative is used to express a distinct assurance or promise. See GKC 324 §110.b and compare the usage in Isa 37:30 and Ps 110:2.

[13:18]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “have come down.” The verb here and those in the following verses are further examples of the “as good as done” form of the Hebrew verb (the prophetic perfect).

[13:18]  ¹⁷ tc The translation follows the common emendation of a word normally meaning “place at the head” (מַרְאֲשׁוֹת [mar’ashot] plus pronoun = מַרְאֲוֹשׁתֵיכֶם [mar’aoshtekhem]) to “from your heads” (מֵרָאשֵׁיכֶם, mera’shekhem) following the ancient versions. The meaning “tiara” is nowhere else attested for this word.