³ sn This verses affirms that God is ultimately sovereign over his world, including mankind and nations. In accordance with his sovereign will, he can cause wars to cease and peace to predominate (as he was about to do for his exiled people through Cyrus), or he can bring disaster and judgment on nations (as he was about to do to Babylon through Cyrus).

¹ tn בְּתוּלַה (bÿtulah) often refers to a virgin, but the phrase “virgin daughter” is apparently stylized (see also Babylon%27s&tab=notes" ver="">23:12; 37:22). In the extended metaphor of this chapter, where Babylon is personified as a queen (vv. Babylon%27s&tab=notes" ver="">5, 7), she is depicted as being both a wife and mother (vv. Babylon%27s&tab=notes" ver="">8-9).

³ sn What is being alluded to here is the political policy of vacillating alliances through which Judah brought about her own downfall, allying herself first with Assyria, then Egypt, then Babylon, and then Egypt again. See 2 Kgs 23:29–Babylon%27s&tab=notes" ver="">24:7 for an example of this policy and the disastrous consequences.

³ sn The Babylonians (Heb “the Chaldeans”). The Chaldeans were a group of people in the country south of Babylon from which Nebuchadnezzar came. The Chaldean dynasty his father established became the name by which the Babylonians are regularly referred to in the book of Jeremiah. Jeremiah’s contemporary Ezekiel uses both terms.

² sn The many allusions to trouble coming from the north are now clarified: it is the armies of Babylon which included within it contingents from many nations. See Babylon%27s&tab=notes" ver="">1:14, 15; 4:6; 6:1, 22; 10:22; 13:20 for earlier allusions.

⁵ sn This is essentially the introduction to the “judgment on the nations” in vv. Babylon%27s&tab=notes" ver="">15-29 which begins with Jerusalem and Judah (v. Babylon%27s&tab=notes" ver="">18) and ultimately ends with Babylon itself (“Sheshach” in v. Babylon%27s&tab=notes" ver="">26; see note there for explanation of the term).

³ tn Heb “I will visit upon the king of Babylon and upon that nation, oracle of the Lord, their iniquity even upon the land of the Chaldeans and I will make it everlasting ruins.” The sentence has been restructured to avoid ambiguity and to conform the style more to contemporary English.

² tn The words “Things will go better for” are not in the text. They are supplied contextually as a means of breaking up the awkward syntax of the original which reads “The nation which brings its neck under the yoke of the king of Babylon and subjects itself to him, I will leave it…”

² sn In giving people false assurances of restoration when the Lord had already told them to submit to Babylon, Hananiah was really counseling rebellion against the Lord. What Hananiah had done was contrary to the law of Deut 13:6 and was punishable by death.

³ tn Verse Babylon%27s&tab=notes" ver="">10 is all one long sentence in the Hebrew original: “According to the fullness of Babylon seventy years I will take thought of you and I will establish my gracious word to you by bringing you back to this place.” The sentence has been broken up to conform better to contemporary English style.

² sn Compare the same charge against Hananiah in Jer 28:16 and see the note there. In this case, the false prophesy of Shemaiah is not given but it likely had the same tenor since he wants Jeremiah reprimanded for saying that the exile will be long and the people are to settle down in Babylon.

¹ tn Heb “Your eyes will see the eyes of the king of Babylon and his mouth will speak with your mouth.” For this same idiom in reverse order see Babylon%27s&tab=notes" ver="">32:4 and consult the translator’s note there for the obligatory nuance given to the verbs.

² sn The contrast is between death in battle or by execution and death in the normal course of life. Zedekiah was captured, had to witness the execution of his sons, had his eyes put out, and was taken to Babylon where he died after a lengthy imprisonment (Jer 52:10-11).

² tn Heb “And Zedekiah son of Josiah whom Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon made king in the land of Judah ruled as king instead of Coniah son of Jehoiakim.” The sentence has been restructured and simplified to better conform to contemporary English style.

¹ tn Heb “Behold! Like an eagle he will swoop and will spread his wings against Moab.” The sentence has been reordered in English to give a better logical flow and the unidentified “he” has been identified as “a nation.” The nation is, of course, Babylon, but it is nowhere identified so the referent has been left ambiguous.

¹ sn Conquering nations are often identified with a swiftly flying eagle swooping down on its victims (cf. Deut 28:49). In this case the eagle is to be identified with the nation (or king) of Babylon (cf. Ezek 17:3, 12 where reference is to the removal of Jehoiachin (Jeconiah) and his replacement with Zedekiah).

¹ tn Heb “From [or Because of] the wrath of the Lord it will be uninhabited.” The causal connection is spelled out more clearly and actively and the first person has been used because the speaker is the Lord. The referent “it” has been spelled out clearly from the later occurrence in the verse, “all who pass by Babylon.”

¹ sn Heb “A sword against the Chaldeans.” The “sword” here is metaphorical for destructive forces in the persons of the armies of the north (vv. Babylon%27s&tab=notes" ver="">3, 9) which the Lord is marshaling against Babylon and which he has addressed by way of command several times (e.g., vv. Babylon%27s&tab=notes" ver="">14, 21, 26-27, 29). Compare Babylon%27s&tab=notes" ver="">46:14 and the study note there.

¹ sn The destructive wind is a figurative reference to the “foreign people” who will “winnow” Babylon and drive out all the people (v. Babylon%27s&tab=notes" ver="">2). This figure has already been used in Babylon%27s&tab=notes" ver="">4:11-12 and in Babylon%27s&tab=notes" ver="">49:36. See the study note on Babylon%27s&tab=notes" ver="">4:11-12 and the translator’s notes on Babylon%27s&tab=notes" ver="">22:22 and 49:36.

¹ sn The figure of the cup of the Lord’s wrath invoked in Jer 25:15-29 is invoked again here and Babylon is identified as the agent through which the wrath of the Lord is visited on the other nations. See the study note on Babylon%27s&tab=notes" ver="">25:15 for explanation and further references.