Jeremiah 1:18

1:18 I, the Lord, ¹  hereby promise to make you ²  as strong as a fortified city, an iron pillar, and a bronze wall. You will be able to stand up against all who live in ³  the land, including the kings of Judah, its officials, its priests and all the people of the land.

Jeremiah 51:12

51:12 Give the signal to attack Babylon’s wall! ⁴ 

Bring more guards! ⁵ 

Post them all around the city! ⁶ 

Put men in ambush! ⁷ 

For the Lord will do what he has planned.

He will do what he said he would do to the people of Babylon. ⁸ 

Jeremiah 51:58

51:58 This is what the Lord who rules over all ⁹  says,

“Babylon’s thick wall ¹⁰  will be completely demolished. ¹¹ 

Her high gates will be set on fire.

The peoples strive for what does not satisfy. ¹² 

The nations grow weary trying to get what will be destroyed.” ¹³ 

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¹ tn See the note on “Jeremiah” at the beginning of v. 17.

² tn Heb “today I have made you.” The Hebrew verb form here emphasizes the certainty of a yet future act; the Lord is promising to protect Jeremiah from any future attacks which may result from his faithfully carrying out his commission. See a similar use of the same Hebrew verb tense in v. 9, and see the translator’s note there.

³ tn Heb “I make you a fortified city…against all the land….” The words “as strong as” and “so you will be able to stand against all the people of…” are given to clarify the meaning of the metaphor.

⁴ tn Heb “Raise a banner against the walls of Babylon.”

⁵ tn Heb “Strengthen the watch.”

⁶ tn Heb “Station the guards.”

⁷ tn Heb “Prepare ambushes.”

sn The commands are here addressed to the kings of the Medes to fully blockade the city by posting watchmen and setting men in ambush to prevent people from escaping from the city (cf. 2 Kgs 25:4).

⁸ tn Heb “For the Lord has both planned and done what he said concerning the people living in Babylon,” i.e., “he has carried out what he planned.” Here is an obvious case where the perfects are to be interpreted as prophetic; the commands imply that the attack is still future.

⁹ sn See the note at Jer 2:19.

¹⁰ tn The text has the plural “walls,” but many Hebrew mss read the singular “wall,” which is also supported by the ancient Greek version. The modifying adjective “thick” is singular as well.

¹¹ tn The infinitive absolute emphasizes the following finite verb. Another option is to translate, “will certainly be demolished.”

¹² tn Heb “for what is empty.”

¹³ tn Heb “and the nations for fire, and they grow weary.”