Jeremiah 10:20

10:20 But our tents have been destroyed.

The ropes that held them in place have been ripped apart. 1 

Our children are gone and are not coming back. 2 

There is no survivor to put our tents back up,

no one left to hang their tent curtains in place.

1 tn Heb “My tent has been destroyed and my tent cords have been ripped apart.” For a very similar identification of Jeremiah’s plight with the plight of the personified community see 4:20 and the notes there.

2 tn Heb “my children have gone from me and are no more.”

sn What is being referred to is the exile of the people of the land. This passage could refer to the exiles of 605 b.c., 597 b.c., or more probably be anticipatory of the exile of 588 b.c. since the “tent,” (i.e., the city) is pictured as torn down. The picture of devastation and desolation here should be contrasted with that in Isa 54:2-3.