13:18 The Lord told me, 1
“Tell the king and the queen mother,
‘Surrender your thrones, 2
for your glorious crowns
will be removed 3 from your heads. 4
13:19 The gates of the towns in southern Judah will be shut tight. 5
No one will be able to go in or out of them. 6
All Judah will be carried off into exile.
They will be completely carried off into exile.’” 7
1 tn The words “The
2 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.
sn The king and queen mother are generally identified as Jehoiachin and his mother who were taken into captivity with many of the leading people of Jerusalem in 597
3 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).
4 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.
5 tn Heb “The towns of the Negev will be shut.”
6 tn Heb “There is no one to open them.” The translation is based on the parallel in Josh 6:1 where the very expression in the translation is used. Opening the city would have permitted entrance (of relief forces) as well as exit (of fugitives).
7 sn The statements are poetic exaggerations (hyperbole), as most commentaries note. Even in the exile of 587