Jeremiah 14:19

14:19 Then I said,

“Lord, ¹  have you completely rejected the nation of Judah?

Do you despise ²  the city of Zion?

Why have you struck us with such force

that we are beyond recovery? ³ 

We hope for peace, but nothing good has come of it.

We hope for a time of relief from our troubles, but experience terror. ⁴ 

Jeremiah 20:4

20:4 For the Lord says, ‘I will make both you and your friends terrified of what will happen to you. ⁵  You will see all of them die by the swords of their enemies. ⁶  I will hand all the people of Judah over to the king of Babylon. He will carry some of them away into exile in Babylon and he will kill others of them with the sword.

Jeremiah 49:2

49:2 Because you did that,

I, the Lord, affirm that ⁷  a time is coming

when I will make Rabbah, the capital city of Ammon,

hear the sound of the battle cry.

It will become a mound covered with ruins. ⁸ 

Its villages will be burned to the ground. ⁹ 

Then Israel will take back its land

from those who took their land from them.

I, the Lord, affirm it! ¹⁰ 

Jeremiah 52:25

52:25 From the city he took an official who was in charge of the soldiers, seven of the king’s advisers who were discovered in the city, an official army secretary who drafted citizens ¹¹  for military service, and sixty citizens who were discovered in the middle of the city.

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¹ tn The words, “Then I said, ‘Lord” are not in the Hebrew text. It is obvious from the context that the Lord is addressee. The question of the identity of the speaker is the same as that raised in vv. 7-9 and the arguments set forth there are applicable here as well. Jeremiah is here identifying with the people and doing what they refuse to do, i.e., confess their sins and express their trust in him.

² tn Heb “does your soul despise.” Here as in many places the word “soul” stands as part for whole for the person himself emphasizing emotional and volitional aspects of the person. However, in contemporary English one does not regularly speak of the “soul” in contexts such as this but of the person.

sn There is probably a subtle allusion to the curses called down on the nation for failure to keep their covenant with God. The word used here is somewhat rare (גָּעַל, ga’al). It is used of Israel’s rejection of God’s stipulations and of God’s response to their rejection of him and his stipulations in Lev 26:11, 15, 30, 43-44. That the allusion is intended is probable when account is taken of the last line of v. 21.

³ tn Heb “Why have you struck us and there is no healing for us.” The statement involves poetic exaggeration (hyperbole) for rhetorical effect.

⁴ tn Heb “[We hope] for a time of healing but behold terror.”

sn The last two lines of this verse are repeated word for word from 8:15. There they are spoken by the people.

⁵ tn Heb “I will make you an object of terror to both you and your friends.”

⁶ tn Heb “And they will fall by the sword of their enemies and [with] your eyes seeing [it].”

⁷ tn Heb “oracle of the Lord.”

⁸ tn Heb “a desolate tel.” For the explanation of what a “tel” is see the study note on 30:18.

⁹ tn Heb “Its daughters will be burned with fire.” For the use of the word “daughters” to refer to the villages surrounding a larger city see BDB 123 s.v. I בַּת 4 and compare the usage in Judg 1:27.

¹⁰ tn Heb “says the Lord.” The first person is used to maintain the first person address throughout.

¹¹ tn Heb “men, from the people of the land” (also later in this verse).