Jeremiah 15:14

15:14 I will make you serve your enemies 1  in a land that you know nothing about.

For my anger is like a fire that will burn against you.”

Jeremiah 21:14

21:14 But I will punish you as your deeds deserve,’

says the Lord. 2 

‘I will set fire to your palace;

it will burn up everything around it.’” 3 

Jeremiah 23:29

23:29 My message is like a fire that purges dross! 4  It is like a hammer that breaks a rock in pieces! 5  I, the Lord, so affirm it! 6 

Jeremiah 36:22

36:22 Since it was the ninth month of the year, the king was sitting in his winter quarters. 7  A fire was burning in the firepot in front of him. 8 

1 tc This reading follows the Greek and Syriac versions and several Hebrew mss. Other Hebrew mss read “I will cause the enemy to pass through a land.” The difference in the reading is between one Hebrew letter, a dalet (ד) and a resh (ר).

2 tn Heb “oracle of the Lord.”

3 tn Heb “I will set fire in its forest and it will devour its surroundings.” The pronouns are actually third feminine singular going back to the participle “you who sit enthroned above the valley.” However, this is another example of those rapid shifts in pronouns typical of the biblical Hebrew style which are uncommon in English. They have regularly been leveled to the same person throughout in the translation to avoid possible confusion for the English reader.

4 tn Heb “Is not my message like a fire?” The rhetorical question expects a positive answer that is made explicit in the translation. The words “that purges dross” are not in the text but are implicit to the metaphor. They are supplied in the translation for clarity.

5 tn Heb “Is it not like a hammer that breaks a rock in pieces?” See preceding note.

6 tn Heb “Oracle of the Lord.”

7 tn Heb “in the autumn house.” Commentators are agreed that this was not a separate building or palace but the winter quarters in the palace.

sn Larger houses, including the palace, were two-storied buildings with a lower quarters better suited for the cold of winter and an upper quarters which was better ventilated to provide cool in the summer. Since this was the ninth month (December) the king had taken up residence in the lower, warmer quarters which were equipped with a portable fire pot or brazier to keep him warm.

8 tc Heb “the fire in the firepot was burning before him.” The translation assumes that the word “fire” (אֵשׁ, ’esh) has dropped out after the particle אֶת (’et) because of the similar beginnings of the two words. The word “fire” is found in the Greek, Syriac, and Targumic translations according to BHS. The particle אֵת should be retained rather than dropped as an erroneous writing of אֵשׁ. Its presence is to be explained as the usage of the sign of the accusative introducing a new subject (cf. BDB 85 s.v. אֶת 3.α and compare the usage in 27:8; 38:16 [in the Kethib]; 45:4).