2:15 Like lions his enemies roar victoriously over him;
they raise their voices in triumph. 1
They have laid his land waste;
his cities have been burned down and deserted. 2
4:12 No, 3 a wind too strong for that will come at my bidding.
Yes, even now I, myself, am calling down judgment on them.’ 4
10:3 For the religion 5 of these people is worthless.
They cut down a tree in the forest,
and a craftsman makes it into an idol with his tools. 6
22:1 The Lord told me, 7 “Go down 8 to the palace of the king of Judah. Give him a message from me there. 9
30:23 Just watch! The wrath of the Lord
will come like a storm.
Like a raging storm it will rage down
on the heads of those who are wicked.
36:27 The Lord spoke to Jeremiah after Jehoiakim had burned the scroll containing what Jeremiah had spoken and Baruch had written down. 11
1 tn Heb “Lions shout over him, they give out [raise] their voices.”
sn The reference to lions is here a metaphor for the Assyrians (and later the Babylonians, see Jer 50:17). The statement about lions roaring over their prey implies that the prey has been vanquished.
2 tn Heb “without inhabitant.”
3 tn The word “No” is not in the text but is carried over from the connection with the preceding line “not for…”
4 tn Heb “will speak judgments against them.”
5 tn Heb “statutes.” According to BDB 350 s.v. חֻקָּה 2.b it refers to the firmly established customs or practices of the pagan nations. Compare the usage in Lev 20:23; 2 Kgs 17:8. Here it is essentially equivalent to דֶּרֶךְ (derekh) in v. 1, which has already been translated “religious practices.”
6 sn This passage is dripping with sarcasm. It begins by talking about the “statutes” of the pagan peoples as a “vapor” using a singular copula and singular predicate. Then it suppresses the subject, the idol, as though it were too horrible to mention, using only the predications about it. The last two lines read literally: “[it is] a tree which one cuts down from the forest; the work of the hands of a craftsman with his chisel.”
7 tn The word “me “ is not in the text. It is, however, implicit and is supplied in the translation for clarity.
8 sn The allusion here is to going down from the temple to the palace which was on a lower eminence. See 36:12 in its context.
9 tn Heb “And speak there this word:” The translation is intended to eliminate an awkward and lengthy sentence.
10 tn The verbal forms emphasize that each word came from his mouth. The first verb is an imperfect which emphasizes repeated action in past time and the second verb is a participle which emphasizes ongoing action. However, it is a little awkward to try to express this nuance in contemporary English. Even though it is not reflected in the translation, it is noted here for future reference.
11 tn Heb “Then the word of the
12 tn Heb “Ebed Melech the Ethiopian.” The words “the Ethiopian” are unnecessary and are not repeated in the translation because he has already been identified as such in vv. 7, 10.
13 tn Heb “under the joints of your arms under the ropes.” The two uses of “under” have different orientations and are best reflected by “between your armpits and the ropes” or “under your armpits to pad the ropes.”
14 tn Or “Jeremiah did so.” The alternate translation is what the text reads literally.
15 sn It is generally agreed that the temple of the sun was located in Heliopolis, which is elsewhere referred to as On (cf. Gen 41:45). It was the center for the worship of Amon-Re, the Egyptian sun god, and was famous for its obelisks (conical shaped pillars) dedicated to that god. It was located about 6 miles (10 km) northeast of modern-day Cairo.