Jeremiah 25:29

25:29 For take note, I am already beginning to bring disaster on the city that I call my own. 1  So how can you possibly avoid being punished? 2  You will not go unpunished! For I am proclaiming war against all who live on the earth. I, the Lord who rules over all, 3  affirm it!’ 4 

Jeremiah 25:31

25:31 The sounds of battle 5  will resound to the ends of the earth.

For the Lord will bring charges against the nations. 6 

He will pass judgment on all humankind

and will hand the wicked over to be killed in war.’ 7 

The Lord so affirms it! 8 

1 tn Heb “which is called by my name.” See translator’s note on 7:10 for support.

2 tn This is an example of a question without the formal introductory particle following a conjunctive vav introducing an opposition. (See Joüon 2:609 §161.a.) It is also an example of the use of the infinitive before the finite verb in a rhetorical question involving doubt or denial. (See Joüon 2:422-23 §123.f, and compare usage in Gen 37:8.)

3 tn Heb “Yahweh of armies.”

sn See the study notes on 2:19 and 7:3 for explanation of this extended title.

4 tn Heb “Oracle of Yahweh of armies.”

5 tn For the use of this word see Amos 2:2; Hos 10:14; Ps 74:23. See also the usage in Isa 66:6 which is very similar to the metaphorical usage here.

6 tn Heb “the Lord has a lawsuit against the nations.” For usage of the term see Hos 4:1; Mic 6:2, and compare the usage of the related verb in Jer 2:9; 12:1.

7 tn Heb “give the wicked over to the sword.”

sn There is undoubtedly a deliberate allusion here to the reference to the “wars” (Heb “sword”) that the Lord had said he would send raging through the nations (vv. 16, 27) and the “war” (Heb “sword”) that he is proclaiming against them (v. 29).

8 tn Heb “Oracle of the Lord.”