4:16 They are saying, 1
‘Announce to the surrounding nations, 2
“The enemy is coming!” 3
Proclaim this message 4 to Jerusalem:
“Those who besiege cities 5 are coming from a distant land.
They are ready to raise the battle cry against 6 the towns in Judah.”’
6:4 They will say, 7 ‘Prepare to do battle 8 against it!
Come on! Let’s attack it at noon!’
But later they will say, 9 ‘Oh, oh! Too bad! 10
The day is almost over
and the shadows of evening are getting long.
18:21 So let their children die of starvation.
Let them be cut down by the sword. 14
Let their wives lose their husbands and children.
Let the older men die of disease 15
and the younger men die by the sword in battle.
20:16 May that man be like the cities 16
that the Lord destroyed without showing any mercy.
May he hear a cry of distress in the morning
and a battle cry at noon.
46:14 “Make an announcement throughout Egypt.
Proclaim it in Migdol, Memphis, and Tahpanhes. 21
‘Take your positions and prepare to do battle.
For the enemy army is destroying all the nations around you.’ 22
49:14 I said, 23 “I have heard a message from the Lord.
A messenger has been sent among the nations to say,
‘Gather your armies and march out against her!
Prepare to do battle with her!’” 24
50:14 “Take up your battle positions all around Babylon,
all you soldiers who are armed with bows. 25
Shoot 26 all your arrows at her! Do not hold any back! 27
For she has sinned against the Lord.
1 tn The words “They are saying” are not in the text but are implicit in the connection and are supplied in the translation for clarification.
2 tn The word “surrounding” is not in the text but is implicit and is supplied in the translation for clarification.
3 tc Or “Here they come!” Heb “Look!” or “Behold!” Or “Announce to the surrounding nations, indeed [or yes] proclaim to Jerusalem, ‘Besiegers…’” The text is very elliptical here. Some of the modern English versions appear to be emending the text from הִנֵּה (hinneh, “behold”) to either הֵנָּה (hennah, “these things”; so NEB), or הַזֶּה (hazzeh, “this”; so NIV). The solution proposed here is as old as the LXX which reads, “Behold, they have come.”
4 tn The words, “this message,” are not in the text but are supplied in the translation to make the introduction of the quote easier.
5 tn Heb “Besiegers.” For the use of this verb to refer to besieging a city compare Isa 1:8.
6 tn Heb “They have raised their voices against.” The verb here, a vav (ו) consecutive with an imperfect, continues the nuance of the preceding participle “are coming.”
7 tn These words are not in the text but are implicit in the connection. They are supplied in the translation for clarity.
8 tn Heb “Sanctify war.” This is probably an idiom from early Israel’s holy wars in which religious rites were to precede the battle.
9 tn These words are not in the text but are supplied in the translation for clarity. Some commentaries and English versions see these not as the words of the enemy but as those of the Israelites expressing their fear that the enemy will launch a night attack against them and further destroy them. The connection with the next verse, however, fits better with them if they are the words of the enemy.
10 tn Heb “Woe to us!” For the usage of this phrase see the translator’s note on 4:13. The usage of this particle here is a little exaggerated. They have lost the most advantageous time for attack but they are scarcely in a hopeless or doomed situation. The equivalent in English slang is “Bad news!”
11 tn Heb “Yahweh of armies.”
sn For the significance of the term see the notes at 2:19 and 7:3.
12 tn Heb “Behold I will.” For the function of this particle see the translator’s note on 1:6.
13 tn Heb “will die by the sword.” Here “sword” stands contextually for “battle” while “starvation” stands for death by starvation during siege.
14 tn Heb “be poured out to the hand [= power] of the sword.” For this same expression see Ezek 35:5; Ps 63:10 (63:11 HT). Comparison with those two passages show that it involved death by violent means, perhaps death in battle.
15 tn Heb “be slain by death.” The commentaries are generally agreed that this refers to death by disease or plague as in 15:2. Hence, the reference is to the deadly trio of sword, starvation, and disease which were often connected with war. See the notes on 15:2.
16 sn The cities alluded to are Sodom and Gomorrah and the cities of the Jordan plain which had become proverbial for their wickedness and for the destruction that the
17 tn Heb “his life will be to him for spoil.”
sn Spoil was what was carried off by the victor (see, e.g., Judg 5:30). Those who surrendered to the Babylonians would lose their property, their freedom, and their citizenship but would at least escape with their lives. Jeremiah was branded a traitor for this counsel (cf. 38:4) but it was the way of wisdom since the
18 tn Heb “by sword, by starvation, or by disease.”
19 tn Heb “those who go out to the Chaldeans.” For the rendering “Babylonians” for “Chaldeans” see the study note on 21:4.
20 tn Heb “his life will be to him for spoil and he will live.” For the meaning of this idiom see the study note on 21:9. The words and “he will live” have been left out of the translation because they are redundant after “will live” and “they will escape with their lives.”
sn See Jer 21:9 for this prophecy.
21 tn Heb “Declare in Egypt and announce in Migdol and announce in Noph [= Memphis] and in Tahpanhes.” The sentence has been restructured to reflect the fact that the first command is a general one, followed by announcements in specific (representative?) cities.
sn For the location of the cities of Migdol, Memphis, and Tahpanhes see the note on Jer 44:1. These were all cities in Lower or northern Egypt that would have been the first affected by an invasion.
22 tn Heb “For the sword devours those who surround you.” The “sword” is again figurative of destructive forces. Here it is a reference to the forces of Nebuchadnezzar which have already destroyed the Egyptian forces at Carchemish and have made victorious forays into the Philistine plain.
23 tn The words “I said” are not in the text but it is generally agreed that the words that follow are Jeremiah’s. These words are supplied in the translation to make clear that the speaker has shifted from the
24 tn Heb “Rise up for battle.” The idea “against her” is implicit from the context and has been supplied in the translation for clarity.
25 tn Heb “all you who draw the bow.”
26 tc The verb here should probably be read as a Qal imperative יְרוּ (yÿru) from יָרָה (yarah) with a few Hebrew
27 tn Heb “Shoot at her! Don’t save any arrows!”