4:6 Raise a signal flag that tells people to go to Zion. 1
Run for safety! Do not delay!
For I am about to bring disaster out of the north.
It will bring great destruction. 2
4:20 I see 3 one destruction after another taking place,
so that the whole land lies in ruins.
I see our 4 tents suddenly destroyed,
their 5 curtains torn down in a mere instant. 6
6:1 “Run for safety, people of Benjamin!
Get out of Jerusalem! 7
Sound the trumpet 8 in Tekoa!
Light the signal fires at Beth Hakkerem!
For disaster lurks 9 out of the north;
it will bring great destruction. 10
6:7 As a well continually pours out fresh water
so it continually pours out wicked deeds. 11
Sounds of violence and destruction echo throughout it. 12
All I see are sick and wounded people.’ 13
6:21 So, this is what the Lord says:
‘I will assuredly 14 make these people stumble to their doom. 15
Parents and children will stumble and fall to their destruction. 16
Friends and neighbors will die.’
17:18 May those who persecute me be disgraced.
Do not let me be disgraced.
May they be dismayed.
Do not let me be dismayed.
Bring days of disaster on them.
Bring on them the destruction they deserve.” 17
25:32 The Lord who rules over all 18 says,
‘Disaster will soon come on one nation after another. 19
A mighty storm of military destruction 20 is rising up
from the distant parts of the earth.’
48:5 Indeed they will climb the slopes of Luhith,
weeping continually as they go. 21
For on the road down to Horonaim
they will hear the cries of distress over the destruction. 22
1 tn Heb “Raise up a signal toward Zion.”
2 tn Heb “out of the north, even great destruction.”
3 tn The words, “I see” are not in the text here or at the beginning of the third line. They are supplied in the translation to show that this is Jeremiah’s vision of what will happen as a result of the invasion announced in 4:5-9, 11-17a.
4 tn Heb “my.” This is probably not a reference to Jeremiah’s own tents since he foresees the destruction of the whole land. Jeremiah so identifies with the plight of his people that he sees the destruction of their tents as though they were his very own. It would probably lead to confusion to translate literally and it is not uncommon in Hebrew laments for the community or its representative to speak of the community as an “I.” See for example the interchange between first singular and first plural pronouns in Ps 44:4-8.
5 tn Heb “my.”
6 tn It is not altogether clear what Jeremiah intends by the use of this metaphor. In all likelihood he means that the defenses of Israel’s cities and towns have offered no more resistance than nomads’ tents. However, in light of the fact that the word “tent” came to be used generically for a person’s home (cf. 1 Kgs 8:66; 12:16), it is possible that Jeremiah is here referring to the destruction of their homes and the resultant feeling of homelessness and loss of even elementary protection. Given the lack of certainty the present translation is rather literal here.
7 tn Heb “Flee for safety, people of Benjamin, out of the midst of Jerusalem.”
sn Compare and contrast Jer 4:6. There people in the outlying areas were warned to seek safety in the fortified city of Jerusalem. Here they are told to flee it because it was about to be destroyed.
map For location see Map5-B1; Map6-F3; Map7-E2; Map8-F2; Map10-B3; JP1-F4; JP2-F4; JP3-F4; JP4-F4.
8 tn Heb “ram’s horn,” but the modern equivalent is “trumpet” and is more readily understandable.
9 tn Heb “leans down” or “looks down.” This verb personifies destruction leaning/looking down from its window in the sky, ready to attack.
10 tn Heb “[It will be] a severe fracture.” The nation is pictured as a limb being fractured.
sn This passage is emotionally charged. There are two examples of assonance or wordplay in the verse: “sound” (Heb tiq’u, “blow”), which has the same consonants as “Tekoa” (Heb uvitqoa’), and “signal fire,” which comes from the same root as “light” (Heb sÿ’u mas’et, “lift up”). There is also an example of personification where disaster is said to “lurk” (Heb “look down on”) out of the north. This gives a sense of urgency and concern for the coming destruction.
11 tc Heb “As a well makes cool/fresh its water, she makes cool/fresh her wickedness.” The translation follows the reading proposed by the Masoretes (Qere) which reads a rare form of the word “well” (בַּיִר [bayir] for בְּאֵר [bÿ’er]) in place of the form written in the text (Kethib, בּוֹר [bor]), which means “cistern.” The latter noun is masculine and the pronoun “its” is feminine. If indeed בַּיִר (bayir) is a byform of בְּאֵר (be’er), which is feminine, it would agree in gender with the pronoun. It also forms a more appropriate comparison since cisterns do not hold fresh water.
12 tn Heb “Violence and destruction are heard in it.”
13 tn Heb “Sickness and wound are continually before my face.”
14 tn This is an attempt to render the Hebrew particle rendered “behold” joined to the first person pronoun.
15 tn Heb “I will put stumbling blocks in front of these people.” In this context the stumbling blocks are the invading armies.
16 tn The words “and fall to their destruction” are implicit in the metaphor and are supplied in the translation for clarity.
17 tn Or “complete destruction.” See the translator’s note on 16:18.
sn Jeremiah now does what he says he has not wanted to do or been hasty to do. He is, however, seeking his own vindication and that of God whose threats they have belittled.
18 tn Heb “Yahweh of armies.”
sn See the study notes on 2:19 and 7:3 for explanation of this extended title.
19 tn Heb “will go forth from nation to nation.”
20 tn The words “of military destruction” have been supplied in the translation to make the metaphor clear. The metaphor has shifted from that of God as a lion, to God as a warrior, to God as a judge, to God as the author of the storm winds of destruction.
sn For the use of this word in a literal sense see Jonah 1:4. For its use to refer to the wrath of the
21 tn Or “Indeed her fugitives will…” It is unclear what the subject of the verbs are in this verse. The verb in the first two lines “climb” (יַעֲלֶה, ya’aleh) is third masculine singular and the verb in the second two lines “will hear” (שָׁמֵעוּ, shame’u) is third common plural. The causal particles at the beginning of the two halves of the verse suggest some connection with the preceding, so the translation assumes that the children are still the subject. In this case the singular verb would be a case of the distributive singular already referred to in the translator’s note on 46:15. The parallel passage in Isa 15:5 refers to the “fugitives” (בְּרִיחֶהָ, bÿrikheha) with the same singular verb as here and that may be the implied subject here.
sn The location of Luhith and Horonaim are uncertain, though, from their connection with Zoar in Isa 15:5, they appear to be located in southern Moab. Zoar was at the southern tip of the Dead Sea.
22 tn Heb “the distresses of the cry of destruction.” Many commentaries want to leave out the word “distresses” because it is missing from the Greek version and the parallel passage in Isa 15:5. However, it is in all the Hebrew