Jeremiah 44:17

44:17 Instead we will do everything we vowed we would do. 1  We will sacrifice and pour out drink offerings to the goddess called the Queen of Heaven 2  just as we and our ancestors, our kings, and our leaders previously did in the towns of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem. For then we had plenty of food, were well-off, and had no troubles. 3 

Jeremiah 46:10

46:10 But that day belongs to the Lord God who rules over all. 4 

It is the day when he will pay back his enemies. 5 

His sword will devour them until its appetite is satisfied!

It will drink their blood until it is full! 6 

For the Lord God who rules over all 7  will offer them up as a sacrifice

in the land of the north by the Euphrates River.

1 tn Heb “that went out of our mouth.” I.e., everything we said, promised, or vowed.

2 tn Heb “sacrifice to the Queen of Heaven and pour out drink offerings to her.” The expressions have been combined to simplify and shorten the sentence. The same combination also occurs in vv. 18, 19.

sn See the translator’s note and the study note on 7:18 for the problem of translation and identification of the term translated here “the goddess called the Queen of Heaven.”

3 tn Heb “saw [or experienced] no disaster/trouble/harm.”

4 tn Heb “the Lord Yahweh of armies.” See the study note at 2:19 for the translation and significance of this title for God.

5 sn Most commentators think that this is a reference to the Lord exacting vengeance on Pharaoh Necho for killing Josiah, carrying Jehoahaz off into captivity, and exacting heavy tribute on Judah in 609 b.c. (2 Kgs 23:29, 33-35).

6 tn Or more paraphrastically, “he will kill them/ until he has exacted full vengeance”; Heb “The sword will eat and be sated; it will drink its fill of their blood.”

sn This passage is, of course, highly figurative. The Lord does not have a literal “sword,” but he uses agents of destruction like the Assyrian armies (called his “rod” in Isa 10:5-6) and the Babylonian armies (called his war club in Jer 51:20) to wreak vengeance on his foes. Likewise, swords do not “eat” or “drink.” What is meant here is that God will use this battle against the Egyptians to kill off many Egyptians until his vengeance is fully satisfied.

7 tn Heb “the Lord Yahweh of armies.” See the study note at 2:19 for the translation and significance of this title for God.