Jeremiah 5:12

5:12 “These people have denied what the Lord says. ¹ 

They have said, ‘That is not so! ² 

No harm will come to us.

We will not experience war and famine. ³ 

Jeremiah 24:10

24:10 I will bring war, starvation, and disease ⁴  on them until they are completely destroyed from the land I gave them and their ancestors.’” ⁵ 

Jeremiah 28:8

28:8 From earliest times, the prophets who preceded you and me invariably ⁶  prophesied war, disaster, ⁷  and plagues against many countries and great kingdoms.

Jeremiah 42:22

42:22 So now be very sure of this: You will die from war, starvation, or disease in the place where you want to go and live.”

Jeremiah 44:13

44:13 I will punish those who live in the land of Egypt with war, starvation, and disease just as I punished Jerusalem.

Jeremiah 51:20

51:20 “Babylon, ⁸  you are my war club, ⁹ 

my weapon for battle.

I used you to smash nations. ¹⁰ 

I used you to destroy kingdoms.

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¹ tn Heb “have denied the Lord.” The words “What…says” are implicit in what follows.

² tn Or “he will do nothing”; Heb “Not he [or it]!”

³ tn Heb “we will not see the sword and famine.”

⁴ sn See Jer 14:12 and the study note there.

⁵ tn Heb “fathers.”

⁶ tn The word “invariably” is not in the text but is implicit in the context and in the tense of the Hebrew verb. It is supplied in the translation for clarity and to help bring out the contrast in the next verse.

⁷ tc Many Hebrew mss read “starvation/famine” which is the second member of a common triad “sword, famine, and plague” in Jeremiah. This triad occurs thirteen times in the book and undoubtedly influenced a later scribe to read “starvation [= famine]” here. For this triad see the note on 14:14. The words “disaster and plagues” are missing in the LXX.

⁸ tn Or “Media.” The referent is not identified in the text; the text merely says “you are my war club.” Commentators in general identify the referent as Babylon because Babylon has been referred to as a hammer in 50:23 and Babylon is referred to in v. 25 as a “destroying mountain” (compare v. 20d). However, S. R. Driver, Jeremiah, 317, n. c maintains that v. 24 speaks against this. It does seem a little inconsistent to render the vav consecutive perfect at the beginning of v. 24 as future while rendering those in vv. 20b-23 as customary past. However, change in person from second masculine singular (vv. 20b-23) to the second masculine plural in “before your very eyes” and its position at the end of the verse after “which they did in Zion” argue that a change in address occurs there. Driver has to ignore the change in person and take “before your eyes” with the verb “repay” at the beginning to maintain the kind of consistency he seeks. The vav (ו) consecutive imperfect can be used for either the customary past (GKC 335-36 §112.dd with cross reference back to GKC 331-32 §112.e) or the future (GKC 334 §112.x). Hence the present translation has followed the majority of commentaries (and English versions like TEV, NCV, CEV, NIrV) in understanding the referent as Babylon and v. 24 being a transition to vv. 25-26 (cf., e.g., J. Bright, Jeremiah [AB], 356-57, and J. A. Thompson, Jeremiah [NICOT], 756-57). If the referent is understood as Media then the verbs in vv. 20-23 should all be translated as futures. See also the translator’s note on v. 24.

⁹ tn This Hebrew word (מַפֵּץ, mappets) only occurs here in the Hebrew Bible, but its meaning is assured from the use of the verbs that follow which are from the same root (נָפַץ, nafats) and there is a cognate noun מַפָּץ (mappats) that occurs in Ezek 9:2 in the sense of weapon of “smashing.”

¹⁰ tn Heb “I smash nations with you.” This same structure is repeated throughout the series in vv. 20c-23.