Jeremiah 6:1

The Destruction of Jerusalem Depicted

6:1 “Run for safety, people of Benjamin!

Get out of Jerusalem! ¹ 

Sound the trumpet ²  in Tekoa!

Light the signal fires at Beth Hakkerem!

For disaster lurks ³  out of the north;

it will bring great destruction. ⁴ 

Jeremiah 6:26

6:26 So I said, ⁵  “Oh, my dear people, ⁶  put on sackcloth

and roll in ashes.

Mourn with painful sobs

as though you had lost your only child.

For any moment now ⁷  that destructive army ⁸ 

will come against us.”

Jeremiah 19:13

19:13 The houses in Jerusalem and the houses of the kings of Judah will be defiled by dead bodies ⁹  just like this place, Topheth. For they offered sacrifice to the stars ¹⁰  and poured out drink offerings to other gods on the roofs of those houses.’”

Jeremiah 20:5

20:5 I will hand over all the wealth of this city to their enemies. I will hand over to them all the fruits of the labor of the people of this city and all their prized possessions, as well as all the treasures of the kings of Judah. Their enemies will seize it all as plunder ¹¹  and carry it off to Babylon.

Jeremiah 29:28

29:28 For he has even sent a message to us here in Babylon. He wrote and told us, ¹²  “You will be there a long time. Build houses and settle down. Plant gardens and eat what they produce.”’” ¹³ 

Jeremiah 34:3

34:3 You yourself will not escape his clutches, but will certainly be captured and handed over to him. You must confront the king of Babylon face to face and answer to him personally. ¹⁴  Then you must go to Babylon.

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¹ 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.

² tn Heb “ram’s horn,” but the modern equivalent is “trumpet” and is more readily understandable.

³ tn Heb “leans down” or “looks down.” This verb personifies destruction leaning/looking down from its window in the sky, ready to attack.

⁴ 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.

⁵ tn These words are not in the text but are implicit from the context.

⁶ tn Heb “daughter of my people.” For the translation given here see 4:11 and the translator’s note there.

⁷ tn Heb “suddenly.”

⁸ tn Heb “the destroyer.”

⁹ tn The words “by dead bodies” is not in the text but is implicit from the context. They are supplied in the translation for clarity.

¹⁰ tn Heb “the host of heaven.”

¹¹ tn Heb “Take them [the goods, etc.] as plunder and seize them.”

¹² tn Heb “For he has sent to us in Babylon, saying….” The quote, however, is part of the earlier letter.

¹³ sn See v. 5.

¹⁴ tn Heb “Your eyes will see the eyes of the king of Babylon and his mouth will speak with your mouth.” For this same idiom in reverse order see 32:4 and consult the translator’s note there for the obligatory nuance given to the verbs.

sn For the fulfillment of this see Jer 52:7-11.