6:19 Hear this, you peoples of the earth: 1
‘Take note! 2 I am about to bring disaster on these people.
It will come as punishment for their scheming. 3
For they have paid no attention to what I have said, 4
and they have rejected my law.
11:17 For though I, the Lord who rules over all, 10 planted you in the land, 11
I now decree that disaster will come on you 12
because the nations of Israel and Judah have done evil
and have made me angry by offering sacrifices to the god Baal.” 13
13:16 Show the Lord your God the respect that is due him. 14
Do it before he brings the darkness of disaster. 15
Do it before you stumble 16 into distress
like a traveler on the mountains at twilight. 17
Do it before he turns the light of deliverance you hope for
into the darkness and gloom of exile. 18
26:19 King Hezekiah and all the people of Judah did not put him to death, did they? Did not Hezekiah show reverence for the Lord and seek the Lord’s favor? 34 Did not 35 the Lord forgo destroying them 36 as he threatened he would? But we are on the verge of bringing great disaster on ourselves.” 37
32:42 “For I, the Lord, say: 39 ‘I will surely bring on these people all the good fortune that I am hereby promising them. I will be just as sure to do that as I have been in bringing all this great disaster on them. 40
49:32 Their camels will be taken as plunder.
Their vast herds will be taken as spoil.
I will scatter to the four winds
those desert peoples who cut their hair short at the temples. 53
I will bring disaster against them
from every direction,” says the Lord. 54
49:37 I will make the people of Elam terrified of their enemies,
who are seeking to kill them.
I will vent my fierce anger
and bring disaster upon them,” 55 says the Lord. 56
“I will send armies chasing after them 57
until I have completely destroyed them.
1 tn Heb “earth.”
2 tn Heb “Behold!”
3 tn Heb “disaster on these people, the fruit of their schemes.”
4 tn Heb “my word.”
5 tn Heb “Then the towns of Judah and those living in Jerusalem will…”
6 tn The Hebrew construction is emphatic involving the use of an infinitive of the verb before the verb itself (Heb “saving they will not save”). For this construction to give emphasis to an antithesis, cf. GKC 343 §113.p.
7 tn Heb “you.”
8 tn The words “to save them” are not in the text but are implicit from the context. They are supplied in the translation for clarity.
sn Cf. Jer 7:16 where this same command is addressed to Jeremiah.
9 tc The rendering “when disaster strikes them” is based on reading “at the time of” (בְּעֵת, bÿ’et) with a number of Hebrew
10 tn Heb “Yahweh of armies.”
sn For the significance of the term see the notes at 2:19 and 7:3.
11 tn The words “in the land” are not in the text but are supplied in the translation to clarify the meaning of the metaphor.
12 tn Heb “For Yahweh of armies who planted you speaks disaster upon you.” Because of the way the term
13 tn Heb “pronounced disaster…on account of the evil of the house of Israel and the house of Judah which they have done to make me angry [or thus making me angry] by sacrificing to Baal.” The lines have been broken up in conformity with contemporary English style.
14 tn Heb “Give glory/respect to the
15 tn The words “of disaster” are not in the text. They are supplied in the translation to explain the significance of the metaphor to readers who may not be acquainted with the metaphorical use of light and darkness for salvation and joy and distress and sorrow respectively.
sn For the metaphorical use of these terms the reader should consult O. A. Piper, “Light, Light and Darkness,” IDB 3:130-32. For the association of darkness with the Day of the
16 tn Heb “your feet stumble.”
17 tn Heb “you stumble on the mountains at twilight.” The added words are again supplied in the translation to help explain the metaphor to the uninitiated reader.
18 tn Heb “and while you hope for light he will turn it into deep darkness and make [it] into gloom.” The meaning of the metaphor is again explained through the addition of the “of” phrases for readers who are unacquainted with the metaphorical use of these terms.
sn For the meaning and usage of the term “deep darkness” (צַלְמָוֶת, tsalmavet), see the notes on Jer 2:6. For the association of the term with exile see Isa 9:2 (9:1 HT). For the association of the word gloom with the Day of the
19 map For location see Map5-B1; Map6-F3; Map7-E2; Map8-F2; Map10-B3; JP1-F4; JP2-F4; JP3-F4; JP4-F4.
20 sn Heb “I am forming disaster and making plans against you.” The word translated “forming” is the same as that for “potter,” so there is a wordplay taking the reader back to v. 5. They are in his hands like the clay in the hands of the potter. Since they have not been pliable he forms new plans. He still offers them opportunity to repent; but their response is predictable.
21 tn Heb “Turn, each one from his wicked way.” See v. 8.
22 tn Or “Make good your ways and your actions.” See the same expression in 7:3, 5.
23 map For location see Map5-B1; Map6-F3; Map7-E2; Map8-F2; Map10-B3; JP1-F4; JP2-F4; JP3-F4; JP4-F4.
24 tn Heb “Yahweh of armies, the God of Israel.”
sn See the study notes on 2:19 and 7:3 for explanation of this title.
25 sn Careful comparison of the use of this term throughout this passage and comparison with 7:31-33 which is parallel to several verses in this passage will show that the reference is to the Valley of Ben Hinnom which will become a Valley of Slaughter (see v. 6 and 7:32).
26 tn Heb “which everyone who hears it [or about it] his ears will ring.” This is proverbial for a tremendous disaster. See 1 Sam 3:11; 2 Kgs 21:12 for similar prophecies.
27 tn Heb “Yahweh of armies, the God of Israel.”
sn See the study notes on 2:19 and 7:3 for explanation of this title.
28 tn Heb “all its towns.”
29 tn Heb “They hardened [or made stiff] their neck so as not to.”
30 tn Heb “which is called by my name.” See translator’s note on 7:10 for support.
31 tn This is an example of a question without the formal introductory particle following a conjunctive vav introducing an opposition. (See Joüon 2:609 §161.a.) It is also an example of the use of the infinitive before the finite verb in a rhetorical question involving doubt or denial. (See Joüon 2:422-23 §123.f, and compare usage in Gen 37:8.)
32 tn Heb “Yahweh of armies.”
sn See the study notes on 2:19 and 7:3 for explanation of this extended title.
33 tn Heb “Oracle of Yahweh of armies.”
34 tn This Hebrew idiom (חָלָה פָּנִים, khalah panim) is often explained in terms of “stroking” or “patting the face” of someone, seeking to gain his favor. It is never used in a literal sense and is found in contexts of prayer (Exod 32:11; Ps 119:158), worship (Zech 8:21-22), humble submission (2 Chr 3:12), or amendment of behavior (Dan 9:13). All were true to one extent or another of Hezekiah.
35 tn The he interrogative (הַ)with the negative governs all three of the verbs, the perfect and the two vav (ו) consecutive imperfects that follow it. The next clause has disjunctive word order and introduces a contrast. The question expects a positive answer.
36 tn For the translation of the terms involved here see the translator’s note on 18:8.
37 tn Or “great harm to ourselves.” The word “disaster” (or “harm”) is the same one that has been translated “destroying” in the preceding line and in vv. 3 and 13.
38 tn Or “They did not do everything that you commanded them to do.” This is probably a case where the negative (לֹא, lo’) negates the whole category indicated by “all” (כָּל, kol; see BDB 482 s.v. כָּל 1.e(c) and compare usage in Deut 12:16; 28:14). Jeremiah has repeatedly emphasized that the history of Israel since their entry into the land has been one of persistent disobedience and rebellion (cf., e.g. 7:22-26; 11:7-8). The statement, of course, is somewhat hyperbolical as all categorical statements of this kind are.
39 tn Heb “For thus says the
40 tn Heb “As I have brought all this great disaster on these people so I will bring upon them all the good fortune which I am promising them.” The translation has broken down the longer Hebrew sentence to better conform to English style.
sn See the same guarantee in Jer 31:27.
41 tn Heb “Therefore, thus says the
42 tn Heb “will turn each one from his wicked way.”
43 tn Heb “their iniquity and their sin.”
sn The offer of withdrawal of punishment for sin is consistent with the principles of Jer 18:7-8 and the temple sermon delivered early in the reign of this king (cf. 26:1-3; 7:5-7).
44 tn Heb “for their iniquity.”
45 map For location see Map5-B1; Map6-F3; Map7-E2; Map8-F2; Map10-B3; JP1-F4; JP2-F4; JP3-F4; JP4-F4.
46 tn Heb “all the disaster which I spoke against them and they did not listen [or obey].”
47 tn The word “just” is intended to reflect the infinitive absolute before the finite verb emphasizing here the condition rather than the verb root (see Joüon 2:423 §123.g, and compare the usage in Exod 15:26). The form looks like the infinitive absolute of the verb שׁוּב (shuv), but all the versions interpret it as though it is from יָשַׁב (yashav) which is the root of the verb that follows it. Either this is a textual error of the loss of a י (yod) or this is one of the cases that GKC 69 §19.i list as the possible loss of a weak consonant at the beginning of a word.
48 tn Or “I will firmly plant you in the land,” or “I will establish you.” This is part of the metaphor that has been used of God (re)establishing Israel in the land. See 24:6; 31:28; 32:41.
49 tn Heb “Because you have sacrificed and you have sinned against the
50 tn Heb “oracle of the
51 sn Compare Jer 25:31, 33. The reference here to universal judgment also forms a nice transition to the judgments on the nations that follow in Jer 46-51 which may be another reason for the placement of this chapter here, out of its normal chronological order (see also the study note on v. 1).
52 tn Heb “I will give you your life for a spoil.” For this idiom see the translator’s note on 21:9 and compare the usage in 21:9; 38:2; 39:18.
53 tn See the translator’s note at Jer 9:26 and compare the usage in 9:26 and 25:23.
54 tn Heb “Oracle of the
55 tn Heb “I will bring disaster upon them, even my fierce anger.”
56 tn Heb “Oracle of the
57 tn Heb “I will send the sword after them.”