20:14 Cursed be the day I was born!
May that day not be blessed when my mother gave birth to me. 7
49:38 I will establish my sovereignty over Elam. 11
I will destroy their king and their leaders,” 12 says the Lord. 13
51:45 “Get out of Babylon, my people!
Flee to save your lives
from the fierce anger of the Lord! 14
1 tn Heb “the descendants of Ephraim.” However, Ephraim here stands (as it often does) for all the northern tribes of Israel.
2 tn Heb “the ways of my people.” For this nuance of the word “ways” compare 10:2 and the notes there.
3 tn Heb “taught my people to swear by Baal.”
4 tn The words “I swear” are not in the text but are implicit to the oath formula. They are supplied in the translation for clarity.
5 tn The words “If they do this” are not in the text. They are part of an attempt to break up a Hebrew sentence which is long and complex into equivalent shorter sentences consistent with contemporary English style. Verse 16 in Hebrew is all one sentence with a long complex conditional clause followed by a short consequence: “If they carefully learn the ways of my people to swear by name, ‘By the life of the
6 tn Heb “they will be built up among my people.” The expression “be built up among” is without parallel. However, what is involved here is conceptually parallel to the ideas expressed in Isa 19:23-25 and Zech 14:16-19. That is, these people will be allowed to live on their own land, to worship the
7 sn From the heights of exaltation, Jeremiah returns to the depths of despair. For similar mood swings in the psalms of lament compare Ps 102. Verses 14-18 are similar in tone and mood to Job 3:1-10. They are very forceful rhetorical ways of Job and Jeremiah expressing the wish that they had never been born.
8 tn Heb “with outstretched hand and with strong arm.” These are, of course, figurative of God’s power and might. He does not literally have hands and arms.
sn The phrases in this order are unique but a very similar phrase “by strong hand and outstretched arm” are found several times with reference to God’s mighty power unleashed against Egypt at the exodus (cf., Deut 4:34; 5:15; 26:8; Jer 32:21; Ps 136:12). Instead of being directed at Israel’s enemies it will now be directed against her.
9 tn Heb “And I, behold I am in your hand.” Hand is quite commonly used for “power” or “control” in biblical contexts.
10 tn Heb “the house which is called by my name.” Cf. 7:10, 11, 14 and see the translator’s note on 7:10 for the explanation for this rendering.
11 tn Or “I will sit in judgment over Elam”; Heb “I will set up my throne in Elam.” Commentators are divided over whether this refers to a king sitting in judgment over his captured enemies or whether it refers to formally establishing his rule over the country. Those who argue for the former idea point to the supposed parallels in 1:15 (which the present translation understands not to refer to this but to setting up siege) and 43:8-13. The parallelism in the verse here, however, argues that it refers to the
12 tn Heb “I will destroy king and leaders from there.”
13 tn Heb “Oracle of the
14 tn Heb “Go out from her [Babylon’s] midst, my people. Save each man his life from the fierce anger of the
sn Compare Jer 50:8-10; 51:6 where the significance of saving oneself from the fierce anger of the