25:27 Then the Lord said to me, 25 “Tell them that the Lord God of Israel who rules over all 26 says, 27 ‘Drink this cup 28 until you get drunk and vomit. Drink until you fall down and can’t get up. 29 For I will send wars sweeping through you.’ 30 25:28 If they refuse to take the cup from your hand and drink it, tell them that the Lord who rules over all says 31 ‘You most certainly must drink it! 32 25:29 For take note, I am already beginning to bring disaster on the city that I call my own. 33 So how can you possibly avoid being punished? 34 You will not go unpunished! For I am proclaiming war against all who live on the earth. I, the Lord who rules over all, 35 affirm it!’ 36
25:30 “Then, Jeremiah, 37 make the following prophecy 38 against them:
‘Like a lion about to attack, 39 the Lord will roar from the heights of heaven;
from his holy dwelling on high he will roar loudly.
He will roar mightily against his land. 40
He will shout in triumph like those stomping juice from the grapes 41
against all those who live on the earth.
25:31 The sounds of battle 42 will resound to the ends of the earth.
For the Lord will bring charges against the nations. 43
He will pass judgment on all humankind
and will hand the wicked over to be killed in war.’ 44
The Lord so affirms it! 45
25:32 The Lord who rules over all 46 says,
‘Disaster will soon come on one nation after another. 47
A mighty storm of military destruction 48 is rising up
from the distant parts of the earth.’
25:33 Those who have been killed by the Lord at that time
will be scattered from one end of the earth to the other.
They will not be mourned over, gathered up, or buried. 49
Their dead bodies will lie scattered over the ground like manure.
1 map For location see Map5-B1; Map6-F3; Map7-E2; Map8-F2; Map10-B3; JP1-F4; JP2-F4; JP3-F4; JP4-F4.
2 tn The words “I made” and “drink it” are not in the text. The text from v. 18 to v. 26 contains a list of the nations that Jeremiah “made drink it.” The words are supplied in the translation here and at the beginning of v. 19 for the sake of clarity. See also the note on v. 26.
3 tn Heb “in order to make them a ruin, an object of…” The sentence is broken up and the antecedents are made specific for the sake of clarity and English style.
4 tn See the study note on 24:9 for explanation.
5 tn Heb “as it is today.” This phrase would obviously be more appropriate after all these things had happened as is the case in 44:6, 23 where the verbs referring to these conditions are past. Some see this phrase as a marginal gloss added after the tragedies of 597
6 sn See further Jer 46:2-28 for the judgment against Egypt.
7 tn The meaning of this term and its connection with the preceding is somewhat uncertain. This word is used of the mixture of foreign people who accompanied Israel out of Egypt (Exod 12:38) and of the foreigners that the Israelites were to separate out of their midst in the time of Nehemiah (Neh 13:3). Most commentators interpret it here of the foreign people who were living in Egypt. (See BDB 786 s.v. I עֶרֶב and KBL 733 s.v. II עֶרֶב.)
8 sn The land of Uz was Job’s homeland (Job 1:1). The exact location is unknown but its position here between Egypt and the Philistine cities suggests it is south of Judah, probably in the Arabian peninsula. Lam 4:21 suggests that it was near Edom.
9 sn See further Jer 47:1-7 for the judgment against the Philistines. The Philistine cities were west of Judah.
10 sn The Greek historian Herodotus reports that Ashdod had been destroyed under the Pharaoh who preceded Necho, Psammetichus.
11 sn See further Jer 49:7-22 for the judgment against Edom. Edom, Moab, and Ammon were east of Judah.
12 sn See further Jer 48:1-47 for the judgment against Moab.
13 sn See further Jer 49:1-6 for the judgment against Ammon.
14 map For location see Map1-A2; Map2-G2; Map4-A1; JP3-F3; JP4-F3.
15 sn Tyre and Sidon are mentioned within the judgment on the Philistines in Jer 47:4. They were Phoenician cities to the north and west of Judah on the coast of the Mediterranean Sea in what is now Lebanon.
map For location see Map1-A1; JP3-F3; JP4-F3.
16 sn The connection with Tyre and Sidon suggests that these were Phoenician colonies. See also Isa 23:2.
17 sn Dedan and Tema are mentioned together in Isa 21:13-14 and located in the desert. They were located in the northern part of the Arabian peninsula south and east of Ezion Geber. Buz is not mentioned anywhere else and its location is unknown. Judgment against Dedan and Tema is mentioned in conjunction with the judgment on Edom in Jer 47:7-8.
18 tn For the discussion regarding the meaning of the terms here see the notes on 9:26.
sn See Jer 9:26 where these are mentioned in connection with Moab, Edom, and Ammon.
19 tc Or “and all the kings of people of mixed origin who.” The Greek version gives evidence of having read the term only once; it refers to the “people of mixed origin” without reference to the kings of Arabia. While the term translated “people of mixed origin” seems appropriate in the context of a group of foreigners within a larger entity (e.g. Israel in Exod 12:38; Neh 13:3; Egypt in Jer 50:37), it seems odd to speak of them as a separate entity under their own kings. The presence of the phrase in the Hebrew text and the other versions dependent upon it can be explained as a case of dittography.
sn See further Jer 49:28-33 for judgment against some of these Arabian peoples.
20 sn The kingdom of Zimri is mentioned nowhere else, so its location is unknown.
21 sn See further Jer 49:34-39 for judgment against Elam.
22 sn Elam and Media were east of Babylon; Elam in the south and Media in the north. They were in what is now western Iran.
23 tn The words “have drunk the wine of the
24 tn Heb “the king of Sheshach.” “Sheshach” is a code name for Babylon formed on the principle of substituting the last letter of the alphabet for the first, the next to the last for the second, and so on. On this principle Hebrew שׁ (shin) is substituted for Hebrew ב (bet) and Hebrew כ (kaf) is substituted for Hebrew ל (lamed). On the same principle “Leb Kamai” in Jer 51:1 is a code name for Chasdim or Chaldeans which is Jeremiah’s term for the Babylonians. No explanation is given for why the code names are used. The name “Sheshach” for Babylon also occurs in Jer 51:41 where the term Babylon is found in parallelism with it.
25 tn The words “Then the
26 tn Heb “Yahweh of armies, the God of Israel.”
sn See the study notes on 2:19 and 7:3 for explanation of this extended title.
27 tn Heb “Tell them, ‘Thus says the
28 tn The words “this cup” are not in the text but are implicit to the metaphor and the context. They are supplied in the translation for clarity.
29 tn Heb “Drink, and get drunk, and vomit and fall down and don’t get up.” The imperatives following drink are not parallel actions but consequent actions. For the use of the imperative plus the conjunctive “and” to indicate consequent action, even intention see GKC 324-25 §110.f and compare usage in 1 Kgs 22:12; Prov 3:3b-4a.
30 tn Heb “because of the sword that I will send among you.” See the notes on 2:16 for explanation.
31 tn Heb “Tell them, ‘Thus says the
32 tn The translation attempts to reflect the emphatic construction of the infinitive absolute preceding the finite verb which is here an obligatory imperfect. (See Joüon 2:371-72 §113.m and 2:423 §123.h, and compare usage in Gen 15:13.)
33 tn Heb “which is called by my name.” See translator’s note on 7:10 for support.
34 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.)
35 tn Heb “Yahweh of armies.”
sn See the study notes on 2:19 and 7:3 for explanation of this extended title.
36 tn Heb “Oracle of Yahweh of armies.”
37 tn The word “Jeremiah” is not in the text. It is supplied in the translation to make clear who is being addressed.
38 tn Heb “Prophesy against them all these words.”
39 tn The words “like a lion about to attack” are not in the text but are implicit in the metaphor. The explicit comparison of the
sn For the metaphor of the
40 sn The word used here (Heb “his habitation”) refers to the land of Canaan which the
41 sn The metaphor shifts from God as a lion to God as a mighty warrior (Jer 20:11; Isa 42:13; Zeph 3:17) shouting in triumph over his foes. Within the metaphor is a simile where the warrior is compared to a person stomping on grapes to remove the juice from them in the making of wine. The figure will be invoked later in a battle scene where the sounds of joy in the grape harvest are replaced by the sounds of joy of the enemy soldiers (Jer 48:33). The picture is drawn in more gory detail in Isa 63:1-6.
42 tn For the use of this word see Amos 2:2; Hos 10:14; Ps 74:23. See also the usage in Isa 66:6 which is very similar to the metaphorical usage here.
43 tn Heb “the
44 tn Heb “give the wicked over to the sword.”
sn There is undoubtedly a deliberate allusion here to the reference to the “wars” (Heb “sword”) that the
45 tn Heb “Oracle of the
46 tn Heb “Yahweh of armies.”
sn See the study notes on 2:19 and 7:3 for explanation of this extended title.
47 tn Heb “will go forth from nation to nation.”
48 tn The words “of military destruction” have been supplied in the translation to make the metaphor clear. The metaphor has shifted from that of God as a lion, to God as a warrior, to God as a judge, to God as the author of the storm winds of destruction.
sn For the use of this word in a literal sense see Jonah 1:4. For its use to refer to the wrath of the
49 sn The intent here is to emphasize the large quantity of those who are killed – there will be too many to insure proper mourning rites and proper burial.