Jeremiah 10:22-23
Context10:22 Listen! News is coming even now. 1
The rumble of a great army is heard approaching 2 from a land in the north. 3
It is coming to turn the towns of Judah into rubble,
places where only jackals live.
10:23 Lord, we know that people do not control their own destiny. 4
It is not in their power to determine what will happen to them. 5
1 tn Heb “The sound of a report, behold, it is coming.”
2 tn Heb “ coming, even a great quaking.”
4 tn Heb “Not to the man his way.” For the nuance of “fate, destiny, or the way things turn out” for the Hebrew word “way” see Hag 1:5, Isa 40:27 and probably Ps 49:13 (cf. KBL 218 s.v. דֶּרֶךְ 5). For the idea of “control” or “hold in one’s power” for the preposition “to” see Ps 3:8 (cf. BDB 513 s.v. לְ 5.b[a]).
5 tn Heb “Not to a man the walking and the establishing his step.”