Discovery BoxJeremiah 18:16 
Context18:16 So their land will become an object of horror. 1
People will forever hiss out their scorn over it.
All who pass that way will be filled with horror
and will shake their heads in derision. 2
Jeremiah 49:17
Context49:17 “Edom will become an object of horror.
All who pass by it will be filled with horror;
they will hiss out their scorn
because of all the disasters that have happened to it. 3
Jeremiah 51:37
Context51:37 Babylon will become a heap of ruins.
Jackals will make their home there. 4
It will become an object of horror and of hissing scorn,
a place where no one lives. 5
1 tn There may be a deliberate double meaning involved here. The word translated here “an object of horror” refers both to destruction (cf. 2:15; 4:17) and the horror or dismay that accompanies it (cf. 5:30; 8:21). The fact that there is no conjunction or preposition in front of the noun “hissing” that follows this suggests that the reaction is in view here, not the cause.
2 tn Heb “an object of lasting hissing. All who pass that way will be appalled and shake their head.”
sn The actions of “shaking of the head” and “hissing” were obviously gestures of scorn and derision. See Lam 2:15-16.
3 sn This verse is very similar to Jer 19:8 where the same judgment is pronounced on Jerusalem. For the meaning of some of the terms here (“hiss out their scorn” and “all the disasters that have happened to it”) see the notes on that verse.
4 tn Heb “a heap of ruins, a haunt for jackals.” Compare 9:11.
5 tn Heb “without an inhabitant.”
