Discovery BoxJeremiah 2:28 
Context2:28 But where are the gods you made for yourselves?
Let them save you when you are in trouble.
The sad fact is that 1 you have as many gods
as you have towns, Judah.
Jeremiah 4:16
Context‘Announce to the surrounding nations, 3
“The enemy is coming!” 4
Proclaim this message 5 to Jerusalem:
“Those who besiege cities 6 are coming from a distant land.
They are ready to raise the battle cry against 7 the towns in Judah.”’
Jeremiah 7:34
Context7:34 I will put an end to the sounds of joy and gladness, or the glad celebration of brides and grooms throughout the towns of Judah and the streets of Jerusalem. For the whole land will become a desolate wasteland.”
Jeremiah 9:11
Context“I will make Jerusalem 9 a heap of ruins.
Jackals will make their home there. 10
I will destroy the towns of Judah
so that no one will be able to live in them.”
Jeremiah 10:22
Context10:22 Listen! News is coming even now. 11
The rumble of a great army is heard approaching 12 from a land in the north. 13
It is coming to turn the towns of Judah into rubble,
places where only jackals live.
Jeremiah 11:6
Context11:6 The Lord said to me, “Announce all the following words in the towns of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem: ‘Listen to the terms of my covenant with you 14 and carry them out!
Jeremiah 13:19
Context13:19 The gates of the towns in southern Judah will be shut tight. 15
No one will be able to go in or out of them. 16
All Judah will be carried off into exile.
They will be completely carried off into exile.’” 17
Jeremiah 44:2
Context44:2 “The Lord God of Israel who rules over all 18 says, ‘You have seen all the disaster I brought on Jerusalem 19 and all the towns of Judah. Indeed, they now lie in ruins and are deserted. 20
Jeremiah 44:6
Context44:6 So my anger and my wrath were poured out and burned like a fire through the towns of Judah and the streets of Jerusalem. That is why they have become the desolate ruins that they are today.’
Jeremiah 44:9
Context44:9 Have you forgotten all the wicked things that have been done in the towns of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem by your ancestors, by the kings of Judah and their 21 wives, by you and your wives?
Jeremiah 48:8
Context48:8 The destroyer will come against every town.
Not one town will escape.
The towns in the valley will be destroyed.
The cities on the high plain will be laid waste. 22
I, the Lord, have spoken! 23
Jeremiah 49:18
Context49:18 Edom will be destroyed like Sodom and Gomorrah
and the towns that were around them.
No one will live there.
No human being will settle in it,”
says the Lord.
Jeremiah 50:32
Context50:32 You will stumble and fall, you proud city;
no one will help you get up.
I will set fire to your towns;
it will burn up everything that surrounds you.” 24
Jeremiah 50:40
Context50:40 I will destroy Babylonia just like I did
Sodom and Gomorrah and the neighboring towns.
No one will live there. 25
No human being will settle in it,”
says the Lord. 26
1 tn This is an attempt to render the Hebrew particle כִּי (ki, “for, indeed”) contextually.
2 tn The words “They are saying” are not in the text but are implicit in the connection and are supplied in the translation for clarification.
3 tn The word “surrounding” is not in the text but is implicit and is supplied in the translation for clarification.
4 tc Or “Here they come!” Heb “Look!” or “Behold!” Or “Announce to the surrounding nations, indeed [or yes] proclaim to Jerusalem, ‘Besiegers…’” The text is very elliptical here. Some of the modern English versions appear to be emending the text from הִנֵּה (hinneh, “behold”) to either הֵנָּה (hennah, “these things”; so NEB), or הַזֶּה (hazzeh, “this”; so NIV). The solution proposed here is as old as the LXX which reads, “Behold, they have come.”
5 tn The words, “this message,” are not in the text but are supplied in the translation to make the introduction of the quote easier.
6 tn Heb “Besiegers.” For the use of this verb to refer to besieging a city compare Isa 1:8.
7 tn Heb “They have raised their voices against.” The verb here, a vav (ו) consecutive with an imperfect, continues the nuance of the preceding participle “are coming.”
8 tn The words “the
9 map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.
10 tn Heb “a heap of ruins, a haunt for jackals.”
11 tn Heb “The sound of a report, behold, it is coming.”
12 tn Heb “ coming, even a great quaking.”
14 tn Heb “the terms of this covenant.” However, this was a separate message and the ambiguity of “this” could still cause some confusion.
15 tn Heb “The towns of the Negev will be shut.”
16 tn Heb “There is no one to open them.” The translation is based on the parallel in Josh 6:1 where the very expression in the translation is used. Opening the city would have permitted entrance (of relief forces) as well as exit (of fugitives).
17 sn The statements are poetic exaggerations (hyperbole), as most commentaries note. Even in the exile of 587
18 tn Heb “Yahweh of armies, the God of Israel.” Compare 7:3 and see the study note on 2:19 for explanation and translation of this title.
19 map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.
20 tn Heb “Behold, they are in ruins this day and there is no one living in them.”
21 tn Heb “his.” This should not be viewed as a textual error but as a distributive singular use of the suffix, i.e., the wives of each of the kings of Judah (cf. GKC 464 §145.l and compare the usage in Isa 2:8; Hos 4:8).
22 tn Heb “The valley will be destroyed and the tableland be laid waste.” However, in the context this surely refers to the towns and not to the valley and the tableland itself.
sn Most commentaries see a reference to the towns in the Jordan valley referred to in Josh 13:27 and the towns mentioned in Josh 13:15-17 which were on the high tableland or high plateau or plain north of the Arnon. The mention of the towns in the first half of the verse is broader than that because it would include all the towns in the southern half of Moab between the Arnon and Zered as well as those mentioned in the second half in conjunction with the valley and the high plateau north of the Arnon.
23 tn Heb “which/for/as the
24 tn Heb “And the proud one will fall and there will be no one to help him up. I will start a fire in his towns and it will consume all that surround him.” The personification continues but now the stance is indirect (third person) rather than direct (second person). It is easier for the modern reader who is not accustomed to such sudden shifts if the second person is maintained. The personification of the city (or nation) as masculine is a little unusual; normally cities and nations are personified as feminine, as daughters or mothers.
25 tn Heb “‘Like [when] God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah and the neighboring towns,’ oracle of the
sn Compare Jer 49:18 where the same prophecy is applied to Edom.
26 tn Heb “Oracle of the
