Discovery BoxJeremiah 2:32 
Context2:32 Does a young woman forget to put on her jewels?
Does a bride forget to put on her bridal attire?
But my people have forgotten me
for more days than can even be counted.
Jeremiah 31:15
Context31:15 The Lord says,
“A sound is heard in Ramah, 1
a sound of crying in bitter grief.
It is the sound of Rachel weeping for her children
and refusing to be comforted, because her children are gone.” 2
Jeremiah 48:39
Context48:39 Oh, how shattered Moab will be!
Oh, how her people will wail!
Oh, how she will turn away 3 in shame!
Moab will become an object of ridicule,
a terrifying sight to all the nations that surround her.”
Jeremiah 49:14
Context49:14 I said, 4 “I have heard a message from the Lord.
A messenger has been sent among the nations to say,
‘Gather your armies and march out against her!
Prepare to do battle with her!’” 5
Jeremiah 51:28
Context51:28 Prepare the nations to do battle against her. 6
Prepare the kings of the Medes.
Prepare their governors and all their leaders. 7
Prepare all the countries they rule to do battle against her. 8
Jeremiah 51:57
Context51:57 “I will make her officials and wise men drunk,
along with her governors, leaders, 9 and warriors.
They will fall asleep forever and never wake up,” 10
says the King whose name is the Lord who rules over all. 11
1 sn Ramah is a town in Benjamin approximately five miles (8 km) north of Jerusalem. It was on the road between Bethel and Bethlehem. Traditionally, Rachel’s tomb was located near there at a place called Zelzah (1 Sam 10:2). Rachel was the mother of Joseph and Benjamin and was very concerned about having children because she was barren (Gen 30:1-2) and went to great lengths to have them (Gen 30:3, 14-15, 22-24). She was the grandmother of Ephraim and Manasseh which were two of the major tribes in northern Israel. Here Rachel is viewed metaphorically as weeping for her “children,” the descendants of Ephraim and Manasseh, who had been carried away into captivity in 722
2 tn Or “gone into exile” (cf. v. 16), though some English versions take this as meaning “dead” (e.g., NCV, CEV, NLT), presumably in light of Matt 2:18.
3 tn Heb “turn her back.”
4 tn The words “I said” are not in the text but it is generally agreed that the words that follow are Jeremiah’s. These words are supplied in the translation to make clear that the speaker has shifted from the
5 tn Heb “Rise up for battle.” The idea “against her” is implicit from the context and has been supplied in the translation for clarity.
6 tn See the first translator’s note on 51:27 and compare also 6:4 and the study note there.
7 tn See the translator’s note at 51:23 for the rendering of the terms here.
8 tc The Hebrew text has a confusing switch of possessive pronouns in this verse: “Consecrate the nations against her, the kings of the Medes, her governors and prefects, and all the land of his dominion.” This has led to a number of different resolutions. The LXX (the Greek version) renders the word “kings” as singular and levels all the pronouns to “his,” paraphrasing the final clause and combining it with “king of the Medes” to read “and of all the earth.” The Latin Vulgate levels them all to the third masculine plural, and this is followed by the present translation as well as a number of other modern English versions (NASB, NIV, NRSV, TEV, NCV). The ASV and NJPS understand the feminine to refer to Media, i.e., “her governors and all her prefects” and understand the masculine in the last line to be a distributive singular referring back to the lands each of the governors and prefects ruled over. This is probably correct but since governors and prefects refer to officials appointed over provinces and vassal states it amounts to much the same interpretation that the Latin Vulgate, the present translation, and other modern English versions have given.
9 sn For discussion of the terms “governors” and “leaders” see the note at Jer 51:23.
10 sn See the note at Jer 51:39.
11 tn For the title “Yahweh of armies” see the study note on Jer 2:19.
