Discovery BoxJeremiah 21:6-10 
Context21:6 I will kill everything living in Jerusalem, 1 people and animals alike! They will die from terrible diseases. 21:7 Then 2 I, the Lord, promise that 3 I will hand over King Zedekiah of Judah, his officials, and any of the people who survive the war, starvation, and disease. I will hand them over to King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon and to their enemies who want to kill them. He will slaughter them with the sword. He will not show them any mercy, compassion, or pity.’
21:8 “But 4 tell the people of Jerusalem 5 that the Lord says, ‘I will give you a choice between two courses of action. One will result in life; the other will result in death. 6 21:9 Those who stay in this city will die in battle or of starvation or disease. Those who leave the city and surrender to the Babylonians who are besieging it will live. They will escape with their lives. 7 21:10 For I, the Lord, say that 8 I am determined not to deliver this city but to bring disaster on it. 9 It will be handed over to the king of Babylon and he will destroy it with fire.’” 10
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 Heb “And afterward.”
3 tn Heb “oracle of the
4 tn Heb “And/But unto this people you shall say…” “But” is suggested here by the unusual word order which offsets what they are to say to Zedekiah (v. 3).
5 tn Heb “these people.”
6 tn Heb “Behold I am setting before you the way of life and the way of death.”
7 tn Heb “his life will be to him for spoil.”
sn Spoil was what was carried off by the victor (see, e.g., Judg 5:30). Those who surrendered to the Babylonians would lose their property, their freedom, and their citizenship but would at least escape with their lives. Jeremiah was branded a traitor for this counsel (cf. 38:4) but it was the way of wisdom since the
8 tn Heb “oracle of the
9 tn Heb “I have set my face against this city for evil [i.e., disaster] and not for good [i.e., well-being].” For the use of the idiom “set one’s face against/toward” see, e.g., usage in 1 Kgs 2:15; 2 Kgs 2:17; Jer 42:15, 17 and note the interesting interplay of usage in Jer 44:11-12.
10 tn Heb “he will burn it with fire.”
