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Jeremiah 23:2-4

Context
23:2 So the Lord God of Israel has this to say about the leaders who are ruling over his people: “You have caused my people¹ to be dispersed and driven into exile. You have not taken care of them. So I will punish you for the evil that you have done.² I, the Lord, affirm it!³ 23:3 Then I myself will regather those of my people⁴ who are still alive from all the countries where I have driven them. I will bring them back to their homeland.⁵ They will greatly increase in number. 23:4 I will install rulers⁶ over them who will care for them. Then they will no longer need to fear or be terrified. None of them will turn up missing.⁷ I, the Lord, promise it!⁸

¹tn Heb “about the shepherds who are shepherding my people. ‘You have caused my sheep….’” For the metaphor see the study note on the previous verse.

²tn Heb “Therefore, thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, concerning the shepherds who should be shepherding my people: You have scattered my sheep and driven them away and you have not taken care of them. Behold I will visit upon you the evil of your deeds.” “Therefore” announces the judgment which does not come until “Behold.” It is interrupted by the messenger formula and a further indictment. The original has been broken up to conform more to contemporary English style, the metaphors have been interpreted for clarity and the connections between the indictments and the judgments have been carried by “So.”

³tn Heb “Oracle of the Lord.”

⁴tn Heb “my sheep.”

⁵tn Heb “their fold.”

⁶tn Heb “shepherds.”

⁷tn There are various nuances of the word פָּקַד (paqad) represented in vv. 2, 4. See Ps 8:4 (8:5 HT) and Zech 10:3 for “care for/take care of” (cf. BDB 823 s.v. פָּקַד Qal.A.1.a). See Exod 20:5; Amos 3:2; Jer 9:24; 11:22 for “punish” (cf. BDB 823 s.v. פָּקַד Qal.A.3). See 1 Kgs 20:39 and 2 Kgs 10:19 for “be missing” (cf. BDB 823 s.v. פָּקַד Niph.1).

sn There is an extended play on the Hebrew word פָּקַד which is a word with rather broad English equivalents. Here the word refers to the fault of the shepherds/rulers who have not “taken care” of the sheep/people (v. 2), the “punishment” for the evil they have done in not taking care of them (v. 2), and the fact that after the Lord assigns new shepherds/rulers over them they will be cared for in such a way that none of them “will turn up missing” (v. 4).

⁸tn Heb “Oracle of the Lord.”

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