Discovery BoxJeremiah 27:5 
Context27:5 “I made the earth and the people and animals on it by my mighty power and great strength, 1 and I give it to whomever I see fit. 2
Jeremiah 32:17
Context32:17 ‘Oh, Lord God, 3 you did indeed 4 make heaven and earth by your mighty power and great strength. 5 Nothing is too hard for you!
Jeremiah 49:21
Context49:21 The people of the earth will quake when they hear of their downfall. 6
Their cries of anguish will be heard all the way to the Gulf of Aqaba. 7
Jeremiah 50:41
Context50:41 “Look! An army is about to come from the north.
A mighty nation and many kings 8 are stirring into action
in faraway parts of the earth.
Jeremiah 50:46
Context50:46 The people of the earth will quake when they hear Babylon has been captured.
Her cries of anguish will be heard by the other nations.” 9
Jeremiah 51:48-49
Context51:48 Then heaven and earth and all that is in them
will sing for joy over Babylon.
For destroyers from the north will attack it,”
says the Lord. 10
because of the Israelites she has killed, 12
just as the earth’s mortally wounded fell
because of Babylon. 13
1 tn Heb “by my great power and my outstretched arm.” Again “arm” is symbolical for “strength.” Compare the similar expression in 21:5.
2 sn See Dan 4:17 for a similar statement.
3 tn Heb “Lord Yahweh.” For an explanation of the rendering here see the study note on 1:6.
sn The parallel usage of this introduction in Jer 1:6; 4:10; 14:13 shows that though this prayer has a lengthy introductory section of praise vv. 17-22, this prayer is really one of complaint or lament.
4 tn This is an attempt to render the Hebrew particle normally translated “behold.” See the translator’s note on 1:6 for the usage of this particle.
5 tn Heb “by your great power and your outstretched arm.” See 21:5; 27:5 and the marginal note on 27:5 for this idiom.
6 tn Heb “The earth will quake when at the sound of their downfall.” However, as in many other places “earth” stands here metonymically for the inhabitants or people of the earth (see E. W. Bullinger, Figures of Speech, 578-79, and compare usage in 2 Sam 15:23; Ps 66:4).
7 tn Heb “the Red Sea,” of which the Gulf of Aqaba formed the northeastern arm. The land of Edom once reached this far according to 1 Kgs 9:26.
8 sn A mighty nation and many kings is an allusion to the Medo-Persian empire and the vassal kings who provided forces for the Medo-Persian armies.
9 tn Heb “among the nations.” With the exception of this phrase, the different verb in v. 46a, the absence of a suffix on the word for “land” in v. 45d, the third plural suffix instead of the third singular suffix on the verb for “chase…off of,” this passage is identical with 49:19-21 with the replacement of Babylon or the land of the Chaldeans for Edom. For the translation notes explaining the details of the translation here see the translator’s notes on 49:19-21.
sn This passage is virtually identical with Jer 49:19-21 with the replacement of Babylon, land of Babylonia for Edom. As God used Nebuchadnezzar and the Babylonians to destroy Edom, so he would use Cyrus and the Medes and Persians and their allies to destroy Babylon (cf. 25:13, 14). As Nebuchadnezzar was God’s servant to whom all would be subject (25:9; 27:6), so Cyrus is called in Isaiah “his anointed one,” i.e., his chosen king whom he will use to shatter other nations and set Israel free (Isa 45:1-4).
10 tn Heb “Oracle of the
11 tn The infinitive construct is used here to indicate what is about to take place. See IBHS 610 §36.2.3g.
12 tn Heb “the slain of Israel.” The words “because of” are supplied in the translation for clarification. The preceding context makes it clear that Babylon would be judged for its atrocities against Israel (see especially 50:33-34; 51:10, 24, 35).
13 tn The juxtaposition of גַם…גַם (gam...gam), often “both…and,” here indicates correspondence. See BDB 169 s.v. גַּם 4. Appropriately Babylon will fall slain just as her victims, including God’s covenant people, did.
