Discovery BoxJeremiah 30:10 
Context30:10 So I, the Lord, tell you not to be afraid,
you descendants of Jacob, my servants. 1
Do not be terrified, people of Israel.
For I will rescue you and your descendants
from a faraway land where you are captives. 2
The descendants of Jacob will return to their land and enjoy peace.
They will be secure and no one will terrify them. 3
Jeremiah 43:12
Context43:12 He will set fire 4 to the temples of the gods of Egypt. He will burn their gods or carry them off as captives. 5 He will pick Egypt clean like a shepherd picks the lice from his clothing. 6 He will leave there unharmed. 7
Jeremiah 46:27
Context46:27 8 “You descendants of Jacob, my servants, 9 do not be afraid;
do not be terrified, people of Israel.
For I will rescue you and your descendants
from the faraway lands where you are captives. 10
The descendants of Jacob will return to their land and enjoy peace.
They will be secure and no one will terrify them.
1 tn Heb “So do not be afraid, my servant Jacob, oracle of the
2 tn Heb “For I will rescue you from far away, your descendants from the land of their captivity.”
3 sn Compare the ideals of the Mosaic covenant in Lev 26:6, the Davidic covenant in 2 Sam 7:10-11, and the new covenant in Ezek 34:25-31.
4 tc The translation follows the Greek, Syriac, and Latin versions. The Hebrew text reads: “I will set fire to.” While it would be possible to explain the first person subject here in the same way as in the two verbs in v. 12b, the corruption of the Hebrew text is easy to explain here as a metathesis of two letters, י (yod) and ת (tav). The Hebrew reads הִצַּתִּי (hitsatti) and the versions presuppose הִצִּית (hitsit).
5 tn Heb “burn them or carry them off as captives.” Some of the commentaries and English versions make a distinction between the objects of the verbs, i.e., burn the temples and carry off the gods. However, the burning down of the temples is referred to later in v. 13.
sn It was typical in the ancient Near East for the images of the gods of vanquished nations to be carried off and displayed in triumphal procession on the return from battle to show the superiority of the victor’s gods over those of the vanquished (cf., e.g., Isa 46:1-2).
6 tn Or “he will take over Egypt as easily as a shepherd wraps his cloak around him.” The translation follows the interpretation of HALOT 769 s.v. II ָעטָה Qal, the Greek translation, and a number of the modern commentaries (e.g., J. A. Thompson, Jeremiah [NICOT], 671). The only other passage where that translation is suggested for this verb is Isa 22:17 according to HAL. The alternate translation follows the more normal meaning of עָטָה (’atah; cf. BDB 741 s.v. I עָטָה Qal which explains “so completely will it be in his power”). The fact that the subject is “a shepherd” lends more credence to the former view though there may be a deliberate double meaning playing on the homonyms (cf. W. L. Holladay, Jeremiah [Hermeneia], 2:302).
7 tn Heb “in peace/wholeness/well-being/safety [shalom].”
8 sn Jer 46:27-28 are virtually the same as 30:10-11. The verses are more closely related to that context than to this. But the presence of a note of future hope for the Egyptians may have led to a note of encouragement also to the Judeans who were under threat of judgment at the same time (cf. the study notes on 46:2, 13 and 25:1-2 for the possible relative dating of these prophecies).
9 tn Heb “And/But you do not be afraid, my servant Jacob.” Here and elsewhere in the verse the terms Jacob and Israel are poetic for the people of Israel descended from the patriarch Jacob. The terms have been supplied throughout with plural referents for greater clarity.
10 tn Heb “For I will rescue you from far away, your descendants from the land of their captivity.”
