Discovery BoxJeremiah 31:10 
Context31:10 Hear what the Lord has to say, O nations.
Proclaim it in the faraway lands along the sea.
Say, “The one who scattered Israel will regather them.
He will watch over his people like a shepherd watches over his flock.”
Jeremiah 39:9
Context39:9 Then Nebuzaradan, the captain of the royal guard, 1 took captive the rest of the people who were left in the city. He carried them off to Babylon along with the people who had deserted to him. 2
Jeremiah 41:6
Context41:6 Ishmael son of Nethaniah went out from Mizpah to meet them. He was pretending to cry 3 as he walked along. When he met them, he said to them, “Come with me to meet Gedaliah son of Ahikam.” 4
Jeremiah 48:7
Context48:7 “Moab, you trust in the things you do and in your riches.
So you too will be conquered.
Your god Chemosh 5 will go into exile 6
along with his priests and his officials.
Jeremiah 51:13
Context51:13 “You who live along the rivers of Babylon, 7
the time of your end has come.
You who are rich in plundered treasure,
it is time for your lives to be cut off. 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 tn For the meaning of this phrase see BDB 371 s.v. טַבָּח 2 and compare the usage in Gen 39:1.
2 tc The translation is based on an emendation of the text which leaves out “the rest of the people who were left” as a double writing of the same phrase at the beginning of the verse. Some commentators emend the phrase “the rest of the people who were left” (הַנִּשְׁאָרִים וְאֶת יֶתֶר הָעָם, hannish’arim vÿ’et yeter ha’am) to read “the rest of the craftsmen who were left” (וְאֶת יֶתֶר הָאָמוֹן הַנִּשְׁאָרִים, vÿ’et yeter ha’amon hannish’arim) on the basis of the parallel in Jer 52:15 (which does not have הַנִּשְׁאָרִים, hannish’arim). However, it is easier to explain the phrase as a dittography of the phrase at the beginning (which is exactly the same except הָעִיר [ha’ir] follows it). The text is redundant because it refers twice to the same group of people. The Hebrew text reads: “And the rest of the people who were left in the city and the deserters who had deserted to him and the rest of the people Nebuzaradan, the captain of the guard, carried into exile to Babylon.” The text has also been divided up to create two shorter sentences to better conform with contemporary English style.
3 tn Heb “he was weeping/crying.” The translation is intended to better reflect the situation.
4 tn Heb “Come to Gedaliah the son of Ahikam.” The words that are supplied in the translation are implicit to the situation and are added for clarity.
5 sn Chemosh was the national god of Moab (see also Numb 21:29). Child sacrifice appears to have been a part of his worship (2 Kgs 3:27). Solomon built a high place in Jerusalem for him (1 Kgs 11:7), and he appears to have been worshiped in Israel until Josiah tore that high place down (2 Kgs 23:13).
6 sn The practice of carrying off the gods of captive nations has already been mentioned in the study note on 43:12. See also Isa 46:1-2 noted there.
7 sn Babylon was situated on the Euphrates River and was surrounded by canals (also called “rivers”).
8 tn Heb “You who live upon [or beside] many waters, rich in treasures, your end has come, the cubit of your cutting off.” The sentence has been restructured and paraphrased to provide clarity for the average reader. The meaning of the last phrase is debated. For a discussion of the two options see W. L. Holladay, Jeremiah (Hermeneia), 2:423. Most modern commentaries and English versions see an allusion to the figure in Isa 38:12 where the reference is to the end of life compared to a tapestry which is suddenly cut off from the loom. Hence, NRSV renders the last line as “the thread of your life is cut” and TEV renders “its thread of life is cut.” That idea is accepted also in HALOT 141 s.v. בצע Qal.1.
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.
