Discovery BoxJeremiah 31:12 
Context31:12 They will come and shout for joy on Mount Zion.
They will be radiant with joy 1 over the good things the Lord provides,
the grain, the fresh wine, the olive oil,
the young sheep and calves he has given to them.
They will be like a well-watered garden
and will not grow faint or weary any more.
Jeremiah 40:10
Context40:10 I for my part will stay at Mizpah to represent you before the Babylonians 2 whenever they come to us. You for your part go ahead and harvest the wine, the dates, the figs, 3 and the olive oil, and store them in jars. Go ahead and settle down in the towns that you have taken over.” 4
Jeremiah 41:8
Context41:8 But there were ten men among them who said 5 to Ishmael, “Do not kill us. For we will give you the stores of wheat, barley, olive oil, and honey we have hidden in a field. 6 So he spared their lives and did not kill 7 them along with the rest. 8
1 tn Reading a Qal perfect from the root II נָהַר (nahar; so KBL 509 s.v. and HALOT 639 s.v.) rather than I נָהַר (so BDB 625 s.v.).
2 tn Heb “Chaldeans.” See the study note on 21:4 for explanation.
3 tn Heb “summer fruit.” “Summer fruit” is meaningless to most modern readers; dates and figs are what is involved.
4 tn This plus “Things will go well with you” is in essence the substance of the oath. The pronouns are emphatic, “And I, behold I will stay…and you, you may gather.” The imperatives in the second half of the verse are more a form of permission than of command or advice (cf. NJPS, REB, TEV and compare the usage in 40:4 and the references in the translator’s note there).
5 tn Heb “But there were ten men found among them and they said.” However, for the use of “were found” = “be, happened to be” see BDB 594 s.v. מָצָא 2.c and compare the usage in 41:3.
6 tn This sentence is a good example of the elliptical nature of some of the causal connections in the Hebrew Bible. All the Hebrew says literally is “For we have hidden stores of wheat, barley, olive oil, and honey in a field.” However, it is obvious that they are using this as their bargaining chip to prevent Ishmael and his men from killing them. For the use of “for” (כִּי, ki) for such elliptical thoughts see BDB 473-74 s.v. כִּי 3.c.
7 tn Or “So he refrained from killing them”; Heb “he refrained and did not kill them.”
8 tn Heb “in the midst of their brothers/fellow countrymen.”
