Discovery BoxJeremiah 4:16-17 
Context‘Announce to the surrounding nations, 2
“The enemy is coming!” 3
Proclaim this message 4 to Jerusalem:
“Those who besiege cities 5 are coming from a distant land.
They are ready to raise the battle cry against 6 the towns in Judah.”’
4:17 They will surround Jerusalem 7
like men guarding a field 8
because they have rebelled against me,”
says the Lord.
Jeremiah 4:30-31
Context4:30 And you, Zion, city doomed to destruction, 9
you accomplish nothing 10 by wearing a beautiful dress, 11
decking yourself out in jewels of gold,
and putting on eye shadow! 12
You are making yourself beautiful for nothing.
Your lovers spurn you.
They want to kill you. 13
4:31 In fact, 14 I hear a cry like that of a woman in labor,
a cry of anguish like that of a woman giving birth to her first baby.
It is the cry of Daughter Zion 15 gasping for breath,
reaching out for help, 16 saying, “I am done in! 17
My life is ebbing away before these murderers!”
1 tn The words “They are saying” are not in the text but are implicit in the connection and are supplied in the translation for clarification.
2 tn The word “surrounding” is not in the text but is implicit and is supplied in the translation for clarification.
3 tc Or “Here they come!” Heb “Look!” or “Behold!” Or “Announce to the surrounding nations, indeed [or yes] proclaim to Jerusalem, ‘Besiegers…’” The text is very elliptical here. Some of the modern English versions appear to be emending the text from הִנֵּה (hinneh, “behold”) to either הֵנָּה (hennah, “these things”; so NEB), or הַזֶּה (hazzeh, “this”; so NIV). The solution proposed here is as old as the LXX which reads, “Behold, they have come.”
4 tn The words, “this message,” are not in the text but are supplied in the translation to make the introduction of the quote easier.
5 tn Heb “Besiegers.” For the use of this verb to refer to besieging a city compare Isa 1:8.
6 tn Heb “They have raised their voices against.” The verb here, a vav (ו) consecutive with an imperfect, continues the nuance of the preceding participle “are coming.”
7 tn Heb “will surround her.” The antecedent is Jerusalem in the preceding verse. The referent is again made explicit in the translation to avoid any possible lack of clarity. The verb form here is a form of the verb that emphasizes the fact as being as good as done (i.e., it is a prophetic perfect).
8 sn There is some irony involved in the choice of the simile since the men guarding a field were there to keep thieves from getting in and stealing the crops. Here the besiegers are guarding the city to keep people from getting out.
9 tn Heb “And you that are doomed to destruction.” The referent is supplied from the following context and the fact that Zion/Jerusalem represents the leadership which was continually making overtures to foreign nations for help.
10 tn Heb “What are you accomplishing…?” The rhetorical question assumes a negative answer, made clear by the translation in the indicative.
11 tn Heb “clothing yourself in scarlet.”
12 tn Heb “enlarging your eyes with antimony.” Antimony was a black powder used by women as eyeliner to make their eyes look larger.
13 tn Heb “they seek your life.”
14 tn The particle כִּי (ki) is more likely asseverative here than causal.
15 sn Jerusalem is personified as a helpless maiden.
16 tn Heb “spreading out her hands.” The idea of asking or pleading for help is implicit in the figure.
17 tn Heb “Woe, now to me!” See the translator’s note on 4:13 for the usage of “Woe to…”
