Discovery BoxJeremiah 4:22 
Context“This will happen 2 because my people are foolish.
They do not know me.
They are like children who have no sense. 3
They have no understanding.
They are skilled at doing evil.
They do not know how to do good.”
Jeremiah 50:9
Context50:9 For I will rouse into action and bring against Babylon
a host of mighty nations 4 from the land of the north.
They will set up their battle lines against her.
They will come from the north and capture her. 5
Their arrows will be like a skilled soldier 6
who does not return from the battle empty-handed. 7
1 tn These words are not in the text but are supplied in the translation to show clearly the shift in speaker. Jeremiah has been speaking; now the
2 tn Heb “For….” This gives the explanation for the destruction envisaged in 4:20 to which Jeremiah responds in 4:19, 21.
3 tn Heb “They are senseless children.”
4 sn Some of these are named in Jer 51:27-28.
5 tn Heb “She will be captured from there (i.e., from the north).”
6 tc Read Heb ַָמשְׂכִּיל (moskil) with a number of Hebrew
7 tn Or more freely, “Their arrows will be as successful at hitting their mark // as a skilled soldier always returns from battle with plunder.”
sn I.e., none of the arrows misses its mark.
