Discovery BoxJeremiah 6:15 
Context6:15 Are they ashamed because they have done such shameful things?
No, they are not at all ashamed.
They do not even know how to blush!
So they will die, just like others have died. 1
They will be brought to ruin when I punish them,”
says the Lord.
Jeremiah 8:12
Context8:12 Are they ashamed because they have done such disgusting things?
No, they are not at all ashamed!
They do not even know how to blush!
So they will die just like others have died. 2
They will be brought to ruin when I punish them,
says the Lord.
Jeremiah 12:4
Context12:4 How long must the land be parched 3
and the grass in every field be withered?
How long 4 must the animals and the birds die
because of the wickedness of the people who live in this land? 5
For these people boast,
“God 6 will not see what happens to us.” 7
Jeremiah 14:16
Context14:16 The people to whom they are prophesying will die through war and famine. Their bodies will be thrown out into the streets of Jerusalem 8 and there will be no one to bury them. This will happen to the men and their wives, their sons, and their daughters. 9 For I will pour out on them the destruction they deserve.” 10
Jeremiah 19:7
Context19:7 In this place I will thwart 11 the plans of the people of Judah and Jerusalem. I will deliver them over to the power of their enemies who are seeking to kill them. They will die by the sword 12 at the hands of their enemies. 13 I will make their dead bodies food for the birds and wild beasts to eat.
Jeremiah 26:11
Context26:11 Then the priests and the prophets made their charges before the officials and all the people. They said, 14 “This man should be condemned to die 15 because he prophesied against this city. You have heard him do so 16 with your own ears.”
Jeremiah 27:15
Context27:15 For I, the Lord, affirm 17 that I did not send them. They are prophesying lies to you. If you 18 listen to them, I will drive you and the prophets who are prophesying lies out of the land and you will all die in exile.” 19
Jeremiah 34:5
Context34:5 You will die a peaceful death. They will burn incense at your burial just as they did at the burial of your ancestors, the former kings who preceded you. 20 They will mourn for you, saying, “Poor, poor master!” 21 Indeed, you have my own word on this. 22 I, the Lord, affirm it!’” 23
Jeremiah 34:17
Context34:17 So I, the Lord, say: “You have not really obeyed me and granted freedom to your neighbor and fellow countryman. 24 Therefore, I will grant you freedom, the freedom 25 to die in war, or by starvation or disease. I, the Lord, affirm it! 26 I will make all the kingdoms of the earth horrified at what happens to you. 27
Jeremiah 38:9
Context38:9 “Your royal Majesty, those men have been very wicked in all that they have done to the prophet Jeremiah. They have thrown him into a cistern and he is sure to die of starvation there because there is no food left in the city. 28
1 tn Heb “They will fall among the fallen.”
2 tn Heb “They will fall among the fallen.”
3 tn The verb here is often translated “mourn.” However, this verb is from a homonymic root meaning “to be dry” (cf. HALOT 7 s.v. II אָבַל and compare Hos 4:3 for usage).
4 tn The words “How long” are not in the text. They are carried over from the first line.
5 tn Heb “because of the wickedness of those who live in it.”
6 tn Heb “he.” The referent is usually identified as God and is supplied here for clarity. Some identify the referent with Jeremiah. If that is the case, then he returns to his complaint about the conspirators. It is more likely, however, that it refers to God and Jeremiah’s complaint that the people live their lives apart from concern about God.
7 tc Or reading with the Greek version, “God does not see what we are doing.” In place of “what will happen to us (אַחֲרִיתֵנוּ, ’akharitenu, “our end”) the Greek version understands a Hebrew text which reads “our ways” (אָרְחוֹתֵנו, ’orkhotenu), which is graphically very close to the MT. The Masoretic is supported by the Latin and is retained here on the basis of external evidence. Either text makes good sense in the context. Some identify the “he” with Jeremiah and understand the text to be saying that the conspirators are certain that they will succeed and he will not live to see his prophecies fulfilled.
sn The words here may be an outright rejection of the
8 map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.
9 tn Heb “And the people to whom they are prophesying will be thrown out into the streets of Jerusalem and there will not be anyone to bury them, they, their wives, and their sons and their daughters.” This sentence has been restructured to break up a long Hebrew sentence and to avoid some awkwardness due to differences in the ancient Hebrew and contemporary English styles.
10 tn Heb “their evil.” Hebrew words often include within them a polarity of cause and effect. Thus the word for “evil” includes both the concept of wickedness and the punishment for it. Other words that function this way are “iniquity” = “guilt [of iniquity]” = “punishment [for iniquity].” Context determines which nuance is proper.
11 sn There is perhaps a two-fold wordplay in the use of this word. One involves the sound play with the word for “jar,” which has been explained as a water decanter. The word here is בַקֹּתִי (vaqqoti). The word for jar in v. 1 is בַקְבֻּק (vaqbuq). There may also be a play on the literal use of this word to refer to the laying waste or destruction of a land (see Isa 24:3; Nah 2:3). Many modern commentaries think that at this point Jeremiah emptied out the contents of the jar, symbolizing the “emptying” out of their plans.
12 sn This refers to the fact that they will die in battle. The sword would be only one of the weapons that strikes them down. It is one of the trio of “sword,” “starvation,” and “disease” which were the concomitants of war referred to so often in the book of Jeremiah. Starvation is referred to in v. 9.
13 tn Heb “I will cause them to fall by the sword before their enemies and in the hand of those who seek their soul [= life].” In this context the two are meant as obvious qualifications of one entity, not two. Some rearrangement of the qualifiers had to be made in the English translation to convey this.
14 tn Heb “the priests and prophets said to the leaders and the people….” The long sentence has been broken up to conform better with contemporary English style and the situational context is reflected in “laid their charges.”
15 tn Heb “a sentence of death to this man.”
16 tn Heb “it.”
17 tn Heb “oracle of the
18 sn The verbs are again plural referring to the king and his royal advisers.
19 tn Heb “…drive you out and you will perish, you and the prophets who are prophesying lies.”
sn For the fulfillment of this prophecy see Jer 39:5-7; 52:7-11; 2 Kgs 25:4-7.
20 tn Heb “And like the burning [of incense] for your fathers, the former kings who were before you, so will they burn [incense] for you.” The sentence has been reversed for easier style and the technical use of the terms interpreted.
sn For the custom referred to compare 2 Chr 16:14; 21:19.
21 sn The intent of this oracle may have been to contrast the fate of Zedekiah with that of Jehoiakim who was apparently executed, went unmourned, and was left unburied (contrast Jer 22:18-19).
22 tn Heb “For [or Indeed] I myself have spoken [this] word.”
23 tn Heb “Oracle of the
24 tn The Hebrew text has a compound object, the two terms of which have been synonyms in vv. 14, 15. G. L. Keown, P. J. Scalise, and T. G. Smothers (Jeremiah 26-52 [WBC], 189) make the interesting observation that these two terms (Heb “brother” and “neighbor”) emphasize the relationships that should have taken precedence over their being viewed as mere slaves.
25 sn This is, of course, a metaphorical and ironical use of the term “to grant freedom to.” It is, however, a typical statement of the concept of talionic justice which is quite often operative in God’s judgments in the OT (cf., e.g., Obad 15).
26 tn Heb “Oracle of the
27 sn Compare Jer 15:4; 24:9; 29:18.
28 tn Heb “Those men have made evil all they have done to the prophet Jeremiah in that they have thrown him into the cistern and he will die of starvation in the place where he is because there is no more food in the city.” The particle אֵת (’et) before “they have thrown” (אֵת אֲשֶׁר הִשְׁלִיכוּ, ’et ’asher hishlikhu) is explanatory or further definition of “all they have done to” (i.e., the particle is repeated for apposition). The verb form “and he is sure to die” is an unusual use of the vav (ו) consecutive + imperfect that the grammars see as giving a logical consequence without a past nuance (cf. GKC 328 §111.l and IBHS 557-58 §33.3.1f).
sn “Because there isn’t any food left in the city” is rhetorical exaggeration; the food did not run out until just before the city fell. Perhaps the intent is to refer to the fact that there was no food in the city for people so confined (i.e., in solitary confinement).
