Discovery BoxJeremiah 6:6 
Context6:6 All of this is because 1 the Lord who rules over all 2 has said:
‘Cut down the trees around Jerusalem
and build up a siege ramp against its walls. 3
This is the city which is to be punished. 4
Nothing but oppression happens in it. 5
Jeremiah 25:29
Context25:29 For take note, I am already beginning to bring disaster on the city that I call my own. 6 So how can you possibly avoid being punished? 7 You will not go unpunished! For I am proclaiming war against all who live on the earth. I, the Lord who rules over all, 8 affirm it!’ 9
Jeremiah 46:21
Contextwill prove to be like pampered, 11 well-fed calves.
For they too will turn and run away.
They will not stand their ground
when 12 the time for them to be destroyed comes,
the time for them to be punished.
1 tn Heb “For.” The translation attempts to make the connection clearer.
2 tn Heb “Yahweh of armies.”
sn For an explanation of the significance of this title see the study note on 2:19.
3 tn Heb “Cut down its trees and build up a siege ramp against Jerusalem.” The referent has been moved forward from the second line for clarity.
4 tn Or “must be punished.” The meaning of this line is uncertain. The LXX reads, “Woe, city of falsehood!” The MT presents two anomalies: a masculine singular verb with a feminine singular subject in a verbal stem (Hophal) that elsewhere does not have the meaning “is to be punished.” Hence many follow the Greek which presupposes הוֹי עִיר הַשֶּׁקֶר (hoy ’ir hasheqer) instead of הִיא הָעִיר הָפְקַד (hi’ ha’ir hofqad). The Greek is the easier reading in light of the parallelism, and it would be hard to explain how the MT arose from it. KBL suggests reading a noun meaning “licentiousness” which occurs elsewhere only in Mishnaic Hebrew, hence “this is the city, the licentious one” (attributive apposition; cf. KBL 775 s.v. פֶּקֶר). Perhaps the Hophal perfect (הָפְקַד, hofÿqad) should be revocalized as a Niphal infinitive absolute (הִפָּקֹד, hippaqod); this would solve both anomalies in the MT since the Niphal is used in this nuance and the infinitive absolute can function in place of a finite verb (cf. GKC 346 §113.ee and ff). This, however, is mere speculation and is supported by no Hebrew
5 tn Heb “All of it oppression in its midst.”
6 tn Heb “which is called by my name.” See translator’s note on 7:10 for support.
7 tn This is an example of a question without the formal introductory particle following a conjunctive vav introducing an opposition. (See Joüon 2:609 §161.a.) It is also an example of the use of the infinitive before the finite verb in a rhetorical question involving doubt or denial. (See Joüon 2:422-23 §123.f, and compare usage in Gen 37:8.)
8 tn Heb “Yahweh of armies.”
sn See the study notes on 2:19 and 7:3 for explanation of this extended title.
9 tn Heb “Oracle of Yahweh of armies.”
10 tn Heb “her hirelings in her midst.”
11 tn The word “pampered” is not in the text. It is supplied in the translation to explain the probable meaning of the simile. The mercenaries were well cared for like stall-fed calves, but in the face of the danger they will prove no help because they will turn and run away without standing their ground. Some see the point of the simile to be that they too are fattened for slaughter. However, the next two lines do not fit that interpretation too well.
12 tn The temporal use of the particle כִּי (ki; BDB 472 s.v. כִּי 2.a) seems more appropriate to the context than the causal use.
