Discovery BoxJeremiah 9:16 
Context9:16 I will scatter them among nations that neither they nor their ancestors 1 have known anything about. I will send people chasing after them with swords 2 until I have destroyed them.’” 3
Jeremiah 18:17
Context18:17 I will scatter them before their enemies
like dust blowing in front of a burning east wind.
I will turn my back on them and not look favorably on them 4
when disaster strikes them.”
1 tn Heb “fathers.”
2 tn Heb “I will send the sword after them.” The sword here is probably not completely literal but refers to death by violent means, including death by the sword.
3 sn He will destroy them but not completely. See Jer 5:18; 30:11; 46:28.
4 tc Heb “I will show them [my] back and not [my] face.” This reading follows the suggestion of some of the versions and some of the Masoretes. The MT reads “I will look on their back and not on their faces.”
sn To “turn the back” is universally recognized as a symbol of rejection. The turning of the face toward one is the subject of the beautiful Aaronic blessing in Num 6:24-26.
