Discovery BoxJeremiah 25:2-11 
Context25:2 So the prophet Jeremiah spoke to all the people of Judah and to all the people who were living in Jerusalem. 1 25:3 “For the last twenty-three years, from the thirteenth year that Josiah son of Amon was ruling in Judah 2 until now, the Lord has been speaking to me. I told you over and over again 3 what he said. 4 But you would not listen. 25:4 Over and over again 5 the Lord has sent 6 his servants the prophets to you. But you have not listened or paid attention. 7 25:5 He said through them, 8 ‘Each of you must turn from your wicked ways and stop doing the evil things you are doing. 9 If you do, I will allow you to continue to live here in the land that I gave to you and your ancestors as a lasting possession. 10 25:6 Do not pay allegiance to 11 other gods and worship and serve them. Do not make me angry by the things that you do. 12 Then I will not cause you any harm.’ 25:7 So, now the Lord says, 13 ‘You have not listened to me. But 14 you have made me angry by the things that you have done. 15 Thus you have brought harm on yourselves.’
25:8 “Therefore, the Lord who rules over all 16 says, ‘You have not listened to what I said. 17 25:9 So I, the Lord, affirm that 18 I will send for all the peoples of the north 19 and my servant, 20 King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon. I will bring them against this land and its inhabitants and all the nations that surround it. I will utterly destroy 21 this land, its inhabitants, and all the nations that surround it 22 and make them everlasting ruins. 23 I will make them objects of horror and hissing scorn. 24 25:10 I will put an end to the sounds of joy and gladness, to the glad celebration of brides and grooms in these lands. 25 I will put an end to the sound of people grinding meal. I will put an end to lamps shining in their houses. 26 25:11 This whole area 27 will become a desolate wasteland. These nations will be subject to the king of Babylon for seventy years.’ 28
1 map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.
2 sn The year referred to would be 627
3 tn For the idiom involved here see the notes at 7:13 and 11:7.
4 tn The words “what he said” are not in the text but are implicit. They are supplied in the translation for clarity.
5 tn For the idiom involved here see the notes at 7:13 and 11:7.
6 tn The vav consecutive with the perfect in a past narrative is a little unusual. Here it is probably indicating repeated action in past time in keeping with the idiom that precedes and follows it. See GKC 332 §112.f for other possible examples.
7 tn Heb “inclined your ear to hear.” This is idiomatic for “paying attention.” It is often parallel with “listen” as here or with “pay attention” (see, e.g., Prov 4:20; 51:1).
8 tn Heb “saying.” The infinitive goes back to “he sent”; i.e., “he sent, saying.”
9 tn Heb “Turn [masc. pl.] each person from his wicked way and from the evil of your [masc. pl.] doings.” See the same demand in 23:22.
10 tn Heb “gave to you and your fathers with reference to from ancient times even unto forever.” See the same idiom in 7:7.
11 tn Heb “follow after.” See the translator’s note on 2:5 for this idiom.
12 tn Heb “make me angry with the work of your hands.” The term “work of your own hands” is often interpreted as a reference to idolatry as is clearly the case in Isa 2:8; 37:19. However, the parallelism in 25:14 and the context in 32:30 show that it is more general and refers to what they have done. That is likely the meaning here as well.
13 tn Heb “Oracle of the
14 tn This is a rather clear case where the Hebrew particle לְמַעַן (lÿma’an) introduces a consequence and not a purpose, contrary to the dictum of BDB 775 s.v. מַעַן note 1. They have not listened to him in order to make him angry but with the result that they have made him angry by going their own way. Jeremiah appears to use this particle for result rather than purpose on several other occasions (see, e.g., 7:18, 19; 27:10, 15; 32:29).
15 tn Heb “make me angry with the work of your hands.” The term “work of your own hands” is often interpreted as a reference to idolatry as is clearly the case in Isa 2:8; 37:19. However, the parallelism in 25:14 and the context in 32:30 show that it is more general and refers to what they have done. That is likely the meaning here as well.
16 tn Heb “Yahweh of armies.”
sn See the study note on 2:19 for an explanation of this title.
17 tn Heb “You have not listened to my words.”
18 tn Heb “Oracle of the
19 sn The many allusions to trouble coming from the north are now clarified: it is the armies of Babylon which included within it contingents from many nations. See 1:14, 15; 4:6; 6:1, 22; 10:22; 13:20 for earlier allusions.
20 sn Nebuchadnezzar is called the
21 tn The word used here was used in the early years of Israel’s conquest for the action of killing all the men, women, and children in the cities of Canaan, destroying all their livestock, and burning their cities down. This policy was intended to prevent Israel from being corrupted by paganism (Deut 7:2; 20:17-18; Josh 6:18, 21). It was to be extended to any city that led Israel away from worshiping God (Deut 13:15) and any Israelite who brought an idol into his house (Deut 7:26). Here the policy is being directed against Judah as well as against her neighbors because of her persistent failure to heed God’s warnings through the prophets. For further usage of this term in application to foreign nations in the book of Jeremiah see 50:21, 26; 51:3.
22 tn Heb “will utterly destroy them.” The referent (this land, its inhabitants, and the nations surrounding it) has been specified in the translation for clarity, since the previous “them” referred to Nebuchadnezzar and his armies.
sn This is essentially the introduction to the “judgment on the nations” in vv. 15-29 which begins with Jerusalem and Judah (v. 18) and ultimately ends with Babylon itself (“Sheshach” in v. 26; see note there for explanation of the term).
23 sn The Hebrew word translated “everlasting” is the word often translated “eternal.” However, it sometimes has a more limited time reference. For example it refers to the lifetime of a person who became a “lasting slave” to another person (see Exod 21:6; Deut 15:17). It is also used to refer to the long life wished for a king (1 Kgs 1:31; Neh 2:3). The time frame here is to be qualified at least with reference to Judah and Jerusalem as seventy years (see 29:10-14 and compare v. 12).
24 tn Heb “I will make them an object of horror and a hissing and everlasting ruins.” The sentence has been broken up to separate the last object from the first two which are of slightly different connotation, i.e., they denote the reaction to the latter.
sn Compare Jer 18:16 and 19:8 and the study note at 18:16.
25 sn Compare Jer 7:24 and 16:9 for this same dire prediction limited to Judah and Jerusalem.
26 sn The sound of people grinding meal and the presence of lamps shining in their houses were signs of everyday life. The
27 tn Heb “All this land.”
28 sn It should be noted that the text says that the nations will be subject to the king of Babylon for seventy years, not that they will lie desolate for seventy years. Though several proposals have been made for dating this period, many ignore this fact. This most likely refers to the period beginning with Nebuchadnezzar’s defeat of Pharaoh Necho at Carchemish in 605
