Discovery Box| (0.20) | (Jer 51:52) | 1 tn Heb “that being so, look, days are approaching.” Here לָכֵן (lakhen) introduces the Lord’s response to the people’s lament (v. 51). It has the force of “yes, but” or “that may be true.” See Judg 11:8 and BDB 486-87 s.v. כֵּן 3.d. |
| (0.20) | (Jer 51:41) | 1 sn Heb “Sheshach.” The study note on Jer 25:26 explains the use of this name for Babylon; see a similar phenomemon in a note on 51:1. Babylon is here called “the pride of the whole earth” because it was renowned for its size, its fortifications, and its beautiful buildings. |
| (0.20) | (Jer 51:41) | 2 tn Heb “How Sheshach has been captured, and the pride of the whole earth has been seized! How Babylon has become an object of horror among the nations!” For the usage of “How” here, see the translator’s note on 50:23. |
| (0.20) | (Jer 51:7) | 1 sn The figure of the cup of the Lord’s wrath, invoked in Jer 25:15-29, is invoked again here, and Babylon is identified as the agent through which the wrath of the Lord is visited on the other nations. See the study note on 25:15 for explanation and further references. |
| (0.20) | (Jer 51:4) | 1 tn The majority of English versions and the commentaries understand the vav (ו) consecutive + perfect as a future here: “They will fall.” However, it makes better sense, in the light of the commands in the previous verse, to understand this as an indirect third person command (= a jussive; see GKC 333 §112.q, r), as REB and NJPS do. |
| (0.20) | (Jer 51:1) | 1 sn The destructive wind is a figurative reference to the “foreign people” who will “winnow” Babylon and drive out all the people (v. 2). This figure has already been used in 4:11-12 and in 49:36. See the study note on 4:11-12 and the translator’s notes on 22:22 and 49:36. |
| (0.20) | (Jer 50:34) | 4 tn This appears to be another case where the particle לְמַעַן (lemaʿan) introduces a result rather than giving the purpose or goal. See the translator’s note on 25:7, with a listing of other examples in the book of Jeremiah, and also the translator’s note on 27:10. |
| (0.20) | (Jer 50:9) | 3 tc Read Heb מַשְׂכִּיל (maskil), with a number of Hebrew mss and some of the versions, in place of מַשְׁכִּיל (mashkil, “one who kills children”), with the majority of Hebrew mss and some of the versions. See BHS note d for the details. |
| (0.20) | (Jer 50:12) | 3 tn Heb “a מִדְבָּר (midbar, “wilderness”), a צִיָּה (tsiyyah, “an arid region, desert”), and an עֲרָבָה (ʿaravah, “arid rift valley”). These words overlap in meaning and are compiled together in the translation. See the note on these words in Isa 35:1. |
| (0.20) | (Jer 50:5) | 1 tc The translation here assumes that the Hebrew בֹּאוּ (boʾu; a Qal imperative masculine plural) should be read בָּאוּ (baʾu; a Qal perfect third plural). This reading is presupposed by the Greek version of Aquila, the Latin version, and the Targum (see BHS note a, which mistakenly assumes that the form must be imperfect). |
| (0.20) | (Jer 49:34) | 3 tn Or “In the beginning of the reign.” For a discussion of the usage of the terms here see the translator’s note on 28:1. If this refers to the accession year, the dating would be 598/97 b.c. |
| (0.20) | (Jer 49:21) | 1 tn Heb “At the sound of their downfall the earth will quake.” However, as in many other places, “earth” here metonymically stands for the inhabitants or people of the earth (see E. W. Bullinger, Figures of Speech, 578-79, and compare usage in 2 Sam 15:23 and Ps 66:4). |
| (0.20) | (Jer 49:17) | 1 sn This verse is very similar to Jer 19:8, where the same judgment is pronounced on Jerusalem. For the meaning of some of the terms here (“hiss out their scorn” and “all the disasters that have happened to it”), see the notes on that verse. |
| (0.20) | (Jer 49:2) | 3 tn Heb “Its daughters will be burned with fire.” For the use of the word “daughters” to refer to the villages surrounding a larger city, see BDB 123 s.v. I בַּת 4 and compare the usage in Judg 1:27. |
| (0.20) | (Jer 48:32) | 4 tn Heb “her summer fruit.” See the translator’s note on 40:10 for the rendering here. According to BDB 657 s.v. נָפַל Qal.4.a, the verb means to “fall upon” or “attack,” but in the context it is probably metonymical for attack and destroy. |
| (0.20) | (Jer 48:44) | 1 sn Jer 48:43-44a are in the main the same as Isa 24:17-18, which shows that the judgment was somewhat proverbial. For a very similar kind of argumentation see Amos 5:19; judgment is unavoidable. |
| (0.20) | (Jer 48:2) | 3 tn Heb “In Heshbon they plot evil against her [i.e., Moab].” The “they” is undefined, but it would scarcely be Moabites living in Heshbon. Hence TEV and CEV are probably correct in seeing a reference to the enemy, which would imply the conquest of this city that lay on the northern border of Moab. |
| (0.20) | (Jer 48:7) | 1 sn Chemosh was the national god of Moab (see also Num 21:29). Child sacrifice appears to have been a part of his worship (2 Kgs 3:27). Solomon built a high place in Jerusalem for him (1 Kgs 11:7), and he appears to have been worshiped in Israel until Josiah tore that high place down (2 Kgs 23:13). |
| (0.20) | (Jer 46:16) | 3 tn Heb “to our native lands from before the sword of the oppressor.” The compound preposition “from before” is regularly used in a causal sense (see BDB 818 s.v. פָּנֶה 6.a, b, c). The “sword” is again interpreted as a figure for the destructive power of an enemy army. |
| (0.20) | (Jer 45:5) | 2 sn Cf. Jer 25:31, 33. The reference here to universal judgment also forms a nice transition to the judgments on the nations that follow in Jer 46-51. This may be another reason for the placement of this chapter here, out of its normal chronological order (see also the study note on v. 1). |
