Jeremiah 40–44

Footnotes

1. 1 Heb “The word which came to Jeremiah from the Lord.” This phrase regularly introduces the Lord’s directions to Jeremiah which immediately follow (cf. 7:1; 11:1; 18:1; 30:1; 34:1; 35:1). In 21:1; 44:1 it introduces a word of the Lord that Jeremiah communicates to others. However, no directions to Jeremiah follow here nor does any oracle that Jeremiah passes on to the people. Some commentators explain this as a heading parallel to that in 1:1–3 (which refers to messages and incidents in the life of Jeremiah up to the fall of Jerusalem) introducing the oracles that Jeremiah delivered after the fall of Jerusalem. However, no oracles follow until 42:9. It is possible that the intervening material supply background material for the oracle that is introduced in 42:7. An analogy to this structure but in a much shorter form may be found in 34:8–12. Another possible explanation is that the words of the captain of the guard in vv. 2–3 are to be seen as the word of the Lord to Jeremiah. In this case, it is a rather ironical confirmation of what Jeremiah had been saying all along. If it is thought strange that a pagan soldier would have said these words, it should be remembered that foreign soldiers knew through their intelligence sources what kings and prophets were saying (cf. Isa 36:7), and it is not unusual for God to speak through pagan prophets (cf. Balaam’s oracles, e.g. Num 23:7–10) or even a dumb animal (e.g., Balaam’s donkey [Num 22:28, 30]). Given the penchant for the use of irony in the book of Jeremiah, this is the most likely explanation. For further discussion on this view see G. L. Keown, P. J. Scalise, T. G. Smothers, Jeremiah 26–52 (), .
2. 2 Some commentators see the account of Jeremiah’s release here in 40:1–6 as an alternate and contradictory account to that of Jeremiah’s release in 39:11–14. However, most commentators see them as complementary and sequential. Jeremiah had been released from the courtyard of the guardhouse on orders of the military tribunal there shortly after Nebuzaradan got to Jerusalem and passed on Nebuchadnezzar’s orders to them. He had been released to the custody of Gedaliah who was to take him back to the governor’s residence and look after him there. However, Jeremiah remained in Jerusalem among the people there. He was mistakenly rounded up with them and led off as a prisoner to be deported with the rest of the exiles. However, when he got to Ramah which was a staging area for deportees, Nebuzaradan recognized him among the prisoners and released him a second time.
3. 3 Heb “when he took him and he was in chains.” The subject is probably Nebuzaradan or the indefinite third singular ( §144.d). The Kethib of the word for בָּאזִקִּים (ba’ziqqim) is to be explained as a secondary formation with prosthetic א (aleph) from the normal word for “fetter” (זֵק, zeq) according to אֲזִקִּים (see §19.m and §85.b for the phenomenon).
4. 4 For location see ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; .
5. 5 Heb “Because you [masc. ] sinned against the Lord and did not hearken to his voice [a common idiom for “obey him”], this thing has happened to you [masc. ].”
6. 6 The verb here is an example of the perfect of resolve where the speaker announces his intention to do something according to §30.5.1d. The word “Jeremiah” is supplied in the translation to avoid the possible misunderstanding that the you is still plural.
7. 7 Or “look out for you.” See 39:12 and the translator’s note there.
8. 8 Or “Stay here”; Heb “Forbear.” The imperative is used in a permissive sense; “you may forbear.” See §110.b and compare usage in Gen 50:6.
9. 9 Heb “See all the land [or the whole land] is before you.” For this idiom see 817 פָּנֶה II.4.a(f) and compare the usage in Gen 20:15; 47:6.
10. 10 Heb “Unto the good and the right in your eyes to go, go there.”
11. 11 Or “Before Jeremiah could answer, the captain of the guard added.” Or “But if you remain, then go back.” The meaning of the first part of v. 5 is uncertain. The text is either very cryptic here or is corrupt, perhaps beyond restoration. The Hebrew text reads, “and he was not yet turning and return to Gedaliah” (וְעוֹדֶנּוּ לֹא־יָשׁוּב וְשֻׁבָה אֶל־גְּדַלְיָה) which is very cryptic. The Greek version lacks everything in v. 4 after “I will look out for you” and begins v. 5 with “But if not, run, return to Gedaliah” (= וְאִם לֹא רוּץ וְשֻׁבָה אֶל־גְּדַלְיָה). The Latin version reads the same as the Hebrew in v. 4 but reads “and don’t come with me but stay with Gedaliah” (= a possible Hebrew text of וְעִמָּדִי לֹא תָּשׁוּב וְשֵׁבָה אֶת־גְּדַלְיָה). The version reads “But if you are remaining then return to Gedaliah” (reading a possible Hebrew text of יֹשֵׁב וְשֻׁבָה אֶל־גְּדַלְיָה וְעוֹדְךָ לֻא with an abnormal writing of a conditional particle normally written לוּ [lu] and normally introducing conditions assumed to be untrue or reading וְעוֹדְךָ לְיֹשֵׁב וְשֻׁבָה אֶל־גְּדַלְיָה with an emphatic לְ [lé, see §11.2.10i] and an informally introduced condition). does not explain the Hebrew base for its reading but accepts the as the original. It does appear to be the most likely alternative if the Hebrew is not accepted. However, the fact that none of the versions agree and all appear to be smoother than the Hebrew text suggests that they were dealing with an awkward original that they were trying to smooth out. Hence it is perhaps best to retain the Hebrew and make the best sense possible out of it. The most common reading of the Hebrew text as it stands is “and while he was not yet turning [= but before he was able to turn (to go)] [Nebuzaradan continued], ‘Go back to Gedaliah.’ ” (The imperfect in this case is an imperfect of capability [see §31.4c, examples 2, 4, 5].) That is the reading that is adopted here. and appear to accept a minor emendation of the verb “turn to leave” (יָשׁוּב, yashuv, a Qal imperfect) to “answer” (יָשִׁיב, yashiv, a Hiphil imperfect with an elided object [see 999 שׁוּב Hiph.3 and compare 2 Chr 10:16]). All of this shows that the meaning of the text at this point is very uncertain.
12. 12 Heb “set him over/ made him overseer over.” See 823–24 פָּקִיד Hiph.1 and compare usage in Gen 39:4–5.
13. 13 Heb “Go back to Gedaliah … and live with him among the people.” The long Hebrew sentence has been restructured to better conform with contemporary English style.
14. 14 Mizpah. It is generally agreed that this is the Mizpah that was on the border between Benjamin and Judah. It was located approximately eight miles north of Jerusalem and had been an important military and religious center from the time of the judges on (cf., e.g., Judg 20:1–3; 1 Sam 7:5–14; 1 Sam 10:17; 1 Kgs 15:22). It was not far from Ramah which was approximately four miles north of Jerusalem.
15. 15 Heb “So Jeremiah went to Gedaliah … and lived with him among the people who had been left in the land.” The long Hebrew sentence has been divided in two to better conform with contemporary English style.
16. 16 Heb “set him over/ made him overseer over.” See 823–24 פָּקִיד Hiph.1 and compare usage in Gen 39:4–5.
17. 17 Compare Jer 39:10.
18. 18 Verse 6 consists of a very long conditional clause whose main clause is found in v. 7. The text reads literally “When all the officers of the forces who were in the countryside heard, they and their men, that the king of Babylon had appointed Gedaliah … over the land and that he had committed to him men, women, and children, even from the poorest of the land from those who had not been carried off into exile to Babylon, they came.” The sentence has been broken up to better conform with contemporary English style. The phrase “the forces who were in the countryside” has been translated to reflect the probable situation, i.e., they had escaped and were hiding in the hills surrounding Jerusalem waiting for the Babylonians to leave (cf. Judg 6:2).
19. 19 The name of these officers is given here because some of them become important to the plot of the subsequent narrative, in particular, Ishmael and Johanan. Ishmael was a member of the royal family (41:1). He formed an alliance with the king of Ammon, assassinated Gedaliah, killed the soldiers stationed at Mizpah and many of Gedaliah’s followers, and attempted to carry off the rest of the people left at Mizpah to Ammon (40:13; 41:1–3, 10). Johanan was the leading officer who sought to stop Ishmael from killing Gedaliah (40:13–16) and who rescued the Jews that Ishmael was trying to carry off to Ammon (41:11–15). He along with another man named Jezaniah and these other officers were the leaders of the Jews who asked for Jeremiah’s advice about what they should do after Ishmael had killed Gedaliah (43:1–7).
20. 20 The words “so as to give them some assurance of safety” are not in the text but are generally understood by all commentators. This would be a case of substitution of cause for effect, the oath, put for the effect, the assurance of safety ( translates directly “reassured them”).
21. 21 Heb “Chaldeans.” See the study note on for explanation.
22. 22 Heb “Chaldeans.” See the study note on for explanation.
23. 23 Heb “summer fruit.” “Summer fruit” is meaningless to most modern readers; dates and figs are what is involved.
24. 24 This plus “Things will go well with you” is in essence the substance of the oath. The pronouns are emphatic, “And I, behold I will stay … and you, you may gather.” The imperatives in the second half of the verse are more a form of permission than of command or advice (cf. , , and compare the usage in 40:4 and the references in the translator’s note there).
25. 25 Heb “summer fruit.” “Summer fruit” is meaningless to most modern readers; dates and figs are what is involved.
26. 26 The translation is intended to reflect the emphasizing infinitive absolute before the finite verb.
27. 27 Heb “Why should he kill you?” However, this is one of those cases listed in 554 מָה 4.d(b) where it introduces a question introducing rhetorically the reason why something should not be done. In cases like this notes that it approximates the meaning “lest” and is translated in Greek by μήποτε (mēpote) or μή (mē) as the Greek version does here. Hence it is separated from the preceding and translated “otherwise” for the sake of English style.
28. 28 Heb “this thing.”
29. 29 Heb “is false” or “is a lie.”
30. 1 It is not altogether clear whether this is in the same year that Jerusalem fell or not. The wall was breached in the fourth month (= early July; 39:2) and Nebuzaradan came and burned the palace, the temple, and many of the houses and tore down the wall in the fifth month (= early August; 52:12). That would have left time between the fifth month and the seventh month (October) to gather in the harvest of grapes, dates and figs, and olives (40:12). However, many commentators feel that too much activity takes place in too short a time for this to have been in the same year and posit that it happened the following year or even five years later when a further deportation took place, possibly in retaliation for the murder of Gedaliah and the Babylonian garrison at Mizpah (52:30). The assassination of Gedaliah had momentous consequences and was commemorated in one of the post exilic fast days lamenting the fall of Jerusalem (Zech 8:19).
31. 2 All the Judeans. This can scarcely refer to all the Judeans who had rallied around Gedaliah at Mizpah because v. 10 later speaks of Ishmael carrying off “the rest of the people who were at Mizpah.” Probably what is meant is “all the Judeans and Babylonian soldiers” that were also at the meal. It is possible that this meal was intended to seal a covenant between Gedaliah and Ishmael of Ishmael’s allegiance to Gedaliah and his Babylonian overlords (cf. Gen 26:30–31; 31:53–54; Exod 24:11). In any case, this act of treachery and deceit was an extreme violation of the customs of hospitality practiced in the ancient Near East.
32. 3 Heb “Chaldean.” See the study note on for explanation. There are two cases of apposition with the repetition of the preposition or of the sign of the accusative in this verse, e.g., “who were with him, [namely] with Gedaliah” and “all the Chaldeans who happened to be there, [namely] the soldiers.”
33. 4 Heb “were found there.” For this nuance of the verb see 594 מָצָא Niph.2.c.
34. 5 Shechem, Shiloh, and Samaria were all cities in the northern kingdom of Israel with important religious and political histories. When Israel was destroyed in 722 b.c., some of the Israelites had been left behind and some of the Judeans had taken up residence in these northern cities. People residing there had participated in the reforms of Hezekiah (2 Chr 30:11) and Josiah (2 Chr 34:9) and were evidently still faithfully following the Jewish calendar. They would have been on their way to Jerusalem to celebrate the Jewish New Year and the Feast of Tabernacles (Lev 23:34). For the location of Samaria see ; ; ; ; .
35. 6 The words “to show they were mourning” are not in the text but are implicit in the acts. They are supplied in the translation for clarification for readers who may not be familiar with ancient mourning customs.
36. 7 The words “in Jerusalem” are not in the text but are implicit. They are supplied in the translation for clarity. For location see ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; .
37. 8 Heb “he was weeping/crying.” The translation is intended to better reflect the situation.
38. 9 Heb “Come to Gedaliah the son of Ahikam.” The words that are supplied in the translation are implicit to the situation and are added for clarity.
39. 10 The words “and threw their bodies” result from the significant use of the preposition אֶל (’el, so §119.gg and 39 אֶל 1). Hence the suggestion in (fn a) that the and two Greek are reading a different text is not really a textual issue but a translational one; the versions are supplying the words for stylistic purposes as has been done here.
40. 11 Heb “But there were ten men found among them and they said.” However, for the use of “were found” = “be, happened to be” see 594 מָצָא 2.c and compare the usage in 41:3.
41. 12 This sentence is a good example of the elliptical nature of some of the causal connections in the Hebrew Bible. All the Hebrew says literally is “For we have hidden stores of wheat, barley, olive oil, and honey in a field.” However, it is obvious that they are using this as their bargaining chip to prevent Ishmael and his men from killing them. For the use of “for” (כִּי, ki) for such elliptical thoughts see 473–74 כִּי 3.c.
42. 13 Or “So he refrained from killing them”; Heb “he refrained and did not kill them.”
43. 14 Heb “in the midst of their brothers/fellow countrymen.”
44. 15 The translation here follows the reading of the Greek version. The meaning of the Hebrew is uncertain; some understand it to mean “because of Gedaliah [i.e., to cover up the affair with Gedaliah]” and others understand it to mean “alongside of Gedaliah.” The translation presupposes that the Hebrew text reads בּוֹר גָּדוֹל הוּא (bor gadol hu’) in place of בְּיַד־גְּדַלְיָהוּ הוּא (béyad-gédalyahu). The meaning of בְּיַד (béyad) does not fit any of the normal ones given for this expression and those who retain the Hebrew text normally explain it as an unparalleled use of “because” or “in the affair of” (so ) or a rare use meaning “near, by the side of “(see 391 יָד 5.d where only Ps 141:6 and Zech 4:12 are cited. themselves suggest reading with the Greek version as the present translation does [so 391 יָד 5.c(3)]). For the syntax presupposed by the Greek text which has been followed consult §16.3.3d and 133 §8.4.2b. The first clause is a classifying clause with normal order of subject-predicate-copulative pronoun and it is followed by a further qualifying relative clause.
45. 16 It is generally agreed that the cistern referred to here is one of several that Asa dug for supplying water as part of the defense system constructed at Mizpah (cf. 1 Kgs 15:22; 2 Chr 16:6).
46. 17 Or “with corpses”; Heb “with the slain.”
47. 18 Heb “the daughters of the king.” Most commentators do not feel that this refers to the actual daughters of Zedekiah since they would have been too politically important to have escaped exile with their father. As noted in the translator’s note on this need not refer to the actual daughters of the king but may refer to other royal daughters, i.e., the daughters of other royal princes.
48. 19 Or “crimes,” or “evil things”; Heb “the evil.”
49. 20 Heb “the many [or great] waters.” This is generally identified with the pool of Gibeon mentioned in 2 Sam 2:13.
50. 21 Heb “all the people who were with Ishmael.” However, this does not refer to his own troops but to those he had taken with him from Mizpah, i.e., the captives. The phrase is specifically clarified in the next verse, i.e. “the people whom Ishmael had taken captive from Mizpah.” Hence the phrase is translated here according to sense, not according to the literal wording.
51. 22 Heb “Chaldeans.” See the study note on for explanation.
52. 23 Geruth Kimham is nowhere else mentioned in the Bible and its precise location is unknown. Many commentators relate the second part of the name to the name of the son of David’s benefactor when he fled from Absalom (2 Sam 19:38–39) and see this as a reference to an estate that David assigned this son as reward for his father’s largess. Gibeon was about six miles northwest of Jerusalem and Benjamin is approximately the same distance southwest of it. Hence, the people mentioned here had not traveled all that far.
53. 24 For location see ; ; ; .
54. 25 Verses 16–18a are a long complex sentence in the Hebrew text with some rather awkward placement of qualifying terms. In the Hebrew text these verses read: “41:16 And he took, Johanan … and all the army officers with him, all the people who were left alive which he [Johanan] had taken back from Ishmael son of Nethaniah from Mizpah after he [Ishmael] had killed Gedaliah … men, men of war, and women and children and court officials which he [Johanan] had brought back from Gibeon 41:17 and they went and they stayed at Geruth Kimham … to go to enter Egypt 41:18 because of the Chaldean because they were afraid of them because Ishmael …” The sentence has been broken down and restructured to reflect all the relevant data in shorter sentences which better conform with contemporary English style. There are a couple of places where the text and syntax are debated. Many modern English versions and commentaries read “They led off/took control of/took all survivors of the people whom Ishmael … had taken captive [reading שָׁבָה אֹתָם (shavah ’otam) in place of הֵשִׁיב מֵאֵת (heshiv me’et), “whom he (Johanan) had taken back/rescued from Ishmael] from Mizpah after he had …” This is a decidedly smoother text but there is no manuscript or versional evidence for it and so it has been rejected here. Some commentators and English versions see the words “men of war” (“soldiers”) following the word “men” as appositional to that word and hence see only one category. However, there are no parallels to these words used in this kind of apposition. So the translation reflects two categories.
55. 1 Jezaniah son of Hoshaiah may have been the same as the Jezaniah son of the Maacathite mentioned in 40:8. The title “the Maacathite” would identify the locality from which his father came, i.e., a region in northern Transjordan east of Lake Huleh. Many think he is also the same man who is named “Azariah” in Jer 43:2 (the Greek version has Azariah both here and in 43:2). It was not uncommon for one man to have two names, e.g., Uzziah who was also named Azariah (compare 2 Kgs 14:21 with 2 Chr 26:1).
56. 2 Or “without distinction,” or “All the people from the least important to the most important”; Heb “from the least to the greatest.” This is a figure of speech that uses polar opposites as an all-inclusive designation of everyone without exception (i.e., it included all the people from the least important or poorest to the most important or richest.)
57. 3 Heb “please let our petition fall before you.” For the idiom here see 37:20 and the translator’s note there.
58. 4 Heb “on behalf of us, [that is] on behalf of all this remnant.” This refers to the small remnant of people who were left of those from Mizpah who had been taken captive by Ishmael after he had killed Gedaliah and who had been rescued from him at Gibeon. There were other Judeans still left in the land of Judah who had not been killed or deported by the Babylonians.
59. 5 Heb “For we are left a few from the many as your eyes are seeing us.” The words “used to be” are not in the text but are implicit. These words are supplied in the translation for clarity and smoothness of English style.
60. 6 Heb “I have heard” = “I agree.” For this nuance of the verb see 1034 שָׁמַע Qal.1.j and compare the usage in Gen 37:27 and Judg 11:17 listed there.
61. 7 Heb “all the word which the Lord will answer you.
62. 8 Heb “do according to all the word which.”
63. 9 Heb “Whether good or whether evil we will hearken to the voice of the Lord our God to whom we are sending you in order that it may go well for us because/when we hearken to the voice of the Lord our God.” The phrase “whether good or whether evil” is an abbreviated form of the idiomatic expressions “to be good in the eyes of” = “to be pleasing to” ( 374 טוֹב 2.f and see 1 Kgs 21:2) and “to be bad in the eyes of” = “to be displeasing to” ( 948 רַע 3 and see Num 22:34). The longer Hebrew sentence has been broken down and restructured to better conform with contemporary English style.
64. 10 Or “without distinction,” or “All the people from the least important to the most important”; Heb “from the least to the greatest.” This is a figure of speech that uses polar opposites as an all-inclusive designation of everyone without exception (i.e., it included all the people from the least important or poorest to the most important or richest.)
65. 11 Heb “Thus says the Lord God of Israel to whom you sent me to present your petition before him, ‘…’ ” The sentence has been restructured to cut down on the length of the introduction leading in to the long quote. Their “request” is that Jeremiah would tell them where to go and what to do (v. 3).
66. 12 The word “just” is intended to reflect the infinitive absolute before the finite verb emphasizing here the condition rather than the verb root (see 2: §123.g, and compare the usage in Exod 15:26). The form looks like the infinitive absolute of the verb שׁוּב (shuv), but all the versions interpret it as though it is from יָשַׁב (yashav) which is the root of the verb that follows it. Either this is a textual error of the loss of a י (yod) or this is one of the cases that §19.i list as the possible loss of a weak consonant at the beginning of a word.
67. 13 Or “I will firmly plant you in the land,” or “I will establish you.” This is part of the metaphor that has been used of God (re)establishing Israel in the land. See 24:6; 31:28; 32:41.
68. 14 See Jer 41:18 for their reason for fear.
69. 15 Heb “oracle of the Lord.”
70. 16 Heb “see [or experience] war.”
71. 17 Heb “hear the sound of the trumpet.” The trumpet was used to gather the troops and to sound the alarm for battle.
72. 18 Jer 42:13–14 are a long complex condition (protasis) whose consequence (apodosis) does not begin until v. 15. The Hebrew text of vv. 13–14 reads: 42:13 “But if you say [or continue to say (the form is a participle)], ‘We will not stay in this land’ with the result that you do not obey [or “more literally, do not hearken to the voice of] the Lord your God, 42:14 saying, ‘No, but to the land of Egypt we will go where we … and there we will live,’ 42:15 now therefore hear the word of the Lord …” The sentence has been broken up and restructured to better conform with contemporary English style but an attempt has been made to maintain the contingencies and the qualifiers that are in the longer Hebrew original.
73. 19 Heb “Yahweh of armies, the God of Israel.” See the study note on for the translation and significance of this title.
74. … Heb “set your face to.” See Jer 42:17; 44:11; Dan 11:17; 2 Kgs 12:17 (12:18 ) for parallel usage.