The Living Bible (518 page)
Authors: Inc. Tyndale House Publishers
Tags: #BIBLES / Other Translations / Text
22:30
none of his children shall ever sit upon the throne of David or rule in Judah.
This man, Coniah’s grandson, Zerubbabel, was briefly governor but not king.
23:5-6
throughout the earth,
or “throughout the land.”
23:9
because of the awful fate awaiting them,
implied.
23:20
Later, when Jerusalem has fallen,
literally, “In the latter days.”
23:38-39
will unburden myself of the burden,
literally, “the
burden
of the Lord,” or “the
message
of the Lord.” This is a Hebrew pun.
25:12
after these years,
literally, “after the seventy years.”
I will punish the king of Babylon.
This event is further described in Daniel 5. The troops of Cyrus the Great entered Babylon in 539
B.C.
and killed Belshazzar, the last Babylonian ruler.
26:24
the royal secretary,
implied; see 2 Kings 22:12.
27:1
reign of Jehoiakim.
Some versions read “Zedekiah.”
28:4
Jeconiah,
or “Jehoiachin,” as he is also called.
29:24
Shemaiah the dreamer,
literally, “Shemaiah the Nehelamite.” Nehelem was Shemaiah’s hometown, the name of which means “dreamer.” This seems to be another of the frequent puns in the prophetic books.
30:9
David their King,
the Messiah, David’s greater Son, whom God has raised up for them.
30:21
They will have their own ruler again.
This verse probably refers to the restoration after the Babylonian captivity (the rulers of the Maccabean period were priests as well as kings) as well as to the final restoration under Christ.
30:24
Later on,
literally, “In the latter days.”
31:15
Rachel,
symbolic mother of the Northern tribes, who were taken away by the Assyrians as slaves.
31:16
for I have heard your prayers,
literally, “for your work shall be rewarded.”
31:22
Israel will search for God,
literally, “a woman shall court a suitor” or “a woman shall encompass a man.”
31:29
Children pay for their fathers’ sins,
literally, “The fathers eat the sour grapes, and the children’s teeth are set on edge.”
31:32
a contract they broke, forcing me to reject them.
Some versions read, “a covenant they broke, even though I cared for them as a husband does his wife.” See Hebrews 8:9b.
31:33
upon their hearts,
i.e., rather than upon tablets of stone, as were the Ten Commandments.
so that they shall want to honor me.
In Jeremiah 17:1 their sin was inscribed on their hearts, so that they wanted above all to disobey. This change seems to describe an experience very much like, if not the same as, the new birth.
31:38-39
northeast corner . . . northwest . . . southwest . . . southeast,
implied.
32:2
in the dungeon beneath the palace,
literally, “in the court of the prison in the palace.”
32:15
In the future these papers will be valuable,
implied.
33:15
the true Son of David,
or “the true vine from the roots of David.” Christ was the true vine, the only true expression of David, the man after God’s own heart.
34:11
They changed their minds and made their servants slaves again.
When the siege was temporarily lifted (37:6-11), they became bold and returned to their sins.
35:1
when Jehoiakim . . . was the king of Judah.
This is apparently an early message of Jeremiah, and is not here in its chronological order with the other messages.
36:1
In the fourth year of . . . King Jehoiakim.
Probably in the summer of 605
B.C.
, shortly after Nebuchadnezzar’s victory over the Egyptian army at Carchemish.
36:22
sitting in front of a fireplace,
more literally, “sitting in front of a large brazier in which a fire was burning.”
36:26
a member of the royal family,
i.e., “a son of the king.”
36:30
He shall have no one to sit upon the throne.
A three-month interregnum by his son Jehoiachin (also called Coniah and Jeconiah) evidently did not qualify as “sitting on the throne” under the meaning of permanence in the Hebrew expression used here.
37:1
to be the new king of Judah.
The people of Jerusalem who had assassinated King Jehoiakim appointed his son Coniah as ruler before Nebuchadnezzar captured the city. The Babylonians took Coniah to Babylon as a political hostage.
37:12
he had bought,
see 32:6-15.
37:21
in the palace prison,
literally, “in the court of the guard.”
41:9
he fortified Mizpah to protect himself against Baasha, king of Israel,
see 1 Kings 15:22. Fifty-three cisterns have been uncovered by excavators at the site of ancient Mizpah.
44:17
Queen of Heaven,
see note to 7:18.
44:30
Pharaoh Hophra.
Hophra, or Apries, ruled Egypt from 588–568
B.C.
over to those.
Pharaoh Hophra was killed by Amasis, one of his generals who had revolted and who was then crowned in his place.
45:1
This is the message.
This message, in point of time, follows ch. 36.
47:1
before the city was captured.
In 609
B.C.
, the year King Josiah died.
49:8
Dedan
was in Northern Arabia and was a flourishing caravan city at the time of Jeremiah and Ezekiel.
49:28
Kedar,
an Arab tribe living in the desert east of Palestine.
Hazor,
not the Hazor mentioned in Joshua and Judges—a great city north of the Sea of Galilee, but rather, a group of Arab tribes.
49:32
these heathen,
literally, “those who cut the corners of their hair.”
50:21
Merathaim,
meaning “double rebellion,” refers to southern Babylonia.
Pekod,
meaning “punishment,” refers to a people in eastern Babylonia.
51:5
the land of the Chaldeans,
implied.
51:20
Cyrus is,
literally, “You are,” Cyrus was used of God to conquer Babylon. See also Isaiah 44:28; 45:1.
51:26
You shall be desolate forever.
This complete destruction of the city of Babylon was accomplished by later Persian kings. Jeremiah here sees the long-range picture of the city’s history, and does not confine himself to Cyrus.
51:59
concerning Seraiah’s capture.
This event occurred six years after this prophecy.
52:12
On the tenth day of the fifth month during the nineteenth year,
late in July, 587
B.C.
1:2
Among all her lovers
refers to Egypt and Israel’s other former allies.
1:19
allies,
literally, “lovers,” which probably refers to Egypt.
2:1
Temple,
literally, “footstool.”
3:9
He has shut me into a place of high, smooth walls,
literally, “He has walled up my ways with hewn stone.”
4:1
inlaid,
implied.
4:7
were lean and tanned,
literally, “were purer than snow, whiter than milk, more ruddy than rubies, polished like sapphires.”
4:17
allies,
probably the reference is to Egypt.
5:15
to death,
literally, “to mourning.”
1:1-3
when I was thirty years old,
literally, “in the thirtieth year.”
1:10
in front,
implied.
of his head,
implied.
1:12
their spirit,
literally, “the spirit.”
1:16
a second wheel crosswise inside,
literally, “a wheel within a wheel,” perhaps as in a gyroscope.
1:25
from the crystal sky above them,
literally, “from above the firmament, over their heads.”
2:1
son of dust,
or “son of man,” appears eighty-seven times throughout the book of Ezekiel. The connotation is “mortal man.” In Daniel 7:13, the corresponding Aramaic expression is used for the Messiah as representative of the human race of which he is the head.
2:7
but they won’t,
implied.
3:12
accompanied by the sound of a great earthquake,
literally, “I heard behind me the sound of a great earthquake.”
3:14-15
I went in bitterness and anger,
literally, “I went in the heat of my spirit”—not necessarily anger, but indicated here by this reaction.