Jeremiah 27

Translator Notes

1. The Masoretic Text reads 'Jehoiakim' (yehoyaqim), but the events described in this chapter clearly occur during Zedekiah's reign (v. 3, 12). Several Hebrew manuscripts and the Syriac Peshitta read 'Zedekiah' here. Most scholars consider this a scribal error, possibly caused by confusion with the superscription of chapter 26. We render the Masoretic Text as it stands and note the discrepancy.
2. Le'mor ('saying') is rendered as a colon introducing the direct divine speech that follows.

Key Terms

Translator Notes

1. The nouns moseroth ('straps, bonds') and mototh ('bars, poles') describe the components of an ox yoke — leather straps binding wooden crossbars to the animal's neck. God commands Jeremiah to construct and wear this apparatus as a prophetic sign-act, a physical dramatization of the subjection he is about to proclaim. The plural forms may indicate multiple yokes, one for each nation addressed in the following verses.

Translator Notes

1. The five nations listed were neighboring kingdoms considering an anti-Babylonian coalition. The envoys (mal'akhim, 'messengers') had come to Jerusalem for diplomatic consultations with Zedekiah — Jeremiah intercepted the political gathering with a prophetic counter-message. This verse confirms that the events take place under Zedekiah, not Jehoiakim as the superscription states.

Translator Notes

1. The double formula — 'This is what the LORD says' followed by 'this is what you are to say' — creates a chain of prophetic authority: God speaks to Jeremiah, Jeremiah speaks to the envoys, the envoys speak to their kings. The title 'LORD of Hosts' (YHWH tseva'ot) emphasizes God's sovereignty over all armies, both heavenly and earthly — a pointed claim when addressing military allies.

Translator Notes

1. God's claim to universal sovereignty grounds the entire chapter: the one who created everything has the authority to assign political dominion. The phrase 'outstretched arm' (zero'i ha-netuyah) is Exodus language — the same arm that struck Egypt now assigns Babylon as sovereign. The expression yashar be'einai ('right in my eyes') asserts unilateral divine discretion over international affairs.

Key Terms

Translator Notes

1. Calling Nebuchadnezzar avdi ('my servant') is theologically explosive. This is covenant-honor vocabulary — the same title given to Abraham, Moses, David, and the prophets. God is declaring that a pagan emperor serves as his chosen instrument. The extension to 'wild animals' (chayyat hasadeh) echoes the creation mandate of Genesis 1:28 and the sovereignty language of Daniel 2:38, signaling total dominion over the created order.

Translator Notes

1. The three-generation dynasty (Nebuchadnezzar, his son, his grandson) roughly corresponds to the Neo-Babylonian succession, though the historical details are compressed. The phrase 'the appointed time for his own land' (et artso) indicates that Babylon's dominion is not permanent but divinely bounded — Babylon too will be subjected. The reversal ('make him serve them') points to Babylon's eventual fall to Persia in 539 BCE.

Translator Notes

1. The triad 'sword, famine, and plague' (cherev, ra'av, dever) is Jeremiah's signature judgment formula, recurring over a dozen times in the book (14:12, 21:7, 21:9, 24:10, 29:17-18, 32:24, 32:36, 34:17, 38:2, 42:17, 42:22, 44:13). The yoke metaphor in verse 2 is now made explicit — refusing the literal yoke means refusing divine assignment. The verb tamam ('to complete, to finish off') here carries the sense of total destruction.

Translator Notes

1. The five-fold list — prophets (nevi'im), diviners (qosemim), dream interpreters (chalomot), soothsayers (onenim), and sorcerers (kashshefim) — catalogs the entire spectrum of ancient Near Eastern religious consultation. By grouping nevi'im ('prophets') with practitioners of divination and sorcery, Jeremiah strips the false prophets of legitimacy, equating them with pagan practitioners forbidden by Deuteronomy 18:10-14.

Translator Notes

1. The word sheqer ('falsehood, lie') is one of Jeremiah's most frequent terms for false prophecy (see 5:31, 14:14, 20:6, 23:25-26, 29:9). The irony is devastating: the false prophets promise that resistance will prevent exile, but their deceptive counsel is precisely what will cause the exile they claim to prevent.

Translator Notes

1. The reward for submission is strikingly simple: remaining on ancestral land, farming, and dwelling in peace. The verb avadah ('work it, farm it') creates a wordplay with avad ('serve') — the nation that 'serves' Babylon will 'work' its own land. The promise of land retention echoes the Deuteronomic land theology where possession of the land is contingent on obedience.

Translator Notes

1. The same message delivered to foreign kings is now directed at Zedekiah — Judah receives no special exemption. The blunt imperative vichyu ('and live') reduces the choice to its starkest terms: submission means survival, resistance means death. The plural 'your necks' (tsavvareikhem) addresses the king and his court collectively.

Translator Notes

1. The rhetorical question lammah tamutu ('why should you die?') recurs in Jeremiah's appeals to Zedekiah (cf. 38:17-18). It presents the choice as self-evidently absurd — death by stubbornness when survival is available through submission. The recurring triad of sword, famine, and plague reappears from verse 8.

Translator Notes

1. This is the second explicit warning against false prophets in the chapter (cf. v. 9). Here the warning is directed specifically to Zedekiah and the Judean court, not to the foreign envoys. The accusation sheqer hem nibbe'im ('falsehood they are prophesying') uses the emphatic word order, placing 'falsehood' first for rhetorical force.

Translator Notes

1. The claim lo shelachtim ('I did not send them') is the definitive test of prophetic authenticity in the Deuteronomic tradition (Deuteronomy 18:20). The dark irony is that the false prophets will share the fate of those they deceived — both the deceivers and the deceived will perish together. Prophesying 'in my name' (bishmi) while unsent constitutes the gravest possible prophetic offense.

Translator Notes

1. The false prophets' specific claim concerns the Temple vessels taken by Nebuchadnezzar in 597 BCE (2 Kings 24:13). Their promise of imminent return ('soon,' meherah) contradicts Jeremiah's message that the exile will be long (cf. 25:11-12, 29:10). The address shifts to the priests, who had a particular interest in the Temple vessels — their liturgical function depended on this sacred equipment.

Translator Notes

1. The appeal shifts from national survival to urban survival — 'this city' (ha'ir hazzot) is Jerusalem itself. The word chorbah ('ruin, desolation') anticipates what will happen in 586 BCE when the city is indeed destroyed. The question format implies the choice is still open, though the rhetorical pressure is immense.

Translator Notes

1. Jeremiah issues a devastating challenge: if these prophets genuinely carry God's word, they should use their prophetic authority to prevent further loss, not promise the return of what is already gone. The verb yifge'u ('let them intercede, press upon') implies urgent, persistent petition. The mention of 'vessels still remaining' reveals that a first deportation of Temple equipment has already occurred (597 BCE) and more remain at risk.

Translator Notes

1. The specific Temple furnishings named — the bronze pillars (ha'ammudim, cf. 1 Kings 7:15-22), the bronze sea (ha-yam, the massive basin described in 1 Kings 7:23-26), and the bronze stands (ha-mekhonot, 1 Kings 7:27-39) — are the monumental pieces too large to have been taken in the first deportation. Their eventual removal is documented in 2 Kings 25:13-17 and Jeremiah 52:17-23.

Translator Notes

1. Jeconiah (yekhanyah, also called Jehoiachin and Coniah) was deported in 597 BCE after a three-month reign (2 Kings 24:8-16). The word chorei ('nobles, freeborn') designates the aristocratic and administrative class taken in the first deportation. The verse establishes the historical timeline: a first deportation has already occurred, and the items left behind are now at stake.

Translator Notes

1. The full divine title 'LORD of Hosts, the God of Israel' lends maximum authority to the pronouncement that follows. The triple location — Temple, royal palace, city — indicates that sacred vessels were distributed across multiple sites, not confined to the sanctuary alone.

Translator Notes

1. The chapter closes with an unexpected note of hope. The verb paqad ('attend to, visit, take account of') here carries its positive sense — divine visitation for restoration rather than punishment. The promise that the vessels will eventually return presupposes a long exile (contra the false prophets' 'soon') but affirms that Babylon is not the final destination. The historical fulfillment came under Cyrus (Ezra 1:7-11), though Jeremiah does not name the agent. This verse simultaneously contradicts the false prophets (the vessels will go to Babylon, not return now) and offers hope (they will eventually return).