Jeremiah 30:8-10

New English Translation

Footnotes

1. Jeremiah 30:8 tn Heb “And it shall happen in that day.”sn The time for them to be rescued (Heb “that day”) is the day of deliverance from the trouble alluded to at the end of the preceding verse, not the day of trouble mentioned at the beginning. Israel (even the good figs) will still need to go through the period of trouble (cf. vv. 10-11).
2. Jeremiah 30:8 tn Heb “Oracle of Yahweh of Armies.” See the study note on 2:19 for explanation of the title for God.
3. Jeremiah 30:8 tn Heb “I will break his yoke from upon your neck.” For the explanation of the figure see the study note on 27:2. The shift from third person at the end of v. 7, to second person in v. 8c, d, and back to third person in v. 8e is typical of Hebrew poetry in the book of Psalms and in the prophetic books (cf., GKC 351 §114.p, and compare usage in Deut 32:15 and Isa 5:8, listed there). The present translation, like several other modern ones, has typically leveled them to the same person to avoid confusion for modern readers who are not accustomed to this poetic tradition.sn In the immediate context the reference to the yoke of their servitude to foreign domination (Heb “his yoke”) should be understood of the yoke of servitude to Nebuchadnezzar that has been referred to often in Jer 27-28 (see, e.g., 27:8, 12; 28:2, 4, 11). The end of that servitude has already been mentioned in 25:11-14 and 29:11-14. Like many other passages in the OT, it has been given a later eschatological reinterpretation in the light of subsequent bondages and lack of complete fulfillment, i.e., of restoration to the land and restoration of the Davidic monarchy.
4. Jeremiah 30:8 tn Heb “I will tear off their bands.” The “bands” are the leather straps that held the yoke bars in place (cf. 27:2). The metaphor of the “yoke on the neck” is continued. The translation reflects the sense of the metaphor but not the specific referent.
5. Jeremiah 30:9 tn The verb “be subject to” in this verse and “subjugate” are from the same root word in Hebrew. A deliberate contrast is drawn between the two powers that the Israelites will serve.
6. Jeremiah 30:9 tn Heb “and to David their king, whom I will raise up for them.”sn The Davidic ruler whom I will raise up as king over them refers to a descendant of David who would rule over a regathered and reunited Israel and Judah. He is called “David” in Hos 3:5, Ezek 34:23-24; 37:24-25 and is referred to as a shoot or sprig of Jesse in Isa 11:1, 10, and as a “righteous branch” springing from David (the Davidic line). He is called “David” because he is from the Davidic line and because David is the type of the ideal king whom the prophets anticipated. See further the study notes on 23:5 for this ideal king and for his relation to the NT fulfillment in the person of Jesus the Christ.
7. Jeremiah 30:10 tn Heb “So do not be afraid, my servant Jacob, oracle of the Lord.” Here and elsewhere in the verse the terms Jacob and Israel are poetic for the people of Israel descended from the patriarch Jacob. The terms have been supplied throughout with plural referents for greater clarity.
8. Jeremiah 30:10 tn Heb “For I will rescue you from far away, your descendants from the land of their captivity.”
9. Jeremiah 30:10 sn Compare the ideals of the Mosaic covenant in Lev 26:6, the Davidic covenant in 2 Sam 7:10-11, and the new covenant in Ezek 34:25-31.