Jeremiah 49:16-18

New English Translation

Footnotes

1. Jeremiah 49:16 tn The meaning of this feminine Hebrew noun (תִּפְלֶצֶת, tifletset) is uncertain because it occurs only here. However, it is related to a verb root referring to the shaking of pillars (of the earth; Job 9:6) and to a noun (מִפְלֶצֶת, mifletset) denoting “horror” or “shuddering” (Job 21:6; Isa 21:4; Ezek 7:18; Ps 55:6). This is the nuance accepted by BDB, KBL, HAL and a majority of the modern English versions. The suffix is an objective genitive. The following masculine singular verb suggests that the text here (הִשִּׁיא אֹתָךְ, hishiʾ ʾotakh) is in error for feminine הִשִּׁיאָתָךְ (hishiʾatakh; so G. L. Keown, P. J. Scalise, T. G. Smothers, Jeremiah 26-52 [WBC], 327, n. 16.a).
2. Jeremiah 49:16 tn The Hebrew text of the first four lines reads, “Your terror [= the terror you inspire] has deceived you, [and] the arrogance of your heart, you who dwell in the clefts of the rock, who occupy the heights of the hill.” The sentence is broken up and restructured to better conform with English style.
3. Jeremiah 49:17 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.