Jer 32:3-5 | NET2full | STEP | For King Zedekiah had confined Jeremiah there after he had reproved him for prophesying as he did. He had asked Jeremiah, “ Why do you keep prophesying these things? Why do you keep saying that the Lord says , ‘I will hand this city over to the king of Babylon ? I will let him capture it.

‏ Jeremiah 32:3-5

3 For King Zedekiah ^{▼▼tn Heb “Zedekiah king of Judah.”} had confined Jeremiah there after he had reproved him for prophesying as he did. He had asked Jeremiah, “Why do you keep prophesying these things? Why do you keep saying that the Lord says, ‘I will hand this city over to the king of Babylon? I will let him capture it. ^{▼▼tn The translation represents an attempt to break up a very long Hebrew sentence with several levels of subordination and embedded quotations and also an attempt to capture the rhetorical force of the question “Why…?” which is probably an example of what E. W. Bullinger (Figures of Speech, 953-54) calls a rhetorical question of expostulation or remonstrance (cf. the note on 26:9 and also the question in 36:29; in all three of these cases NJPS translates, “How dare you…?” which captures the force nicely). The Hebrew text reads, “For Zedekiah king of Judah had confined him, saying, ‘Why are you prophesying, saying, “Thus says the Lord, ‘Behold I am giving this city into the hands of the king of Babylon and he will capture it’”?’”} 4 King Zedekiah of Judah will not escape from the Babylonians. ^{▼▼tn Heb “The Chaldeans.” See the study note on 21:4 for further explanation.} He will certainly be handed over to the king of Babylon. He must answer personally to the king of Babylon and confront him face to face. ^{▼▼tn Heb “his [Zedekiah’s] mouth will speak with his [Nebuchadnezzar’s] mouth, and his eyes will see his eyes.” The verbs here are an obligatory imperfect and its vav consecutive perfect equivalent. (See IBHS 508-9 §31.4g for discussion and examples of the former and IBHS 528 §32.2.1d, n. 16, for the latter.)} 5 Zedekiah will be carried off to Babylon and will remain there until I have fully dealt with him. ^{▼▼tn This is the verb (פָּקַד, paqad) that has been met with several times in the book of Jeremiah, most often in the ominous sense of “punish” (e.g., 6:15; 11:22; 23:24), but also in the good sense of “resume concern for” (e.g., 27:22; 29:10). Here it is obviously in the ominous sense, referring to his imprisonment and ultimate death (52:11).} ^{▼▼sn Cf. Jer 34:2-3 for this same prophecy. The incident in Jer 34:1-7 appears to be earlier than this one. Here Jeremiah is confined to the courtyard of the guardhouse; there he appears to have freedom of movement.} I, the Lord, affirm it! ^{▼▼tn Heb “Oracle of the Lord.”} Even if you ^{▼▼sn The pronouns are plural here, referring to the people of Judah and Jerusalem. Jeremiah had counseled that they surrender (cf. 27:12; 21:8-10) because they could not succeed against the Babylonian army, even under the most favorable circumstances (37:3-10).} continue to fight against the Babylonians, ^{▼▼tn Heb “The Chaldeans.” See the study note on 21:4 for further explanation.} you cannot win.’”