104 TRANSLATION, NOTES, AND COMMENTS(Bar 2:25 RSV). Many Heb MSS and the Vrs have "and from the sword,"
which is supported by 4QJer<. But T supports MT. The Qumran text lacks
"and from the famine," which could be attributed to haplography (homo-
eoteleuton: b ... b).
into the hand ofNebuchadrezzar, king of Babylon, and. The phrase is lacking
in the LXX, which is probably another loss due to haplography (whole-word:
byd ... byd). Some commentators (Giesebrecht; Duhm; Cornill; Holladay,
who considers haplography; and Jones) go with the shorter LXX reading. Aquila,
Symm, and Theod all contain the phrase. Read the MT. For occurrences of
this stereotyped phrase in the Jeremiah prose, see Note for 22:25.
and into the hand of those who seek their lives. I.e., to kill them. The LXX
omits "and into the hand," which does away entirely with the accumulatio in
MT ("into the hand of Nebuchadrezzar" is a victim of haplography). Calvin
does not find the repetition superfluous, saying that the enemy will not be con-
tent with plunder but will burn with rage and thirst for blood. Go then with the
MT, whose longer reading also supports a rhetorical structure in the verse (see
Rhetoric and Composition).
And he will strike them down. I.e., the Babylonian king will. The LXX and a
Targum MS have "and they [i.e., the enemies] will strike them down." The
LXX reading is consistent with its omission of the phrase naming Nebucha-
drezzar, but because the latter is attributable to haplography, we cannot speak
with Holladay about a shift of attention in MT to Nebuchadrezzar. The LXX is
the defective text.
into the mouth of the sword. I.e., up to the hilt. Hebrew lepf-~ereb. This an-
cient holy war expression (Josh 6:21; 8:24; 10:28, 3 5, 37, 39; 11: 11, 12, 14) has
been traditionally rendered "with the edge of the sword" (cf. BDB), the render-
ing appearing here in certain modern Versions (AV; RSV; NAB; NRSV). Akka-
dian has a comparable expression, pf patrim (AHw 2: 874 pu[ m J I, F; cf. KB^3 ).
The translation of peh as "edge" rather than "mouth" may derive from the Vg,
which has in ore gladii ("to the edge of the sword"). Kim]:ii says that "mouth" in
this expression refers to the sword's sharp edge. The LXX's ev stomati machairas
("into the mouth of the dagger") literally translates the Hebrew. The inexact-
ness of the Hebrew, noted by S. R. Driver and others, is reflected in other mod-
ern Versions (AmT; NEB; JB; NJV; NIV; REB; NJB), which render the
expression together with the verb as "put them to the sword." While this pre-
serves the general sense, it inadequately translates the Hebrew (except that the
lamed on Zepf is correctly rendered "to"). Meek ( 19 51) says the phrase means
"smite into the mouth of the sword," which is the plain meaning of the Hebrew
and doubtless the correct rendering. Meek points out that swords (and axes)
have turned up in excavations in northern Syria, northern Mesopotamia, and
northwestern Iran where the blade is represented as a tongue sticking out of an
open-mouthed lion or dragon carved into the hilt (see Meek 1951: 32 for draw-
ings). Some swords and axes have two devouring animals, which helps clarify
the "double-mouthed" (not "two-edged") swords of Judg 3:16; Prov 5:4; and Ps
149:6. The "double-mouthed" sword thrust by Ehud into Eglon, king of Moab,