Indictment of Judah and the Nations (25:1-38) 275but a swirling tempest with rain. The N-stem of 'wr means "be roused, incited
to activity"; see also 6:22 and 50:41.
from remote parts of the earth. Hebrew mfyyarkete->are$. This expression oc-
curs only in Jeremiah (6:22; 25:32; 31:8; and 50:41).- the slain of Yahweh. The balalfm are "those pierced (by the sword)," in
this case those who have been struck dead (see Note for 51 :4). A sword of Yah-
weh was earlier promised against the nations in 25: 16, 27, 29, and 32. On "the
slain of Yahweh," see also Isa 66: 16.
in that day. I.e., the Day of Yahweh, on which see Note for 4:9. The LXX has
"in the day of the Lord." Holladay deletes the phrase metri causa; however, the
verse is not poetry.
from the one end of the earth to the other end of the earth. The expression oc-
curred earlier in 12: 12, only there it was "the sword of Yahweh" that was doing
the consuming work; also there (haj>ere$ had to mean "(the) land," not "(the)
earth." We see once again how Jeremianic expressions used originally with ref-
erence to Judah and the land of Judah take on broader meaning when applied
to the nations.
They shall not be lamented, and they shall not be gathered, and they shall not
be buried; for dung upon the surface of the ground they shall be. Compare the
stereotyped phrases in 8:2 and 16:4; in the poetry, see 9:2l[Eng 9:22]. The
LXX omits "They shall not be lamented, and they shall not be gathered, and,"
which can be attributed to haplography (whole-word: [> ... F). Aquila and
Theod have the words. On the indignity of bodies lying unburied, see Note
for 7:33.
MESSAGE AND AUDIENCE
Yahweh in this brief oracle says that evil shall go forth from nation to nation.
The theater of divine activity is now on earth, not in the heavens: the great tem-
pest Yahweh is rousing will originate in the farthest reaches of the earth. The ef-
fect of all this is stated in the supplementary comment. The slain of Yahweh will
cover the earth, their numbers being so great that they will not be lamented,
gathered up, or buried. Like dung on the ground they will be.
In its present form this oracle, like the one preceding, can be dated anytime
after 605 B.C., when Jeremiah was addressing oracles to the foreign nations.
The same date suits the added comment.
When the oracle and comment are heard following the oracle that pre-
cedes, what is said about the "slain of Yahweh" extending from one end of the
earth to the other (v 33) will pick up from what was said about Yahweh's giv-
ing over the wicked to the sword (v 32). These words will also fulfill what was
said in the cup-of-wrath prophecy about Yahweh's sword being readied for the
nations (vv 16, 27, 29). The oracle and comment together will be heard as an
additional word spoken by Yahweh when the cup of wrath was passed to the
nations.