356 TRANSLATION, NOTES, AND COMMENTS- concerning the king. The translation "concerning" for the preposition )el
is required here and again in vv 21, 24, and 31.
the king who sits on the throne of David. This must refer to the present king,
Zedekiah (Rashi), which means the very one who has dispatched those who
are carrying this letter is himself about to be judged. But Zedekiah is not
named, and the judgment is actually on everyone in the city. Should Zedekiah
have known about this judgment, which he probably did eventually, he could
also have thought that the evil might come after his time. Recall Hezekiah's
attitude to the judgment oracle on Jerusalem and his own sons, which is
recorded in Isa 39:6-8 ( = 2 Kgs 20: 17-19), as well as the judgment oracle
on Jerusalem given to Josiah by Huldah the prophetess (2 Kgs 22: 14-20). We
know that in the present case the end came for Judah in a little over a decade,
but Zedekiah would not have known that.
17-18. A summary of the oracle in 24:8-10. - Look I am sending against them sword, famine, and pestilence. "Look I"
(hinenf) is the most common beginning of the Jeremianic oracle; see again
vv 2lb and 32, also Note for 1:15. On the triad, "sword, famine, and pesti-
lence," see Note for 5:12.
and I will make them like horrid figs, which cannot be eaten they are so bad. A
near-quotation of the lines in 24:2, 3, and 8. The term so'arfm ("horrid") is a
hapax legomenon in the OT, but its meaning is not in doubt. Cognate terms oc-
cur elsewhere in the book: 8a'an1ra, "horrible thing," in 5:30 and 23: 14, and
fo'ariirft, "horrible thing," in 18:13. Dotan (1991), however, questions the ac-
cepted etymological basis of so'arfm, proposing for the same Hebrew word a
plural adjective derived from sa'ar, "gate." In his view, katte)enfm hasso'arfm
means "like figs at the gate," the gate being the gate of the Temple (cf. 24: 1-2).
But T, S, Vg, the modern Versions, and commentators both ancient and mod-
ern all follow the traditional meaning, rendering this novel suggestion un-
likely. On the causative sense of the final meroa' ("so bad"), see Note for 24:2. - and I will make them a fright to all the kingdoms of the earth-a curse, and
a desolation, and an object of hissing, and a reproach. On curse-word strings
such as the present one, see Note for 24:9.
a fright. Hebrew za'awa (Q); zewa'a (Kt). On this Q-Kt, see Note for 15:4.
The present curse word occurs elsewhere in 15:4; 24:9; and 34:17; see also
Deut 28:25.
a curse. Hebrew )ala. This term appears also in 23:10; 42:18; and 44:12.
a desolation. Hebrew fomma. A very common term in Jeremiah poetry and
prose, occurring often in curse-word strings (see Note for 24:9).
and an object of hissing. Hebrew welisreqa; some MSS have weliqlala, "and
(for) a curse." For occurrences of this curse word in Jeremiah, see Note for 25:9.
a reproach. Hebrew berpa. Another common curse word in Jeremiah (see
Note for 24:9).
among all the nations where I have dispersed them. The verb is a prophetic
perfect (Kim]:ii; Giesebrecht; Cornill; McKane). The dispersion has not yet
occurred.