280 TRANSLATION, NOTES, AND COMMENTSand their repetition are important rhetorically in the poem (see Rhetoric and
Composition).- Like a young lion he left his lair. Here and in the next colon are more pro-
phetic perfects. Interpretations of the present colon vary because the subject is
unspecified, unless one takes "Yahweh" preceding to be the antecedent of the
verb. Additionally, different reasons are given for the young lion leaving his
lair. Some say he is leaving in search of prey; others say he is leaving because
the lair has been destroyed. In my view, Yahweh is the subject of the verb (Ehr-
lich 1912: 309) and metaphorically the young lion. Here concluding a three-
poem cluster is a return to the beginning (v 30), where Yahweh's roar is again
the roar of a lion (see Rhetoric and Composition for 25:30-31). This tie-in pre-
cludes the interpretation of T, which has "a king has gone into exile from his
fortified place." But one should remember that T commonly substitutes "king"
for "lion" (see Note for 4:7). Reference here is not to a Judahite king or to any
other king (pace McKane, who connects with the lion of 4: 7, making the young
lion here Nebuchadnezzar). Also, movement out of the lair has nothing to do
with leaving a devastated abode(= land) or with exile. Yahweh is leaving his
abode to devastate nations of the world (vv 30-31). He is not abandoning Jeru-
salem and the Temple (pace Jerome; Kim}:ii; Calvin), although this idea is viv-
idly portrayed in Ezekiel (see Note on 12:7).
indeed their land became a desolation. Translating kf here as an asseverative:
"indeed." If this poem was originally spoken against the kings of Judah, then
"their land" could be the land of Judah (Rudolph). But in its present context,
"their land" is land belonging to the kings of the nations.
Before the oppressive burning. Hebrew mippene l;iaron hayyona. This phrase
is a variation of the similar phrases in vv 37-38; nevertheless, the translation of
hayyona is difficult. Hebrew yona can be either the feminine participle of ynh,
"to oppress," or the noun "dove." The Vg has "dove," but this cannot be right
(Calvin; McKane). If the MT is to be read, hayyona must be the participle of
ynh, in which the definite article functions as a relative pronoun. This yields
"the burning that oppresses," or simply "the oppressive burning." The NJV has
"the oppressive wrath," and the NJB "the devastating fury," both of which are
an improvement over AV's "the fierceness of the oppressor." Most commenta-
tors and modern Versions adopt the reading of several MSS, the LXX, and T,
which have "sword" (= l;iereb) in place of "burning" (l;iaron), making the
phrase the same as the one in 46: 16 and 50: 16: "before the oppressive sword."
The present phrase, in any case, as well as the one following, refer to Yahweh's
anger that has made the land a desolation.
before his burning anger. This expression is a duplicate of the one in 4:26.
The LXX omits.
MESSAGE AND AUDIENCE
Jeremiah in the present poem calls upon shepherds to wail and nobles to roll
in the dirt. Why? Because the days for their slaughter have come. Some will be