552 TRANSLATION, NOTES, AND COMMENTS- and like the burnings for your fathers ... so shall they bum for you. A com-
parison using the ke ... ken construction, on which see Note for 2:26. The He-
brew is awkward, with no verb in the first part of the comparison. The LXX has
"and as they lamented your fathers ... , they will lament also you," which leads
naturally into the tearful cry of "Woe, lord!" Reference here is not to crema-
tion, which was not practiced in ancient Israel, but to a burning of spices, in-
cense, and perfumes near the body (de Vaux l 965b: 57). This was an honor
bestowed on some kings, but not all (2 Chr 16: 14; 21: 19). The practice of royal
burnings seems to be corroborated by excavated tumuli (grave mounds) west of
Jerusalem, which are now thought to have been for burnings on behalf of the
Jerusalem aristocracy (so G. Barkay; cf. Aharoni 1982: 238-39; P. J. King 1993:
141-42; Amiran 1958). Coming on the heels of an oracle that just predicted
the burning of Jerusalem (v 2), the mention here of burnings on behalf of the
king may be an added irony. However, according to Josephus (Ant x 154) Nebu-
chadrezzar buried Zedekiah royally.
the former kings who were before you. The LXX abbreviates; Aq, S, T, and Vg
support the MT
"Woe, lord!" they shall lament for you. Hebrew h6y is cry of lament, as in
22:18. For a discussion of this term, which can also be a prophetic invective,
see Note on 22:13. - So Jeremiah, the prophet, spoke to Zedekiah, king ofludah. The LXX lacks
"the prophet" and "king of Judah," eliminating titles at it commonly does (see
Appendix VI). - all the cities of Judah. The LXX lacks "all," which could be attributed to
l1aplugiapl1y (liu111ueuleleulu11: l ... l). Frequent use of the hyperbolic "all"
precludes any serious problem with the context (pace Janzen 1973: 66; Holla-
day). See also "all its cities" in v 1.
the ones remaining to Lachish and to Azekah, for they still remained among
the cities of Judah, cities of fortification. The LXX omits "the ones remaining,"
on which see Note for 27: 19-20. It appears that Nebuchadrezzar was in the
process of taking daughter cities belonging to Lachish and Azekah (cf. Neh
11:30), which were the only fortified cities remaining in Judah, other than
Jerusalem. Lachish and Azekah were fortified by Rehoboam (2 Chr 11:8), and
although the former suffered major destruction at the hands of Sennacherib in
701 B.C., both were now surrounded by walls. The Babylonians, who followed
the Assyrian practice of taking minor towns before the capital (Albright 1936:
15), doubtless took towns and villages belonging to fortified cities before the
fortified cities themselves were attacked. In one of the Lachish Letters ( 4: 10-
13 ), an officer from some nearby outpost writes to Yaosh, garrison commander
at Lachish, saying: "And let (my lord) know that we are watching for the signals
of Lachish, according to all the indications which my lord hath given, for we
cannot see Azekah" (ANET^3 322; Torczyner 1938: 78-79, 83-84; Tufnell 1953:
333). This is usually interpreted to mean that the officer had been looking for
fire signals from Azekah, and since he could not see them, it meant that Aze-
kah had fallen. Another town of Beth-haraphid, according to one interpreta-