1map For location see Map5-B1; Map6-F3; Map7-E2; Map8-F2; Map10-B3; JP1-F4; JP2-F4; JP3-F4; JP4-F4.

2tn Or “a fine.”

3tn The Hebrew word כִּכַּר (kikar, “circle”) refers generally to something that is round. When used of metals it can refer to a disk-shaped weight made of the metal or, by extension, to a standard unit of weight. According to the older (Babylonian) standard the “talent” weighed 130 lbs. (58.9 kg), but later this was lowered to 108.3 lbs. (49.1 kg). More recent research suggests the “light” standard talent was 67.3 lbs. (30.6 kg). Using this as the standard for calculation, the weight of the silver was 6,730 lbs. (3,060 kg).

4tn Heb “his”; the referent (Jehoahaz) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

5map For location see Map5-B1; Map6-F3; Map7-E2; Map8-F2; Map10-B3; JP1-F4; JP2-F4; JP3-F4; JP4-F4.

6tn Heb “in the eyes of.”

7tn Heb “came up against him.”

8tn Heb “to carry him away.”

9tn Or “temple.”

10tn Heb “in Babylon.” Repeating the proper name “Babylon” here would be redundant in contemporary English, so “there” has been used in the translation.

11tn Heb “As for the rest of the events of Jehoiakim, and his horrible deeds which he did and that which was found against him, look, they are written on the scroll of the kings of Israel and Judah.”

12tc The Hebrew text reads “eight,” but some ancient textual witnesses, as well as the parallel text in 2 Kgs 24:8, have “eighteen.”

13map For location see Map5-B1; Map6-F3; Map7-E2; Map8-F2; Map10-B3; JP1-F4; JP2-F4; JP3-F4; JP4-F4.

14tn Heb “in the eyes of.”

15tn Heb “sent and brought him.”

16tn Heb “and he made Zedekiah his brother king.” According to the parallel text in 2 Kgs 24:17, Zedekiah was Jehoiachin’s uncle, not his brother. Therefore many interpreters understand אח here in its less specific sense of “relative” (NEB “made his father’s brother Zedekiah king”; NASB “made his kinsman Zedekiah king”; NIV “made Jehoiachin’s uncle, Zedekiah, king”; NRSV “made his brother Zedekiah king”).

17map For location see Map5-B1; Map6-F3; Map7-E2; Map8-F2; Map10-B3; JP1-F4; JP2-F4; JP3-F4; JP4-F4.

18tn Heb “in the eyes of.”

19tn Or “made him swear an oath.”

20tn Heb “and he stiffened his neck and strengthened his heart from returning.”

21tn Heb “like the abominable practices of the nations.”

22tn Heb “fathers.”

23tn Heb “and the Lord God of their fathers sent against them by the hand of his messengers, getting up early and sending.”

24tn Heb “his words.”

25tn All three verbal forms (“mocked,” “despised,” and “ridiculed”) are active participles in the Hebrew text, indicating continual or repeated action. They made a habit of rejecting God’s prophetic messengers.

26tn Heb “until the anger of the Lord went up against his people until there was no healer.”

27tn Heb “killed with the sword.”

28tn Heb “in the house of their sanctuary.”

29tn Or “show compassion to.”

30tn Heb “he”; the referent (God) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

31map For location see Map5-B1; Map6-F3; Map7-E2; Map8-F2; Map10-B3; JP1-F4; JP2-F4; JP3-F4; JP4-F4.

32tn Heb “to fulfill the word of the Lord by the mouth of Jeremiah.”

33tn Or “accepted.”

34sn According to Lev 25:4, the land was to remain uncultivated every seventh year. Lev 26:33-35 warns that the land would experience a succession of such sabbatical rests if the people disobeyed God, for he would send them away into exile.

35sn Concerning the seventy years see Jer 25:11.

36tn Heb “all the days of the desolation it rested to fulfill the seventy years.”

sn Cyrus’ edict (see vv. 22-23) occurred about fifty years after the fall of Jerusalem in 586 b.c., which is most naturally understood as the beginning point of the “days of desolation” mentioned in v. 21. The number “seventy” is probably used in a metaphorical sense, indicating a typical lifetime and suggesting a thorough or complete judgment that would not be lifted until an entirely new generation emerged.

37tn The words “the reign of” are supplied in the translation for clarification.

38tn Heb “to complete the word of the Lord by the mouth of Jeremiah.”

sn Regarding the promise he delivered through Jeremiah see Jer 29:10.

39tn Heb “stirred the spirit of.”

40map For location see Map5-B1; Map6-F3; Map7-E2; Map8-F2; Map10-B3; JP1-F4; JP2-F4; JP3-F4; JP4-F4.

41tn Heb “Whoever [is] among you from all his people – may the Lord his God [be] with him so that he may go up.”