Jeremiah 23:3-4
3Then I myself will regather those of my people ▼▼tn Heb “my sheep.”
who are still alive from all the countries where I have driven them. I will bring them back to their homeland. ▼▼tn Heb “their fold.”
They will greatly increase in number. 4I will install rulers ▼▼tn Heb “shepherds.”
over them who will care for them. Then they will no longer need to fear or be terrified. None of them will turn up missing. ▼▼tn There are various nuances of the word פָּקַד (paqad) represented in vv. 2, 4. See Ps 8:4 (8:5 HT) and Zech 10:3 for “care for/take care of” (cf. BDB 823 s.v. פָּקַד Qal.A.1.a). See Exod 20:5; Amos 3:2; Jer 9:24; and 11:22 for “punish” (cf. BDB 823 s.v. פָּקַד Qal.A.3). See 1 Kgs 20:39 and 2 Kgs 10:19 for “be missing” (cf. BDB 823 s.v. פָּקַד Niph.1).
▼▼sn There is an extended play on the Hebrew word פָּקַד (paqad), which is a word with rather broad English equivalents. Here the word refers to the fault of the shepherds/rulers who have not “taken care” of the sheep/people (v. 2), the “punishment” for the evil they have done in not taking care of them (v. 2), and the fact that after the Lord assigns new shepherds/rulers over them they will be cared for in such a way that none of them “will turn up missing” (v. 4).
I, the Lord, promise it! ▼▼tn Heb “Oracle of the Lord.”
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