Cities may give readers a wrong impression about the size and importance of the settlements referred to here. This is a reference to smaller settlements near the city of Babylon and dependent on it. Good News Translation and New International Version both render it as “towns,” while Contemporary English Version says “nearby towns.”

Horror: See verse 41.

Drought occurs elsewhere in 2.6; 50.12 (Revised Standard Version “dry”).

Desert: See 2.6.

A land in which no one dwells, and through which no son of man passes: See also 2.6. The phrase son of man is an idiomatic way of saying “people” (see Psa 8.4; 144.3; 146.3). Passes here means “travels through.”

Quoted with permission from Newman, Barclay M. and Stine, Philip C. A Handbook on Jeremiah. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 2003. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .