Drink often requires an object, as in “drink the wine [or, anger] in the cup” or perhaps “drink what is in the cup.” In some languages “drink from the cup” is possible.

Stagger: In another form this verb is rendered by Revised Standard Version as “toss” in 5.22 and as “surge” in 46.7. In the same form in which it appears here, it is translated “surge” by Revised Standard Version in 46.8. Most versions have the equivalent of “stagger,” though Revised English Bible has “vomit” and New American Bible “be convulsed.” Moffatt combines this and the following verb: “stagger madly to and fro.”

The relation between shall drink and stagger is one of consequence, as Good News Translation makes clear: “When they drink from it, they will stagger.”

Be crazed (Good News Translation “go out of their minds”) is the meaning of this verb as rendered by most versions. See elsewhere at 46.9 (Revised Standard Version “rage”); 50.38 (Revised Standard Version “are mad”); 51.7 (Revised Standard Version “went mad”). It can also be expressed as “act as if they are crazy” or “act like crazy people.”

Because of the sword which I am sending among them: As throughout the Bible, the sword often stands for warfare (see 5.12). In this verse, however, it is sometimes easier for readers to understand the sense if translators say “because of the killing that I am sending their way,” “because of the killing that will take place among them,” “because of the many of their people who will be killed,” or even “because of the massacres I am going to bring about them.”

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 .