All the captains of the forces in the open country are best understood to mean those Judean officers and soldiers who had not surrendered to the Babylonians. Moreover, the adjective all in all the captains is probably best taken to mean either “some” (Good News Translation) or “many,” a meaning that it often has in Hebrew. Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch identifies these officers as the persons mentioned in verse 8, and so places verses 7-8 together: “Several Judean officers had not surrendered to the Babylonians: Ishmael….” Another way to render this is “There were still some Judean forces in the open country. When their captains heard….”

The meaning of had committed to him is clear from Good News Translation: “had placed him in charge of.”

Men, women, and children … who had not been taken into exile to Babylon is expressed more briefly by Good News Translation: “all those who had not been taken away to Babylonia.”

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 .