He who stays in this city shall die by the sword, by famine, and by pestilence is best understood in a distributive sense: some people will be killed in battle, some will die of starvation, and others will die of disease. This is the “way of death” referred to in the verse above. The pronoun He should not be restricted to males, since it refers to all people, as with “Anyone” of Good News Translation.

He who goes out and surrenders to the Chaldeans who are besieging you shall live: This is the “way of life” referred to above.

Shall have his life as a prize of war: Once again life translates a Hebrew word often rendered “soul”; in this context the meaning is obvious. The noun rendered prize of war may in different contexts refer either to physical goods or to prisoners taken in war. One commentator suggests that the expression could be used ironically for a soldier who barely escaped with his life, saying that keeping his own life was his booty. The full expression shall have his life as a prize of war means “will escape with his life.” It occurs again in 38.2; 39.18; 45.5.

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 .