The letter was sent by the hand of Elasah … and Gemariah …: This is equivalent in meaning to “Elasah … and Gemariah … took the letter….” Since these persons were actually merely the carriers of the letter, Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch renders “Jeremiah sent the letter through Elasah … and Gemariah … who had been sent by King Zedekiah to Nebuchadnezzar in Babylon.” Another good way to express this is “Jeremiah [or, I] gave the letter to … to carry….” Nothing further is known of Elasah and Gemariah (not the Gemariah of Jer 36.10-12, 25). King of Babylon refers to the king of the country Babylonia, not just the city Babylon.

The sentence may be too long for some languages. Translators may find the text is clearer for readers if they use more than one sentence, as in “Jeremiah gave the letter to Elasah son of Shaphan and to Gemariah son of Hilkiah so they could carry it. King Zedekiah of Judah sent them to King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylonia.”

It said is rendered “The letter read as follows” by Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch. It is also possible to say “This is what the letter said” or “This is what Jeremiah wrote [in the letter].”

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 .