All the soldiers; that is, Zedekiah’s soldiers (Good News Translation “all his soldiers”).

Saw them is a literal rendering of the Hebrew text. However, on the assumption that verse 4 originally followed verses 1-2, Good News Translation places verse 3 in parentheses and renders saw them as “saw what was happening.” It is equally possible, however, to say “saw the Babylonians [there].”

Good News Translation has rendered fled as “tried to escape.” This is not actually accurate. As the passage makes clear, they did escape from Jerusalem, but were pursued and captured outside the city. Translators are better advised, therefore, to say something such as “they fled from the city” or “they escaped from the city.”

The king’s garden was near the pool of Siloam, southeast of Jerusalem (see 2Kgs 25.4; Neh 3.15).

The gate between the two walls was evidently in the south of the city; it is thought by some to be the Fountain Gate referred to in Neh 2.14; 3.15; 12.37. The two walls would have been south of this gate, along the west side of the east hill of Jerusalem and the east side of the west hill.

The Arabah; that is, the Jordan Valley, east of Jerusalem. Since most Bible readers will recognize “Jordan Valley” more readily than “Arabah,” translators often follow the example of Good News Translation here.

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 .