Nebuzaradan: See also 52.24-30.

The captain of the guard: This is literally “the chief butcher” or “the chief cook.” Evidently this is an instance in which a title had been retained, though the function is quite different. It would seem to refer to the head of the troops who were responsible to guard the Babylonian king. Thus some translations have “captain of the king’s bodyguards,” and others “captain of the royal guards.”

Carried into exile to Babylon is better rendered “took away as prisoners to Babylonia” (Good News Translation). For exile see the comments on “captivity” in 1.3.

The rest of the people who were left … those who had deserted … the people who remained: According to Revised Standard Version, there were three groups of people: (1) those left in the city, (2) those who had deserted, and (3) those who remained. However, it is best to accept groups 1 and 3 as identical, and so render “the people who were left in the city, together with those who had deserted.” Traduction œcuménique de la Bible sees the third group as a summary of the first two, and has “in short, all that remained of the city property owners.” A number of versions understand the people who remained to refer to the property owners (in contrast to those with no property mentioned in verse 10) or to the artisans, and make this clear in the text. See Revised English Bible, Bible en français courant, and New Jerusalem Bible. However, this would require a change of the Hebrew and is not recommended.

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 .