Whereas the first person pronoun in verse 10 referred to Jeremiah, in this verse the LORD now speaks. Both Good News Translation (“The LORD says”) and Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch (“But the Lord said”) indicate this shift in speakers.

The Hebrew noun translated heap of ruins (Good News Translation “pile of ruins”) is found elsewhere in 51.37. The picture is that of a city with buildings made of stones. When the buildings are destroyed and knocked over, nothing remains but a pile of ruins.

Some translators have found it helpful to make clear the relation of a lair of jackals to the previous line, as in “so that it is a place for jackals to live.” If jackals are not known, translators can have “wild animals” or “wild scavengers” in this context.

Desolation is first used in 4.27.

Without inhabitant: See 2.15. This line may be a separate sentence: “No one lives there.”

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 .