But afterward: Most scholars assume that the threat of danger has passed, and the siege of the city has been lifted (see verse 21).

They turned around: This is a fairly literal rendering, and though the idiom is understood in English, it would be more natural to say “they changed their minds” (Good News Translation) or “they went back on their word.” In Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch the entire verse is rendered “But soon afterwards they forced them back into slavery again.”

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 .