I will smite … they shall die of a great pestilence: The meaning is that the LORD will kill the people and animals by means of a terrible disease. In Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch it is left for readers to assume that the LORD is the one who causes the disaster: “All who live in this city—people and animals alike—will die of a terrible disease.”

Of course, this is a case of hyperbole (exaggeration). As verse 7 demonstrates, not everyone will die. But translators should retain the form here, avoiding something such as “some” or “many.”

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 .