Ishmael … escaped … with eight men: It may be necessary to identify these eight men as Ishmael’s men, so that the reader may not assume that Ishmael managed to take eight of the prisoners with him.

To the Ammonites may be rendered “to the land of Ammon” (Good News Translation). The other person who conspired with Ishmael was Baalis, king of Ammon (40.13).

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 .