Jeremiah 15:10

Jeremiah Complains about His Lot and The Lord Responds

15:10 I said, ¹ 

“Oh, mother, how I regret ²  that you ever gave birth to me!

I am always starting arguments and quarrels with the people of this land. ³ 

I have not lent money to anyone and I have not borrowed from anyone.

Yet all of these people are treating me with contempt.” ⁴ 

Jeremiah 29:26

29:26 “The Lord has made you priest in place of Jehoiada. ⁵  He has put you in charge in the Lord’s temple of controlling ⁶  any lunatic ⁷  who pretends to be a prophet. ⁸  And it is your duty to put any such person in the stocks ⁹  with an iron collar around his neck. ¹⁰ 

Jeremiah 29:2

29:2 He sent it after King Jeconiah, the queen mother, the palace officials, ¹¹  the leaders of Judah and Jerusalem, the craftsmen, and the metal workers had been exiled from Jerusalem. ¹² 

Jeremiah 2:23

2:23 “How can you say, ‘I have not made myself unclean.

I have not paid allegiance to ¹³  the gods called Baal.’

Just look at the way you have behaved in the Valley of Hinnom! ¹⁴ 

Think about the things you have done there!

You are like a flighty, young female camel

that rushes here and there, crisscrossing its path. ¹⁵ 

Psalms 22:6-7

22:6 But I ¹⁶  am a worm, ¹⁷  not a man; ¹⁸ 

people insult me and despise me. ¹⁹ 

22:7 All who see me taunt ²⁰  me;

they mock me ²¹  and shake their heads. ²² 

Psalms 35:15-16

35:15 But when I stumbled, they rejoiced and gathered together;

they gathered together to ambush me. ²³ 

They tore at me without stopping to rest. ²⁴ 

35:16 When I tripped, they taunted me relentlessly, ²⁵ 

and tried to bite me. ²⁶ 

Psalms 69:9-12

69:9 Certainly ²⁷  zeal for ²⁸  your house ²⁹  consumes me;

I endure the insults of those who insult you. ³⁰ 

69:10 I weep and refrain from eating food, ³¹ 

which causes others to insult me. ³² 

69:11 I wear sackcloth

and they ridicule me. ³³ 

69:12 Those who sit at the city gate gossip about me;

drunkards mock me in their songs. ³⁴ 

Lamentations 3:14

3:14 I have become the laughingstock of all people, ³⁵ 

their mocking song ³⁶  all day long. ³⁷ 

Hosea 9:7

9:7 The time of judgment ³⁸  is about to arrive! ³⁹ 

The time of retribution ⁴⁰  is imminent! ⁴¹ 

Let Israel know! ⁴² 

Israel Rejects Hosea’s Prophetic Exhortations

The prophet is considered a fool ⁴³  –

the inspired man ⁴⁴  is viewed as a madman ⁴⁵  –

because of the multitude of your sins

and your intense ⁴⁶  animosity.

Luke 16:14

More Warnings about the Pharisees

16:14 The Pharisees ⁴⁷  (who loved money) heard all this and ridiculed ⁴⁸  him.

Luke 22:63-64

22:63 Now ⁴⁹  the men who were holding Jesus ⁵⁰  under guard began to mock him and beat him. 22:64 They ⁵¹  blindfolded him and asked him repeatedly, ⁵²  “Prophesy! Who hit you?” ⁵³ 

Luke 23:11

23:11 Even Herod with his soldiers treated him with contempt and mocked him. Then, ⁵⁴  dressing him in elegant clothes, ⁵⁵  Herod ⁵⁶  sent him back to Pilate.

Luke 23:35-36

23:35 The people also stood there watching, but the rulers ridiculed ⁵⁷  him, saying, “He saved others. Let him save ⁵⁸  himself if ⁵⁹  he is the Christ ⁶⁰  of God, his chosen one!” 23:36 The soldiers also mocked him, coming up and offering him sour wine, ⁶¹ 

Acts 17:18

17:18 Also some of the Epicurean ⁶²  and Stoic ⁶³  philosophers were conversing ⁶⁴  with him, and some were asking, ⁶⁵  “What does this foolish babbler ⁶⁶  want to say?” Others said, “He seems to be a proclaimer of foreign gods.” ⁶⁷  (They said this because he was proclaiming the good news about Jesus and the resurrection.) ⁶⁸ 

Acts 17:32

17:32 Now when they heard about ⁶⁹  the resurrection from the dead, some began to scoff, ⁷⁰  but others said, “We will hear you again about this.”

Acts 17:1

Paul and Silas at Thessalonica

17:1 After they traveled through ⁷¹  Amphipolis ⁷²  and Apollonia, ⁷³  they came to Thessalonica, ⁷⁴  where there was a Jewish synagogue. ⁷⁵ 

Colossians 4:9-13

4:9 I sent him ⁷⁶  with Onesimus, the faithful and dear brother, who is one of you. ⁷⁷  They will tell ⁷⁸  you about everything here.

4:10 Aristarchus, my fellow prisoner, sends you greetings, as does Mark, the cousin of Barnabas (about whom you received instructions; if he comes to you, welcome him). 4:11 And Jesus who is called Justus also sends greetings. In terms of Jewish converts, ⁷⁹  these are the only fellow workers for the kingdom of God, and they have been a comfort to me. 4:12 Epaphras, who is one of you and a slave ⁸⁰  of Christ, ⁸¹  greets you. He is always struggling in prayer on your behalf, so that you may stand mature and fully assured ⁸²  in all the will of God. 4:13 For I can testify that he has worked hard ⁸³  for you and for those in Laodicea and Hierapolis.

Hebrews 11:36

11:36 And others experienced mocking and flogging, and even chains and imprisonment.

[15:10]  ¹ tn The words “I said” are not in the text. They are supplied in the translation for clarity to mark a shift in the speaker.

[15:10]  ² tn Heb “Woe to me, my mother.” See the comments on 4:13 and 10:19.

[15:10]  ³ tn Heb “A man of strife and a man of contention with all the land.” The “of” relationship (Hebrew and Greek genitive) can convey either subjective or objective relationships, i.e., he instigates strife and contention or he is the object of it. A study of usage elsewhere, e.g., Isa 41:11; Job 31:35; Prov 12:19; 25:24; 26:21; 27:15, is convincing that it is subjective. In his role as God’s covenant messenger charging people with wrong doing he has instigated counterarguments and stirred about strife and contention against him.

[15:10]  ⁴ tc The translation follows the almost universally agreed upon correction of the MT. Instead of reading כֻּלֹּה מְקַלְלַונִי (kulloh mÿqallavni, “all of him is cursing me”) as the Masoretes proposed (Qere) one should read קִלְלוּנִי (qilluni) with the written text (Kethib) and redivide and repoint with the suggestion in BHS כֻּלְּהֶם (qullÿhem, “all of them are cursing me”).

[29:26]  ⁵ tn Heb “in place of Jehoiada the priest.” The word “the priest” is unnecessary to the English sentence.

[29:26]  ⁶ tc Heb “The Lord has appointed you priest in place of the priest Jehoiada to be overseer in the house of the Lord for/over.” The translation is based on a reading presupposed by several of the versions. The Hebrew text reads “The Lord has…to be overseers [in] the house of the Lord for/over.” The reading here follows that of the Greek, Syriac, and Latin versions in reading פָּקִיד בְּבֵית (paqid bÿvet) in place of פְּקִדִים בֵּית (pÿqidim bet). There has been a confusion of the ם (mem) and בּ (bet) and a transposition of the י (yod) and ד (dalet).

[29:26]  ⁷ sn The Hebrew term translated lunatic applies to anyone who exhibits irrational behavior. It was used for example of David who drooled and scratched on the city gate to convince Achish not to arrest him as a politically dangerous threat (1 Sam 21:14). It was often used contemptuously of the prophets by those who wanted to play down the significance of their words (2 Kgs 9:11; Hos 9:7 and here).

[29:26]  ⁸ tn The verb here is a good example of what IBHS 431 §26.2f calls the estimative-declarative reflexive where a person presents himself in a certain light. For examples of this usage see 2 Sam 13:5; Prov 13:7.

[29:26]  ⁹ tn See the translator’s note on 20:2 for this word which only occurs here and in 20:2-3.

[29:26]  ¹⁰ tn This word only occurs here in the Hebrew Bible. All the lexicons are agreed as seeing it referring to a collar placed around the neck. The basis for this definition are the cognate languages (see, e.g., HALOT 958-59 s.v. צִינֹק for the most complete discussion).

[29:2]  ¹¹ tn This term is often mistakenly understood to refer to a “eunuch.” It is clear, however, in Gen 39:1 that “eunuchs” could be married. On the other hand it is clear from Isa 59:3-5 that some who bore this title could not have children. In this period, it is possible that the persons who bore this title were high officials like the rab saris who was a high official in the Babylonian court (cf. Jer 39:3, 13; 52:25). For further references see HALOT 727 s.v. סָרִיס 1.c.

[29:2]  ¹² sn See 2 Kgs 24:14-16 and compare the study note on Jer 24:1.

[2:23]  ¹³ tn Heb “I have not gone/followed after.” See the translator’s note on 2:5 for the meaning and usage of this idiom.

[2:23]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “Look at your way in the valley.” The valley is an obvious reference to the Valley of Hinnom where Baal and Molech were worshiped and child sacrifice was practiced.

[2:23]  ¹⁵ sn The metaphor is intended to depict Israel’s lack of clear direction and purpose without the Lord’s control.

[22:6]  ¹⁶ tn The grammatical construction (conjunction + pronoun) highlights the contrast between the psalmist’s experience and that of his ancestors. When he considers God’s past reliability, it only heightens his despair and confusion, for God’s present silence stands in stark contrast to his past saving acts.

[22:6]  ¹⁷ tn The metaphor expresses the psalmist’s self-perception, which is based on how others treat him (see the following line).

[22:6]  ¹⁸ tn Or “not a human being.” The psalmist perceives himself as less than human.

[22:6]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “a reproach of man and despised by people.”

[22:7]  ²⁰ tn Or “scoff at, deride, mock.”

[22:7]  ²¹ tn Heb “they separate with a lip.” Apparently this refers to their verbal taunting.

[22:7]  ²² sn Shake their heads. Apparently this refers to a taunting gesture. See also Job 16:4; Ps 109:25; Lam 2:15.

[35:15]  ²³ tn Heb “they gathered together against me, stricken [ones], and I did not know.” The Hebrew form נֵכִים (nekhim, “stricken ones” ?) is problematic. Some suggest an emendation to נָכְרִים[כְ] (kÿnokhÿrim, “foreigners”) or “like foreigners,” which would fit with what follows, “[like] foreigners that I do not recognize.” Perhaps the form should be read as a Qal active participle, נֹכִים (nokhim, “ones who strike”) from the verbal root נָכָה (nakhah, “to strike”). The Qal of this verb is unattested in biblical Hebrew, but the peal (basic) stem appears in Old Aramaic (J. Fitzmyer, The Aramaic Inscriptions of Sefire [BibOr], 114; DNWSI 1:730.) In this case one might translate, “attackers gathered together against me though I was not aware of it” (cf. NASB “smiters”; NEB, NRSV “ruffians”; NIV “attackers”).

[35:15]  ²⁴ tn Heb “they tore and did not keep quiet.” By using the verb “tear,” the psalmist likens his enemies to a wild animal (see Hos 13:8). In v. 17 he compares them to hungry young lions.

[35:16]  ²⁵ tc The MT reads “as profane [ones] of mockers of food,” which is nonsensical. The present translation assumes (1) an emendation of בְּחַנְפֵי (bÿkhanfey, “as profane men”) to בְּחַנְפִי (bekhanfiy, “when I tripped”; preposition + Qal infinitive construct from II חָנַף [“limp”] + first common singular pronominal suffix) and (2) an emendation of לַעֲגֵי מָעוֹג (la’agey ma’og, “mockers of food”) to עָגוּ[ם]לַעְגָּ (la’gam ’agu, “[with] taunting they taunted”; masculine plural noun with enclitic mem + Qal perfect third common plural from לַּעַג [la’ag, “taunt”]).

[35:16]  ²⁶ tn Heb “gnashing at me with their teeth.” The infinitive absolute adds a complementary action – they gnashed with their teeth as they taunted.

[69:9]  ²⁷ tn Or “for.” This verse explains that the psalmist’s suffering is due to his allegiance to God.

[69:9]  ²⁸ tn Or “devotion to.”

[69:9]  ²⁹ sn God’s house, the temple, here represents by metonymy God himself.

[69:9]  ³⁰ tn Heb “the insults of those who insult you fall upon me.”

[69:10]  ³¹ sn Fasting was a practice of mourners. By refraining from normal activities such as eating food, the mourner demonstrated the sincerity of his sorrow.

[69:10]  ³² tn Heb “and it becomes insults to me.”

[69:11]  ³³ tn Heb “and I am an object of ridicule to them.”

[69:12]  ³⁴ tn Heb “the mocking songs of the drinkers of beer.”

[3:14]  ³⁵ tc The MT reads עַמִּי (’ammi, “my people”). Many medieval Hebrew mss read עַמִּים (’ammim, “peoples”), as reflected also in Syriac Peshitta. The internal evidence (contextual congruence) favors the variant עַמִּים (’ammim, “peoples”).

[3:14]  ³⁶ tn The noun נְגִינָה (nÿginah) is a musical term: (1) “music” played on strings (Isa 38:20; Lam 5:14), (2) a technical musical term (Pss 4:1; 6:1; 54:1; 55:1; 67:1; 76:1; Hab 3:19) and (3) “mocking song” (Pss 69:13; 77:7; Job 30:9; Lam 3:14). The parallelism with שׂחוֹק “laughingstock” indicates that the latter category of meaning is in view.

[3:14]  ³⁷ tn Heb “all of the day.” The idiom כָּל־הַיּוֹם (kol-hayyom, “all day”) means “continually” (Gen 6:5; Deut 28:32; 33:12; Pss 25:5; 32:3; 35:28; 37:26; 38:7, 13; 42:4, 11; 44:9, 16, 23; 52:3; 56:2, 3, 6; 71:8, 15, 24; 72:15; 73:14; 74:22; 86:3; 88:18; 89:17; 102:9; 119:97; Prov 21:26; 23:17; Isa 28:24; 51:13; 52:5; 65:2, 5; Jer 20:7, 8; Lam 1:13; 3:3, 62; Hos 12:2).

[9:7]  ³⁸ tn Heb “the days of the visitation”; NAB, NASB, NIV, NRSV “the days of punishment.”

[9:7]  ³⁹ tn Heb “has come” (בָּאוּ, ba’u). The two perfect tense (suffix-conjugation) verbs בָּאוּ (Qal perfect 3rd person common plural from בּוֹא, bo’, “to come”) repeated in this verse are both examples of the so-called “prophetic perfect”: the perfect, which connotes completed or factual action, is used in reference to future events to emphasize the certainty of the announced event taking place.

[9:7]  ⁴⁰ tn Heb “the days of the retribution”; NIV “of reckoning”; NRSV “of recompense.”

[9:7]  ⁴¹ tn Heb “has come”; NIV “are at hand”; NLT “is almost here.”

[9:7]  ⁴² tc The Aleppo Codex and Leningrad Codex (the MT ms employed for BHS) both place the atnach (colon-divider) after יֵדְעוּ יִשְׂרָאֵל (yedÿ’u yisra’el, “Let Israel know!”), indicating that this line belongs with 9:7a (cf. NAB, NASB, NIV). However, the LXX reads κακωθήσεται (kakwqhsetai) which reflects an underlying Vorlage of יָרֵעוּ (yare’u, Qal imperfect 3rd person common plural from יָרַע, yara’, “to cry”), as opposed to the MT יֵדְעוּ (yedÿ’u, Qal jussive 3rd common plural from יָדַע, yada’, “to know”). The Old Greek connects יֵדְעוּ יִשְׂרָאֵל (“Israel cries out”) with the following lines (cf. NRSV), which appear to be quotations of Israel mocking Hosea. Aquila (ἔγνω, egnw) and Symmachus (γνώσεται, gnwsetai) both reflect the proto-MT tradition. For a discussion of this textual and syntactical problem, see H. W. Wolff, Hosea (Hermeneia), 150.

[9:7]  ⁴³ tn Or “is distraught”; cf. CEV, NLT “are crazy.”

[9:7]  ⁴⁴ tn Heb “the man of the Spirit”; NAB, NRSV “spirit.”

[9:7]  ⁴⁵ tn Or “is driven to despair.” The term מְשֻׁגָּע (mÿshugga’, Pual participle masculine singular from שָׁגַע, shaga’, “to be mad”) may be understood in two senses: (1) It could be a predicate adjective which is a figure of speech: “to be maddened,” to be driven to despair (Deut 28:34); or (2) it could be a substantive: “a madman,” referring to prophets who attempted to enter into a prophetic state through whipping themselves into a frenzy (1 Sam 21:16; 2 Kgs 9:11; Jer 29:26; see BDB 993 s.v. שָׁגַע). The prophetic context of 9:7 favors the latter option (which is followed by most English versions). Apparently, the general populace viewed these mantics with suspicion and questioned the legitimacy of their claim to be true prophets (e.g., 2 Kgs 9:11; Jer 29:26).

[9:7]  ⁴⁶ tn Heb “great.”

[16:14]  ⁴⁷ sn See the note on Pharisees in 5:17.

[16:14]  ⁴⁸ tn A figurative extension of the literal meaning “to turn one’s nose up at someone”; here “ridicule, sneer at, show contempt for” (L&N 33.409).

[22:63]  ⁴⁹ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “now” to indicate the transition to a new topic.

[22:63]  ⁵⁰ tn Grk “him”; the referent (Jesus) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[22:64]  ⁵¹ tn Here καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style.

[22:64]  ⁵² tn The verb ἐπηρώτων (ephrwtwn) has been translated as an iterative imperfect. The participle λέγοντες (legontes) is redundant in English and has not been translated here.

[22:64]  ⁵³ tn Grk “Who is the one who hit you?”

[23:11]  ⁵⁴ tn This is a continuation of the previous Greek sentence, but because of its length and complexity, a new sentence was started here in the translation by supplying “then” to indicate the sequence of events.

[23:11]  ⁵⁵ sn This mockery involved putting elegant royal clothes on Jesus, either white or purple (the colors of royalty). This was no doubt a mockery of Jesus’ claim to be a king.

[23:11]  ⁵⁶ tn Grk “he”; the referent (Herod) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[23:35]  ⁵⁷ tn A figurative extension of the literal meaning “to turn one’s nose up at someone”; here “ridicule, sneer at, show contempt for” (L&N 33.409).

[23:35]  ⁵⁸ sn The irony in the statement Let him save himself is that salvation did come, but later, not while on the cross.

[23:35]  ⁵⁹ tn This is a first class condition in the Greek text.

[23:35]  ⁶⁰ tn Or “Messiah”; both “Christ” (Greek) and “Messiah” (Hebrew and Aramaic) mean “one who has been anointed.”

[23:36]  ⁶¹ sn Sour wine was cheap wine, called in Latin posca, and referred to a cheap vinegar wine diluted heavily with water. It was the drink of slaves and soldiers, and the soldiers who had performed the crucifixion, who had some on hand, now used it to taunt Jesus further.

[17:18]  ⁶² sn An Epicurean was a follower of the philosophy of Epicurus, who founded a school in Athens about 300 b.c. Although the Epicureans saw the aim of life as pleasure, they were not strictly hedonists, because they defined pleasure as the absence of pain. Along with this, they desired the avoidance of trouble and freedom from annoyances. They saw organized religion as evil, especially the belief that the gods punished evildoers in an afterlife. In keeping with this, they were unable to accept Paul’s teaching about the resurrection.

[17:18]  ⁶³ sn A Stoic was a follower of the philosophy founded by Zeno (342-270 b.c.), a Phoenician who came to Athens and modified the philosophical system of the Cynics he found there. The Stoics rejected the Epicurean ideal of pleasure, stressing virtue instead. The Stoics emphasized responsibility for voluntary actions and believed risks were worth taking, but thought the actual attainment of virtue was difficult. They also believed in providence.

[17:18]  ⁶⁴ tn BDAG 956 s.v. συμβάλλω 1 has “converse, confer” here.

[17:18]  ⁶⁵ tn Grk “saying.”

[17:18]  ⁶⁶ tn Or “ignorant show-off.” The traditional English translation of σπερμολόγος (spermologo") is given in L&N 33.381 as “foolish babbler.” However, an alternate view is presented in L&N 27.19, “(a figurative extension of meaning of a term based on the practice of birds in picking up seeds) one who acquires bits and pieces of relatively extraneous information and proceeds to pass them off with pretense and show – ‘ignorant show-off, charlatan.’” A similar view is given in BDAG 937 s.v. σπερμολόγος: “in pejorative imagery of persons whose communication lacks sophistication and seems to pick up scraps of information here and there scrapmonger, scavenger…Engl. synonyms include ‘gossip’, ‘babbler’, chatterer’; but these terms miss the imagery of unsystematic gathering.”

[17:18]  ⁶⁷ tn The meaning of this phrase is not clear. Literally it reads “strange deities” (see BDAG 210 s.v. δαιμόνιον 1). The note of not being customary is important. In the ancient world what was new was suspicious. The plural δαιμονίων (daimoniwn, “deities”) shows the audience grappling with Paul’s teaching that God was working through Jesus.

[17:18]  ⁶⁸ sn This is a parenthetical note by the author.

[17:32]  ⁶⁹ tn The participle ἀκούσαντες (akousante") has been taken temporally.

[17:32]  ⁷⁰ tn L&N 33.408 has “some scoffed (at him) Ac 17:32” for ἐχλεύαζον (ecleuazon) here; the imperfect verb has been translated as an ingressive imperfect (“began to scoff”).

[17:1]  ⁷¹ tn BDAG 250 s.v. διοδεύω 1 has “go, travel through” for this verse.

[17:1]  ⁷² sn Amphipolis. The capital city of the southeastern district of Macedonia (BDAG 55 s.v. ᾿Αμφίπολις). It was a military post. From Philippi this was about 33 mi (53 km).

[17:1]  ⁷³ sn Apollonia was a city in Macedonia about 27 mi (43 km) west southwest of Amphipolis.

[17:1]  ⁷⁴ sn Thessalonica (modern Salonica) was a city in Macedonia about 33 mi (53 km) west of Apollonia. It was the capital of Macedonia. The road they traveled over was called the Via Egnatia. It is likely they rode horses, given their condition in Philippi. The implication of v. 1 is that the two previously mentioned cities lacked a synagogue.

[17:1]  ⁷⁵ sn See the note on synagogue in 6:9.

[4:9]  ⁷⁶ tn The Greek sentence continues v. 9 with the phrase “with Onesimus,” but this is awkward in English, so the verb “I sent” was inserted and a new sentence started at the beginning of v. 9 in the translation.

[4:9]  ⁷⁷ tn Grk “is of you.”

[4:9]  ⁷⁸ tn Grk “will make known to you.” This has been simplified in the translation to “will tell.”

[4:11]  ⁷⁹ tn Grk “those of the circumcision.” The verse as a whole is difficult to translate because it is unclear whether Paul is saying (1) that the only people working with him are Jewish converts at the time the letter is being written or previously, or (2) that Aristarchus, Mark, and Jesus Justus were the only Jewish Christians who ever worked with him. Verses 12-14 appear to indicate that Luke and Demas, who were Gentiles, were also working currently with Paul. This is the view adopted in the translation. See M. J. Harris, Colossians and Philemon (EGGNT), 207-8.

[4:12]  ⁸⁰ tn See the note on “fellow slave” in 1:7.

[4:12]  ⁸¹ tc ‡ Strong Alexandrian testimony, along with some other witnesses, suggests that ᾿Ιησοῦ (Ihsou, “Jesus”) follows Χριστοῦ (Cristou, “Christ”; so א A B C I L 0278 33 81 365 629 1175 2464 al lat), but the evidence for the shorter reading is diverse (Ì⁴⁶ D F G Ψ 075 1739 1881 Ï it sy Hier), cutting across all major texttypes. There can be little motivation for omitting the name of Jesus; hence, the shorter reading is judged to be original. NA²⁷ has ᾿Ιησοῦ in brackets, indicating some doubts as to its authenticity.

[4:12]  ⁸² tn Or “filled.”

[4:13]  ⁸³ tn Grk “pain.” This word appears only three times in the NT outside of this verse (Rev 16:10, 11; 21:4) where the translation “pain” makes sense. For the present verse it has been translated “worked hard.” See BDAG 852 s.v. πόνος 1.