Jeremiah 5:14

5:14 Because of that, ¹  the Lord, the God who rules over all, ²  said to me, ³ 

“Because these people have spoken ⁴  like this, ⁵ 

I will make the words that I put in your mouth like fire.

And I will make this people like wood

which the fiery judgments you speak will burn up.” ⁶ 

Exodus 4:15-16

4:15 “So you are to speak to him and put the words in his mouth. And as for me, I will be with your mouth ⁷  and with his mouth, ⁸  and I will teach you both ⁹  what you must do. ¹⁰  4:16 He ¹¹  will speak for you to the people, and it will be as if ¹²  he ¹³  were your mouth ¹⁴  and as if you were his God. ¹⁵ 

Isaiah 51:16

Zion’s Time to Celebrate

51:16 I commission you ¹⁶  as my spokesman; ¹⁷ 

I cover you with the palm of my hand, ¹⁸ 

to establish ¹⁹  the sky and to found the earth,

to say to Zion, ‘You are my people.’” ²⁰ 

Ezekiel 3:10

3:10 And he said to me, “Son of man, take all my words that I speak to you to heart and listen carefully.

Matthew 10:19

10:19 Whenever ²¹  they hand you over for trial, do not worry about how to speak or what to say, ²²  for what you should say will be given to you at that time. ²³ 

Luke 12:12

12:12 for the Holy Spirit will teach you at that moment ²⁴  what you must say.” ²⁵ 

[5:14]  ¹ tn Heb “Therefore.”

[5:14]  ² tn Heb “The Lord God of armies.” See the translator’s note at 2:19.

[5:14]  ³ tn The words, “to me” are not in the text but are implicit in the connection. They are supplied in the translation for clarification.

[5:14]  ⁴ tn Heb “you have spoken.” The text here דַּבֶּרְכֶם (dabberkhem, “you have spoken”) is either a case of a scribal error for דַּבֶּרָם (dabberam, “they have spoken”) or an example of the rapid shift in addressee which is common in Jeremiah.

[5:14]  ⁵ tn Heb “this word.”

[5:14]  ⁶ tn Heb “like wood and it [i.e., the fire I put in your mouth] will consume them.”

[4:15]  ⁷ tn Or “I will help you speak.” The independent pronoun puts emphasis (“as for me”) on the subject (“I”).

[4:15]  ⁸ tn Or “and will help him speak.”

[4:15]  ⁹ tn The word “both” is supplied to convey that this object (“you”) and the subject of the next verb (“you must do”) are plural in the Hebrew text, referring to Moses and Aaron. In 4:16 “you” returns to being singular in reference to Moses.

[4:15]  ¹⁰ tn The imperfect tense carries the obligatory nuance here as well. The relative pronoun with this verb forms a noun clause functioning as the direct object of “I will teach.”

[4:16]  ¹¹ tn The word “he” represents the Hebrew independent pronoun, which makes the subject emphatic.

[4:16]  ¹² tn The phrase “as if” is supplied for clarity.

[4:16]  ¹³ tn Heb “and it will be [that] he, he will be to you for a mouth,” or more simply, “he will be your mouth.”

[4:16]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “he will be to you for a mouth.”

[4:16]  ¹⁵ tn The phrase “as if” is supplied for clarity. The word “you” represents the Hebrew independent pronoun, which makes the subject emphatic.

[51:16]  ¹⁶ tn The addressee (second masculine singular, as in vv. 13, 15) in this verse is unclear. The exiles are addressed in the immediately preceding verses (note the critical tone of vv. 12-13 and the reference to the exiles in v. 14). However, it seems unlikely that they are addressed in v. 16, for the addressee appears to be commissioned to tell Zion, who here represents the restored exiles, “you are my people.” The addressee is distinct from the exiles. The language of v. 16a is reminiscent of 49:2 and 50:4, where the Lord’s special servant says he is God’s spokesman and effective instrument. Perhaps the Lord, having spoken to the exiles in vv. 1-15, now responds to this servant, who spoke just prior to this in 50:4-11.

[51:16]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “I place my words in your mouth.”

[51:16]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “with the shadow of my hand.”

[51:16]  ¹⁹ tc The Hebrew text has לִנְטֹעַ (lintoa’, “to plant”). Several scholars prefer to emend this form to לִנְטֹת (lintot) from נָטָה (natah, “to stretch out”); see v. 13, as well as 40:22; 42:5; 44:24; 45:12; cf. NAB, NCV, NRSV. However, since the Qumran scroll 1QIsa^a, LXX (and Aquila and Symmachus), and Vulgate support the MT reading, there is no need to emend the form. The interpretation is clear enough: Yahweh fixed the sky in its place.

[51:16]  ²⁰ tn The infinitives in v. 16b are most naturally understood as indicating the purpose of the divine actions described in v. 16a. The relationship of the third infinitive to the commission is clear enough – the Lord has made the addressee (his special servant?) his spokesman so that the latter might speak encouraging words to those in Zion. But how do the first two infinitives relate? The text seems to indicate that the Lord has commissioned the addressee so that the latter might create the universe! Perhaps creation imagery is employed metaphorically here to refer to the transformation that Jerusalem will experience (see 65:17-18).

[10:19]  ²¹ tn Here δέ (de) has not been translated.

[10:19]  ²² tn Grk “how or what you might speak.”

[10:19]  ²³ tn Grk “in that hour.”

[12:12]  ²⁴ tn Grk “in that very hour” (an idiom).

[12:12]  ²⁵ tn Grk “what it is necessary to say.”