24:13 You mix uncleanness with obscene conduct. 1
I tried to cleanse you, 2 but you are not clean.
You will not be cleansed from your uncleanness 3
until I have exhausted my anger on you.
4:11 “At that time the people of Judah and Jerusalem 4 will be told,
‘A scorching wind will sweep down
from the hilltops in the desert on 5 my dear people. 6
It will not be a gentle breeze
for winnowing the grain and blowing away the chaff. 7
4:12 No, 8 a wind too strong for that will come at my bidding.
Yes, even now I, myself, am calling down judgment on them.’ 9
4:20 I see 10 one destruction after another taking place,
so that the whole land lies in ruins.
I see our 11 tents suddenly destroyed,
their 12 curtains torn down in a mere instant. 13
1 tn Heb “in your uncleanness (is) obscene conduct.”
2 tn Heb “because I cleansed you.” In this context (see especially the very next statement), the statement must refer to divine intention and purpose. Despite God’s efforts to cleanse his people, they resisted him and remained morally impure.
3 tn The Hebrew text adds the word “again.”
4 tn Heb “this people and Jerusalem.”
5 tn Heb “A scorching wind from the hilltops in the desert toward…”
6 tn Heb “daughter of my people.” The term “daughter of” is appositional to “my people” and is supplied in the translation as a term of sympathy and endearment. Compare the common expression “daughter of Zion.”
7 tn Heb “not for winnowing and not for cleansing.” The words “It will not be a gentle breeze” are not in the text but are implicit in the connection. They are supplied in the translation here for clarification.
8 tn The word “No” is not in the text but is carried over from the connection with the preceding line “not for…”
9 tn Heb “will speak judgments against them.”
10 tn The words, “I see” are not in the text here or at the beginning of the third line. They are supplied in the translation to show that this is Jeremiah’s vision of what will happen as a result of the invasion announced in 4:5-9, 11-17a.
11 tn Heb “my.” This is probably not a reference to Jeremiah’s own tents since he foresees the destruction of the whole land. Jeremiah so identifies with the plight of his people that he sees the destruction of their tents as though they were his very own. It would probably lead to confusion to translate literally and it is not uncommon in Hebrew laments for the community or its representative to speak of the community as an “I.” See for example the interchange between first singular and first plural pronouns in Ps 44:4-8.
12 tn Heb “my.”
13 tn It is not altogether clear what Jeremiah intends by the use of this metaphor. In all likelihood he means that the defenses of Israel’s cities and towns have offered no more resistance than nomads’ tents. However, in light of the fact that the word “tent” came to be used generically for a person’s home (cf. 1 Kgs 8:66; 12:16), it is possible that Jeremiah is here referring to the destruction of their homes and the resultant feeling of homelessness and loss of even elementary protection. Given the lack of certainty the present translation is rather literal here.