11:1 The Lord said to Jeremiah: 3
3:1 “If a man divorces his wife
and she leaves him and becomes another man’s wife,
he may not take her back again. 4
Doing that would utterly defile the land. 5
But you, Israel, have given yourself as a prostitute to many gods. 6
So what makes you think you can return to me?” 7
says the Lord.
3:2 “Look up at the hilltops and consider this. 8
You have had sex with other gods on every one of them. 9
You waited for those gods like a thief lying in wait in the desert. 10
You defiled the land by your wicked prostitution to other gods. 11
3:3 That is why the rains have been withheld,
and the spring rains have not come.
Yet in spite of this you are obstinate as a prostitute. 12
You refuse to be ashamed of what you have done.
3:4 Even now you say to me, ‘You are my father! 13
You have been my faithful companion ever since I was young.
3:5 You will not always be angry with me, will you?
You will not be mad at me forever, will you?’ 14
That is what you say,
but you continually do all the evil that you can.” 15
3:6 When Josiah was king of Judah, the Lord said to me, “Jeremiah, you have no doubt seen what wayward Israel has done. 16 You have seen how she went up to every high hill and under every green tree to give herself like a prostitute to other gods. 17 3:7 Yet even after she had done all that, I thought that she might come back to me. 18 But she did not. Her sister, unfaithful Judah, saw what she did. 19 3:8 She also saw 20 that I gave wayward Israel her divorce papers and sent her away because of her adulterous worship of other gods. 21 Even after her unfaithful sister Judah had seen this, 22 she still was not afraid, and she too went and gave herself like a prostitute to other gods. 23 3:9 Because she took her prostitution so lightly, she defiled the land 24 through her adulterous worship of gods made of wood and stone. 25 3:10 In spite of all this, 26 Israel’s sister, unfaithful Judah, has not turned back to me with any sincerity; she has only pretended to do so,” 27 says the Lord. 3:11 Then the Lord said to me, “Under the circumstances, wayward Israel could even be considered less guilty than unfaithful Judah. 28
3:12 “Go and shout this message to my people in the countries in the north. 29 Tell them,
‘Come back to me, wayward Israel,’ says the Lord.
‘I will not continue to look on you with displeasure. 30
For I am merciful,’ says the Lord.
‘I will not be angry with you forever.
3:13 However, you must confess that you have done wrong, 31
and that you have rebelled against the Lord your God.
You must confess 32 that you have given yourself to 33 foreign gods under every green tree,
and have not obeyed my commands,’ says the Lord.
3:14 “Come back to me, my wayward sons,” says the Lord, “for I am your true master. 34 If you do, 35 I will take one of you from each town and two of you from each family group, and I will bring you back to Zion. 3:15 I will give you leaders 36 who will be faithful to me. 37 They will lead you with knowledge and insight. 3:16 In those days, your population will greatly increase 38 in the land. At that time,” says the Lord, “people will no longer talk about having the ark 39 that contains the Lord’s covenant with us. 40 They will not call it to mind, remember it, or miss it. No, that will not be done any more! 41 3:17 At that time the city of Jerusalem 42 will be called the Lord’s throne. All nations will gather there in Jerusalem to honor the Lord’s name. 43 They will no longer follow the stubborn inclinations of their own evil hearts. 44 3:18 At that time 45 the nation of Judah and the nation of Israel will be reunited. 46 Together they will come back from a land in the north to the land that I gave to your ancestors as a permanent possession. ” 47
3:19 “I thought to myself, 48
‘Oh what a joy it would be for me to treat you like a son! 49
What a joy it would be for me to give 50 you a pleasant land,
the most beautiful piece of property there is in all the world!’ 51
I thought you would call me, ‘Father’ 52
and would never cease being loyal to me. 53
3:20 But, you have been unfaithful to me, nation of Israel, 54
like an unfaithful wife who has left her husband,” 55
says the Lord.
3:21 “A noise is heard on the hilltops.
It is the sound of the people of Israel crying and pleading to their gods.
Indeed they have followed sinful ways; 56
they have forgotten to be true to the Lord their God. 57
3:22 Come back to me, you wayward people.
I want to cure your waywardness. 58
Say, 59 ‘Here we are. We come to you
because you are the Lord our God.
3:23 We know our noisy worship of false gods
on the hills and mountains did not help us. 60
We know that the Lord our God
is the only one who can deliver Israel. 61
3:24 From earliest times our worship of that shameful god, Baal,
has taken away 62 all that our ancestors 63 worked for.
It has taken away our flocks and our herds,
and even our sons and daughters.
3:25 Let us acknowledge 64 our shame.
Let us bear the disgrace that we deserve. 65
For we have sinned against the Lord our God,
both we and our ancestors.
From earliest times to this very day
we have not obeyed the Lord our God.’
4:1 “If you, Israel, want to come back,” says the Lord,
“if you want to come back to me 66
you must get those disgusting idols 67 out of my sight
and must no longer go astray. 68
4:2 You must be truthful, honest and upright
when you take an oath saying, ‘As surely as the Lord lives!’ 69
If you do, 70 the nations will pray to be as blessed by him as you are
and will make him the object of their boasting.” 71
4:3 Yes, 72 the Lord has this to say
to the people of Judah and Jerusalem:
“Like a farmer breaking up hard unplowed ground,
you must break your rebellious will and make a new beginning;
just as a farmer must clear away thorns lest the seed is wasted,
you must get rid of the sin that is ruining your lives. 73
4:4 Just as ritual circumcision cuts away the foreskin
as an external symbol of dedicated covenant commitment,
you must genuinely dedicate yourselves to the Lord
and get rid of everything that hinders your commitment to me, 74
people of Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem.
If you do not, 75 my anger will blaze up like a flaming fire against you
that no one will be able to extinguish.
That will happen because of the evil you have done.”
4:5 The Lord said, 76
“Announce 77 this in Judah and proclaim it in Jerusalem: 78
‘Sound the trumpet 79 throughout the land!’
Shout out loudly,
‘Gather together! Let us flee into the fortified cities!’
4:6 Raise a signal flag that tells people to go to Zion. 80
Run for safety! Do not delay!
For I am about to bring disaster out of the north.
It will bring great destruction. 81
4:7 Like a lion that has come up from its lair 82
the one who destroys nations has set out from his home base. 83
He is coming out to lay your land waste.
Your cities will become ruins and lie uninhabited.
4:8 So put on sackcloth!
Mourn and wail, saying,
‘The fierce anger of the Lord
has not turned away from us!’” 84
4:9 “When this happens,” 85 says the Lord,
“the king and his officials will lose their courage.
The priests will be struck with horror,
and the prophets will be speechless in astonishment.”
4:10 In response to all this 86 I said, “Ah, Lord God, 87 you have surely allowed 88 the people of Judah and Jerusalem 89 to be deceived by those who say, ‘You will be safe!’ 90 But in fact a sword is already at our throats.” 91
4:11 “At that time the people of Judah and Jerusalem 92 will be told,
‘A scorching wind will sweep down
from the hilltops in the desert on 93 my dear people. 94
It will not be a gentle breeze
for winnowing the grain and blowing away the chaff. 95
4:12 No, 96 a wind too strong for that will come at my bidding.
Yes, even now I, myself, am calling down judgment on them.’ 97
4:13 Look! The enemy is approaching like gathering clouds. 98
The roar of his chariots is like that of a whirlwind. 99
His horses move more swiftly than eagles.”
I cry out, 100 “We are doomed, 101 for we will be destroyed!”
4:14 “Oh people of Jerusalem, purify your hearts from evil 102
so that you may yet be delivered.
How long will you continue to harbor up
wicked schemes within you?
4:15 For messengers are coming, heralding disaster,
from the city of Dan and from the hills of Ephraim. 103
4:16 They are saying, 104
‘Announce to the surrounding nations, 105
“The enemy is coming!” 106
Proclaim this message 107 to Jerusalem:
“Those who besiege cities 108 are coming from a distant land.
They are ready to raise the battle cry against 109 the towns in Judah.”’
4:17 They will surround Jerusalem 110
like men guarding a field 111
because they have rebelled against me,”
says the Lord.
4:18 “The way you have lived and the things you have done 112
will bring this on you.
This is the punishment you deserve, and it will be painful indeed. 113
The pain will be so bad it will pierce your heart.” 114
4:19 I said, 115
“Oh, the feeling in the pit of my stomach! 116
I writhe in anguish.
Oh, the pain in my heart! 117
My heart pounds within me.
I cannot keep silent.
For I hear the sound of the trumpet; 118
the sound of the battle cry pierces my soul! 119
4:20 I see 120 one destruction after another taking place,
so that the whole land lies in ruins.
I see our 121 tents suddenly destroyed,
their 122 curtains torn down in a mere instant. 123
4:21 “How long must I see the enemy’s battle flags
and hear the military signals of their bugles?” 124
4:22 The Lord answered, 125
“This will happen 126 because my people are foolish.
They do not know me.
They are like children who have no sense. 127
They have no understanding.
They are skilled at doing evil.
They do not know how to do good.”
4:23 “I looked at the land and saw 128 that it was an empty wasteland. 129
I looked up at the sky, and its light had vanished.
4:24 I looked at the mountains and saw that they were shaking.
All the hills were swaying back and forth!
4:25 I looked and saw that there were no more people, 130
and that all the birds in the sky had flown away.
4:26 I looked and saw that the fruitful land had become a desert
and that all of the cities had been laid in ruins.
The Lord had brought this all about
because of his blazing anger. 131
4:27 All this will happen because the Lord said, 132
“The whole land will be desolate;
however, I will not completely destroy it.
4:28 Because of this the land will mourn
and the sky above will grow black. 133
For I have made my purpose known 134
and I will not relent or turn back from carrying it out.” 135
4:29 At the sound of the approaching horsemen and archers
the people of every town will flee.
Some of them will hide in the thickets.
Others will climb up among the rocks.
All the cities will be deserted.
No one will remain in them.
4:30 And you, Zion, city doomed to destruction, 136
you accomplish nothing 137 by wearing a beautiful dress, 138
decking yourself out in jewels of gold,
and putting on eye shadow! 139
You are making yourself beautiful for nothing.
Your lovers spurn you.
They want to kill you. 140
4:31 In fact, 141 I hear a cry like that of a woman in labor,
a cry of anguish like that of a woman giving birth to her first baby.
It is the cry of Daughter Zion 142 gasping for breath,
reaching out for help, 143 saying, “I am done in! 144
My life is ebbing away before these murderers!”
1 tn Heb “warned them…saying, ‘Obey me.’” However, it allows the long sentence to be broken up easier if the indirect quote is used.
2 tn For the explanation for this rendering see the note on 7:13.
3 tn Heb “The word which came to Jeremiah from the
5 tn Heb “May he go back to her again?” The question is rhetorical and expects a negative answer.
6 tn Heb “Would the land not be utterly defiled?” The stative is here rendered actively to connect better with the preceding. The question is rhetorical and expects a positive answer.
7 tn Heb “But you have played the prostitute with many lovers.”
8 tn Heb “Returning to me.” The form is the bare infinitive which the KJV and ASV have interpreted as an imperative “Yet, return to me!” However, it is more likely that a question is intended, expressing surprise in the light of the law alluded to and the facts cited. For the use of the infinitive absolute in the place of a finite verb, cf. GKC 346 §113.ee. For the introduction of a question without a question marker, cf. GKC 473 §150.a.
7 tn Heb “and see.”
8 tn Heb “Where have you not been ravished?” The rhetorical question expects the answer “nowhere,” which suggests she has engaged in the worship of pagan gods on every one of the hilltops.
9 tn Heb “You sat for them [the lovers, i.e., the foreign gods] beside the road like an Arab in the desert.”
10 tn Heb “by your prostitution and your wickedness.” This is probably an example of hendiadys where, when two nouns are joined by “and,” one expresses the main idea and the other qualifies it.
9 tn Heb “you have the forehead of a prostitute.”
11 tn Heb “Have you not just now called out to me, ‘[you are] my father!’?” The rhetorical question expects a positive answer.
13 tn Heb “Will he keep angry forever? Will he maintain [it] to the end?” The questions are rhetorical and expect a negative answer. The change to direct address in the English translation is intended to ease the problem of the rapid transition, common in Hebrew style (but not in English), from second person direct address in the preceding lines to third person indirect address in these two lines. See GKC 462 §144.p.
14 tn Heb “You do the evil and you are able.” This is an example of hendiadys, meaning “You do all the evil that you are able to do.”
15 tn “Have you seen…” The question is rhetorical and expects a positive answer.
16 tn Heb “she played the prostitute there.” This is a metaphor for Israel’s worship; she gave herself to the worship of other gods like a prostitute gives herself to her lovers. There seems no clear way to completely spell out the metaphor in the translation.
17 tn Or “I said to her, ‘Come back to me!’” The verb אָמַר (’amar) usually means “to say,” but here it means “to think,” of an assumption that turns out to be wrong (so HALOT 66.4 s.v. אמר); cf. Gen 44:28; Jer 3:19; Pss 82:6; 139:11; Job 29:18; Ruth 4:4; Lam 3:18.
18 tn The words “what she did” are not in the text but are implicit from the context and are supplied in the translation for clarification.
19 tc Heb “she [‘her sister, unfaithful Judah’ from the preceding verse] saw” with one Hebrew
20 tn Heb “because she committed adultery.” The translation is intended to spell out the significance of the metaphor.
21 tn The words “Even after her unfaithful sister, Judah, had seen this” are not in the Hebrew text but are implicit in the connection and are supplied for clarification.
22 tn Heb “she played the prostitute there.” This is a metaphor for Israel’s worship; she gave herself to the worship of other gods like a prostitute gives herself to her lovers. There seems no clear way to completely spell out the metaphor in the translation.
21 tc The translation reads the form as a causative (Hiphil, תַּהֲנֵף, tahanef) with some of the versions in place of the simple stative (Qal, תֶּחֱנַף, tekhenaf) in the MT.
22 tn Heb “because of the lightness of her prostitution, she defiled the land and committed adultery with stone and wood.”
23 tn Heb “And even in all this.”
24 tn Heb “ has not turned back to me with all her heart but only in falsehood.”
25 tn Heb “Wayward Israel has proven herself to be more righteous than unfaithful Judah.”
27 tn Heb “Go and proclaim these words to the north.” The translation assumes that the message is directed toward the exiles of northern Israel who have been scattered in the provinces of Assyria to the north.
28 tn Heb “I will not cause my face to fall on you.”
29 tn Heb “Only acknowledge your iniquity.”
30 tn The words “You must confess” are repeated to convey the connection. The Hebrew text has an introductory “that” in front of the second line and a coordinative “and” in front of the next two lines.
31 tc MT reads דְּרָכַיִךְ (dÿrakhayikh, “your ways”), but the BHS editors suggest דּוֹדַיִךְ (dodayikh, “your breasts”) as an example of orthographic confusion. While the proposal makes sense, it remains a conjectural emendation since it is not supported by any actual manuscripts or ancient versions.
31 tn Or “I am your true husband.”
32 tn The words, “If you do” are not in the text but are implicit in the connection of the Hebrew verb with the preceding.
33 tn Heb “shepherds.”
34 tn Heb “after/according to my [own] heart.”
35 tn Heb “you will become numerous and fruitful.”
36 tn Or “chest.”
37 tn Heb “the ark of the covenant.” It is called this because it contained the tables of the law which in abbreviated form constituted their covenant obligations to the
38 tn Or “Nor will another one be made”; Heb “one will not do/make [it?] again.”
37 map For location see Map5-B1; Map6-F3; Map7-E2; Map8-F2; Map10-B3; JP1-F4; JP2-F4; JP3-F4; JP4-F4.
38 tn Heb “will gather to the name of the
39 tn Heb “the stubbornness of their evil hearts.”
39 tn Heb “In those days.”
40 tn Heb “the house of Judah will walk together with the house of Israel.”
41 tn Heb “the land that I gave your [fore]fathers as an inheritance.”
41 tn Heb “I, myself, said.” See note on “I thought that she might come back to me” in 3:7.
42 tn Heb “How I would place you among the sons.” Israel appears to be addressed here contextually as the
43 tn The words “What a joy it would be for me to” are not in the Hebrew text but are implied in the parallel structure.
44 tn Heb “the most beautiful heritage among the nations.”
45 tn Heb “my father.”
46 tn Heb “turn back from [following] after me.”
43 tn Heb “house of Israel.”
44 tn Heb “a wife unfaithful from her husband.”
45 tn Heb “A sound is heard on the hilltops, the weeping of the supplication of the children of Israel because [or indeed] they have perverted their way.” At issue here is whether the supplication is made to Yahweh in repentance because of what they have done or whether it is supplication to the pagan gods which is evidence of their perverted ways. The reference in this verse to the hilltops where idolatry was practiced according to 3:2 and the reference to Israel’s unfaithfulness in the preceding verse make the latter more likely. For the asseverative use of the Hebrew particle (here rendered “indeed”) where the particle retains some of the explicative nuance; cf. BDB 472-73 s.v. כִּי 1.e and 3.c.
46 tn Heb “have forgotten the
47 tn Or “I will forgive your apostasies.” Heb “I will [or want to] heal your apostasies.” For the use of the verb “heal” (רָפָא, rafa’) to refer to spiritual healing and forgiveness see Hos 14:4.
48 tn Or “They say.” There is an obvious ellipsis of a verb of saying here since the preceding words are those of the
49 tn Heb “Truly in vain from the hills the noise/commotion [and from] the mountains.” The syntax of the Hebrew sentence is very elliptical here.
50 tn Heb “Truly in the
51 tn Heb “From our youth the shameful thing has eaten up…” The shameful thing is specifically identified as Baal in Jer 11:13. Compare also the shift in certain names such as Ishbaal (“man of Baal”) to Ishbosheth (“man of shame”).
52 tn Heb “fathers” (also in v. 25).
53 tn Heb “Let us lie down in….”
54 tn Heb “Let us be covered with disgrace.”
55 tn Or “If you, Israel, want to turn [away from your shameful ways (those described in 3:23-25)]…then you must turn back to me.” Or perhaps, “Israel, you must turn back…Yes, you must turn back to me.”
56 tn Heb “disgusting things.”
57 tn Or possibly, “If you get those disgusting idols out of my sight, you will not need to flee.” This is less probable because the normal meaning of the last verb is “to wander,” “ to stray.”
57 tn Heb “If you [= you must, see the translator’s note on the word “do” later in this verse] swear/take an oath, ‘As the
58 tn 4:1-2a consists of a number of “if” clauses, two of which are formally introduced by the Hebrew particle אִם (’im) while the others are introduced by the conjunction “and,” followed by a conjunction (“and” = “then”) with a perfect in 4:2b which introduces the consequence. The translation “You must…. If you do,” was chosen to avoid a long and complicated sentence.
59 tn Heb “bless themselves in him and make their boasts in him.”
59 tn The Hebrew particle is obviously asseverative here since a causal connection appears to make little sense.
60 tn Heb “Plow up your unplowed ground and do not sow among the thorns.” The translation is an attempt to bring out the force of a metaphor. The idea seems to be that they are to plow over the thorns and make the ground ready for the seeds which will produce a new crop where none had been produced before.
61 tn Heb “Circumcise yourselves to the
62 tn Heb “lest.”
63 tn The words “The
64 tn It is unclear who the addressees of the masculine plural imperatives are here. They may be the citizens of Jerusalem and Judah who are sounding the alarm to others. However, the first person reference to the
65 map For location see Map5-B1; Map6-F3; Map7-E2; Map8-F2; Map10-B3; JP1-F4; JP2-F4; JP3-F4; JP4-F4.
66 tn Heb “ram’s horn,” but the modern equivalent is “trumpet” and is more readily understandable.
65 tn Heb “Raise up a signal toward Zion.”
66 tn Heb “out of the north, even great destruction.”
67 tn Heb “A lion has left its lair.” The metaphor is turned into a simile for clarification. The word translated “lair” has also been understood to refer to a hiding place. However, it appears to be cognate in meaning to the word translated “lair” in Ps 10:9; Jer 25:38, a word which also refers to the abode of the
68 tn Heb “his place.”
69 tn Or “wail because the fierce anger of the
71 tn Heb “In that day.”
73 tn The words “In response to all this” are not in the text but are supplied in the translation to clarify the connection.
74 tn Heb “Lord Yahweh.” The translation follows the ancient Jewish tradition of substituting the Hebrew word for God for the proper name Yahweh.
75 tn Or “You have deceived.” The Hiphil of נָשָׁא (nasha’, “to deceive”) is understood in a tolerative sense here: “to allow [someone] to be deceived.” IBHS 446 §27.5c notes that this function of the hiphil describes caused activity that is welcome to the undersubject, but unacceptable or disagreeable to a third party. Jerusalem and Judah welcomed the assurances of false prophets who deceived them. Although this was detestable to God, he allowed it.
76 tn Heb “this people and Jerusalem.”
77 tn Heb “Jerusalem, saying, ‘You will have peace’”; or “You have deceived the people of Judah and Jerusalem, saying, ‘You will have peace.’” The words “you will be safe” are, of course, those of the false prophets (cf., Jer 6:14; 8:11; 14:13; 23:16-17). It is difficult to tell whether the charge here is meant literally as the emotional outburst of the prophet (compare for example, Jer 15:18) or whether it is to be understood as a figure of speech in which a verb of direct causation is to be understood as permissive or tolerative, i.e., God did not command the prophets to say this but allowed them to do so. While it is not beyond God to use false prophets to accomplish his will (cf., e.g., 1 Kgs 22:19-23), he elsewhere in the book of Jeremiah directly denies having sent the false prophets to say such things as this (cf., e.g., Jer 14:14-15; 23:21, 32). For examples of the use of this figure of speech, see E. W. Bullinger, Figures of Speech, 571, 823 and compare Ezek 20:25. The translation given attempts to resolve the issue.
78 tn Heb “touches the throat/soul.” For this use of the word usually translated “soul” or “life” cf. HALOT 672 s.v. נֶפֶשׁ 1, 2 and compare the use in Ps 105:18.
75 tn Heb “this people and Jerusalem.”
76 tn Heb “A scorching wind from the hilltops in the desert toward…”
77 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.”
78 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.
77 tn The word “No” is not in the text but is carried over from the connection with the preceding line “not for…”
78 tn Heb “will speak judgments against them.”
79 tn Heb “he is coming up like clouds.” The words “The enemy” are supplied in the translation to identify the referent and the word “gathering” is supplied to try to convey the significance of the simile, i.e., that of quantity and of an approaching storm.
80 tn Heb “his chariots [are] like a whirlwind.” The words “roar” and “sound” are supplied in the translation to clarify the significance of the simile.
81 tn The words “I cry out” are not in the text, but the words that follow are obviously not the
82 tn Heb “Woe to us!” The words “woe to” are common in funeral laments and at the beginning of oracles of judgment. In many contexts they carry the connotation of hopelessness or apprehensiveness of inevitable doom.
81 tn Heb “Oh, Jerusalem, wash your heart from evil.”
83 tn Heb “For a voice declaring from Dan and making heard disaster from the hills of Ephraim.”
85 tn The words “They are saying” are not in the text but are implicit in the connection and are supplied in the translation for clarification.
86 tn The word “surrounding” is not in the text but is implicit and is supplied in the translation for clarification.
87 tc Or “Here they come!” Heb “Look!” or “Behold!” Or “Announce to the surrounding nations, indeed [or yes] proclaim to Jerusalem, ‘Besiegers…’” The text is very elliptical here. Some of the modern English versions appear to be emending the text from הִנֵּה (hinneh, “behold”) to either הֵנָּה (hennah, “these things”; so NEB), or הַזֶּה (hazzeh, “this”; so NIV). The solution proposed here is as old as the LXX which reads, “Behold, they have come.”
88 tn The words, “this message,” are not in the text but are supplied in the translation to make the introduction of the quote easier.
89 tn Heb “Besiegers.” For the use of this verb to refer to besieging a city compare Isa 1:8.
90 tn Heb “They have raised their voices against.” The verb here, a vav (ו) consecutive with an imperfect, continues the nuance of the preceding participle “are coming.”
87 tn Heb “will surround her.” The antecedent is Jerusalem in the preceding verse. The referent is again made explicit in the translation to avoid any possible lack of clarity. The verb form here is a form of the verb that emphasizes the fact as being as good as done (i.e., it is a prophetic perfect).
88 sn There is some irony involved in the choice of the simile since the men guarding a field were there to keep thieves from getting in and stealing the crops. Here the besiegers are guarding the city to keep people from getting out.
89 tn Heb “Your way and your deeds.”
90 tn Heb “How bitter!”
91 tn Heb “Indeed, it reaches to your heart.” The subject must be the pain alluded to in the last half of the preceding line; the verb is masculine, agreeing with the adjective translated “painful.” The only other possible antecedent “punishment” is feminine.
91 tn The words “I said” are not in the text. They are used to mark the shift from the
92 tn Heb “My bowels! My bowels!”
93 tn Heb “the walls of my heart!”
94 tn Heb “ram’s horn,” but the modern equivalent is “trumpet” and is more readily understandable.
95 tc The translation reflects a different division of the last two lines than that suggested by the Masoretes. The written text (the Kethib) reads “for the sound of the ram’s horn I have heard [or “you have heard,” if the form is understood as the old second feminine singular perfect] my soul” followed by “the battle cry” in the last line. The translation is based on taking “my soul” with the last line and understanding an elliptical expression “the battle cry [to] my soul.” Such an elliptical expression is in keeping with the elliptical nature of the exclamations at the beginning of the verse (cf. the literal translations of the first two lines of the verse in the notes on the words “stomach” and “heart”).
93 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.
94 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.
95 tn Heb “my.”
96 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.
95 tn Heb “the sound of ram’s horns,” but the modern equivalent is “bugles” and is more readily understandable.
97 tn These words are not in the text but are supplied in the translation to show clearly the shift in speaker. Jeremiah has been speaking; now the
98 tn Heb “For….” This gives the explanation for the destruction envisaged in 4:20 to which Jeremiah responds in 4:19, 21.
99 tn Heb “They are senseless children.”
99 tn Heb “I looked at the land and behold...” This indicates the visionary character of Jeremiah’s description of the future condition of the land of Israel.
100 tn Heb “formless and empty.” This is a case of hendiadys (two nouns joined by “and” both describe the same thing): one noun retains its full nominal force, the other functions as an adjective. The words תֹהוּ וָבֹהוּ (tohu vavohu) allude to Gen 1:2, hyperbolically picturing a reversal of creation and return to the original precreation chaos.
101 tn Heb “there was no man/human being.”
103 tn Heb “because of the
105 tn Heb “For this is what the
107 sn The earth and the heavens are personified here and depicted in the act of mourning and wearing black clothes because of the destruction of the land of Israel.
108 tn Heb “has spoken and purposed.” This is an example of hendiadys where two verbs are joined by “and” but one is meant to serve as a modifier of the other.
109 tn Heb “will not turn back from it.”
109 tn Heb “And you that are doomed to destruction.” The referent is supplied from the following context and the fact that Zion/Jerusalem represents the leadership which was continually making overtures to foreign nations for help.
110 tn Heb “What are you accomplishing…?” The rhetorical question assumes a negative answer, made clear by the translation in the indicative.
111 tn Heb “clothing yourself in scarlet.”
112 tn Heb “enlarging your eyes with antimony.” Antimony was a black powder used by women as eyeliner to make their eyes look larger.
113 tn Heb “they seek your life.”
111 tn The particle כִּי (ki) is more likely asseverative here than causal.
112 sn Jerusalem is personified as a helpless maiden.
113 tn Heb “spreading out her hands.” The idea of asking or pleading for help is implicit in the figure.
114 tn Heb “Woe, now to me!” See the translator’s note on 4:13 for the usage of “Woe to…”