Jeremiah 2:2

2:2 “Go and declare in the hearing of the people of Jerusalem: ¹  ‘This is what the Lord says: “I have fond memories of you, ²  how devoted you were to me in your early years. ³  I remember how you loved me like a new bride; you followed me through the wilderness, through a land that had never been planted.

Jeremiah 3:17

3:17 At that time the city of Jerusalem ⁴  will be called the Lord’s throne. All nations will gather there in Jerusalem to honor the Lord’s name. ⁵  They will no longer follow the stubborn inclinations of their own evil hearts. ⁶ 

Jeremiah 11:10

11:10 They have gone back to the evil ways ⁷  of their ancestors of old who refused to obey what I told them. They, too, have paid allegiance to ⁸  other gods and worshiped them. Both the nation of Israel and the nation of Judah ⁹  have violated the covenant I made with their ancestors.

Jeremiah 13:10

13:10 These wicked people refuse to obey what I have said. ¹⁰  They follow the stubborn inclinations of their own hearts and pay allegiance ¹¹  to other gods by worshiping and serving them. So ¹²  they will become just like these linen shorts which are good for nothing.

Jeremiah 16:11

16:11 Then tell them that the Lord says, ¹³  ‘It is because your ancestors ¹⁴  rejected me and paid allegiance to ¹⁵  other gods. They have served them and worshiped them. But they have rejected me and not obeyed my law. ¹⁶ 

Jeremiah 31:33

31:33 “But I will make a new covenant with the whole nation of Israel ¹⁷  after I plant them back in the land,” ¹⁸  says the Lord. ¹⁹  “I will ²⁰  put my law within them ²¹  and write it on their hearts and minds. ²²  I will be their God and they will be my people. ²³ 

Jeremiah 34:8

The Lord Threatens to Destroy Those Who Wronged Their Slaves

34:8 The Lord spoke to Jeremiah after King Zedekiah had made a covenant ²⁴  with all the people in Jerusalem ²⁵  to grant their slaves their freedom.

¹ map For location see Map5-B1; Map6-F3; Map7-E2; Map8-F2; Map10-B3; JP1-F4; JP2-F4; JP3-F4; JP4-F4.

² tn Heb “I remember to/for you.”

³ tn Heb “the loyal love of your youth.”

⁴ map For location see Map5-B1; Map6-F3; Map7-E2; Map8-F2; Map10-B3; JP1-F4; JP2-F4; JP3-F4; JP4-F4.

⁵ tn Heb “will gather to the name of the Lord.”

⁶ tn Heb “the stubbornness of their evil hearts.”

⁷ tn Or “They have repeated the evil actions of….”

⁸ tn Heb “have walked/followed after.” See the translator’s note at 2:5 for the idiom.

⁹ tn Heb “house of Israel and house of Judah.”

¹⁰ tn Heb “to listen to my words.”

¹¹ tn Heb “and [they follow] after.” See the translator’s note at 2:5 for the idiom.

¹² tn The structure of this verse is a little unusual. It consists of a subject, “this wicked people” qualified by several “which” clauses preceding a conjunction and a form which would normally be taken as a third person imperative (a Hebrew jussive; וִיהִי, vihi). This construction, called casus pendens by Hebrew grammarians, lays focus on the subject, here calling attention to the nature of Israel’s corruption which makes it rotten and useless to God. See GKC 458 §143.d for other examples of this construction.

¹³ tn These two sentences have been recast in English to break up a long Hebrew sentence and incorporate the oracular formula “says the Lord (Heb ‘oracle of the Lord’)” which occurs after “Your fathers abandoned me.” In Hebrew the two sentences read: “When you tell them these things and they say, ‘…’, then tell them, ‘Because your ancestors abandoned me,’ oracle of the Lord.”

¹⁴ tn Heb “fathers” (also in vv. 12, 13, 15, 19).

¹⁵ tn Heb “followed after.” See the translator’s note at 2:5 for the explanation of the idiom.

¹⁶ tn Heb “But me they have abandoned and my law they have not kept.” The objects are thrown forward to bring out the contrast which has rhetorical force. However, such a sentence in English would be highly unnatural.

¹⁶ tn Heb “with the house of Israel.” All commentators agree that the term here refers to both the whole nation which was divided into the house of Israel and the house of Judah in v. 30.

¹⁷ tn Heb “after those days.” Commentators are generally agreed that this refers to the return from exile and the repopulation of the land referred to in vv. 27-28 and not to something subsequent to the time mentioned in v. 30. This is the sequencing that is also presupposed in other new covenant passages such as Deut 30:1-6; Ezek 11:17-20; 36:24-28.

¹⁸ tn Heb “Oracle of the Lord.”

¹⁹ tn Heb “‘But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after these days:’ says the Lord, ‘I will….’” The sentence has been reworded and restructured to avoid the awkwardness of the original style.

²⁰ tn Heb “in their inward parts.” The Hebrew word here refers to the seat of the thoughts, emotions, and decisions (Jer 9:8 [9:7 HT]). It is essentially synonymous with “heart” in Hebrew psychological terms.

²¹ tn The words “and minds” is not in the text but is supplied in the translation to bring the English psychology more into line with the Hebrew where the “heart” is the center both of knowing/thinking/reflecting and deciding/willing.

²² sn Compare Jer 24:7; 30:22; 31:1 and see the study note on 30:2.

¹⁹ tn Usually translated “covenant.” See the study note on 11:2 for the rationale for the translation here.

²⁰ map For location see Map5-B1; Map6-F3; Map7-E2; Map8-F2; Map10-B3; JP1-F4; JP2-F4; JP3-F4; JP4-F4.