Jeremiah 23:13

23:13 The Lord says, ¹  “I saw the prophets of Samaria ² 

doing something that was disgusting. ³ 

They prophesied in the name of the god Baal

and led my people Israel astray. ⁴ 

Jeremiah 50:6

50:6 “My people have been lost sheep.

Their shepherds ⁵  have allow them to go astray.

They have wandered around in the mountains.

They have roamed from one mountain and hill to another. ⁶ 

They have forgotten their resting place.

Jeremiah 23:32

23:32 I, the Lord, affirm ⁷  that I am opposed to those prophets who dream up lies and report them. They are misleading my people with their reckless lies. ⁸  I did not send them. I did not commission them. They are not helping these people at all. ⁹  I, the Lord, affirm it!” ¹⁰ 

Jeremiah 42:20

42:20 You are making a fatal mistake. ¹¹  For you sent me to the Lord your God and asked me, ‘Pray to the Lord our God for us. Tell us what the Lord our God says and we will do it.’ ¹² 

¹ tn The words “The Lord says” are not in the text, but it is clear from the content that he is the speaker. These words are supplied in the translation for clarity.

² map For location see Map2-B1; Map4-D3; Map5-E2; Map6-A4; Map7-C1.

³ tn According to BDB 1074 s.v. תִּפְלָּה this word means “unseemly, unsavory.” The related adjective is used in Job 6:6 of the tastelessness of something that is unseasoned.

⁴ tn Heb “by Baal.”

⁵ sn The shepherds are the priests, prophets, and leaders who have led Israel into idolatry (2:8).

⁶ sn The allusion here, if it is not merely a part of the metaphor of the wandering sheep, is to the worship of the false gods on the high hills (2:20, 3:2).

⁹ tn Heb “Oracle of the Lord.”

¹⁰ tn Heb “with their lies and their recklessness.” This is an example of hendiadys where two nouns (in this case a concrete and an abstract one) are joined by “and” but one is intended to be the adjectival modifier of the other.

¹¹ sn In the light of what has been said this is a rhetorical understatement; they are not only “not helping,” they are leading them to their doom (cf. vv. 19-22). This figure of speech is known as litotes.

¹² tn Heb “Oracle of the Lord.”

¹³ tn Heb “you are erring at the cost of your own lives” (BDB 1073 s.v. תָּעָה Hiph.3 and HALOT 1626 s.v. תָּעָה Hif 4, and cf. BDB 90 s.v. בְּ 3 and see parallels in 1 Kgs 2:23; 2 Sam 23:17 for the nuance of “at the cost of your lives”). This fits the context better than “you are deceiving yourselves” (KBL 1035 s.v. תָּעָה Hif 4). The reading here follows the Qere הִתְעֵיתֶם (hit’etem) rather than the Kethib which has a metathesis of י (yod) and ת (tav), i.e., הִתְעֵתֶים. The Greek text presupposes הֲרֵעֹתֶם (hare’otem, “you have done evil”), but that reading is generally rejected as secondary.

¹⁴ tn Heb “According to all which the Lord our God says so tell us and we will do.” The restructuring of the sentence is intended to better reflect contemporary English style.