Jeremiah 7:4

7:4 Stop putting your confidence in the false belief that says, ¹  “We are safe! ²  The temple of the Lord is here! The temple of the Lord is here! The temple of the Lord is here!” ³ 

Jeremiah 7:14

7:14 So I will destroy this temple which I have claimed as my own, ⁴  this temple that you are trusting to protect you. I will destroy this place that I gave to you and your ancestors, ⁵  just like I destroyed Shiloh. ⁶ 

¹ tn Heb “Stop trusting in lying words which say.”

² tn The words “We are safe!” are not in the text but are supplied in the translation for clarity.

³ tn Heb “The temple of the Lord, the temple of the Lord, the temple of the Lord are these (i.e., these buildings).” Elsewhere triple repetition seems to mark a kind of emphasis (cf. Isa 6:3; Jer 22:29; Ezek 21:27 [32 HT]). The triple repetition that follows seems to be Jeremiah’s way of mocking the (false) sense of security that people had in the invincibility of Jerusalem because God dwelt in the temple. They appeared to be treating the temple as some kind of magical charm. A similar feeling had grown up around the ark in the time of the judges (cf. 1 Sam 3:3) and the temple and city of Jerusalem in Micah’s day (cf. Mic 3:11). It is reflected also in some of the Psalms (cf., e.g., Ps 46, especially v. 5).

⁴ tn Heb “over which my name is called.” For this nuance of this idiom cf. BDB 896 s.v. קָרָא Niph.2.d(4) and see the usage in 2 Sam 12:28.

⁵ tn Heb “fathers” (also in vv. 22, 25, 26).

⁶ tn Heb “I will do to this house which I…in which you put…and to this place which…as I did to Shiloh.”