9:16 “But they – our ancestors 4 – behaved presumptuously; they rebelled 5 and did not obey your commandments.
10:3 So Moses and Aaron came to Pharaoh and told him, “Thus says the Lord, the God of the Hebrews: ‘How long do you refuse 6 to humble yourself before me? 7 Release my people so that they may serve me!
13:15 Then I said to the people of Judah, 8
“Listen and pay attention! Do not be arrogant!
For the Lord has spoken.
13:16 Show the Lord your God the respect that is due him. 9
Do it before he brings the darkness of disaster. 10
Do it before you stumble 11 into distress
like a traveler on the mountains at twilight. 12
Do it before he turns the light of deliverance you hope for
into the darkness and gloom of exile. 13
13:17 But if you will not pay attention to this warning, 14
I will weep alone because of your arrogant pride.
I will weep bitterly and my eyes will overflow with tears 15
because you, the Lord’s flock, 16 will be carried 17 into exile.”
1 tn Heb “signs and wonders.” This phrase is a hendiadys. The second noun functions adjectivally, while the first noun retains its full nominal sense: “awesome signs” or “miraculous signs.”
2 tn Heb “they”; the referent (the Egyptians) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
3 tn Or “arrogantly” (so NASB); NRSV “insolently.”
4 tn Heb “and our fathers.” The vav is explicative.
5 tn Heb “they stiffened their neck” (so also in the following verse).
6 tn The verb is מֵאַנְתָּ (me’anta), a Piel perfect. After “how long,” the form may be classified as present perfect (“how long have you refused), for it describes actions begun previously but with the effects continuing. (See GKC 311 §106.g-h). The use of a verb describing a state or condition may also call for a present translation (“how long do you refuse”) that includes past, present, and potentially future, in keeping with the question “how long.”
7 tn The clause is built on the use of the infinitive construct to express the direct object of the verb – it answers the question of what Pharaoh was refusing to do. The Niphal infinitive construct (note the elision of the ה [hey] prefix after the preposition [see GKC 139 §51.l]) is from the verb עָנָה (’anah). The verb in this stem would mean “humble oneself.” The question is somewhat rhetorical, since God was not yet through humbling Pharaoh, who would not humble himself. The issue between Yahweh and Pharaoh is deeper than simply whether or not Pharaoh will let the Israelites leave Egypt.
8 tn The words “Then I said to the people of Judah” are not in the text but are implicit from the address in v. 15 and the content of v. 17. They are supplied in the translation for clarity to show the shift from the
9 tn Heb “Give glory/respect to the
10 tn The words “of disaster” are not in the text. They are supplied in the translation to explain the significance of the metaphor to readers who may not be acquainted with the metaphorical use of light and darkness for salvation and joy and distress and sorrow respectively.
11 tn Heb “your feet stumble.”
12 tn Heb “you stumble on the mountains at twilight.” The added words are again supplied in the translation to help explain the metaphor to the uninitiated reader.
13 tn Heb “and while you hope for light he will turn it into deep darkness and make [it] into gloom.” The meaning of the metaphor is again explained through the addition of the “of” phrases for readers who are unacquainted with the metaphorical use of these terms.
14 tn Heb “If you will not listen to it.” For the use of the feminine singular pronoun to refer to the idea(s) expressed in the preceding verse(s), see GKC 440-41 §135.p.
15 tn Heb “Tearing [my eye] will tear and my eye will run down [= flow] with tears.”
16 tn Heb “because the
17 tn The verb is once again in the form of “as good as done” (the Hebrew prophetic perfect).
18 sn See the study note on 42:1 for the possible identification of this man with Jezaniah son of Hoshaiah and Jezaniah the son of the Maacathite.
19 tn Heb “they” but as H. Freedman (Jeremiah [SoBB], 284) notes the third person is used here to include the people just referred to as well as the current addressees. Hence “your people” or “the people of Judah.” It is possible that the third person again reflects the rhetorical distancing that was referred to earlier in 35:16 (see the translator’s note there for explanation) in which case one might translate “you have shown,” and “you have not revered.”
20 tn Heb “to set before.” According to BDB 817 s.v. פָּנֶה II.4.b(g) this refers to “propounding to someone for acceptance or choice.” This is clearly the usage in Deut 30:15, 19; Jer 21:8 and is likely the case here. However, to translate literally would not be good English idiom and “proposed to” might not be correctly understood, so the basic translation of נָתַן (natan) has been used here.
21 tn Heb “the word [or message] you have spoken to us in the name of the
22 tn Heb “that went out of our mouth.” I.e., everything we said, promised, or vowed.
23 tn Heb “sacrifice to the Queen of Heaven and pour out drink offerings to her.” The expressions have been combined to simplify and shorten the sentence. The same combination also occurs in vv. 18, 19.
24 tn Heb “saw [or experienced] no disaster/trouble/harm.”
25 tn Aram “heart.”
26 sn The point of describing Nebuchadnezzar as arrogant is that he had usurped divine prerogatives, and because of his immense arrogance God had dealt decisively with him.
27 sn A quotation from Prov 3:34.
28 tn Or “two-minded” (the same description used in 1:8).
29 tn This term and the following one are preceded by καί (kai) in the Greek text, but contemporary English generally uses connectives only between the last two items in such a series.
30 tn Grk “let your laughter be turned.”