30:9 lest I become satisfied and act deceptively 1
and say, “Who is the Lord?”
Or lest I become poor and steal
and demean 2 the name of my God.
4:22 The Lord answered, 3
“This will happen 4 because my people are foolish.
They do not know me.
They are like children who have no sense. 5
They have no understanding.
They are skilled at doing evil.
They do not know how to do good.”
1 tn The verb כָּחַשׁ (kakhash) means “to be disappointing; to deceive; to fail; to grow lean.” In the Piel stem it means “to deceive; to act deceptively; to cringe; to disappoint.” The idea of acting deceptively is illustrated in Hos 9:2 where it has the connotation of “disowning” or “refusing to acknowledge” (a meaning very close to its meaning here).
2 tn The Hebrew verb literally means “to take hold of; to seize”; this produces the idea of doing violence to the reputation of God.
3 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
4 tn Heb “For….” This gives the explanation for the destruction envisaged in 4:20 to which Jeremiah responds in 4:19, 21.
5 tn Heb “They are senseless children.”
6 tn Grk “This.”
7 tn Grk “come down”; “descend.”
8 tn Grk “soulish,” which describes life apart from God, characteristic of earthly human life as opposed to what is spiritual. Cf. 1 Cor 2:14; 15:44-46; Jude 19.