Judges 2:2

2:2 but you must not make an agreement with the people who live in this land. You should tear down the altars where they worship.’ ¹  But you have disobeyed me. ²  Why would you do such a thing? ³ 

Proverbs 5:13

5:13 For ⁴  I did not obey my teachers ⁵ 

and I did not heed ⁶  my instructors. ⁷ 

Jeremiah 3:13

3:13 However, you must confess that you have done wrong, ⁸ 

and that you have rebelled against the Lord your God.

You must confess ⁹  that you have given yourself to ¹⁰  foreign gods under every green tree,

and have not obeyed my commands,’ says the Lord.

Jeremiah 3:25

3:25 Let us acknowledge ¹¹  our shame.

Let us bear the disgrace that we deserve. ¹² 

For we have sinned against the Lord our God,

both we and our ancestors.

From earliest times to this very day

we have not obeyed the Lord our God.’

Jeremiah 9:13

9:13 The Lord answered, “This has happened because these people have rejected my laws which I gave them. They have not obeyed me or followed those laws. ¹³ 

Jeremiah 42:21

42:21 This day ¹⁴  I have told you what he said. ¹⁵  But you do not want to obey the Lord by doing what he sent me to tell you. ¹⁶ 

Jeremiah 43:4

43:4 So Johanan son of Kareah, all the army officers, and all the rest of the people did not obey the Lord’s command to stay in the land.

Jeremiah 43:7

43:7 They went on to Egypt ¹⁷  because they refused to obey the Lord, and came to Tahpanhes. ¹⁸ 

Zephaniah 3:2

3:2 She is disobedient; ¹⁹ 

she refuses correction. ²⁰ 

She does not trust the Lord;

she does not seek the advice of ²¹  her God.

Romans 10:16

10:16 But not all have obeyed the good news, for Isaiah says, “Lord, who has believed our report?” ²² 

Hebrews 5:9

5:9 And by being perfected in this way, he became the source of eternal salvation to all who obey him,

[2:2]  ¹ tn Heb “their altars.”

[2:2]  ² tn Heb “you have not listened to my voice.”

[2:2]  ³ tn Heb “What is this you have done?”

[5:13]  ⁴ tn The vav that introduces this clause functions in an explanatory sense.

[5:13]  ⁵ tn The Hebrew term מוֹרַי (moray) is the nominal form based on the Hiphil plural participle with a suffix, from the root יָרָה (yarah). The verb is “to teach,” the common noun is “instruction, law [torah],” and this participle form is teacher (“my teachers”).

[5:13]  ⁶ sn The idioms are vivid: This expression is “incline the ear”; earlier in the first line is “listen to the voice,” meaning “obey.” Such detailed description emphasizes the importance of the material.

[5:13]  ⁷ tn The form is the Piel plural participle of לָמַד (lamad) used substantivally.

[3:13]  ⁸ tn Heb “Only acknowledge your iniquity.”

[3:13]  ⁹ tn The words “You must confess” are repeated to convey the connection. The Hebrew text has an introductory “that” in front of the second line and a coordinative “and” in front of the next two lines.

[3:13]  ¹⁰ tc MT reads דְּרָכַיִךְ (dÿrakhayikh, “your ways”), but the BHS editors suggest דּוֹדַיִךְ (dodayikh, “your breasts”) as an example of orthographic confusion. While the proposal makes sense, it remains a conjectural emendation since it is not supported by any actual manuscripts or ancient versions.

[3:25]  ¹¹ tn Heb “Let us lie down in….”

[3:25]  ¹² tn Heb “Let us be covered with disgrace.”

[9:13]  ¹³ tn Heb “and they have not walked in it (with “it” referring to “my law”).

[42:21]  ¹⁴ tn Or “Today.”

[42:21]  ¹⁵ tn The words “what he said” are not in the text but are implicit and seem necessary for clarity.

[42:21]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “But you have not hearkened to the voice of [idiomatic for “obeyed” see BDB 1034 s.v. שָׁמַע Qal.1.m] the Lord your God, namely [cf. BDB 252 s.v. וְ 1.b] with respect [cf. BDB 514 s.v. לְ 5.f(c)] all which he has sent to us.” The verb is translated “don’t seem to want to obey” because they have not yet expressed their refusal or their actual disobedience. Several commentaries sensing this apparent discrepancy suggest that 42:19-22 are to be transposed after 43:1-3 (see, e.g., BHS note 18a, W. L. Holladay, Jeremiah [Hermeneia], 2:275; J. Bright, Jeremiah [AB], 252, 256, 258). However, there is absolutely no textual evidence for the transposition and little reason to suspect an early scribal error (in spite of Holladay’s suggestion). It is possible that Jeremiah here anticipates this answer in 43:1-3 through the response on their faces (so Bright, 256; F. B. Huey, Jeremiah, Lamentations [NAC], 361). G. L. Keown, P. J. Scalise, and T. G. Smothers (Jeremiah 26-52 [WBC], 249) also call attention to the stated intention in 41:17 and the fact that the strong warning in 42:15-17 seems to imply that a negative response is expected). The use of the perfect here is perhaps to be related to the perfect expressing resolve or determination (see IBHS 489 §30.5.1d). It is also conceivable that these two verses are part of a conditional sentence which has no formal introduction. I.e., “And if you will not obey…then you should know for certain that…” For examples of this kind of conditional clause introduced by two vavs (ו) see Joüon 2:628-29 §167.b, and compare Jer 18:4; Judg 6:13. However, though this interpretation is within the possibilities of Hebrew grammar, I know of no translation or commentary that follows it. So it has not been followed in the translation or given as an alternate translation.

[43:7]  ¹⁷ sn This had been their intention all along (41:17). Though they consulted the Lord and promised to do what he told them whether they agreed with it or not (42:5-6), it is clear that they had no intention of doing so. Jeremiah could see that (42:19-22). They refused to believe that the Lord had really said what Jeremiah told them (43:4) and feared reprisal from the Babylonians more than any potential destruction from the Lord (43:3).

[43:7]  ¹⁸ sn Tahpanhes was an important fortress city on the northern border of Egypt in the northeastern Nile delta. It is generally equated with the Greek city of Daphne. It has already been mentioned in 2:16 in conjunction with Memphis (the Hebrew name is “Noph”) as a source of soldiers who did violence to the Israelites in the past.

[3:2]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “she does not hear a voice” Refusing to listen is equated with disobedience.

[3:2]  ²⁰ tn Heb “she does not receive correction.” The Hebrew phrase, when negated, refers elsewhere to rejecting verbal advice (Jer 17:23; 32:33; 35:13) and refusing to learn from experience (Jer 2:30; 5:3).

[3:2]  ²¹ tn Heb “draw near to.” The present translation assumes that the expression “draw near to” refers to seeking God’s will (see 1 Sam 14:36).

[10:16]  ²² sn A quotation from Isa 53:1.