Jeremiah 23:28-29

23:28 Let the prophet who has had a dream go ahead and tell his dream. Let the person who has received my message report that message faithfully. What is like straw cannot compare to what is like grain! ¹  I, the Lord, affirm it! ²  23:29 My message is like a fire that purges dross! ³  It is like a hammer that breaks a rock in pieces! ⁴  I, the Lord, so affirm it! ⁵ 

[23:28]  ¹ tn Heb “What to the straw with [in comparison with] the grain?” This idiom represents an emphatic repudiation or denial of relationship. See, for example, the usage in 2 Sam 16:10 and note BDB 553 s.v. מָה 1.d(c).

[23:28]  ² tn Heb “Oracle of the Lord.”

[23:29]  ³ tn Heb “Is not my message like a fire?” The rhetorical question expects a positive answer that is made explicit in the translation. The words “that purges dross” are not in the text but are implicit to the metaphor. They are supplied in the translation for clarity.

[23:29]  ⁴ tn Heb “Is it not like a hammer that breaks a rock in pieces?” See preceding note.

[23:29]  ⁵ tn Heb “Oracle of the Lord.”