Discovery BoxJeremiah 1:16
Context1:16 In this way 1 I will pass sentence 2 on the people of Jerusalem and Judah 3 because of all their wickedness. For they rejected me and offered sacrifices to other gods, worshiping what they made with their own hands.” 4
Jeremiah 4:29
Context4:29 At the sound of the approaching horsemen and archers
the people of every town will flee.
Some of them will hide in the thickets.
Others will climb up among the rocks.
All the cities will be deserted.
No one will remain in them.
Jeremiah 5:7
Context“How can I leave you unpunished, Jerusalem? 6
Your people 7 have rejected me
and have worshiped gods that are not gods at all. 8
Even though I supplied all their needs, 9 they were like an unfaithful wife to me. 10
They went flocking 11 to the houses of prostitutes. 12
Jeremiah 9:2
Context9:2 (9:1) I wish I had a lodging place in the desert
where I could spend some time like a weary traveler. 13
Then I would desert my people
and walk away from them
because they are all unfaithful to God,
a congregation 14 of people that has been disloyal to him. 15
Jeremiah 9:13
Context9:13 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. 16
Jeremiah 9:19
Context9:19 For the sound of wailing is soon to be heard in Zion.
They will wail, 17 ‘We are utterly ruined! 18 We are completely disgraced!
For our houses have been torn down
and we must leave our land.’” 19
Jeremiah 17:11
Context17:11 The person who gathers wealth by unjust means
is like the partridge that broods over eggs but does not hatch them. 20
Before his life is half over he will lose his ill-gotten gains. 21
At the end of his life it will be clear he was a fool.” 22
Jeremiah 25:38
Context25:38 The Lord is like a lion who has left his lair. 23
So their lands will certainly 24 be laid waste
by the warfare of the oppressive nation 25
and by the fierce anger of the Lord.”
Jeremiah 51:9
Context51:9 Foreigners living there will say, 26
‘We tried to heal her, but she could not be healed.
Let’s leave Babylonia 27 and each go back to his own country.
For judgment on her will be vast in its proportions.
It will be like it is piled up to heaven, stacked up into the clouds.’ 28
[1:16] 1 tn The Hebrew particle (the vav [ו] consecutive), which is often rendered in some English versions as “and” and in others is simply left untranslated, is rendered here epexegetically, reflecting a summary statement.
[1:16] 2 sn The Hebrew idiom (literally “I will speak my judgments against”) is found three other times in Jeremiah (4:12; 39:5; 52:9), where it is followed by the carrying out of the sentence. Here the carrying out of the sentence precedes in v. 15.
[1:16] 3 tn Heb “on them.” The antecedent goes back to Jerusalem and the cities of Judah (i.e., the people in them) in v. 15.
[5:7] 5 tn These words are not in the text, but are supplied in the translation to make clear who is speaking.
[5:7] 6 tn Heb “How can I forgive [or pardon] you.” The pronoun “you” is second feminine singular, referring to the city. See v. 1.
[5:7] 7 tn Heb “your children.”
[5:7] 8 tn Heb “and they have sworn [oaths] by not-gods.”
[5:7] 9 tn Heb “I satisfied them to the full.”
[5:7] 10 tn Heb “they committed adultery.” It is difficult to decide whether literal adultery with other women or spiritual adultery with other gods is meant. The word for adultery is used for both in the book of Jeremiah. For examples of its use for spiritual adultery see 3:8, 9; 9:2. For examples of its use for literal adultery see 7:9; 23:14. The context here could argue for either. The swearing by other gods and the implicit contradiction in their actions in contrast to the expected gratitude for supplying their needs argues for spiritual adultery. However, the reference to prostitution in the next line and the reference to chasing after their neighbor’s wives argues for literal adultery. The translation opts for spiritual adultery because of the contrast implicit in the concessive clause.
[5:7] 11 tn There is a great deal of debate about the meaning of this word. Most of the modern English versions follow the lead of lexicographers who relate this word to a noun meaning “troop” and understand it to mean “they trooped together” (cf. BDB 151 s.v. גָּדַד Hithpo.2 and compare the usage in Mic 5:1 [4:14 HT]). A few of the modern English versions and commentaries follow the reading of the Greek and read a word meaning “they lodged” (reading ִיתְגּוֹרְרוּ [yitggorÿru] from I גּוּר [gur; cf. HALOT 177 s.v. Hithpo. and compare the usage in 1 Kgs 17:20] instead of יִתְגֹּדָדוּ [yitggodadu]). W. L. Holladay (Jeremiah [Hermeneia], 1:180) sees a reference here to the cultic practice of cutting oneself in supplication to pagan gods (cf. BDB 151 s.v. גָּדַד Hithpo.1 and compare the usage in 1 Kgs 18:28). The houses of prostitutes would then be a reference to ritual prostitutes at the pagan shrines. The translation follows BDB and the majority of modern English versions.
[5:7] 12 tn Heb “to a house of a prostitute.”
[9:2] 9 tn Heb “I wish I had in the desert a lodging place [inn, or place to spend the night] for travelers.”
[9:2] 10 tn Or “bunch,” but this loses the irony; the word is used for the solemn assemblies at the religious feasts.
[9:2] 11 tn Heb “they are all adulterers, a congregation of unfaithful people.” However, spiritual adultery is, of course, meant, not literal adultery. So the literal translation would be misleading.
[9:13] 13 tn Heb “and they have not walked in it (with “it” referring to “my law”).
[9:19] 17 tn The words “They will wail” are not in the text. They are supplied in the translation to make clear that this is the wailing that will be heard.
[9:19] 18 tn Heb “How we are ruined!”
[9:19] 19 tn The order of these two lines has been reversed for English stylistic reasons. The text reads in Hebrew “because we have left our land because they have thrown down our dwellings.” The two clauses offer parallel reasons for the cries “How ruined we are! [How] we are greatly disgraced!” But the first line must contain a prophetic perfect (because the lament comes from Jerusalem) and the second a perfect referring to a destruction that is itself future. This seems the only way to render the verse that would not be misleading.
[17:11] 21 tn The meaning of this line is somewhat uncertain. The word translated “broods over” occurs only here and Isa 34:15. It is often defined on the basis of an Aramaic cognate which means “to gather” with an extended meaning of “to gather together under her to hatch.” Many commentators go back to a Rabbinic explanation that the partridge steals the eggs of other birds and hatches them out only to see the birds depart when they recognize that she is not the mother. Modern studies question the validity of this zoologically. Moreover, W. L. Holladay contests the validity on the basis of the wording “and she does hatch them” (Heb “bring them to birth”). See W. L. Holladay, Jeremiah (Hermeneia), 1:498, and see also P. C. Craigie, P. H. Kelley, J. F. Drinkard, Jeremiah 1-25 (WBC), 229. The point of the comparison is that the rich gather their wealth but they do not get to see the fruits of it.
[17:11] 22 tn The Hebrew text merely says “it.” But the antecedent might be ambiguous in English so the reference to wealth gained by unjust means is here reiterated for clarity.
[17:11] 23 tn Heb “he will be [= prove to be] a fool.”
[25:38] 25 tn Heb “Like a lion he has left his lair.”
[25:38] 26 tn This is a way of rendering the Hebrew particle כִּי (ki) which is probably here for emphasis rather than indicating cause (see BDB 473 s.v. כִּי 1.e and compare usage in Jer 22:22).
[25:38] 27 tc Heb “by the sword of the oppressors.” The reading here follows a number of Hebrew
[51:9] 29 tn The words “Foreigners living there will say” are not in the text but are implicit from the third line. These words are generally assumed by the commentaries and are explicitly added in TEV and NCV which are attempting to clarify the text for the average reader.
[51:9] 30 tn Heb “Leave/abandon her.” However, it is smoother in the English translation to make this verb equivalent to the cohortative that follows.
[51:9] 31 tn This is an admittedly very paraphrastic translation that tries to make the figurative nuance of the Hebrew original understandable for the average reader. The Hebrew text reads: “For her judgment [or punishment (cf. BDB 1078 s.v. מִשְׁפָּט 1.f) = ‘execution of judgment’] touches the heavens, and is lifted up as far as the clouds.” The figure of hyperbole or exaggeration is being used here to indicate the vastness of Babylon’s punishment which is the reason to escape (vv. 6, 9c). For this figure see Deut 1:28 in comparison with Num 13:28 and see also Deut 9:1. In both of the passages in Deut it refers to an exaggeration about the height of the walls of fortified cities. The figure also may be a play on Gen 11:4 where the nations gather in Babylon to build a tower that reaches to the skies. The present translation has interpreted the perfects here as prophetic because it has not happened yet or they would not be encouraging one another to leave and escape. For the idea here compare 50:16.
