Jeremiah 10:12

10:12 The Lord is the one who ¹  by his power made the earth.

He is the one who by his wisdom established the world.

And by his understanding he spread out the skies.

Jeremiah 51:15

51:15 He is the one who ²  by his power made the earth.

He is the one who by his wisdom fixed the world in place,

by his understanding he spread out the heavens.

Jeremiah 9:23

9:23 ³ The Lord says,

“Wise people should not boast that they are wise.

Powerful people should not boast that they are powerful. ⁴ 

Rich people should not boast that they are rich. ⁵ 

[10:12]  ¹ tn The words “The Lord is” are not in the text. They are implicit from the context. They are supplied in the translation here because of the possible confusion of who the subject is due to the parenthetical address to the people of Israel in v. 11. The first two verbs are participles and should not merely be translated as the narrative past. They are predicate nominatives of an implied copula intending to contrast the Lord as the one who made the earth with the idols which did not.

[51:15]  ² tn The participle here is intended to be connected with “Lord who rules over all” in the preceding verse. The passage is functioning to underline the Lord’s power to carry out what he has sworn in contrast to the impotence of their idols who will be put to shame and be dismayed (50:2).

[9:23]  ³ sn It is not always clear why verses were placed in their present position in the editorial process of collecting Jeremiah’s sermons and the words the Lord spoke to him (see Jer 36:4, 32 for reference to two of these collections). Here it is probable that vv. 23-26 were added as a further answer to the question raised in v. 12.

[9:23]  ⁴ tn Or “Strong people should not brag that they are strong.”

[9:23]  ⁵ tn Heb “…in their wisdom…in their power…in their riches.”