Jeremiah 10:7

10:7 Everyone should revere you, O King of all nations, ¹ 

because you deserve to be revered. ² 

For there is no one like you

among any of the wise people of the nations nor among any of their kings. ³ 

Jeremiah 14:3

14:3 The leading men of the cities send their servants for water.

They go to the cisterns, ⁴  but they do not find any water there.

They return with their containers ⁵  empty.

Disappointed and dismayed, they bury their faces in their hands. ⁶ 

Jeremiah 46:5

46:5 What do I see?” ⁷  says the Lord. ⁸ 

“The soldiers ⁹  are terrified.

They are retreating.

They have been defeated.

They are overcome with terror; ¹⁰ 

they desert quickly

without looking back.

[10:7]  ¹ tn Heb “Who should not revere you…?” The question is rhetorical and expects a negative answer.

[10:7]  ² tn Heb “For it is fitting to you.”

[10:7]  ³ tn Heb “their royalty/dominion.” This is a case of substitution of the abstract for the concrete “royalty, royal power” for “kings” who exercise it.

[14:3]  ⁴ tn Though the concept of “cisterns” is probably not familiar to some readers, it would be a mistake to translate this word as “well.” Wells have continual sources of water. Cisterns were pits dug in the ground and lined with plaster to hold rain water. The drought had exhausted all the water in the cisterns.

[14:3]  ⁵ tn The word “containers” is a generic word in Hebrew = “vessels.” It would probably in this case involve water “jars” or “jugs.” But since in contemporary English one would normally associate those terms with smaller vessels, “containers” may be safer.

[14:3]  ⁶ tn Heb “they cover their heads.” Some of the English versions have gone wrong here because of the “normal” use of the words translated here “disappointed” and “dismayed.” They are regularly translated “ashamed” and “disgraced, humiliated, dismayed” elsewhere (see e.g., Jer 22:22); they are somewhat synonymous terms which are often parallel or combined. The key here, however, is the expression “they cover their heads” which is used in 2 Sam 15:30 for the expression of grief. Moreover, the word translated here “disappointed” (בּוֹשׁ, bosh) is used that way several times. See for example Jer 12:13 and consult examples in BDB 101 s.v. בּוֹשׁ Qal.2. A very similar context with the same figure is found in Jer 2:36-37.

[46:5]  ⁷ tn Heb “Why do I see?” The rendering is that of J. A. Thompson (Jeremiah [NICOT], 685, 88) and J. Bright (Jeremiah [AB], 301; TEV; NIV). The question is not asking for information but is expressing surprise or wonder (see E. W. Bullinger, Figures of Speech, 951).

[46:5]  ⁸ tn Heb “oracle of the Lord.” This phrase, which is part of a messenger formula (i.e., that the words that are spoken are from him), are actually at the end of the verse. They have been put here for better poetic balance and to better identify the “I.”

[46:5]  ⁹ tn Heb “Their soldiers.” These words are actually at the midpoint of the stanza as the subject of the third of the five verbs. However, as G. L. Keown, P. J. Scalise, and T. G. Smothers (Jeremiah 26-52 [WBC], 291) note, this is the subject of all five verbs “are terrified,” “are retreating,” “have been defeated,” “have run away,” and “have not looked back.” The subject is put at the front to avoid an unidentified “they.”

[46:5]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “terror is all around.”