Jeremiah 11:17

11:17 For though I, the Lord who rules over all, ¹  planted you in the land, ² 

I now decree that disaster will come on you ³ 

because the nations of Israel and Judah have done evil

and have made me angry by offering sacrifices to the god Baal.” ⁴ 

Jeremiah 41:8

41:8 But there were ten men among them who said ⁵  to Ishmael, “Do not kill us. For we will give you the stores of wheat, barley, olive oil, and honey we have hidden in a field. ⁶  So he spared their lives and did not kill ⁷  them along with the rest. ⁸ 

[11:17]  ¹ tn Heb “Yahweh of armies.”

[11:17]  ² tn The words “in the land” are not in the text but are supplied in the translation to clarify the meaning of the metaphor.

[11:17]  ³ tn Heb “For Yahweh of armies who planted you speaks disaster upon you.” Because of the way the term Lord of armies has been rendered this sentence has been restructured to avoid confusion in English style.

[11:17]  ⁴ tn Heb “pronounced disaster…on account of the evil of the house of Israel and the house of Judah which they have done to make me angry [or thus making me angry] by sacrificing to Baal.” The lines have been broken up in conformity with contemporary English style.

[41:8]  ⁵ tn Heb “But there were ten men found among them and they said.” However, for the use of “were found” = “be, happened to be” see BDB 594 s.v. מָצָא 2.c and compare the usage in 41:3.

[41:8]  ⁶ tn This sentence is a good example of the elliptical nature of some of the causal connections in the Hebrew Bible. All the Hebrew says literally is “For we have hidden stores of wheat, barley, olive oil, and honey in a field.” However, it is obvious that they are using this as their bargaining chip to prevent Ishmael and his men from killing them. For the use of “for” (כִּי, ki) for such elliptical thoughts see BDB 473-74 s.v. כִּי 3.c.

[41:8]  ⁷ tn Or “So he refrained from killing them”; Heb “he refrained and did not kill them.”

[41:8]  ⁸ tn Heb “in the midst of their brothers/fellow countrymen.”