Jeremiah 11:18-19

A Plot Against Jeremiah is Revealed and He Complains of Injustice

11:18 The Lord gave me knowledge, that I might have understanding. ¹ 

Then he showed me what the people were doing. ² 

11:19 Before this I had been like a docile lamb ready to be led to the slaughter.

I did not know they were making plans to kill me. ³ 

I did not know they were saying, ⁴ 

“Let’s destroy the tree along with its fruit! ⁵ 

Let’s remove Jeremiah ⁶  from the world of the living

so people will not even be reminded of him any more.” ⁷ 

Acts 9:24

9:24 but Saul learned of their plot against him. ⁸  They were also watching ⁹  the city gates ¹⁰  day and night so that they could kill him.

Acts 14:6

14:6 Paul and Barnabas ¹¹  learned about it ¹²  and fled to the Lycaonian cities of Lystra ¹³  and Derbe ¹⁴  and the surrounding region.

Acts 23:16-18

23:16 But when the son of Paul’s sister heard about the ambush, ¹⁵  he came and entered ¹⁶  the barracks ¹⁷  and told Paul. 23:17 Paul called ¹⁸  one of the centurions ¹⁹  and said, “Take this young man to the commanding officer, ²⁰  for he has something to report to him.” 23:18 So the centurion ²¹  took him and brought him to the commanding officer ²²  and said, “The prisoner Paul called ²³  me and asked me to bring this young man to you because he has something to tell you.”

[11:18]  ¹ tn Heb “caused me to know that I might know.” Many English versions supply an unstated object “their plots” which is referred to later in the context (cf. v. 19). The presupposition of this kind of absolute ellipsis is difficult to justify and would create the need for understanding an ellipsis of “it” also after “I knew.” It is better to see a bipolar use of the verb “know” here. For the second use of the verb “know” meaning “have understanding” see BDB 394 s.v. ָידַע Qal.5.

[11:18]  ² tn Heb “Then you showed me their deeds.” This is another example of the rapid shift in person which is common in Jeremiah. As elsewhere, it has been resolved for the sake of avoiding confusion for the English reader by leveling the referent to the same person throughout. The text again involves an apostrophe, talking about the Lord to addressing him.

[11:19]  ³ tn Heb “against me.” The words “to kill me” are implicit from the context and are supplied in the translation for clarity.

[11:19]  ⁴ tn The words “I did not know that they were saying” are not in the text. The quote is without formal introduction in the original. These words are supplied in the translation for clarity.

[11:19]  ⁵ tn This word and its pronoun (לַחְמוֹ, lakhmo, “its bread”) is often emended to read “in/with its sap” = “in its prime” (either לֵחוֹ [lekho] or לֵחְמוֹ [lekhÿmo]); the latter would be more likely and the מוֹ (mo) could be explained as a rare use of the old poetic third plural suffix for the third singular; cf. GKC 258 §91.l for general use and Ps 11:7 and Job 27:23 for third singular use. Though this fits the context nicely the emendation is probably unnecessary since the word “bread” is sometimes used of other foodstuff than grain or its products (cf. BDB 537 s.v. לֶחֶם 2.a).

[11:19]  ⁶ tn Heb “cut it [or him] off.” The metaphor of the tree may be continued, though the verb “cut off” is used also of killing people. The rendering clarifies the meaning of the metaphor.

[11:19]  ⁷ tn Heb “so that his name will not be remembered any more.”

[9:24]  ⁸ tn The words “against him” are implied, as suggested by L&N 30.71.

[9:24]  ⁹ tn Or “guarding.” This is a negative term in Luke-Acts (Luke 6:7; 14:1; 20:20).

[9:24]  ¹⁰ tn The word πύλη (pulh) may refer to a house door or gate, or to the large gates used in a palace, temple, or city wall. Here the context clearly indicates a reference to the latter, so the translation “city gates” is used.

[14:6]  ¹¹ tn Grk “they”; the referents (Paul and Barnabas) have been specified in the translation for clarity.

[14:6]  ¹² tn Grk “learning about it, fled.” The participle συνιδόντες (sunidonte") has been translated as a finite verb due to requirements of contemporary English style. It could also be taken temporally (“when they learned about it”) as long as opening clause of v. 5 is not translated as a temporal clause too, which results in a redundancy.

[14:6]  ¹³ sn Lystra was a city in Lycaonia about 18 mi (30 km) south of Iconium, a Roman colony that was not on the main roads of Lycaonia. Because of its relative isolation, its local character was able to be preserved.

[14:6]  ¹⁴ sn Derbe was a city in Lycaonia about 35 mi (60 km) southeast of Lystra.

[23:16]  ¹⁵ tn Or “plot” (BDAG 334 s.v. ἐνέδρα).

[23:16]  ¹⁶ tn Grk “coming and entering…, he told.” The participles παραγενόμενος (paragenomeno") and εἰσελθών (eiselqwn) have been translated as finite verbs due to requirements of contemporary English style.

[23:16]  ¹⁷ tn Or “the headquarters.” BDAG 775 s.v. παρεμβολή 2 has “barracks/headquarters of the Roman troops in Jerusalem Ac 21:34, 37; 22:24; 23:10, 16, 32.”

[23:17]  ¹⁸ tn Grk “calling…Paul said.” The participle προσκαλεσάμενος (proskalesameno") has been translated as a finite verb due to requirements of contemporary English style.

[23:17]  ¹⁹ sn See the note on the word centurion in 10:1.

[23:17]  ²⁰ tn Grk “the chiliarch” (an officer in command of a thousand soldiers). See note on the term “commanding officer” in v. 10.

[23:18]  ²¹ tn Grk “he”; the referent (the centurion) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[23:18]  ²² tn Grk “the chiliarch” (an officer in command of a thousand soldiers). See note on the term “commanding officer” in v. 10.

[23:18]  ²³ tn Grk “calling.” The participle προσκαλεσάμενος (proskalesameno") has been translated as a finite verb due to requirements of contemporary English style.