Discovery BoxJeremiah 11:18--12:17
Context11:18 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
11:20 So I said to the Lord, 8
“O Lord who rules over all, 9 you are a just judge!
You examine people’s hearts and minds. 10
I want to see you pay them back for what they have done
because I trust you to vindicate my cause.” 11
11:21 Then the Lord told me about 12 some men from Anathoth 13 who were threatening to kill me. 14 They had threatened, 15 “Stop prophesying in the name of the Lord or we will kill you!” 16 11:22 So the Lord who rules over all 17 said, “I will surely 18 punish them! Their young men will be killed in battle. 19 Their sons and daughters will die of starvation. 11:23 Not one of them will survive. 20 I will bring disaster on those men from Anathoth who threatened you. 21 A day of reckoning is coming for them.” 22
12:1 Lord, you have always been fair
whenever I have complained to you. 23
However, I would like to speak with you about the disposition of justice. 24
Why are wicked people successful? 25
Why do all dishonest people have such easy lives?
12:2 You plant them like trees and they put down their roots. 26
They grow prosperous and are very fruitful. 27
They always talk about you,
but they really care nothing about you. 28
12:3 But you, Lord, know all about me.
You watch me and test my devotion to you. 29
Drag these wicked men away like sheep to be slaughtered!
Appoint a time when they will be killed! 30
12:4 How long must the land be parched 31
and the grass in every field be withered?
How long 32 must the animals and the birds die
because of the wickedness of the people who live in this land? 33
For these people boast,
“God 34 will not see what happens to us.” 35
“If you have raced on foot against men and they have worn you out,
how will you be able to compete with horses?
And if you feel secure only 37 in safe and open country, 38
how will you manage in the thick undergrowth along the Jordan River? 39
12:6 As a matter of fact, 40 even your own brothers
and the members of your own family have betrayed you too.
Even they have plotted to do away with you. 41
So do not trust them even when they say kind things 42 to you.
12:7 “I will abandon my nation. 43
I will forsake the people I call my own. 44
I will turn my beloved people 45
over to the power 46 of their enemies.
12:8 The people I call my own 47 have turned on me
like a lion 48 in the forest.
They have roared defiantly 49 at me.
So I will treat them as though I hate them. 50
12:9 The people I call my own attack me like birds of prey or like hyenas. 51
But other birds of prey are all around them. 52
Let all the nations gather together like wild beasts.
Let them come and destroy these people I call my own. 53
12:10 Many foreign rulers 54 will ruin the land where I planted my people. 55
They will trample all over my chosen land. 56
They will turn my beautiful land
into a desolate wasteland.
12:11 They will lay it waste.
It will lie parched 57 and empty before me.
The whole land will be laid waste.
But no one living in it will pay any heed. 58
12:12 A destructive army 59 will come marching
over the hilltops in the desert.
For the Lord will use them as his destructive weapon 60
against 61 everyone from one end of the land to the other.
No one will be safe. 62
12:13 My people will sow wheat, but will harvest weeds. 63
They will work until they are exhausted, but will get nothing from it.
They will be disappointed in their harvests 64
because the Lord will take them away in his fierce anger. 65
12:14 “I, the Lord, also have something to say concerning 66 the wicked nations who surround my land 67 and have attacked and plundered 68 the land that I gave to my people as a permanent possession. 69 I say: ‘I will uproot the people of those nations from their lands and I will free the people of Judah who have been taken there. 70 12:15 But after I have uprooted the people of those nations, I will relent 71 and have pity on them. I will restore the people of each of those nations to their own lands 72 and to their own country. 12:16 But they must make sure you learn to follow the religious practices of my people. 73 Once they taught my people to swear their oaths using the name of the god Baal. 74 But then, they must swear oaths using my name, saying, “As surely as the Lord lives, I swear.” 75 If they do these things, 76 then they will be included among the people I call my own. 77 12:17 But I will completely uproot and destroy any of those nations that will not pay heed,’” 78 says the Lord.
[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
[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.”
[11:20] 8 tn The words “So I said to the
[11:20] 9 tn Heb “Yahweh of armies.”
[11:20] 10 tn Heb “
[11:20] 11 tn Heb “Let me see your retribution [i.e., see you exact retribution] from them because I reveal my cause [i.e., plea for justice] to you.”
[11:21] 12 tn Heb “Therefore thus says the
[11:21] 13 tn Heb “the men of Anathoth.” However, this does not involve all of the people, only the conspirators. The literal might lead to confusion later since v. 21 mentions that there will not be any of them left alive. However, it is known from Ezra 2:23 that there were survivors.
[11:21] 14 tc The MT reads the 2nd person masculine singular suffix “your life,” but LXX reflects an alternative reading of the 1st person common singular suffix “my life.”
[11:21] 15 tn Heb “who were seeking my life, saying…” The sentence is broken up in conformity with contemporary English style.
[11:21] 16 tn Heb “or you will die by our hand.”
[11:22] 17 tn Heb “Yahweh of armies.”
[11:22] 18 tn Heb “Behold I will.” For the function of this particle see the translator’s note on 1:6.
[11:22] 19 tn Heb “will die by the sword.” Here “sword” stands contextually for “battle” while “starvation” stands for death by starvation during siege.
[11:23] 20 tn Heb “There will be no survivors for/among them.”
[11:23] 21 tn Heb “the men of Anathoth.” For the rationale for adding the qualification see the notes on v. 21.
[11:23] 22 tn Heb “I will bring disaster on…, the year of their punishment.”
[12:1] 23 tn Or “
[12:1] 24 tn Heb “judgments” or “matters of justice.” For the nuance of “complain to,” “fair,” “disposition of justice” assumed here, see BDB 936 s.v. רִיב Qal.4 (cf. Judg 21:22); BDB 843 s.v. צַדִּיק 1.d (cf. Ps 7:12; 11:7); BDB 1049 s.v. מִשְׁפָּט 1.f (cf. Isa 26:8; Ps 10:5; Ezek 7:27).
[12:1] 25 tn Heb “Why does the way [= course of life] of the wicked prosper?”
[12:2] 26 tn Heb “You planted them and they took root.”
[12:2] 27 tn Heb “they grow and produce fruit.” For the nuance “grow” for the verb which normally means “go, walk,” see BDB 232 s.v. חָלַךְ Qal.I.3 and compare Hos 14:7.
[12:2] 28 tn Heb “You are near in their mouths, but far from their kidneys.” The figure of substitution is being used here, “mouth” for “words” and “kidneys” for passions and affections. A contemporary equivalent might be, “your name is always on their lips, but their hearts are far from you.”
[12:3] 29 tn Heb “You,
[12:3] 30 tn Heb “set aside for them a day of killing.”
[12:4] 31 tn The verb here is often translated “mourn.” However, this verb is from a homonymic root meaning “to be dry” (cf. HALOT 7 s.v. II אָבַל and compare Hos 4:3 for usage).
[12:4] 32 tn The words “How long” are not in the text. They are carried over from the first line.
[12:4] 33 tn Heb “because of the wickedness of those who live in it.”
[12:4] 34 tn Heb “he.” The referent is usually identified as God and is supplied here for clarity. Some identify the referent with Jeremiah. If that is the case, then he returns to his complaint about the conspirators. It is more likely, however, that it refers to God and Jeremiah’s complaint that the people live their lives apart from concern about God.
[12:4] 35 tc Or reading with the Greek version, “God does not see what we are doing.” In place of “what will happen to us (אַחֲרִיתֵנוּ, ’akharitenu, “our end”) the Greek version understands a Hebrew text which reads “our ways” (אָרְחוֹתֵנו, ’orkhotenu), which is graphically very close to the MT. The Masoretic is supported by the Latin and is retained here on the basis of external evidence. Either text makes good sense in the context. Some identify the “he” with Jeremiah and understand the text to be saying that the conspirators are certain that they will succeed and he will not live to see his prophecies fulfilled.
[12:5] 36 tn The words “The
[12:5] 37 tn Some commentaries and English versions follow the suggestion given in HALOT 116 s.v. II בָּטַח that a homonym meaning “to stumble, fall down” is involved here and in Prov 14:16. The evidence for this homonym is questionable because both passages can be explained on other grounds with the usual root.
[12:5] 38 tn Heb “a land of tranquility.” The expression involves a figure of substitution where the feeling engendered is substituted for the conditions that engender it. For the idea see Isa 32:18. The translation both here and in the following line is intended to bring out the contrast implicit in the emotive connotations connected with “peaceful country” and “thicket along the Jordan.”
[12:5] 39 tn Heb “the thicket along the Jordan.” The word “River” is not in the Hebrew text, but has been supplied in the translation for clarity.
[12:6] 40 tn This is an attempt to give some contextual sense to the particle “for, indeed” (כִּי, ki).
[12:6] 41 tn Heb “they have called after you fully”; or “have lifted up loud voices against you.” The word “against” does not seem quite adequate for the preposition “after.” The preposition “against” would be Hebrew עַל (’al). The idea appears to be that they are chasing after him, raising their voices along with those of the conspirators to have him killed.
[12:6] 42 tn Heb “good things.” See BDB 373 s.v. II טוֹב 2 for this nuance and compare Prov 12:25 for usage.
[12:7] 43 tn Heb “my house.” Or “I have abandoned my nation.” The word “house” has been used throughout Jeremiah for both the temple (e.g., 7:2, 10), the nation or people of Israel or of Judah (e.g. 3:18, 20), or the descendants of Jacob (i.e., the Israelites, e.g., 2:4). Here the parallelism argues that it refers to the nation of Judah. The translation throughout vv. 5-17 assumes that the verb forms are prophetic perfects, the form that conceives of the action as being as good as done. It is possible that the forms are true perfects and refer to a past destruction of Judah. If so, it may have been connected with the assaults against Judah in 598/7
[12:7] 44 tn Heb “my inheritance.”
[12:7] 45 tn Heb “the beloved of my soul.” Here “soul” stands for the person and is equivalent to “my.”
[12:7] 46 tn Heb “will give…into the hands of.”
[12:8] 47 tn See the note on the previous verse.
[12:8] 48 tn Heb “have become to me like a lion.”
[12:8] 49 tn Heb “have given against me with her voice.”
[12:8] 50 tn Or “so I will reject her.” The word “hate” is sometimes used in a figurative way to refer to being neglected, i.e., treated as though unloved. In these contexts it does not have the same emotive connotations that a typical modern reader would associate with hate. See Gen 29:31, 33 and E. W. Bullinger, Figures of Speech, 556.
[12:9] 51 tn Or “like speckled birds of prey.” The meanings of these words are uncertain. In the Hebrew text sentence is a question: “Is not my inheritance to me a bird of prey [or] a hyena/a speckled bird of prey?” The question expects a positive answer and so is rendered here as an affirmative statement. The meaning of the word “speckled” is debated. It occurs only here. BDB 840 s.v. צָבוּעַ relates it to another word that occurs only once in Judg 5:30 which is translated “dyed stuff.” HALOT 936 s.v. צָבוּעַ relates a word found in the cognates meaning “hyena.” This is more likely and is the interpretation followed by the Greek which reads the first two words as “cave of hyena.” This translation has led some scholars to posit a homonym for the word “bird of prey” meaning “cave” which is based on Arabic parallels. The metaphor would then be of Israel carried off by hyenas and surrounded by birds of prey. The evidence for the meaning “cave” is weak and would involve a wordplay of a rare homonym with another word that is better known. For a discussion of the issues see J. Barr, Comparative Philology and the Text of the Old Testament, 128-29, 153.
[12:9] 52 tn Heb “Are birds of prey around her?” The question is again rhetorical and expects a positive answer. The birds of prey are of course the hostile nations surrounding her. The metaphor involved in these two lines may be interpreted differently. I.e., God considers Israel a proud bird of prey (hence the word for speckled) but one who is surrounded and under attack by other birds of prey. The fact that the sentences are divided into two rhetorical questions speaks somewhat against this.
[12:9] 53 tn Heb “Go, gather all the beasts of the field [= wild beasts]. Bring them to devour.” The verbs are masculine plural imperatives addressed rhetorically to some unidentified group (the heavenly counsel?) Cf. the notes on 5:1 for further discussion. Since translating literally would raise question about who the commands are addressed to, they have been turned into passive third person commands to avoid confusion. The metaphor has likewise been turned into a simile to help the modern reader. By the way, the imperatives here implying future action argue that the passage is future and that it is correct to take the verb forms as prophetic perfects.
[12:10] 54 tn Heb “Many shepherds.” For the use of the term “shepherd” as a figure for rulers see the notes on 10:21.
[12:10] 55 tn Heb “my vineyard.” To translate literally would presuppose an unlikely familiarity of this figure on the part of some readers. To translate as “vineyards” as some do would be misleading because that would miss the figurative nuance altogether.
[12:10] 56 tn Heb “my portion.”
[12:11] 57 tn For the use of this verb see the notes on 12:4. Some understand the homonym here meaning “it [the desolated land] will mourn to me.” However, the only other use of the preposition עַל (’al) with this root means “to mourn over” not “to” (cf. Hos 10:5). For the use of the preposition here see BDB 753 s.v. עַל II.1.b and compare the use in Gen 48:7.
[12:11] 58 tn Heb “But there is no man laying it to heart.” For the idiom here see BDB 525 s.v. לֵב II.3.d and compare the usage in Isa 42:25; 47:7.
[12:12] 59 tn Heb “destroyers.”
[12:12] 60 tn Heb “It is the
[12:12] 61 tn Heb “For a sword of the
[12:12] 62 tn Heb “There is no peace to all flesh.”
[12:13] 63 sn Invading armies lived off the land, using up all the produce and destroying everything they could not consume.
[12:13] 64 tn The pronouns here are actually second plural: Heb “Be ashamed/disconcerted because of your harvests.” Because the verb form (וּבֹשׁוּ, uvoshu) can either be Qal perfect third plural or Qal imperative masculine plural many emend the pronoun on the noun to third plural (see, e.g., BHS). However, this is the easier reading and is not supported by either the Latin or the Greek which have second plural. This is probably another case of the shift from description to direct address that has been met with several times already in Jeremiah (the figure of speech called apostrophe; for other examples see, e.g., 9:4; 11:13). As in other cases the translation has been leveled to third plural to avoid confusion for the contemporary English reader. For the meaning of the verb here see BDB 101 s.v. בּוֹשׁ Qal.2 and compare the usage in Jer 48:13.
[12:13] 65 tn Heb “be disappointed in their harvests from the fierce anger of the
[12:14] 66 tn Heb “Thus says the
[12:14] 67 tn Heb “my wicked neighbors.”
[12:14] 68 tn Heb “touched.” For the nuance of this verb here see BDB 619 s.v. נָגַע Qal.3 and compare the usage in 1 Chr 16:22 where it is parallel to “do harm to” and Zech 2:8 where it is parallel to “plundered.”
[12:14] 69 tn Heb “the inheritance which I caused my people Israel to inherit.” Compare 3:18.
[12:14] 70 tn Heb “I will uproot the house of Judah from their midst.”
[12:15] 71 tn For the use of the verb “turn” (שׁוּב, shuv) in this sense, see BDB s.v. שׁוּב Qal.6.g and compare the usage in Pss 90:13; 6:4; Joel 2:14. It does not simply mean “again” as several of the English versions render it.
[12:15] 72 sn The
[12:16] 73 tn Heb “the ways of my people.” For this nuance of the word “ways” compare 10:2 and the notes there.
[12:16] 74 tn Heb “taught my people to swear by Baal.”
[12:16] 75 tn The words “I swear” are not in the text but are implicit to the oath formula. They are supplied in the translation for clarity.
[12:16] 76 tn The words “If they do this” are not in the text. They are part of an attempt to break up a Hebrew sentence which is long and complex into equivalent shorter sentences consistent with contemporary English style. Verse 16 in Hebrew is all one sentence with a long complex conditional clause followed by a short consequence: “If they carefully learn the ways of my people to swear by name, ‘By the life of the
[12:16] 77 tn Heb “they will be built up among my people.” The expression “be built up among” is without parallel. However, what is involved here is conceptually parallel to the ideas expressed in Isa 19:23-25 and Zech 14:16-19. That is, these people will be allowed to live on their own land, to worship the
[12:17] 78 tn Heb “But if they will not listen, I will uproot that nation, uprooting and destroying.” IBHS 590-91 §35.3.2d is likely right in seeing the double infinitive construction here as an intensifying infinitive followed by an adverbial infinitive qualifying the goal of the main verb, “uproot it in such a way as to destroy it.” However, to translate that way “literally” would not be very idiomatic in contemporary English. The translation strives for the equivalent. Likewise, to translate using the conditional structure of the original seems to put the emphasis of the passage in its context on the wrong point.
