Jeremiah 11:20

11:20 So I said to the Lord, ¹ 

“O Lord who rules over all, ²  you are a just judge!

You examine people’s hearts and minds. ³ 

I want to see you pay them back for what they have done

because I trust you to vindicate my cause.” ⁴ 

Jeremiah 22:13

Judgment on Jehoiakim

22:13 “‘Sure to be judged ⁵  is the king who builds his palace using injustice

and treats people unfairly while adding its upper rooms. ⁶ 

He makes his countrymen work for him for nothing.

He does not pay them for their labor.

Jeremiah 33:16

33:16 Under his rule Judah will enjoy safety ⁷  and Jerusalem ⁸  will live in security. At that time Jerusalem will be called “The Lord has provided us with justice.” ⁹ 

Jeremiah 50:7

50:7 All who encountered them devoured them.

Their enemies who did this said, ‘We are not liable for punishment!

For those people have sinned against the Lord, their true pasture. ¹⁰ 

They have sinned against the Lord in whom their ancestors ¹¹  trusted.’ ¹² 

[11:20]  ¹ tn The words “So I said to the Lord” are not in the text but are implicit from the context. They are supplied in the translation for clarity to show the shift in address.

[11:20]  ² tn Heb “Yahweh of armies.”

[11:20]  ³ tn Heb “Lord of armies, just judge, tester of kidneys and heart.” The sentence has been broken up to avoid a long and complex English sentence. The translation is more in keeping with contemporary English style. In Hebrew thought the “kidneys” were thought of as the seat of the emotions and passions and the “heart” was viewed as the seat of intellect, conscience, and will. The “heart” and the “kidneys” are often used figuratively for the thoughts, emotions, motives, and drives that are thought to be seated in them.

[11:20]  ⁴ 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.”

[22:13]  ⁵ sn Heb “Woe.” This particle is used in laments for the dead (cf., e.g., 1 Kgs 13:30; Jer 34:5) and as an introductory particle in indictments against a person on whom judgment is pronounced (cf., e.g., Isa 5:8, 11; Jer 23:1). The indictment is found here in vv. 13-17 and the announcement of judgment in vv. 18-19.

[22:13]  ⁶ tn Heb “Woe to the one who builds his house by unrighteousness and its upper rooms with injustice using his neighbor [= countryman] as a slave for nothing and not giving to him his wages.”

[33:16]  ⁹ tn For the translation of this term in this context see the parallel context in 23:6 and consult the translator’s note there.

[33:16]  ¹⁰ map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.

[33:16]  ¹¹ tn Heb “And this is what will be called to it: ‘The Lord our righteousness.’”

[50:7]  ¹³ tn This same Hebrew phrase “the habitation of righteousness” is found in Jer 31:23 in relation to Jerusalem in the future as “the place where righteousness dwells.” Here, however, it refers to the same entity as “their resting place” in v. 6 and means “true pasture.” For the meaning of “pasture” for the word נָוֶה (naveh) see 2 Sam 7:8 and especially Isa 65:10 where it is parallel with “resting place” for the flocks. For the meaning of “true” for צֶדֶק (tsedeq) see BDB 841 s.v. צֶדֶק 1. For the interpretation adopted here see G. L. Keown, P. J. Scalise, T. G. Smothers, Jeremiah 26-52 (WBC), 365. The same basic interpretation is reflected in NRSV, NJPS, and God’s Word.

[50:7]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “fathers.”

[50:7]  ¹⁵ sn These two verses appear to be a poetical summary of the argument of Jer 2 where the nation is accused of abandoning its loyalty to God and worshiping idols. Whereas those who tried to devour Israel were liable for punishment when Israel was loyal to God (2:3), the enemies of Israel who destroyed them (i.e., the Babylonians [but also the Assyrians], 50:17) argue that they are not liable for punishment because the Israelites have sinned against the Lord and thus deserve their fate.