Jeremiah 11:5

11:5 Then I will keep the promise I swore on oath to your ancestors to give them a land flowing with milk and honey.” ¹  That is the very land that you still live in today.’” ²  And I responded, “Amen! Let it be so, ³  Lord!”

Jeremiah 12:6

12:6 As a matter of fact, ⁴  even your own brothers

and the members of your own family have betrayed you too.

Even they have plotted to do away with you. ⁵ 

So do not trust them even when they say kind things ⁶  to you.

Jeremiah 34:13

34:13 “The Lord God of Israel has a message for you. ⁷  ‘I made a covenant with your ancestors ⁸  when I brought them out of Egypt where they had been slaves. ⁹  It stipulated, ¹⁰ 

[11:5]  ¹ tn The phrase “a land flowing with milk and honey” is very familiar to readers in the Jewish and Christian traditions as a proverbial description of the agricultural and pastoral abundance of the land of Israel. However, it may not mean too much to readers outside those traditions; an equivalent expression would be “a land of fertile fields and fine pastures.” E. W. Bullinger (Figures of Speech, 626) identifies this as a figure of speech called synecdoche where the species is put for the genus, “a region…abounding with pasture and fruits of all kinds.”

[11:5]  ² tn Heb “‘a land flowing with milk and honey,’ as at this day.” However, the literal reading is too elliptical and would lead to confusion.

[11:5]  ³ tn The words “Let it be so” are not in the text; they are an explanation of the significance of the term “Amen” for those who may not be part of the Christian or Jewish tradition.

[12:6]  ⁴ tn This is an attempt to give some contextual sense to the particle “for, indeed” (כִּי, ki).

[12:6]  ⁵ 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]  ⁶ tn Heb “good things.” See BDB 373 s.v. II טוֹב 2 for this nuance and compare Prov 12:25 for usage.

[34:13]  ⁷ tn Heb “Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, ‘…’” The style adopted here has been used to avoid a longer, more complex English sentence.

[34:13]  ⁸ tn Heb “fathers” (also in vv. 14, 15).

[34:13]  ⁹ tn Heb “out of the house of bondage.”

[34:13]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “made a covenant, saying.” This was only one of several stipulations of the covenant. The form used here has been chosen as an indirect way of relating the specific stipulation that is being focused upon to the general covenant that is referred to in v. 13.