Jeremiah 12:14

12:14 “I, the Lord, also have something to say concerning ¹  the wicked nations who surround my land ²  and have attacked and plundered ³  the land that I gave to my people as a permanent possession. ⁴  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. ⁵ 

Jeremiah 14:19

14:19 Then I said,

“Lord, ⁶  have you completely rejected the nation of Judah?

Do you despise ⁷  the city of Zion?

Why have you struck us with such force

that we are beyond recovery? ⁸ 

We hope for peace, but nothing good has come of it.

We hope for a time of relief from our troubles, but experience terror. ⁹ 

Jeremiah 25:3

25:3 “For the last twenty-three years, from the thirteenth year that Josiah son of Amon was ruling in Judah ¹⁰  until now, the Lord has been speaking to me. I told you over and over again ¹¹  what he said. ¹²  But you would not listen.

Jeremiah 31:12

31:12 They will come and shout for joy on Mount Zion.

They will be radiant with joy ¹³  over the good things the Lord provides,

the grain, the fresh wine, the olive oil,

the young sheep and calves he has given to them.

They will be like a well-watered garden

and will not grow faint or weary any more.

Jeremiah 37:17

37:17 Then King Zedekiah had him brought to the palace. There he questioned him privately and asked him, ¹⁴  “Is there any message from the Lord?” Jeremiah answered, “Yes, there is.” Then he announced, ¹⁵  “You will be handed over to the king of Babylon.” ¹⁶ 

[12:14]  ¹ tn Heb “Thus says the Lord concerning….” This structure has been adopted to prevent a long dangling introduction to what the Lord has to say that does not begin until the middle of the verse in Hebrew. The first person address was adopted because the speaker is still the Lord as in vv. 7-13.

[12:14]  ² tn Heb “my wicked neighbors.”

[12:14]  ³ 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]  ⁴ tn Heb “the inheritance which I caused my people Israel to inherit.” Compare 3:18.

[12:14]  ⁵ tn Heb “I will uproot the house of Judah from their midst.”

[14:19]  ⁶ tn The words, “Then I said, ‘Lord” are not in the Hebrew text. It is obvious from the context that the Lord is addressee. The question of the identity of the speaker is the same as that raised in vv. 7-9 and the arguments set forth there are applicable here as well. Jeremiah is here identifying with the people and doing what they refuse to do, i.e., confess their sins and express their trust in him.

[14:19]  ⁷ tn Heb “does your soul despise.” Here as in many places the word “soul” stands as part for whole for the person himself emphasizing emotional and volitional aspects of the person. However, in contemporary English one does not regularly speak of the “soul” in contexts such as this but of the person.

[14:19]  ⁸ tn Heb “Why have you struck us and there is no healing for us.” The statement involves poetic exaggeration (hyperbole) for rhetorical effect.

[14:19]  ⁹ tn Heb “[We hope] for a time of healing but behold terror.”

[25:3]  ¹¹ sn The year referred to would be 627 b.c. The same year is referred to in 1:2 in reference to his call to be a prophet.

[25:3]  ¹² tn For the idiom involved here see the notes at 7:13 and 11:7.

[25:3]  ¹³ tn The words “what he said” are not in the text but are implicit. They are supplied in the translation for clarity.

[31:12]  ¹⁶ tn Reading a Qal perfect from the root II נָהַר (nahar; so KBL 509 s.v. and HALOT 639 s.v.) rather than I נָהַר (so BDB 625 s.v.).

[37:17]  ²¹ tn Heb “Then King Zedekiah sent and brought him and the king asked him privately [or more literally, in secret] and said.”

[37:17]  ²² tn Heb “Then he said.”

[37:17]  ²³ sn Jeremiah’s answer even under duress was the same that he had given Zedekiah earlier. (See Jer 34:3 and see the study note on 34:1 for the relative timing of these two incidents.)