Jeremiah 12:2

12:2 You plant them like trees and they put down their roots. ¹ 

They grow prosperous and are very fruitful. ² 

They always talk about you,

but they really care nothing about you. ³ 

Jeremiah 17:10

17:10 I, the Lord, probe into people’s minds.

I examine people’s hearts. ⁴ 

I deal with each person according to how he has behaved.

I give them what they deserve based on what they have done.

Jeremiah 11:20

11:20 So I said to the Lord, ⁵ 

“O Lord who rules over all, ⁶  you are a just judge!

You examine people’s hearts and minds. ⁷ 

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

because I trust you to vindicate my cause.” ⁸ 

Jeremiah 20:12

20:12 O Lord who rules over all, ⁹  you test and prove the righteous.

You see into people’s hearts and minds. ¹⁰ 

Pay them back for what they have done

because I trust you to vindicate my cause.

[12:2]  ¹ tn Heb “You planted them and they took root.”

[12:2]  ² 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]  ³ 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.”

[17:10]  ⁴ tn The term rendered “mind” here and in the previous verse is actually the Hebrew word for “heart.” However, in combination with the word rendered “heart” in the next line, which is the Hebrew for “kidneys,” it is best rendered “mind” because the “heart” was considered the center of intellect, conscience, and will and the “kidneys” the center of emotions.

[11:20]  ⁷ 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]  ⁸ tn Heb “Yahweh of armies.”

[11:20]  ⁹ 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]  ¹⁰ 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.”

[20:12]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “Yahweh of armies.”

[20:12]  ¹¹ tn Heb “Lord of armies, the one who tests the righteous, who sees 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.