Jeremiah 12:5

12:5 The Lord answered, ¹ 

“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 ²  in safe and open country, ³ 

how will you manage in the thick undergrowth along the Jordan River? ⁴ 

Jeremiah 2:25

2:25 Do not chase after other gods until your shoes wear out

and your throats become dry. ⁵ 

But you say, ‘It is useless for you to try and stop me

because I love those foreign gods ⁶  and want to pursue them!’

[12:5]  ¹ tn The words “The Lord answered” are not in the text but are implicit from the context. They are supplied in the translation for clarity.

[12:5]  ² 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]  ³ 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]  ⁴ 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.

[2:25]  ⁵ tn Heb “Refrain your feet from being bare and your throat from being dry/thirsty.”

[2:25]  ⁶ tn Heb “It is useless! No!” For this idiom, see Jer 18:12; NEB “No; I am desperate.”