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!’

Jeremiah 12:10

12:10 Many foreign rulers ⁷  will ruin the land where I planted my people. ⁸ 

They will trample all over my chosen land. ⁹ 

They will turn my beautiful land

into a desolate wasteland.

[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.”

[12:10]  ⁹ tn Heb “Many shepherds.” For the use of the term “shepherd” as a figure for rulers see the notes on 10:21.

[12:10]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “my vineyard.” To translate literally would presuppose an unlikely familiarity of this figure on the part of some readers. To translate as “vineyards” as some do would be misleading because that would miss the figurative nuance altogether.

[12:10]  ¹¹ tn Heb “my portion.”