Jeremiah 13:6

13:6 Many days later the Lord said to me, “Go at once to Perath and get ¹  the shorts I ordered you to bury there.”

Jeremiah 15:8

15:8 Their widows will become in my sight more numerous ² 

than the grains of sand on the seashores.

At noontime I will bring a destroyer

against the mothers of their young men. ³ 

I will cause anguish ⁴  and terror

to fall suddenly upon them. ⁵ 

Jeremiah 16:14

16:14 Yet ⁶  I, the Lord, say: ⁷  “A new time will certainly come. ⁸  People now affirm their oaths with ‘I swear as surely as the Lord lives who delivered the people of Israel out of Egypt.’

Jeremiah 23:5

23:5 “I, the Lord, promise ⁹  that a new time will certainly come ¹⁰ 

when I will raise up for them a righteous branch, ¹¹  a descendant of David.

He will rule over them with wisdom and understanding ¹² 

and will do what is just and right in the land. ¹³ 

Jeremiah 23:7

23:7 “So I, the Lord, say: ¹⁴  ‘A new time will certainly come. ¹⁵  People now affirm their oaths with “I swear as surely as the Lord lives who delivered the people of Israel out of Egypt.”

Jeremiah 31:27

Israel and Judah Will Be Repopulated

31:27 “Indeed, a time is coming,” ¹⁶  says the Lord, ¹⁷  “when I will cause people and animals to sprout up in the lands of Israel and Judah. ¹⁸ 

Jeremiah 31:31

31:31 “Indeed, a time is coming,” says the Lord, ¹⁹  “when I will make a new covenant ²⁰  with the people of Israel and Judah. ²¹ 

Jeremiah 33:14

The Lord Reaffirms His Covenant with David, Israel, and Levi

33:14 “I, the Lord, affirm: ²²  ‘The time will certainly come when I will fulfill my gracious promise concerning the nations of Israel and Judah. ²³ 

Jeremiah 37:16

37:16 So ²⁴  Jeremiah was put in prison in a cell in the dungeon in Jonathan’s house. ²⁵  He ²⁶  was kept there for a long time.

Jeremiah 48:12

48:12 But the time is coming when I will send

men against Moab who will empty it out.

They will empty the towns of their people,

then will lay those towns in ruins. ²⁷ 

I, the Lord, affirm it! ²⁸ 

Jeremiah 51:47

51:47 “So the time will certainly come ²⁹ 

when I will punish the idols of Babylon.

Her whole land will be put to shame.

All her mortally wounded will collapse in her midst. ³⁰ 

Jeremiah 51:52

51:52 Yes, but the time will certainly come,” ³¹  says the Lord, ³² 

“when I will punish her idols.

Throughout her land the mortally wounded will groan.

[13:6]  ¹ tn Heb “Get from there.” The words “from there” are not necessary to the English sentence. They would lead to a redundancy later in the verse, i.e., “from there…bury there.”

[15:8]  ² tn Heb “to me.” BDB 513 s.v. ל 5.a(d) compares the usage of the preposition “to” here to that in Jonah 3:3, “Nineveh was a very great city to God [in God’s estimation].” The NEB/REB interpret as though it were the agent after a passive verb, “I have made widows more numerous.” Most English versions ignore it. The present translation follows BDB though the emphasis on God’s agency has been strong in the passage.

[15:8]  ³ tn The translation of this line is a little uncertain because of the double prepositional phrase which is not represented in this translation or most of the others. The Hebrew text reads: “I will bring in to them, against mother of young men, a destroyer at noon time.” Many commentaries delete the phrase with the Greek text. If the preposition read “against” like the following one this would be a case of apposition of nearer definition. There is some evidence of that in the Targum and the Syriac according to BHS. Both nouns “mothers” and “young men” are translated as plural here though they are singular; they are treated by most as collectives. It would be tempting to translate these two lines “In broad daylight I have brought destroyers against the mothers of her fallen young men.” But this may be too interpretive. In the light of 6:4, noontime was a good time to attack. NJPS has “I will bring against them – young men and mothers together – ….” In this case “mother” and “young men” would be a case of asyndetic coordination.

[15:8]  ⁴ tn This word is used only here and in Hos 11:9. It is related to the root meaning “to rouse” (so BDB 735 s.v. I עִיר). Here it refers to the excitement or agitation caused by terror. In Hos 11:9 it refers to the excitement or arousal of anger.

[15:8]  ⁵ tn The “them” in the Hebrew text is feminine referring to the mothers.

[16:14]  ³ tn The particle translated here “Yet” (לָכֵן, lakhen) is regularly translated “So” or “Therefore” and introduces a consequence. However, in a few cases it introduces a contrasting set of conditions. Compare its use in Judg 11:8; Jer 48:12; 49:2; 51:52; and Hos 2:14 (2:16 HT).

[16:14]  ⁴ tn Heb “Oracle of the Lord.” The Lord has been speaking; the first person has been utilized in translation to avoid a shift which might create confusion.

[16:14]  ⁵ tn Heb “Behold the days are coming.”

[23:5]  ⁴ tn Heb “Oracle of the Lord.”

[23:5]  ⁵ tn Heb “Behold the days are coming.”

[23:5]  ⁶ tn Heb “a righteous sprig to David” or “a righteous shoot” (NAB).

[23:5]  ⁷ tn Heb “he will reign as king and act wisely.” This is another example of the use of two verbs joined by “and” where one becomes the adverbial modifier of the other (hendiadys). For the nuance of the verb “act wisely” rather than “prosper” see Amos 5:13; Ps 2:10 (cf. BDB 968 s.v. שָׂכַל Hiph.5).

[23:5]  ⁸ sn This has been the constant emphasis in this section. See 22:3 for the demand, 22:15 for its fulfillment, and 22:13 for its abuse. The ideal king would follow in the footsteps of his illustrious ancestor David (2 Sam 8:15) who set this forth as an ideal for his dynasty (2 Sam 23:3) and prayed for it to be true of his son Solomon (Ps 72:1-2).

[23:7]  ⁵ tn Heb “Oracle of the Lord.”

[23:7]  ⁶ tn Heb “Behold the days are coming.”

[31:27]  ⁶ tn Heb “Behold days are coming!” The particle “Behold” is probably used here to emphasize the reality of a fact. See the translator’s note on 1:6.

[31:27]  ⁷ tn Heb “Oracle of the Lord.”

[31:27]  ⁸ tn Heb “Behold, the days are coming and [= when] I will sow the house of Israel and the house of Judah with the seed of people and of animals.” For the significance of the metaphor see the study note.

[31:31]  ⁷ tn Heb “Oracle of the Lord.”

[31:31]  ⁸ tn Or “a renewed covenant” (also in vv. 22-23).

[31:31]  ⁹ tn Heb “the house of Israel and the house of Judah.”

[33:14]  ⁸ tn Heb “Oracle of the Lord.” For the first person form of address see the translator’s notes on vv. 2, 10, 12.

[33:14]  ⁹ sn This refers at the very least to the promises of Jer 23:5-6, 7-8; 30:3; 31:27, 31 where the same formula “The time will certainly come (Heb “Behold the days are coming”)” occurs. Reference may also be to the promises through the earlier prophets of what is alluded to here, i.e., the restoration of Israel and Judah under a Davidic ruler and the revival of the offerings (cf. Hos 1:10-11; 3:4-5; Amos 9:11-12; Isa 11:1-5, 10-16; Jer 30:9, 21 for the former and Jer 31:14; 33:11 for the latter).

[37:16]  ⁹ tn The particle כִּי (ki) here is probably temporal, introducing the protasis to the main clause in v. 17 (cf. BDB 473 s.v. כִּי 2.a). However, that would make the translation too long, so the present translation does what several modern English versions do here, though there are no parallels listed for this nuance in the lexicons.

[37:16]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “Jeremiah came into the house of the pit [= “dungeon,” BDB 92 s.v. בּוֹר 4 and compare usage in Gen 40:15; 41:14] and into the cells [this word occurs only here; it is defined on the basis of the cognate languages (cf. BDB 333 s.v. חָנוּת)].” The sentence has been restructured and some words supplied in the translation to better relate it to the preceding context.

[37:16]  ¹¹ tn Heb “Jeremiah.” But the proper name is somewhat redundant and unnecessary in a modern translation.

[48:12]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “Therefore, behold the days are coming, oracle of Yahweh, when I will send against him decanters [those who pour from one vessel to another] and they will decant him [pour him out] and they will empty his vessels and break their jars in pieces.” The verse continues the metaphor from the preceding verse where Moab/the people of Moab are like wine left undisturbed in a jar, i.e., in their native land. In this verse the picture is that of the decanter emptying the wine from the vessels and then breaking the jars. The wine represents the people and the vessels the cities and towns where the people lived. The verse speaks of the exile of the people and the devastation of the land. The metaphor has been interpreted so it conveys meaning to the average reader.

[48:12]  ¹¹ tn Heb “Oracle of the Lord.”

[51:47]  ¹¹ tn Heb “That being so, look, days are approaching.” לָכֵן (lakhen) often introduces the effect of an action. That may be the case here, the turmoil outlined in v. 46 serving as the catalyst for the culminating divine judgment described in v. 47. Another possibility is that לָכֵן here has an asseverative force (“certainly”), as in Isa 26:14 and perhaps Jer 5:2 (see the note there). In this case the word almost has the force of “for, since,” because it presents a cause for an accompanying effect. See Judg 8:7 and the discussion of Isa 26:14 in BDB 486-87 s.v. כֵּן 3.d.

[51:47]  ¹² tn Or “all her slain will fall in her midst.” In other words, her people will be overtaken by judgment and be unable to escape. The dead will lie in heaps in the very heart of the city and land.

[51:52]  ¹² tn Heb “that being so, look, days are approaching.” Here לָכֵן (lakhen) introduces the Lord’s response to the people’s lament (v. 51). It has the force of “yes, but” or “that may be true.” See Judg 11:8 and BDB 486-87 s.v. כֵּן 3.d.

[51:52]  ¹³ tn Heb “Oracle of the Lord.”