Jeremiah 14:4

14:4 They are dismayed because the ground is cracked ¹ 

because there has been no rain in the land.

The farmers, too, are dismayed

and bury their faces in their hands.

Jeremiah 18:16

18:16 So their land will become an object of horror. ² 

People will forever hiss out their scorn over it.

All who pass that way will be filled with horror

and will shake their heads in derision. ³ 

Jeremiah 23:19

23:19 But just watch! ⁴  The wrath of the Lord

will come like a storm! ⁵ 

Like a raging storm it will rage down ⁶ 

on the heads of those who are wicked.

Jeremiah 30:23

30:23 Just watch! The wrath of the Lord

will come like a storm.

Like a raging storm it will rage down

on the heads of those who are wicked.

Jeremiah 2:37

2:37 Moreover, you will come away from Egypt

with your hands covering your faces in sorrow and shame ⁷ 

because the Lord will not allow your reliance on them to be successful

and you will not gain any help from them. ⁸ 

Jeremiah 9:1

9:1 (8:23) ⁹  I wish that my head were a well full of water ¹⁰ 

and my eyes were a fountain full of tears!

If they were, I could cry day and night

for those of my dear people ¹¹  who have been killed.

Jeremiah 13:21

13:21 What will you say ¹²  when the Lord ¹³  appoints as rulers over you those allies

that you, yourself, had actually prepared as such? ¹⁴ 

Then anguish and agony will grip you

like that of a woman giving birth to a baby. ¹⁵ 

Jeremiah 14:3

14:3 The leading men of the cities send their servants for water.

They go to the cisterns, ¹⁶  but they do not find any water there.

They return with their containers ¹⁷  empty.

Disappointed and dismayed, they bury their faces in their hands. ¹⁸ 

Jeremiah 48:37

48:37 For all of them will shave their heads in mourning.

They will all cut off their beards to show their sorrow.

They will all make gashes in their hands.

They will all put on sackcloth. ¹⁹ 

Jeremiah 52:24

52:24 The captain of the royal guard took Seraiah the chief priest, Zephaniah the priest who was second in rank, and the three doorkeepers. ²⁰ 

Jeremiah 22:6

22:6 “‘For the Lord says concerning the palace of the king of Judah,

“This place looks like a veritable forest of Gilead to me.

It is like the wooded heights of Lebanon in my eyes.

But I swear that I will make it like a wilderness

whose towns have all been deserted. ²¹ 

Jeremiah 31:7

31:7 Moreover, ²²  the Lord says,

“Sing for joy for the descendants of Jacob.

Utter glad shouts for that foremost of the nations. ²³ 

Make your praises heard. ²⁴ 

Then say, ‘Lord, rescue your people.

Deliver those of Israel who remain alive.’ ²⁵ 

Jeremiah 52:31

Jehoiachin in Exile

52:31 In the thirty-seventh year of the exile of King Jehoiachin of Judah, on the twenty-fifth ²⁶  day of the twelfth month, ²⁷  Evil-Merodach, in the first year of his reign, pardoned ²⁸  King Jehoiachin of Judah and released him from prison.

[14:4]  ¹ tn For the use of the verb “is cracked” here see BDB 369 s.v. חָתַת Qal.1 and compare the usage in Jer 51:56 where it refers to broken bows. The form is a relative clause without relative pronoun (cf., GKC 486-87 §155.f). The sentence as a whole is related to the preceding through a particle meaning “because of” or “on account of.” Hence the subject and verb have been repeated to make the connection.

[18:16]  ² tn There may be a deliberate double meaning involved here. The word translated here “an object of horror” refers both to destruction (cf. 2:15; 4:17) and the horror or dismay that accompanies it (cf. 5:30; 8:21). The fact that there is no conjunction or preposition in front of the noun “hissing” that follows this suggests that the reaction is in view here, not the cause.

[18:16]  ³ tn Heb “an object of lasting hissing. All who pass that way will be appalled and shake their head.”

[23:19]  ³ tn Heb “Behold!”

[23:19]  ⁴ tn The syntax of this line has generally been misunderstood, sometimes to the point that some want to delete the word wrath. Both here and in 30:23 where these same words occur the word “anger” stands not as an accusative of attendant circumstance but an apposition, giving the intended referent to the figure. Comparison should be made with Jer 25:15 where “this wrath” is appositional to “the cup of wine” (cf. GKC 425 §131.k).

[23:19]  ⁵ tn The translation is deliberate, intending to reflect the repetition of the Hebrew root which is “swirl/swirling.”

[2:37]  ⁴ tn Heb “with your hands on your head.” For the picture here see 2 Sam 13:19.

[2:37]  ⁵ tn Heb “The Lord has rejected those you trust in; you will not prosper by/from them.”

[9:1]  ⁵ sn Beginning with 9:1, the verse numbers through 9:26 in the English Bible differ from the verse numbers in the Hebrew text (BHS), with 9:1 ET = 8:23 HT, 9:2 ET = 9:1 HT, 9:3 ET = 9:2 HT, etc., through 9:26 ET = 9:25 HT. Beginning with 10:1 the verse numbers in the ET and HT are again the same.

[9:1]  ⁶ tn Heb “I wish that my head were water.”

[9:1]  ⁷ tn Heb “daughter of my people.” For the translation given here see 4:11 and the note on the phrase “dear people” there.

[13:21]  ⁶ tn Or perhaps more rhetorically equivalent, “Will you not be surprised?”

[13:21]  ⁷ tn The words “The Lord” are not in the text. Some commentators make the enemy the subject, but they are spoken of as “them.”

[13:21]  ⁸ tn Or “to be rulers.” The translation of these two lines is somewhat uncertain. The sentence structure of these two lines raises problems in translation. The Hebrew text reads: “What will you do when he appoints over you [or punishes you (see BDB 823 s.v. פָּקַד Qal.B.2 for the former, Qal.A.3 for the latter)] and you, yourself, taught them over you friends [or chiefs (see BDB 48 s.v. I אַלּוּף 2 and Ps 55:13 for the former and BDB 49 s.v. II אַלּוּף and Exod 15:15 for the latter)] for a head.” The translation assumes that the clause “and you, yourself, taught them [= made them accustomed, i.e., “prepared”] [to be] over you” is parenthetical coming between the verb “appoint” and its object and object modifier (i.e., “appointed over you allies for rulers”). A quick check of other English versions will show how varied the translation of these lines has been. Most English versions seem to ignore the second “over you” after “you taught them.” Some rearrange the text to get what they think is a sensible meaning. For a fairly thorough treatment see W. McKane, Jeremiah (ICC), 1:308-10.

[13:21]  ⁹ tn Heb “Will not pain [here = mental anguish] take hold of you like a woman giving birth.” The question is rhetorical expecting a positive answer.

[14:3]  ⁷ tn Though the concept of “cisterns” is probably not familiar to some readers, it would be a mistake to translate this word as “well.” Wells have continual sources of water. Cisterns were pits dug in the ground and lined with plaster to hold rain water. The drought had exhausted all the water in the cisterns.

[14:3]  ⁸ tn The word “containers” is a generic word in Hebrew = “vessels.” It would probably in this case involve water “jars” or “jugs.” But since in contemporary English one would normally associate those terms with smaller vessels, “containers” may be safer.

[14:3]  ⁹ tn Heb “they cover their heads.” Some of the English versions have gone wrong here because of the “normal” use of the words translated here “disappointed” and “dismayed.” They are regularly translated “ashamed” and “disgraced, humiliated, dismayed” elsewhere (see e.g., Jer 22:22); they are somewhat synonymous terms which are often parallel or combined. The key here, however, is the expression “they cover their heads” which is used in 2 Sam 15:30 for the expression of grief. Moreover, the word translated here “disappointed” (בּוֹשׁ, bosh) is used that way several times. See for example Jer 12:13 and consult examples in BDB 101 s.v. בּוֹשׁ Qal.2. A very similar context with the same figure is found in Jer 2:36-37.

[48:37]  ⁸ tn Heb “upon every loin [there is] sackcloth.” The word “all” is restored here before “loin” with a number of Hebrew mss and a number of versions. The words “in mourning” and “to show their sorrow” are not in the text. They have been supplied in the translation to give the average reader some idea of the significance of these acts.

[52:24]  ⁹ sn See the note at Jer 35:4.

[22:6]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “Gilead you are to me, the height of Lebanon, but I will surely make you a wilderness [with] cities uninhabited.” The points of comparison are made explicit in the translation for the sake of clarity. See the study note for further explanation. For the use of the preposition לְ (lamed) = “in my eyes/in my opinion” see BDB 513 s.v. לְ 5.a(d) and compare Jonah 3:3; Esth 10:3. For the use of the particles אִם לֹא (’im lo’) to introduce an emphatic oath see BDB 50 s.v. אִם 1.b(2).

[31:7]  ¹¹ tn See the translator’s notes on 30:5, 12.

[31:7]  ¹² tn Heb “for the head/chief of the nations.” See BDB 911 s.v. רֹאשׁ 3.c and compare usage in Ps 18:44 referring to David as the “chief” or “foremost ruler” of the nations.

[31:7]  ¹³ tn It is unclear who the addressees of the masculine plural imperatives are in this verse. Possibly they are the implied exiles who are viewed as in the process of returning and praying for their fellow countrymen.

[31:7]  ¹⁴ tc Or “The Lord will rescue his people. He will deliver those of Israel who remain alive.” The translation used in the text follows the Hebrew: “Rescue your people, O Lord, the remnant of Israel.” The alternate translation which is preferred by several modern English versions (e.g., REB, TEV) and a majority of modern commentaries (see, e.g., J. A. Thompson, Jeremiah [NICOT], 569; J. Bright, Jeremiah [AB], 273, n. s-s) follows the reading of the Greek version and the Aramaic Targum and appears more appropriate to the context of praise presupposed by the preceding imperatives. The difference in the two readings are the omission of one vowel letter and the confusion of a final ךְ (kaf) and a וֹ (holem-vav) which are very similar in form. (The Greek presupposes הוֹשִׁיעַ יְהוָה אֶת־עַמּוֹ [hoshi’a yÿhvah ’et-’ammo] for the Hebrew הוֹשַׁע יְהוָה אֶת־עַמְּךְ [hosha’ yÿhvah ’et-’ammÿkh].) The key to a decision here is the shift from the verbs of praise to the imperative “say” which introduces the quotation; there is a shift from praise to petition. The shift in mood is not uncommon, occurring, for example, in Ps 118:25 and 126:4; it is the shift in mood between praise for what has begun to petition for what is further hoped for. It is easier to explain the origin contextually of the Greek and Targum than it is the Hebrew text, thus the Greek and Targum are probably a secondary smoothing of the text (this is the decision of the D. Barthélemy, ed., Preliminary and Interim Report on the Hebrew Old Testament Text Project, 4:263). The mood of prayer also shows up in v. 9 and again in vv. 17-18.

[52:31]  ¹² sn The parallel account in 2 Kgs 25:28 has “twenty-seventh.”

[52:31]  ¹³ sn The twenty-fifth day would be March 20, 561 b.c. in modern reckoning.

[52:31]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “lifted up the head of.”