Jeremiah 16:20

16:20 Can people make their own gods?

No, what they make are not gods at all.” ¹ 

Jeremiah 2:11

2:11 Has a nation ever changed its gods

(even though they are not really gods at all)?

But my people have exchanged me, their glorious God, ² 

for a god that cannot help them at all! ³ 

Jeremiah 31:1

31:1 At that time I will be the God of all the clans of Israel ⁴ 

and they will be my people.

I, the Lord, affirm it!” ⁵ 

Jeremiah 11:10

11:10 They have gone back to the evil ways ⁶  of their ancestors of old who refused to obey what I told them. They, too, have paid allegiance to ⁷  other gods and worshiped them. Both the nation of Israel and the nation of Judah ⁸  have violated the covenant I made with their ancestors.

Jeremiah 14:15

14:15 I did not send those prophets, though they claim to be prophesying in my name. They may be saying, ‘No war or famine will happen in this land.’ But I, the Lord, say this about ⁹  them: ‘War and starvation will kill those prophets.’ ¹⁰ 

Jeremiah 31:33

31:33 “But I will make a new covenant with the whole nation of Israel ¹¹  after I plant them back in the land,” ¹²  says the Lord. ¹³  “I will ¹⁴  put my law within them ¹⁵  and write it on their hearts and minds. ¹⁶  I will be their God and they will be my people. ¹⁷ 

Jeremiah 42:5

42:5 They answered Jeremiah, “May the Lord be a true and faithful witness against us if we do not do just as ¹⁸  the Lord sends you to tell us to do.

[16:20]  ¹ tn Heb “and they are ‘no gods.’” For the construction here compare 2:11 and a similar construction in 2 Kgs 19:18 and see BDB 519 s.v. לֹא 1.b(b).

[2:11]  ² tn Heb “have exchanged their glory [i.e., the God in whom they glory].” This is a case of a figure of speech where the attribute of a person or thing is put for the person or thing. Compare the common phrase in Isaiah, the Holy One of Israel, obviously referring to the Lord, the God of Israel.

[2:11]  ³ tn Heb “what cannot profit.” The verb is singular and the allusion is likely to Baal. See the translator’s note on 2:8 for the likely pun or wordplay.

[31:1]  ³ sn This verse repeats v. 22 but with specific reference to all the clans of Israel, i.e., to all Israel and Judah. It functions here as a transition to the next section which will deal with the restoration of Israel (31:3-20) and Judah (31:21-25) and their reunification in the land (31:27-29) under a new covenant relation with God (31:31-37). See also the study note on 30:3 for further reference to this reunification in Jeremiah and the other prophets.

[31:1]  ⁴ tn Heb “Oracle of the Lord.”

[11:10]  ⁴ tn Or “They have repeated the evil actions of….”

[11:10]  ⁵ tn Heb “have walked/followed after.” See the translator’s note at 2:5 for the idiom.

[11:10]  ⁶ tn Heb “house of Israel and house of Judah.”

[14:15]  ⁵ tn Heb “Thus says the Lord about.” The first person construction has been used in the translation for better English style.

[14:15]  ⁶ tn Heb “Thus says the Lord concerning the prophets who are prophesying in my name and I did not send them [= whom I did not send] and they are saying [= who are saying], ‘Sword and famine…’, by sword and famine those prophets will be killed.” This sentence has been restructured to conform to contemporary English style.

[31:33]  ⁶ tn Heb “with the house of Israel.” All commentators agree that the term here refers to both the whole nation which was divided into the house of Israel and the house of Judah in v. 30.

[31:33]  ⁷ tn Heb “after those days.” Commentators are generally agreed that this refers to the return from exile and the repopulation of the land referred to in vv. 27-28 and not to something subsequent to the time mentioned in v. 30. This is the sequencing that is also presupposed in other new covenant passages such as Deut 30:1-6; Ezek 11:17-20; 36:24-28.

[31:33]  ⁸ tn Heb “Oracle of the Lord.”

[31:33]  ⁹ tn Heb “‘But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after these days:’ says the Lord, ‘I will….’” The sentence has been reworded and restructured to avoid the awkwardness of the original style.

[31:33]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “in their inward parts.” The Hebrew word here refers to the seat of the thoughts, emotions, and decisions (Jer 9:8 [9:7 HT]). It is essentially synonymous with “heart” in Hebrew psychological terms.

[31:33]  ¹¹ tn The words “and minds” is not in the text but is supplied in the translation to bring the English psychology more into line with the Hebrew where the “heart” is the center both of knowing/thinking/reflecting and deciding/willing.

[31:33]  ¹² sn Compare Jer 24:7; 30:22; 31:1 and see the study note on 30:2.

[42:5]  ⁷ tn Heb “do according to all the word which.”