Jeremiah 16:8

16:8 “‘Do not go to a house where people are feasting and sit down to eat and drink with them either.

Jeremiah 5:11

5:11 For the nations of Israel and Judah ¹ 

have been very unfaithful to me,”

says the Lord.

Jeremiah 5:7

5:7 The Lord asked, ² 

“How can I leave you unpunished, Jerusalem? ³ 

Your people ⁴  have rejected me

and have worshiped gods that are not gods at all. ⁵ 

Even though I supplied all their needs, ⁶  they were like an unfaithful wife to me. ⁷ 

They went flocking ⁸  to the houses of prostitutes. ⁹ 

Jeremiah 27:21

27:21 Indeed, the Lord God of Israel who rules over all ¹⁰  has already spoken ¹¹  about the valuable articles that are left in the Lord’s temple, in the royal palace of Judah, and in Jerusalem.

Jeremiah 11:10

11:10 They have gone back to the evil ways ¹²  of their ancestors of old who refused to obey what I told them. They, too, have paid allegiance to ¹³  other gods and worshiped them. Both the nation of Israel and the nation of Judah ¹⁴  have violated the covenant I made with their ancestors.

Jeremiah 11:17

11:17 For though I, the Lord who rules over all, ¹⁵  planted you in the land, ¹⁶ 

I now decree that disaster will come on you ¹⁷ 

because the nations of Israel and Judah have done evil

and have made me angry by offering sacrifices to the god Baal.” ¹⁸ 

Jeremiah 12:6

12:6 As a matter of fact, ¹⁹  even your own brothers

and the members of your own family have betrayed you too.

Even they have plotted to do away with you. ²⁰ 

So do not trust them even when they say kind things ²¹  to you.

Jeremiah 27:18

27:18 I also told them, ²²  “If they are really prophets and the Lord is speaking to them, ²³  let them pray earnestly to the Lord who rules over all. ²⁴  Let them plead with him not to let the valuable articles that are still left in the Lord’s temple, in the royal palace, and in Jerusalem be taken away ²⁵  to Babylon.

Jeremiah 35:7

35:7 Do not build houses. Do not plant crops. Do not plant a vineyard or own one. ²⁶  Live in tents all your lives. If you do these things you will ²⁷  live a long time in the land that you wander about on.’ ²⁸ 

[5:11]  ¹ tn Heb “the house of Israel and the house of Judah.”

[5:7]  ¹ tn These words are not in the text, but are supplied in the translation to make clear who is speaking.

[5:7]  ² tn Heb “How can I forgive [or pardon] you.” The pronoun “you” is second feminine singular, referring to the city. See v. 1.

[5:7]  ³ tn Heb “your children.”

[5:7]  ⁴ tn Heb “and they have sworn [oaths] by not-gods.”

[5:7]  ⁵ tn Heb “I satisfied them to the full.”

[5:7]  ⁶ tn Heb “they committed adultery.” It is difficult to decide whether literal adultery with other women or spiritual adultery with other gods is meant. The word for adultery is used for both in the book of Jeremiah. For examples of its use for spiritual adultery see 3:8, 9; 9:2. For examples of its use for literal adultery see 7:9; 23:14. The context here could argue for either. The swearing by other gods and the implicit contradiction in their actions in contrast to the expected gratitude for supplying their needs argues for spiritual adultery. However, the reference to prostitution in the next line and the reference to chasing after their neighbor’s wives argues for literal adultery. The translation opts for spiritual adultery because of the contrast implicit in the concessive clause.

[5:7]  ⁷ tn There is a great deal of debate about the meaning of this word. Most of the modern English versions follow the lead of lexicographers who relate this word to a noun meaning “troop” and understand it to mean “they trooped together” (cf. BDB 151 s.v. גָּדַד Hithpo.2 and compare the usage in Mic 5:1 [4:14 HT]). A few of the modern English versions and commentaries follow the reading of the Greek and read a word meaning “they lodged” (reading ִיתְגּוֹרְרוּ [yitggorÿru] from I גּוּר [gur; cf. HALOT 177 s.v. Hithpo. and compare the usage in 1 Kgs 17:20] instead of יִתְגֹּדָדוּ [yitggodadu]). W. L. Holladay (Jeremiah [Hermeneia], 1:180) sees a reference here to the cultic practice of cutting oneself in supplication to pagan gods (cf. BDB 151 s.v. גָּדַד Hithpo.1 and compare the usage in 1 Kgs 18:28). The houses of prostitutes would then be a reference to ritual prostitutes at the pagan shrines. The translation follows BDB and the majority of modern English versions.

[5:7]  ⁸ tn Heb “to a house of a prostitute.”

[27:21]  ¹ tn Heb “Yahweh of armies, the God of Israel.” For the significance of this title see the note at 2:19.

[27:21]  ² sn Some of the flavor of the repetitive nature of Hebrew narrative is apparent in vv. 19-21. In the Hebrew original vv. 19-20 are all one long sentence with complex coordination and subordinations. I.e., all the objects in v. 19 are all objects of the one verb “has spoken about” and the description in v. 20 is one long relative or descriptive clause. The introductory “For the Lord…has already spoken” is repeated in v. 21 from v. 19 and reference is made to the same articles once again, only in the terms that were used in v. 18b. By this means, attention is focused for these people (here the priests and the people) on articles which were of personal concern for them and the climax or the punch line is delayed to the end. The point being made is that the false prophets are mistaken; not only will the articles taken to Babylon not be returned “very soon” but the Lord had said that the ones that remained would be taken there as well. They ought rather pray that the Lord will change his mind and not carry them off as well.

[11:10]  ¹ tn Or “They have repeated the evil actions of….”

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

[11:10]  ³ tn Heb “house of Israel and house of Judah.”

[11:17]  ¹ tn Heb “Yahweh of armies.”

[11:17]  ² tn The words “in the land” are not in the text but are supplied in the translation to clarify the meaning of the metaphor.

[11:17]  ³ tn Heb “For Yahweh of armies who planted you speaks disaster upon you.” Because of the way the term Lord of armies has been rendered this sentence has been restructured to avoid confusion in English style.

[11:17]  ⁴ tn Heb “pronounced disaster…on account of the evil of the house of Israel and the house of Judah which they have done to make me angry [or thus making me angry] by sacrificing to Baal.” The lines have been broken up in conformity with contemporary English style.

[12:6]  ¹ tn This is an attempt to give some contextual sense to the particle “for, indeed” (כִּי, ki).

[12:6]  ² tn Heb “they have called after you fully”; or “have lifted up loud voices against you.” The word “against” does not seem quite adequate for the preposition “after.” The preposition “against” would be Hebrew עַל (’al). The idea appears to be that they are chasing after him, raising their voices along with those of the conspirators to have him killed.

[12:6]  ³ tn Heb “good things.” See BDB 373 s.v. II טוֹב 2 for this nuance and compare Prov 12:25 for usage.

[27:18]  ¹ tn The words “I also told them” are not in the text, but it is obvious from the fact that the Lord is spoken about in the third person in vv. 18, 19, 21 that he is not the speaker. This is part of Jeremiah’s own speech to the priests and the people (v. 16). These words are supplied in the translation for clarity.

[27:18]  ² tn Heb “the word of the Lord is with them.”

[27:18]  ³ tn Heb “Yahweh of armies.”

[27:18]  ⁴ tn Heb “…speaking to them, let them entreat the Lord…so that the valuable articles…will not go to Babylon.” The long original sentence has been broken up for the sake of English style.

[35:7]  ¹ tn Heb “Don’t plant a vineyard and it shall not be to you [= and you shall/must not have one].”

[35:7]  ² tn Heb “Don’t…and don’t…but live…in order that you might….”

[35:7]  ³ sn Heb “where you are sojourning.” The terms “sojourn” and “sojourner” referred to a person who resided in a country not his own, without the rights and privileges of citizenship as a member of a nation, state, or principality. In the ancient Near East such people were dependent on the laws of hospitality rather than the laws of state for protection and provision of legal rights. Perhaps the best illustration of this is Abraham who “sojourned” among the Philistines and the Hittites in Canaan and was dependent upon them for grazing and water rights and for a place to bury his wife (cf. Gen 20-24). What is described here is the typical lifestyle of a nomadic tribe.