Jeremiah 17:14

17:14 Lord, grant me relief from my suffering

so that I may have some relief.

Rescue me from those who persecute me

so that I may be rescued. ¹ 

Jeremiah 11:12

11:12 Then those living in the towns of Judah and in Jerusalem will ²  go and cry out for help to the gods to whom they have been sacrificing. However, those gods will by no means ³  be able to save them when disaster strikes them.

Jeremiah 8:20

8:20 “They cry, ⁴  ‘Harvest time has come and gone, and the summer is over, ⁵ 

and still we have not been delivered.’

Jeremiah 4:14

4:14 “Oh people of Jerusalem, purify your hearts from evil ⁶ 

so that you may yet be delivered.

How long will you continue to harbor up

wicked schemes within you?

Jeremiah 14:8

14:8 You have been the object of Israel’s hopes.

You have saved them when they were in trouble.

Why have you become like a resident foreigner ⁷  in the land?

Why have you become like a traveler who only stops in to spend the night?

Jeremiah 23:6

23:6 Under his rule ⁸  Judah will enjoy safety ⁹ 

and Israel will live in security. ¹⁰ 

This is the name he will go by:

‘The Lord has provided us with justice.’ ¹¹ 

Jeremiah 2:27-28

2:27 They say to a wooden idol, ¹²  ‘You are my father.’

They say to a stone image, ‘You gave birth to me.’ ¹³ 

Yes, they have turned away from me instead of turning to me. ¹⁴ 

Yet when they are in trouble, they say, ‘Come and save us!’

2:28 But where are the gods you made for yourselves?

Let them save you when you are in trouble.

The sad fact is that ¹⁵  you have as many gods

as you have towns, Judah.

Jeremiah 14:9

14:9 Why should you be like someone who is helpless, ¹⁶ 

like a champion ¹⁷  who cannot save anyone?

You are indeed with us, ¹⁸ 

and we belong to you. ¹⁹ 

Do not abandon us!”

Jeremiah 15:20

15:20 I will make you as strong as a wall to these people,

a fortified wall of bronze.

They will attack you,

but they will not be able to overcome you.

For I will be with you to rescue you and deliver you,” ²⁰ 

says the Lord.

Jeremiah 30:7

30:7 Alas, what a terrible time of trouble it is! ²¹ 

There has never been any like it.

It is a time of trouble for the descendants of Jacob,

but some of them will be rescued out of it. ²² 

Jeremiah 33:16

33:16 Under his rule Judah will enjoy safety ²³  and Jerusalem ²⁴  will live in security. At that time Jerusalem will be called “The Lord has provided us with justice.” ²⁵ 

Jeremiah 30:10-11

30:10 So I, the Lord, tell you not to be afraid,

you descendants of Jacob, my servants. ²⁶ 

Do not be terrified, people of Israel.

For I will rescue you and your descendants

from a faraway land where you are captives. ²⁷ 

The descendants of Jacob will return to their land and enjoy peace.

They will be secure and no one will terrify them. ²⁸ 

30:11 For I, the Lord, affirm ²⁹  that

I will be with you and will rescue you.

I will completely destroy all the nations where I scattered you.

But I will not completely destroy you.

I will indeed discipline you, but only in due measure.

I will not allow you to go entirely unpunished.” ³⁰ 

Jeremiah 31:7

31:7 Moreover, ³¹  the Lord says,

“Sing for joy for the descendants of Jacob.

Utter glad shouts for that foremost of the nations. ³² 

Make your praises heard. ³³ 

Then say, ‘Lord, rescue your people.

Deliver those of Israel who remain alive.’ ³⁴ 

Jeremiah 42:11

42:11 Do not be afraid of the king of Babylon whom you now fear. ³⁵  Do not be afraid of him because I will be with you to save you and to rescue you from his power. I, the Lord, affirm it! ³⁶ 

Jeremiah 46:27

A Promise of Hope for Israel

46:27 ³⁷ “You descendants of Jacob, my servants, ³⁸  do not be afraid;

do not be terrified, people of Israel.

For I will rescue you and your descendants

from the faraway lands where you are captives. ³⁹ 

The descendants of Jacob will return to their land and enjoy peace.

They will be secure and no one will terrify them.

[17:14]  ¹ tn The translation fills in the details of the metaphor from a preceding context (15:18) and from the following context (17:18). The literal translation “Heal me and I will be healed. Rescue me and I will be rescued.” does not make much sense if these details are not filled in. The metaphor is filled in for clarity for the average reader.

[11:12]  ² tn Heb “Then the towns of Judah and those living in Jerusalem will…”

[11:12]  ³ tn The Hebrew construction is emphatic involving the use of an infinitive of the verb before the verb itself (Heb “saving they will not save”). For this construction to give emphasis to an antithesis, cf. GKC 343 §113.p.

[8:20]  ³ tn The words “They say” are not in the text; they are supplied in the translation to make clear that the lament of the people begun in v. 19b is continued here after the interruption of the Lord’s words in v. 19c.

[8:20]  ⁴ tn Heb “Harvest time has passed, the summer is over.”

[4:14]  ⁴ tn Heb “Oh, Jerusalem, wash your heart from evil.”

[14:8]  ⁵ tn It would be a mistake to translate this word as “stranger.” This word (גֵּר, ger) refers to a resident alien or resident foreigner who stays in a country not his own. He is accorded the privilege of protection through the common rights of hospitality but he does not have the rights of the native born or citizen. The simile here is particularly effective. The land was the Lord’s land; they were but resident foreigners and tenants on it (Lev 25:23). Jeremiah’s complaint here is particularly bold. For further information on the status of “resident foreigners” see IDB 4:397-99 s.v. “Sojourner.”

[23:6]  ⁶ tn Heb “In his days [= during the time he rules].”

[23:6]  ⁷ tn Parallelism and context (cf. v. 4) suggest this nuance for the word often translated “be saved.” For this nuance elsewhere see Ps 119:117; Prov 28:18 for the verb (יָשַׁע [yasha’] in the Niphal); and Ps 12:6; Job 5:4, 11 for the related noun (יֶשַׁע, yesha’).

[23:6]  ⁸ sn It should be noted that this brief oracle of deliverance implies the reunification of Israel and Judah under the future Davidic ruler. Jeremiah has already spoken about this reunification earlier in 3:18 and will have more to say about it in 30:3; 31:27, 31. This same ideal was espoused in the prophecies of Hosea (1:10-11 [2:1-2 HT]), Isaiah (11:1-4, 10-12), and Ezekiel (37:15-28) all of which have messianic and eschatological significance.

[23:6]  ⁹ tn Heb “his name will be called ‘The Lord our righteousness’.”

[2:27]  ⁷ tn Heb “wood…stone…”

[2:27]  ⁸ sn The reference to wood and stone is, of course, a pejorative reference to idols made by human hands. See the next verse where reference is made to “the gods you have made.”

[2:27]  ⁹ tn Heb “they have turned [their] backs to me, not [their] faces.”

[2:28]  ⁸ tn This is an attempt to render the Hebrew particle כִּי (ki, “for, indeed”) contextually.

[14:9]  ⁹ tn This is the only time this word occurs in the Hebrew Bible. The lexicons generally take it to mean “confused” or “surprised” (cf., e.g., BDB 187 s.v. דָּהַם). However, the word has been found in a letter from the seventh century in a passage where it must mean something like “be helpless”; see W. L. Holladay, Jeremiah (Hermeneia), 1:433, for discussion and bibliography of an article where this letter is dealt with.

[14:9]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “mighty man, warrior.” For this nuance see 1 Sam 17:51 where it parallels a technical term used of Goliath used earlier in 17:4, 23.

[14:9]  ¹¹ tn Heb “in our midst.”

[14:9]  ¹² tn Heb “Your name is called upon us.” See Jer 7:10, 11, 14, 30 for this idiom with respect to the temple and see the notes on Jer 7:10.

[15:20]  ¹⁰ sn See 1:18. The Lord renews his promise of protection and reiterates his call to Jeremiah.

[30:7]  ¹¹ tn Heb “Alas [or Woe] for that day will be great.” For the use of the particle “Alas” to signal a time of terrible trouble, even to sound the death knell for someone, see the translator’s note on 22:13.

[30:7]  ¹² tn Heb “It is a time of trouble for Jacob but he will be saved out of it.”

[33:16]  ¹² tn For the translation of this term in this context see the parallel context in 23:6 and consult the translator’s note there.

[33:16]  ¹³ map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.

[33:16]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “And this is what will be called to it: ‘The Lord our righteousness.’”

[30:10]  ¹³ tn Heb “So do not be afraid, my servant Jacob, oracle of the Lord.” Here and elsewhere in the verse the terms Jacob and Israel are poetic for the people of Israel descended from the patriarch Jacob. The terms have been supplied throughout with plural referents for greater clarity.

[30:10]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “For I will rescue you from far away, your descendants from the land of their captivity.”

[30:10]  ¹⁵ sn Compare the ideals of the Mosaic covenant in Lev 26:6, the Davidic covenant in 2 Sam 7:10-11, and the new covenant in Ezek 34:25-31.

[30:11]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “Oracle of the Lord.”

[30:11]  ¹⁵ tn The translation “entirely unpunished” is intended to reflect the emphatic construction of the infinitive absolute before the finite verb.

[31:7]  ¹⁵ tn See the translator’s notes on 30:5, 12.

[31:7]  ¹⁶ 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]  ¹⁷ 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]  ¹⁸ 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.

[42:11]  ¹⁶ sn See Jer 41:18 for their reason for fear.

[42:11]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “oracle of the Lord.”

[46:27]  ¹⁷ sn Jer 46:27-28 are virtually the same as 30:10-11. The verses are more closely related to that context than to this. But the presence of a note of future hope for the Egyptians may have led to a note of encouragement also to the Judeans who were under threat of judgment at the same time (cf. the study notes on 46:2, 13 and 25:1-2 for the possible relative dating of these prophecies).

[46:27]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “And/But you do not be afraid, my servant Jacob.” Here and elsewhere in the verse the terms Jacob and Israel are poetic for the people of Israel descended from the patriarch Jacob. The terms have been supplied throughout with plural referents for greater clarity.

[46:27]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “For I will rescue you from far away, your descendants from the land of their captivity.”