Jeremiah 17:9

17:9 The human mind is more deceitful than anything else.

It is incurably bad. ¹  Who can understand it?

Jeremiah 46:7

46:7 “Who is this that rises like the Nile,

like its streams ²  turbulent at flood stage?

[17:9]  ¹ tn Or “incurably deceitful”; Heb “It is incurable.” For the word “deceitful” compare the usage of the verb in Gen 27:36 and a related noun in 2 Kgs 10:19. For the adjective “incurable” compare the usage in Jer 15:18. It is most commonly used with reference to wounds or of pain. In Jer 17:16 it is used metaphorically for a “woeful day” (i.e., day of irreparable devastation).

[46:7]  ² tn The word translated “streams” here refers to the streams of the Nile (cf. Exod 7:19; 8:1) for parallel usage.