Jeremiah 2:15

2:15 Like lions his enemies roar victoriously over him;

they raise their voices in triumph. ¹ 

They have laid his land waste;

his cities have been burned down and deserted. ² 

Jeremiah 3:9

3:9 Because she took her prostitution so lightly, she defiled the land ³  through her adulterous worship of gods made of wood and stone. ⁴ 

Jeremiah 6:17

6:17 The Lord said, ⁵ 

“I appointed prophets as watchmen to warn you, ⁶  saying:

‘Pay attention to the warning sound of the trumpet!’” ⁷ 

But they said, “We will not pay attention!”

Jeremiah 12:8

12:8 The people I call my own ⁸  have turned on me

like a lion ⁹  in the forest.

They have roared defiantly ¹⁰  at me.

So I will treat them as though I hate them. ¹¹ 

Jeremiah 22:20

Warning to Jerusalem

22:20 People of Jerusalem, ¹²  go up to Lebanon and cry out in mourning.

Go to the land of Bashan and cry out loudly.

Cry out in mourning from the mountains of Moab. ¹³ 

For your allies ¹⁴  have all been defeated.

Jeremiah 25:36

25:36 Listen to the cries of anguish of the leaders.

Listen to the wails of the shepherds of the flocks.

They are wailing because the Lord

is about to destroy their lands. ¹⁵ 

Jeremiah 30:5

30:5 Yes, ¹⁶  here is what he says:

“You hear cries of panic and of terror;

there is no peace in sight. ¹⁷ 

Jeremiah 30:19

30:19 Out of those places you will hear songs of thanksgiving ¹⁸ 

and the sounds of laughter and merriment.

I will increase their number and they will not dwindle away. ¹⁹ 

I will bring them honor and they will no longer be despised.

Jeremiah 42:13

42:13 “You must not disobey the Lord your God by saying, ‘We will not stay in this land.’

Jeremiah 42:21

42:21 This day ²⁰  I have told you what he said. ²¹  But you do not want to obey the Lord by doing what he sent me to tell you. ²² 

Jeremiah 43:7

43:7 They went on to Egypt ²³  because they refused to obey the Lord, and came to Tahpanhes. ²⁴ 

Jeremiah 46:22

46:22 Egypt will run away, hissing like a snake, ²⁵ 

as the enemy comes marching up in force.

They will come against her with axes

as if they were woodsmen chopping down trees.

[2:15]  ¹ tn Heb “Lions shout over him, they give out [raise] their voices.”

[2:15]  ² tn Heb “without inhabitant.”

[3:9]  ³ tc The translation reads the form as a causative (Hiphil, תַּהֲנֵף, tahanef) with some of the versions in place of the simple stative (Qal, תֶּחֱנַף, tekhenaf) in the MT.

[3:9]  ⁴ tn Heb “because of the lightness of her prostitution, she defiled the land and committed adultery with stone and wood.”

[6:17]  ⁵ tn These words are not in the text but are implicit in the interchange of pronouns in the Hebrew of vv. 16-17. They are supplied in the translation here for clarity.

[6:17]  ⁶ tn Heb “I appointed watchmen over you.”

[6:17]  ⁷ tn Heb “Pay attention to the sound of the trumpet.” The word “warning” is not in the Hebrew text, but is implied.

[12:8]  ⁷ tn See the note on the previous verse.

[12:8]  ⁸ tn Heb “have become to me like a lion.”

[12:8]  ⁹ tn Heb “have given against me with her voice.”

[12:8]  ¹⁰ tn Or “so I will reject her.” The word “hate” is sometimes used in a figurative way to refer to being neglected, i.e., treated as though unloved. In these contexts it does not have the same emotive connotations that a typical modern reader would associate with hate. See Gen 29:31, 33 and E. W. Bullinger, Figures of Speech, 556.

[22:20]  ⁹ tn The words “people of Jerusalem” are not in the text. They are supplied in the translation to clarify the referent of the imperative. The imperative is feminine singular and it is generally agreed that personified Zion/Jerusalem is in view. The second feminine singular has commonly been applied to Jerusalem or the people of Judah throughout the book. The reference to allies (v. 20, 22) and to leaders (v. 22) make it very probable that this is the case here too.

[22:20]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “from Abarim.” This was the mountain range in Moab from which Moses viewed the promised land (cf. Deut 32:49).

[22:20]  ¹¹ tn Heb “your lovers.” For the usage of this term to refer to allies see 30:14 and a semantically similar term in 4:30.

[25:36]  ¹¹ tn Heb “their pastures,” i.e., the place where they “shepherd” their “flocks.” The verb tenses in this section are not as clear as in the preceding. The participle in this verse is followed by a vav consecutive perfect like the imperatives in v. 34. The verbs in v. 38 are perfects but they can be and probably should be understood as prophetic like the perfect in v. 31 (נְתָנָם, nÿtanam) which is surrounded by imperfects, participles, and vav consecutive perfects.

[30:5]  ¹³ tn The particle כִּי (ki) is functioning here as loosely causal or epexegetical of the preceding introduction. For this usage cf. BDB 473-74 s.v. כִּי 3.c. This nuance borders on that of the intensive use of כִּי. See the discussion in BDB 472 s.v. כִּי note and כִּי 1.e.

[30:5]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “We have heard the sound of panic and of fear, and there is no peace.” It is generally agreed that the person of the verb presupposes that this is an unintroduced quote of the people.

[30:19]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “Out of them will come thanksgiving and a sound of those who are playful.”

[30:19]  ¹⁶ sn Compare Jer 29:6.

[42:21]  ¹⁷ tn Or “Today.”

[42:21]  ¹⁸ tn The words “what he said” are not in the text but are implicit and seem necessary for clarity.

[42:21]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “But you have not hearkened to the voice of [idiomatic for “obeyed” see BDB 1034 s.v. שָׁמַע Qal.1.m] the Lord your God, namely [cf. BDB 252 s.v. וְ 1.b] with respect [cf. BDB 514 s.v. לְ 5.f(c)] all which he has sent to us.” The verb is translated “don’t seem to want to obey” because they have not yet expressed their refusal or their actual disobedience. Several commentaries sensing this apparent discrepancy suggest that 42:19-22 are to be transposed after 43:1-3 (see, e.g., BHS note 18a, W. L. Holladay, Jeremiah [Hermeneia], 2:275; J. Bright, Jeremiah [AB], 252, 256, 258). However, there is absolutely no textual evidence for the transposition and little reason to suspect an early scribal error (in spite of Holladay’s suggestion). It is possible that Jeremiah here anticipates this answer in 43:1-3 through the response on their faces (so Bright, 256; F. B. Huey, Jeremiah, Lamentations [NAC], 361). G. L. Keown, P. J. Scalise, and T. G. Smothers (Jeremiah 26-52 [WBC], 249) also call attention to the stated intention in 41:17 and the fact that the strong warning in 42:15-17 seems to imply that a negative response is expected). The use of the perfect here is perhaps to be related to the perfect expressing resolve or determination (see IBHS 489 §30.5.1d). It is also conceivable that these two verses are part of a conditional sentence which has no formal introduction. I.e., “And if you will not obey…then you should know for certain that…” For examples of this kind of conditional clause introduced by two vavs (ו) see Joüon 2:628-29 §167.b, and compare Jer 18:4; Judg 6:13. However, though this interpretation is within the possibilities of Hebrew grammar, I know of no translation or commentary that follows it. So it has not been followed in the translation or given as an alternate translation.

[43:7]  ¹⁹ sn This had been their intention all along (41:17). Though they consulted the Lord and promised to do what he told them whether they agreed with it or not (42:5-6), it is clear that they had no intention of doing so. Jeremiah could see that (42:19-22). They refused to believe that the Lord had really said what Jeremiah told them (43:4) and feared reprisal from the Babylonians more than any potential destruction from the Lord (43:3).

[43:7]  ²⁰ sn Tahpanhes was an important fortress city on the northern border of Egypt in the northeastern Nile delta. It is generally equated with the Greek city of Daphne. It has already been mentioned in 2:16 in conjunction with Memphis (the Hebrew name is “Noph”) as a source of soldiers who did violence to the Israelites in the past.

[46:22]  ²¹ tn Or “Egypt will rustle away like a snake”; Heb “her sound goes like the snake,” or “her sound [is] like the snake [when] it goes.” The meaning of the simile is debated. Some see a reference to the impotent hiss of a fleeing serpent (F. B. Huey, Jeremiah, Lamentations [NAC], 382), others the sound of a serpent stealthily crawling away when it is disturbed (H. Freedman, Jeremiah [SoBB], 297-98). The translation follows the former interpretation because of the irony involved.