Jeremiah 2:18

2:18 What good will it do you ¹  then ²  to go down to Egypt

to seek help from the Egyptians? ³ 

What good will it do you ⁴  to go over to Assyria

to seek help from the Assyrians? ⁵ 

Jeremiah 2:23

2:23 “How can you say, ‘I have not made myself unclean.

I have not paid allegiance to ⁶  the gods called Baal.’

Just look at the way you have behaved in the Valley of Hinnom! ⁷ 

Think about the things you have done there!

You are like a flighty, young female camel

that rushes here and there, crisscrossing its path. ⁸ 

Jeremiah 2:33

2:33 “My, how good you have become

at chasing after your lovers! ⁹ 

Why, you could even teach prostitutes a thing or two! ¹⁰ 

Jeremiah 31:22

31:22 How long will you vacillate, ¹¹ 

you who were once like an unfaithful daughter? ¹² 

For I, the Lord, promise ¹³  to bring about something new ¹⁴  on the earth,

something as unique as a woman protecting a man!’” ¹⁵ 

Hosea 5:13

5:13 When Ephraim saw ¹⁶  his sickness

and Judah saw his wound,

then Ephraim turned ¹⁷  to Assyria,

and begged ¹⁸  its great king ¹⁹  for help.

But he will not be able to heal you!

He cannot cure your wound! ²⁰ 

Hosea 7:11

Israel Turns to Assyria and Egypt for Help

7:11 Ephraim has been like a dove,

easily deceived and lacking discernment.

They called to Egypt for help;

they turned to Assyria for protection.

Hosea 12:1

12:1 Ephraim continually feeds on the wind;

he chases the east wind all day;

he multiplies lies and violence.

They make treaties ²¹  with Assyria,

and send olive oil as tribute ²²  to Egypt.

[2:18]  ¹ tn Heb “What to you to the way.”

[2:18]  ² tn The introductory particle וְעַתָּה (vÿ’attah, “and now”) carries a logical, not temporal, connotation here (cf. BDB 274 s.v. עַתָּה 2.b).

[2:18]  ³ tn Heb “to drink water from the Shihor [a branch of the Nile].” The reference is to seeking help through political alliance with Egypt as opposed to trusting in God for help. This is an extension of the figure in 2:13.

[2:18]  ⁴ tn Heb “What to you to the way.”

[2:18]  ⁵ tn Heb “to drink water from the River [a common designation in biblical Hebrew for the Euphrates River].” This refers to seeking help through political alliance. See the preceding note.

[2:23]  ⁶ tn Heb “I have not gone/followed after.” See the translator’s note on 2:5 for the meaning and usage of this idiom.

[2:23]  ⁷ tn Heb “Look at your way in the valley.” The valley is an obvious reference to the Valley of Hinnom where Baal and Molech were worshiped and child sacrifice was practiced.

[2:23]  ⁸ sn The metaphor is intended to depict Israel’s lack of clear direction and purpose without the Lord’s control.

[2:33]  ⁹ tn Heb “How good you have made your ways to seek love.”

[2:33]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “so that even the wicked women you teach your ways.”

[31:22]  ¹¹ tn The translation “dilly-dally” is suggested by J. Bright, Jeremiah (AB), 276. The verb occurs only here in this stem (the Hitpael) and only one other time in any other stem (the Qal in Song 5:6). The dictionaries define it as “to turn this way and that” (cf., e.g., BDB 330 s.v. חָמַק Hithp.). In the context it refers to turning this way and that looking for the way back.

[31:22]  ¹² sn Israel’s backsliding is forgotten and forgiven. They had once been characterized as an apostate people (3:14, 22; the word “apostate” and “unfaithful” are the same in Hebrew) and figuratively depicted as an adulterous wife (3:20). Now they are viewed as having responded to his invitation (compare 31:18-19 with 3:22-25). Hence they are no longer depicted as an unfaithful daughter but as an unsullied virgin (see the literal translation of “my dear children” in vv. 4, 21 and the study note on v. 4.)

[31:22]  ¹³ tn Heb “For the Lord will create.” The person has been shifted to avoid the possible confusion for some readers of a third person reference to the Lord in what has otherwise been a first person address. The verb “will create” is another one of the many examples of the prophetic perfect that have been seen in the book of Jeremiah. For the significance of the verb “create” here see the study note on “bring about something new.”

[31:22]  ¹⁴ sn Heb “create.” This word is always used with God as the subject and refers to the production of something new or unique, like the creation of the world and the first man and woman (Gen 1:1; 2:3; 1:27; 5:1) or the creation of a new heavens and a new earth in a new age (Isa 65:17), or the bringing about of new and unique circumstances (Num 16:30). Here reference is made contextually to the new exodus, that marvelous deliverance which will be so great that the old will pale in comparison (see the first note on v. 9).

[31:22]  ¹⁵ tn The meaning of this last line is uncertain. The translation has taken it as proverbial for something new and unique. For a fairly complete discussion of most of the options see C. Feinberg, “Jeremiah,” EBC 6:571. For the nuance of “protecting” for the verb here see BDB 686 s.v. סָבַב Po‘ 1 and compare the usage in Deut 32:10.

[5:13]  ¹⁶ tn Hosea employs three preterites (vayyiqtol forms) in verse 13a-b to describe a past-time situation.

[5:13]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “went to” (so NAB, NRSV, TEV); CEV “asked help from.”

[5:13]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “sent to” (so KJV, NIV, NRSV).

[5:13]  ¹⁹ tc The MT reads מֶלֶךְ יָרֵב (melekh yarev, “a contentious king”). This is translated as a proper name (“king Jareb”) by KJV, ASV, NASB. However, the stative adjective יָרֵב (“contentious”) is somewhat awkward. The words should be redivided as an archaic genitive-construct מַלְכִּי רָב (malki rav, “great king”; cf. NAB, NIV, NRSV, NLT) which preserves the old genitive hireq yod ending. This is the equivalent of the Assyrian royal epithet sarru rabbu (“the great king”). See also the tc note on the same phrase in 10:6.

[5:13]  ²⁰ tn Heb “your wound will not depart from you.”

[12:1]  ²¹ tn Heb “a treaty” (so NIV, NRSV); KJV, NASB “a covenant”; NAB “comes to terms.”

[12:1]  ²² tn The phrase “as tribute” does not appear in the Hebrew text, but is supplied in the translation for clarity. Cf. NCV “send a gift of olive oil.”