Jeremiah 2:24

2:24 You are like a wild female donkey brought up in the wilderness.

In her lust she sniffs the wind to get the scent of a male. ¹ 

No one can hold her back when she is in heat.

None of the males need wear themselves out chasing after her.

At mating time she is easy to find. ² 

Jeremiah 3:19

3:19 “I thought to myself, ³ 

‘Oh what a joy it would be for me to treat you like a son! ⁴ 

What a joy it would be for me to give ⁵  you a pleasant land,

the most beautiful piece of property there is in all the world!’ ⁶ 

I thought you would call me, ‘Father’ ⁷ 

and would never cease being loyal to me. ⁸ 

Jeremiah 4:30

4:30 And you, Zion, city doomed to destruction, ⁹ 

you accomplish nothing ¹⁰  by wearing a beautiful dress, ¹¹ 

decking yourself out in jewels of gold,

and putting on eye shadow! ¹² 

You are making yourself beautiful for nothing.

Your lovers spurn you.

They want to kill you. ¹³ 

Jeremiah 22:6

22:6 “‘For the Lord says concerning the palace of the king of Judah,

“This place looks like a veritable forest of Gilead to me.

It is like the wooded heights of Lebanon in my eyes.

But I swear that I will make it like a wilderness

whose towns have all been deserted. ¹⁴ 

Jeremiah 32:24

32:24 Even now siege ramps have been built up around the city ¹⁵  in order to capture it. War, ¹⁶  starvation, and disease are sure to make the city fall into the hands of the Babylonians ¹⁷  who are attacking it. ¹⁸  Lord, ¹⁹  you threatened that this would happen. Now you can see that it is already taking place. ²⁰ 

Jeremiah 40:10

40:10 I for my part will stay at Mizpah to represent you before the Babylonians ²¹  whenever they come to us. You for your part go ahead and harvest the wine, the dates, the figs, ²²  and the olive oil, and store them in jars. Go ahead and settle down in the towns that you have taken over.” ²³ 

Jeremiah 47:2

47:2 “Look! Enemies are gathering in the north like water rising in a river. ²⁴ 

They will be like an overflowing stream.

They will overwhelm the whole country and everything in it like a flood.

They will overwhelm the cities and their inhabitants.

People will cry out in alarm.

Everyone living in the country will cry out in pain.

Jeremiah 50:9

50:9 For I will rouse into action and bring against Babylon

a host of mighty nations ²⁵  from the land of the north.

They will set up their battle lines against her.

They will come from the north and capture her. ²⁶ 

Their arrows will be like a skilled soldier ²⁷ 

who does not return from the battle empty-handed. ²⁸ 

[2:24]  ¹ tn The words “to get the scent of a male” are implicit and are supplied in the translation for clarification.

[2:24]  ² sn The metaphor is intended to depict Israel’s irrepressible desire to worship other gods.

[3:19]  ³ tn Heb “I, myself, said.” See note on “I thought that she might come back to me” in 3:7.

[3:19]  ⁴ tn Heb “How I would place you among the sons.” Israel appears to be addressed here contextually as the Lord’s wife (see the next verse). The pronouns of address in the first two lines are second feminine singular as are the readings of the two verbs preferred by the Masoretes (the Qere readings) in the third and fourth lines. The verbs that are written in the text in the third and fourth lines (the Kethib readings) are second masculine plural as is the verb describing Israel’s treachery in the next verse.

[3:19]  ⁵ tn The words “What a joy it would be for me to” are not in the Hebrew text but are implied in the parallel structure.

[3:19]  ⁶ tn Heb “the most beautiful heritage among the nations.”

[3:19]  ⁷ tn Heb “my father.”

[3:19]  ⁸ tn Heb “turn back from [following] after me.”

[4:30]  ⁵ tn Heb “And you that are doomed to destruction.” The referent is supplied from the following context and the fact that Zion/Jerusalem represents the leadership which was continually making overtures to foreign nations for help.

[4:30]  ⁶ tn Heb “What are you accomplishing…?” The rhetorical question assumes a negative answer, made clear by the translation in the indicative.

[4:30]  ⁷ tn Heb “clothing yourself in scarlet.”

[4:30]  ⁸ tn Heb “enlarging your eyes with antimony.” Antimony was a black powder used by women as eyeliner to make their eyes look larger.

[4:30]  ⁹ tn Heb “they seek your life.”

[22:6]  ⁷ tn Heb “Gilead you are to me, the height of Lebanon, but I will surely make you a wilderness [with] cities uninhabited.” The points of comparison are made explicit in the translation for the sake of clarity. See the study note for further explanation. For the use of the preposition לְ (lamed) = “in my eyes/in my opinion” see BDB 513 s.v. לְ 5.a(d) and compare Jonah 3:3; Esth 10:3. For the use of the particles אִם לֹא (’im lo’) to introduce an emphatic oath see BDB 50 s.v. אִם 1.b(2).

[32:24]  ⁹ tn Heb “Siege ramps have come up to the city to capture it.”

[32:24]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “sword.”

[32:24]  ¹¹ tn Heb “The Chaldeans.” See the study note on 21:4 for further explanation.

[32:24]  ¹² tn Heb “And the city has been given into the hands of the Chaldeans who are fighting against it because of the sword, starvation, and disease.” The verb “has been given” is one of those perfects that view the action as good as done (the perfect of certainty or prophetic perfect).

[32:24]  ¹³ tn The word “Lord” is not in the text but is supplied in the translation as a reminder that it is he who is being addressed.

[32:24]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “And what you said has happened and behold you see it.”

[40:10]  ¹¹ tn Heb “Chaldeans.” See the study note on 21:4 for explanation.

[40:10]  ¹² tn Heb “summer fruit.” “Summer fruit” is meaningless to most modern readers; dates and figs are what is involved.

[40:10]  ¹³ tn This plus “Things will go well with you” is in essence the substance of the oath. The pronouns are emphatic, “And I, behold I will stay…and you, you may gather.” The imperatives in the second half of the verse are more a form of permission than of command or advice (cf. NJPS, REB, TEV and compare the usage in 40:4 and the references in the translator’s note there).

[47:2]  ¹³ tn Heb “Behold! Waters are rising from the north.” The metaphor of enemy armies compared to overflowing water is seen also in Isa 8:8-9 (Assyria) and 46:7-8 (Egypt). Here it refers to the foe from the north (Jer 1:14; 4:6; etc) which is specifically identified with Babylon in Jer 25. The metaphor has been turned into a simile in the translation to help the average reader identify that a figure is involved and to hint at the referent.

[50:9]  ¹⁵ sn Some of these are named in Jer 51:27-28.

[50:9]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “She will be captured from there (i.e., from the north).”

[50:9]  ¹⁷ tc Read Heb ַָמשְׂכִּיל (moskil) with a number of Hebrew mss and some of the versions in place of מַשְׁכִּיל (mashkil, “one who kills children”) with the majority of Hebrew mss and some of the versions. See BHS note d for the details.

[50:9]  ¹⁸ tn Or more freely, “Their arrows will be as successful at hitting their mark // as a skilled soldier always returns from battle with plunder.”