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 3:2

3:2 “Look up at the hilltops and consider this. ³ 

You have had sex with other gods on every one of them. ⁴ 

You waited for those gods like a thief lying in wait in the desert. ⁵ 

You defiled the land by your wicked prostitution to other gods. ⁶ 

Jeremiah 4:11

4:11 “At that time the people of Judah and Jerusalem ⁷  will be told,

‘A scorching wind will sweep down

from the hilltops in the desert on ⁸  my dear people. ⁹ 

It will not be a gentle breeze

for winnowing the grain and blowing away the chaff. ¹⁰ 

Jeremiah 9:2

9:2 (9:1) I wish I had a lodging place in the desert

where I could spend some time like a weary traveler. ¹¹ 

Then I would desert my people

and walk away from them

because they are all unfaithful to God,

a congregation ¹²  of people that has been disloyal to him. ¹³ 

Jeremiah 12:10

12:10 Many foreign rulers ¹⁴  will ruin the land where I planted my people. ¹⁵ 

They will trample all over my chosen land. ¹⁶ 

They will turn my beautiful land

into a desolate wasteland.

Jeremiah 17:6

17:6 They will be like a shrub ¹⁷  in the desert.

They will not experience good things even when they happen.

It will be as though they were growing in the desert,

in a salt land where no one can live.

Jeremiah 23:10

23:10 For the land is full of people unfaithful to him. ¹⁸ 

They live wicked lives and they misuse their power. ¹⁹ 

So the land is dried up ²⁰  because it is under his curse. ²¹ 

The pastures in the wilderness are withered.

[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.

[3:2]  ³ tn Heb “and see.”

[3:2]  ⁴ tn Heb “Where have you not been ravished?” The rhetorical question expects the answer “nowhere,” which suggests she has engaged in the worship of pagan gods on every one of the hilltops.

[3:2]  ⁵ tn Heb “You sat for them [the lovers, i.e., the foreign gods] beside the road like an Arab in the desert.”

[3:2]  ⁶ tn Heb “by your prostitution and your wickedness.” This is probably an example of hendiadys where, when two nouns are joined by “and,” one expresses the main idea and the other qualifies it.

[4:11]  ⁵ tn Heb “this people and Jerusalem.”

[4:11]  ⁶ tn Heb “A scorching wind from the hilltops in the desert toward…”

[4:11]  ⁷ tn Heb “daughter of my people.” The term “daughter of” is appositional to “my people” and is supplied in the translation as a term of sympathy and endearment. Compare the common expression “daughter of Zion.”

[4:11]  ⁸ tn Heb “not for winnowing and not for cleansing.” The words “It will not be a gentle breeze” are not in the text but are implicit in the connection. They are supplied in the translation here for clarification.

[9:2]  ⁷ tn Heb “I wish I had in the desert a lodging place [inn, or place to spend the night] for travelers.”

[9:2]  ⁸ tn Or “bunch,” but this loses the irony; the word is used for the solemn assemblies at the religious feasts.

[9:2]  ⁹ tn Heb “they are all adulterers, a congregation of unfaithful people.” However, spiritual adultery is, of course, meant, not literal adultery. So the literal translation would be misleading.

[12:10]  ⁹ tn Heb “Many shepherds.” For the use of the term “shepherd” as a figure for rulers see the notes on 10:21.

[12:10]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “my vineyard.” To translate literally would presuppose an unlikely familiarity of this figure on the part of some readers. To translate as “vineyards” as some do would be misleading because that would miss the figurative nuance altogether.

[12:10]  ¹¹ tn Heb “my portion.”

[17:6]  ¹¹ tn This word occurs only here and in Jer 48:6. It has been identified as a kind of juniper, which is a short shrub with minute leaves that look like scales. For a picture and more discussion see Fauna and Flora of the Bible, 131.

[23:10]  ¹³ tn Heb “adulterers.” But spiritual adultery is clearly meant as also in 3:8-9; 9:2, and probably also 5:7.

[23:10]  ¹⁴ tn For the word translated “They live…lives” see usage in Jer 8:6. For the idea of “misusing” their power (Heb “their power is not right” i.e., used in the wrong way) see 2 Kgs 7:9; 17:9. In the original text this line (really two lines in the Hebrew poetry) are at the end of the verse. However, this places the antecedent too far away and could lead to confusion. The lines have been rearranged to avoid such confusion.

[23:10]  ¹⁵ tn For the use of this verb see 12:4 and the note there.

[23:10]  ¹⁶ tc The translation follows the majority of Hebrew mss (מֵאָלָה, me’alah) rather than the Greek and Syriac version and a few Hebrew mss which read “because of these” (מֵאֵלֶּה [me’elleh], referring to the people unfaithful to him).