Jeremiah 2:4

The Lord Reminds Them of the Unfaithfulness of Their Ancestors

2:4 Now listen to what the Lord has to say, you descendants ¹  of Jacob,

all you family groups from the nation ²  of Israel.

Jeremiah 2:14

Israel’s Reliance on Foreign Alliances (not on God)

2:14 “Israel is not a slave, is he?

He was not born into slavery, was he? ³ 

If not, why then is he being carried off?

Jeremiah 3:11

3:11 Then the Lord said to me, “Under the circumstances, wayward Israel could even be considered less guilty than unfaithful Judah. ⁴ 

Jeremiah 3:20

3:20 But, you have been unfaithful to me, nation of Israel, ⁵ 

like an unfaithful wife who has left her husband,” ⁶ 

says the Lord.

Jeremiah 3:23

3:23 We know our noisy worship of false gods

on the hills and mountains did not help us. ⁷ 

We know that the Lord our God

is the only one who can deliver Israel. ⁸ 

Jeremiah 5:11

5:11 For the nations of Israel and Judah ⁹ 

have been very unfaithful to me,”

says the Lord.

Jeremiah 7:21

7:21 The Lord said to the people of Judah, ¹⁰  “The Lord God of Israel who rules over all ¹¹  says: ‘You might as well go ahead and add the meat of your burnt offerings to that of the other sacrifices and eat it, too! ¹² 

Jeremiah 10:1

The Lord, not Idols, is the Only Worthy Object of Worship

10:1 You people of Israel, ¹³  listen to what the Lord has to say to you.

Jeremiah 14:8

14:8 You have been the object of Israel’s hopes.

You have saved them when they were in trouble.

Why have you become like a resident foreigner ¹⁴  in the land?

Why have you become like a traveler who only stops in to spend the night?

Jeremiah 23:13

23:13 The Lord says, ¹⁵  “I saw the prophets of Samaria ¹⁶ 

doing something that was disgusting. ¹⁷ 

They prophesied in the name of the god Baal

and led my people Israel astray. ¹⁸ 

Jeremiah 28:2

28:2 “The Lord God of Israel who rules over all ¹⁹  says, ‘I will break the yoke of servitude ²⁰  to the king of Babylon.

Jeremiah 29:4

29:4 “The Lord God of Israel who rules over all ²¹  says to all those he sent ²²  into exile to Babylon from Jerusalem, ²³ 

Jeremiah 30:4

Israel and Judah Will Be Delivered after a Time of Deep Distress

30:4 So here is what the Lord has to say about Israel and Judah. ²⁴ 

Jeremiah 31:2

Israel Will Be Restored and Join Judah in Worship

31:2 The Lord says,

“The people of Israel who survived

death at the hands of the enemy ²⁵ 

will find favor in the wilderness

as they journey to find rest for themselves.

Jeremiah 31:4

31:4 I will rebuild you, my dear children Israel, ²⁶ 

so that you will once again be built up.

Once again you will take up the tambourine

and join in the happy throng of dancers. ²⁷ 

Jeremiah 33:7

33:7 I will restore Judah and Israel ²⁸  and will rebuild them as they were in days of old. ²⁹ 

Jeremiah 48:13

48:13 The people of Moab will be disappointed by their god Chemosh.

They will be as disappointed as the people of Israel were

when they put their trust in the calf god at Bethel. ³⁰ 

Jeremiah 51:49

51:49 “Babylon must fall ³¹ 

because of the Israelites she has killed, ³² 

just as the earth’s mortally wounded fell

because of Babylon. ³³ 

[2:4]  ¹ tn Heb “house.”

[2:4]  ² tn Heb “house.”

[2:14]  ³ tn Heb “Is Israel a slave? Or is he a house born slave?” The questions are rhetorical, expecting a negative answer.

[3:11]  ⁵ tn Heb “Wayward Israel has proven herself to be more righteous than unfaithful Judah.”

[3:20]  ⁷ tn Heb “house of Israel.”

[3:20]  ⁸ tn Heb “a wife unfaithful from her husband.”

[3:23]  ⁹ tn Heb “Truly in vain from the hills the noise/commotion [and from] the mountains.” The syntax of the Hebrew sentence is very elliptical here.

[3:23]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “Truly in the Lord our God is deliverance for Israel.”

[5:11]  ¹¹ tn Heb “the house of Israel and the house of Judah.”

[7:21]  ¹³ tn The words “The Lord said to the people of Judah” are not in the text but are implicit in the shift in addressee between vv. 16-20 and vv. 21-26.

[7:21]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “Yahweh of armies, the God of Israel.”

[7:21]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “Add your burnt offerings to your [other] sacrifices and eat the meat!” See the following sn for explanation. This is an example of the rhetorical use of the imperative for a sarcastic challenge. Cf. GKC 324 §110.a; cf. Amos 4:4, “Go to Bethel and sin!”

[10:1]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “house of Israel.”

[14:8]  ¹⁷ tn It would be a mistake to translate this word as “stranger.” This word (גֵּר, ger) refers to a resident alien or resident foreigner who stays in a country not his own. He is accorded the privilege of protection through the common rights of hospitality but he does not have the rights of the native born or citizen. The simile here is particularly effective. The land was the Lord’s land; they were but resident foreigners and tenants on it (Lev 25:23). Jeremiah’s complaint here is particularly bold. For further information on the status of “resident foreigners” see IDB 4:397-99 s.v. “Sojourner.”

[23:13]  ¹⁹ tn The words “The Lord says” are not in the text, but it is clear from the content that he is the speaker. These words are supplied in the translation for clarity.

[23:13]  ²⁰ map For location see Map2 B1; Map4 D3; Map5 E2; Map6 A4; Map7 C1.

[23:13]  ²¹ tn According to BDB 1074 s.v. תִּפְלָּה this word means “unseemly, unsavory.” The related adjective is used in Job 6:6 of the tastelessness of something that is unseasoned.

[23:13]  ²² tn Heb “by Baal.”

[28:2]  ²¹ tn Heb “Yahweh of armies, the God of Israel.” See the study notes on 2:19 and 7:3 for the explanation of this title.

[28:2]  ²² sn See the study note on 27:2 for this figure. Hananiah is given the same title “the prophet” as Jeremiah throughout the chapter and claims to speak with the same authority (compare v. 2a with 27:21a). He even speaks like the true prophet; the verb form “I will break” is in the “prophetic perfect” emphasizing certitude. His message here is a contradiction of Jeremiah’s message recorded in the preceding chapter (compare especially v. 3 with 27:16, 19-22 and v. 4 with 22:24-28). The people and the priests are thus confronted with a choice of whom to believe. Who is the “true” prophet and who is the “false” one? Only fulfillment of their prophecies will prove which is which (see Deut 18:21-22).

[29:4]  ²³ tn Heb “Yahweh of armies, the God of Israel.”

[29:4]  ²⁴ tn Heb “I sent.” This sentence exhibits a rapid switch in person, here from the third person to the first. Such switches are common to Hebrew poetry and prophecy (cf. GKC 462 §144.p). Contemporary English, however, does not exhibit such rapid switches and it creates confusion for the careful reader. Such switches have regularly been avoided in the translation.

[29:4]  ²⁵ map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.

[30:4]  ²⁵ tn Heb “And these are the words/things that the Lord speaks concerning Israel and Judah.”

[31:2]  ²⁷ tn Heb “who survived the sword.”

[31:4]  ²⁹ tn Heb “Virgin Israel.”

[31:4]  ³⁰ sn Contrast Jer 7:34 and 25:10.

[33:7]  ³¹ tn Heb “I will reverse [or restore] the fortunes of Judah and the fortunes of Israel.” For this idiom see the translator’s note on Jer 29:14 and see the usage in 30:3, 18; 31:23; 32:44.

[33:7]  ³² tn This phrase simply means “as formerly” (BDB 911 s.v. רִאשׁוֹן 3.a). The reference to the “as formerly” must be established from the context. See the usage in Judg 20:32; 1 Kgs 13:6; Isa 1:26.

[48:13]  ³³ tn Heb “Moab will be ashamed because of Chemosh as the house of Israel was ashamed because of Bethel, their [source of] confidence.” The “shame” is, of course, the disappointment, disillusionment because of the lack of help from these gods in which they trusted (for this nuance of the verb see BDB 101 s.v. בּוֹשׁ Qal.2 and compare usage in Jer 2:13; Isa 20:5). Because of the parallelism, some see the reference to Bethel to be a reference to a West Semitic god worshiped by the people of Israel (see J. P. Hyatt, “Bethel [Deity],” IDB 1:390 for the arguments). However, there is no evidence in the OT that such a god was worshiped in Israel, and there is legitimate evidence that northern Israel placed its confidence in the calf god that Jeroboam set up in Bethel (cf. 1 Kgs 12:28-32; Hos 10:5; 8:5-6; Amos 7:10-17).

[51:49]  ³⁵ tn The infinitive construct is used here to indicate what is about to take place. See IBHS 610 §36.2.3g.

[51:49]  ³⁶ tn Heb “the slain of Israel.” The words “because of” are supplied in the translation for clarification. The preceding context makes it clear that Babylon would be judged for its atrocities against Israel (see especially 50:33-34; 51:10, 24, 35).

[51:49]  ³⁷ tn The juxtaposition of גַם…גַם (gam...gam), often “both…and,” here indicates correspondence. See BDB 169 s.v. גַּם 4. Appropriately Babylon will fall slain just as her victims, including God’s covenant people, did.