Jeremiah 23:29

23:29 My message is like a fire that purges dross! ¹  It is like a hammer that breaks a rock in pieces! ²  I, the Lord, so affirm it! ³ 

Jeremiah 48:28

48:28 Leave your towns, you inhabitants of Moab.

Go and live in the cliffs.

Be like a dove that makes its nest

high on the sides of a ravine. ⁴ 

[23:29]  ¹ tn Heb “Is not my message like a fire?” The rhetorical question expects a positive answer that is made explicit in the translation. The words “that purges dross” are not in the text but are implicit to the metaphor. They are supplied in the translation for clarity.

[23:29]  ² tn Heb “Is it not like a hammer that breaks a rock in pieces?” See preceding note.

[23:29]  ³ tn Heb “Oracle of the Lord.”

[48:28]  ⁴ tn Heb “in the sides of the mouth of a pit/chasm.” The translation follows the suggestion of J. Bright, Jeremiah (AB), 321. The point of the simile is inaccessibility.