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 5:14

5:14 Because of that, ⁴  the Lord, the God who rules over all, ⁵  said to me, ⁶ 

“Because these people have spoken ⁷  like this, ⁸ 

I will make the words that I put in your mouth like fire.

And I will make this people like wood

which the fiery judgments you speak will burn up.” ⁹ 

[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.”

[5:14]  ⁴ tn Heb “Therefore.”

[5:14]  ⁵ tn Heb “The Lord God of armies.” See the translator’s note at 2:19.

[5:14]  ⁶ tn The words, “to me” are not in the text but are implicit in the connection. They are supplied in the translation for clarification.

[5:14]  ⁷ tn Heb “you have spoken.” The text here דַּבֶּרְכֶם (dabberkhem, “you have spoken”) is either a case of a scribal error for דַּבֶּרָם (dabberam, “they have spoken”) or an example of the rapid shift in addressee which is common in Jeremiah.

[5:14]  ⁸ tn Heb “this word.”

[5:14]  ⁹ tn Heb “like wood and it [i.e., the fire I put in your mouth] will consume them.”