Jeremiah 24:2

24:2 One basket had very good-looking figs in it. They looked like those that had ripened early. ¹  The other basket had very bad-looking figs in it, so bad they could not be eaten.

Jeremiah 48:16

48:16 Moab’s destruction is at hand.

Disaster will come on it quickly.

Jeremiah 2:12

2:12 Be amazed at this, O heavens! ² 

Be shocked and utterly dumbfounded,”

says the Lord.

Jeremiah 2:36

2:36 Why do you constantly go about

changing your political allegiances? ³ 

You will get no help from Egypt

just as you got no help from Assyria. ⁴ 

Jeremiah 48:29

48:29 I have heard how proud the people of Moab are,

I know how haughty they are.

I have heard how arrogant, proud, and haughty they are,

what a high opinion they have of themselves. ⁵ 

Jeremiah 50:12

50:12 But Babylonia will be put to great shame.

The land where you were born ⁶  will be disgraced.

Indeed, ⁷  Babylonia will become the least important of all nations.

It will become a dry and barren desert.

Jeremiah 24:3

24:3 The Lord said to me, “What do you see, Jeremiah?” I answered, “I see figs. The good ones look very good. But the bad ones look very bad, so bad that they cannot be eaten.”

Jeremiah 2:10

2:10 Go west ⁸  across the sea to the coasts of Cyprus ⁹  and see.

Send someone east to Kedar ¹⁰  and have them look carefully.

See if such a thing as this has ever happened:

Jeremiah 9:19

9:19 For the sound of wailing is soon to be heard in Zion.

They will wail, ¹¹  ‘We are utterly ruined! ¹²  We are completely disgraced!

For our houses have been torn down

and we must leave our land.’” ¹³ 

Jeremiah 18:13

18:13 Therefore, the Lord says,

“Ask the people of other nations

whether they have heard of anything like this.

Israel should have been like a virgin.

But she has done something utterly revolting!

Jeremiah 14:17

Lament over Present Destruction and Threat of More to Come

14:17 “Tell these people this, Jeremiah: ¹⁴ 

‘My eyes overflow with tears

day and night without ceasing. ¹⁵ 

For my people, my dear children, ¹⁶  have suffered a crushing blow.

They have suffered a serious wound. ¹⁷ 

Jeremiah 20:11

20:11 But the Lord is with me to help me like an awe-inspiring warrior. ¹⁸ 

Therefore those who persecute me will fail and will not prevail over me.

They will be thoroughly disgraced because they did not succeed.

Their disgrace will never be forgotten.

Jeremiah 40:12

40:12 So all these Judeans returned to the land of Judah from the places where they had been scattered. They came to Gedaliah at Mizpah. Thus they harvested a large amount of wine and dates and figs. ¹⁹ 

Jeremiah 49:30

49:30 The Lord says, ²⁰  “Flee quickly, you who live in Hazor. ²¹ 

Take up refuge in remote places. ²² 

For King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon has laid out plans to attack you.

He has formed his strategy on how to defeat you.” ²³ 

[24:2]  ¹ sn See Isa 28:4; Hos 9:10.

[2:12]  ² sn In earlier literature the heavens (and the earth) were called on to witness Israel’s commitment to the covenant (Deut 30:12) and were called to serve as witnesses to Israel’s fidelity or infidelity to it (Isa 1:2; Mic 6:1).

[2:36]  ³ tn Heb “changing your way.” The translation follows the identification of the Hebrew verb here as a defective writing of a form (תֵּזְלִי [tezÿli] instead of תֵּאזְלִי [te’zÿli]) from a verb meaning “go/go about” (אָזַל [’azal]; cf. BDB 23 s.v. אָזַל). Most modern English versions, commentaries, and lexicons read it from a root meaning “to treat cheaply [or lightly]” (תָּזֵלִּי [tazelli] from the root זָלַל (zalal); cf. HALOT 261 s.v. זָלַל); hence, “Why do you consider it such a small matter to…”

[2:36]  ⁴ tn Heb “You will be ashamed/disappointed by Egypt, just as you were ashamed/ disappointed by Assyria.”

[48:29]  ⁴ tn Heb “We have heard of the pride of Moab – [he is] exceedingly proud – of his haughtiness, and his pride, and his haughtiness, and the loftiness of his heart.” These words are essentially all synonyms, three of them coming from the same Hebrew root (גָּאָה, ga’ah) and one of the words being used twice (גָּאוֹן). Since the first person singular is used in the next verse, the present translation considers the “we” of this verse to refer to the plural of majesty or the plural referring to the divine council in such passages as Gen 1:26; 3:22; 11:7; Isa 6:8 and has translated in the singular to avoid possible confusion of who the “we” are. Most understand the reference to be to Jeremiah and his fellow Judeans.

[50:12]  ⁵ tn Heb “Your mother will be utterly shamed, the one who gave you birth…” The word “mother” and the parallel term “the one who gave you birth” are used metaphorically for the land of Babylonia. For the figure compare the usage in Isa 50:1 (Judah) and Hos 2:2, 5 (2:4, 7 HT) and see BDB 52 s.v. אֵם 2 and 408 s.v. יָלַד Qal.2.c.

[50:12]  ⁶ tn Heb “Behold.” For the use of this particle see the translator’s note on 1:6.

[2:10]  ⁶ tn Heb “For go west.”

[2:10]  ⁷ tn Heb “pass over to the coasts of Kittim.” The words “west across the sea” in this line and “east of” in the next are implicit in the text and are supplied in the translation to give geographical orientation.

[2:10]  ⁸ sn Kedar is the home of the Bedouin tribes in the Syro-Arabian desert. See Gen 25:18 and Jer 49:38. See also the previous note for the significance of the reference here.

[9:19]  ⁷ tn The words “They will wail” are not in the text. They are supplied in the translation to make clear that this is the wailing that will be heard.

[9:19]  ⁸ tn Heb “How we are ruined!”

[9:19]  ⁹ tn The order of these two lines has been reversed for English stylistic reasons. The text reads in Hebrew “because we have left our land because they have thrown down our dwellings.” The two clauses offer parallel reasons for the cries “How ruined we are! [How] we are greatly disgraced!” But the first line must contain a prophetic perfect (because the lament comes from Jerusalem) and the second a perfect referring to a destruction that is itself future. This seems the only way to render the verse that would not be misleading.

[14:17]  ⁸ tn The word “Jeremiah” is not in the text but the address is to a second person singular and is a continuation of 14:14 where the quote starts. The word is supplied in the translation for clarity.

[14:17]  ⁹ tn Many of the English versions and commentaries render this an indirect or third person imperative, “Let my eyes overflow…” because of the particle אַל (’al) which introduces the phrase translated “without ceasing” (אַל־תִּדְמֶינָה, ’al-tidmenah). However, this is undoubtedly an example where the particle introduces an affirmation that something cannot be done (cf. GKC 322 §109.e). Clear examples of this are found in Pss 41:2 (41:3 HT); 50:3; Job 40:32 (41:8). God here is describing again a lamentable situation and giving his response to it. See 14:1-6 above.

[14:17]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “virgin daughter, my people.” The last noun here is appositional to the first two (genitive of apposition). Hence it is not ‘literally’ “virgin daughter of my people.”

[14:17]  ¹¹ tn This is a poetic personification. To translate with the plural “serious wounds” might mislead some into thinking of literal wounds.

[20:11]  ⁹ sn This line has some interesting ties with Jer 15:20-21 where Jeremiah is assured by God that he is indeed with him as he promised him when he called him (1:8, 19) and will deliver him from the clutches of wicked and violent people. The word translated here “awe-inspiring” is the same as the word “violent people” there. Jeremiah is confident that his “awe-inspiring” warrior will overcome “violent people.” The statement of confidence here is, by the way, a common element in the psalms of petition in the Psalter. The common elements of that type of psalm are all here: invocation (v. 7), lament (vv. 7-10), confession of trust/confidence in being heard (v. 11), petition (v. 12), thanksgiving or praise (v. 13). For some examples of this type of psalm see Pss 3, 7, 26.

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

[49:30]  ¹¹ tn Heb “Oracle of the Lord.”

[49:30]  ¹² map For location see Map1 D2; Map2 D3; Map3 A2; Map4 C1.

[49:30]  ¹³ tn Heb “Make deep to dwell.” See Jer 49:8 and the translator’s note there. The use of this same phrase here argues against the alternative there of going down from a height and going back home.

[49:30]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “has counseled a counsel against you, has planned a plan against you.”