Jeremiah 29:20

29:20 ‘So pay attention to what I, the Lord, have said, ¹  all you exiles whom I have sent to Babylon from Jerusalem.’

Jeremiah 16:12

16:12 And you have acted even more wickedly than your ancestors! Each one of you has followed the stubborn inclinations of your own wicked heart and not obeyed me. ² 

Jeremiah 7:23

7:23 I also explicitly commanded them: ³  “Obey me. If you do, I ⁴  will be your God and you will be my people. Live exactly the way I tell you ⁵  and things will go well with you.”

Jeremiah 25:29

25:29 For take note, I am already beginning to bring disaster on the city that I call my own. ⁶  So how can you possibly avoid being punished? ⁷  You will not go unpunished! For I am proclaiming war against all who live on the earth. I, the Lord who rules over all, ⁸  affirm it!’ ⁹ 

Jeremiah 27:9

27:9 So do not listen to your prophets or to those who claim to predict the future by divination, ¹⁰  by dreams, by consulting the dead, ¹¹  or by practicing magic. They keep telling you, ‘You do not need to be ¹²  subject to the king of Babylon.’

Jeremiah 40:10

40:10 I for my part will stay at Mizpah to represent you before the Babylonians ¹³  whenever they come to us. You for your part go ahead and harvest the wine, the dates, the figs, ¹⁴  and the olive oil, and store them in jars. Go ahead and settle down in the towns that you have taken over.” ¹⁵ 

[29:20]  ¹ tn Heb “pay attention to the word of the Lord.” However, the Lord is speaking in the words just previous to this and in the words which follow (“whom I have sent”). This is another example of the shift from third person referent to first person which is common in Hebrew poetry and prophecy but is not common in English style. The person has been adjusted in the translation to avoid confusion.

[16:12]  ² sn For the argumentation here compare Jer 7:23-26.

[7:23]  ³ tn Verses 22-23a read in Hebrew, “I did not speak with your ancestors and I did not command them when I brought them out of Egypt about words/matters concerning burnt offering and sacrifice, but I commanded them this word:” Some modern commentators have explained this passage as an evidence for the lateness of the Pentateuchal instruction regarding sacrifice or a denial that sacrifice was practiced during the period of the wilderness wandering. However, it is better explained as an example of what R. de Vaux calls a dialectical negative, i.e., “not so much this as that” or “not this without that” (Ancient Israel, 454-56). For other examples of this same argument see Isa 1:10-17; Hos 6:4-6; Amos 5:21-25.

[7:23]  ⁴ tn Heb “Obey me and I will be.” The translation is equivalent syntactically but brings out the emphasis in the command.

[7:23]  ⁵ tn Heb “Walk in all the way that I command you.”

[25:29]  ⁴ tn Heb “which is called by my name.” See translator’s note on 7:10 for support.

[25:29]  ⁵ tn This is an example of a question without the formal introductory particle following a conjunctive vav introducing an opposition. (See Joüon 2:609 §161.a.) It is also an example of the use of the infinitive before the finite verb in a rhetorical question involving doubt or denial. (See Joüon 2:422-23 §123.f, and compare usage in Gen 37:8.)

[25:29]  ⁶ tn Heb “Yahweh of armies.”

[25:29]  ⁷ tn Heb “Oracle of Yahweh of armies.”

[27:9]  ⁵ sn Various means of divination are alluded to in the OT. For example, Ezek 21:26-27 alludes to throwing down arrows to see which way they fall and consulting the shape of the liver of slaughtered animals. Gen 44:5 alludes to reading the future through pouring liquid in a cup. The means alluded to in this verse were all classified as pagan and prohibited as illegitimate in Deut 18:10-14. The Lord had promised that he would speak to them through prophets like Moses (Deut 18:15, 18). But even prophets could lie. Hence, the Lord told them that the test of a true prophet was whether what he said came true or not (Deut 18:20-22). An example of false prophesying and the vindication of the true as opposed to the false will be given in the chapter that follows this.

[27:9]  ⁶ sn An example of this is seen in 1 Sam 28.

[27:9]  ⁷ tn The verb in this context is best taken as a negative obligatory imperfect. See IBHS 508-9 §31.4g for discussion and examples. See Exod 4:15 as an example of positive obligation.

[40:10]  ⁶ tn Heb “Chaldeans.” See the study note on 21:4 for explanation.

[40:10]  ⁷ tn Heb “summer fruit.” “Summer fruit” is meaningless to most modern readers; dates and figs are what is involved.

[40:10]  ⁸ tn This plus “Things will go well with you” is in essence the substance of the oath. The pronouns are emphatic, “And I, behold I will stay…and you, you may gather.” The imperatives in the second half of the verse are more a form of permission than of command or advice (cf. NJPS, REB, TEV and compare the usage in 40:4 and the references in the translator’s note there).