Jeremiah 3:19

3:19 “I thought to myself, ¹ 

‘Oh what a joy it would be for me to treat you like a son! ² 

What a joy it would be for me to give ³  you a pleasant land,

the most beautiful piece of property there is in all the world!’ ⁴ 

I thought you would call me, ‘Father’ ⁵ 

and would never cease being loyal to me. ⁶ 

Jeremiah 11:4

11:4 Those are the terms that I charged your ancestors ⁷  to keep ⁸  when I brought them out of Egypt, that place which was like an iron-smelting furnace. ⁹  I said at that time, ¹⁰  “Obey me and carry out the terms of the agreement ¹¹  exactly as I commanded you. If you do, ¹²  you will be my people and I will be your God. ¹³ 

Jeremiah 23:32

23:32 I, the Lord, affirm ¹⁴  that I am opposed to those prophets who dream up lies and report them. They are misleading my people with their reckless lies. ¹⁵  I did not send them. I did not commission them. They are not helping these people at all. ¹⁶  I, the Lord, affirm it!” ¹⁷ 

Jeremiah 24:7

24:7 I will give them the desire to acknowledge that I ¹⁸  am the Lord. I will be their God and they will be my people. For they will wholeheartedly ¹⁹  return to me.’

Jeremiah 29:23

29:23 This will happen to them because they have done what is shameful ²⁰  in Israel. They have committed adultery with their neighbors’ wives and have spoken lies while claiming my authority. ²¹  They have spoken words that I did not command them to speak. I know what they have done. I have been a witness to it,’ says the Lord.” ²² 

Jeremiah 31:32

31:32 It will not be like the old ²³  covenant that I made with their ancestors ²⁴  when I delivered them ²⁵  from Egypt. For they violated that covenant, even though I was like a faithful husband to them,” ²⁶  says the Lord. ²⁷ 

[3:19]  ¹ tn Heb “I, myself, said.” See note on “I thought that she might come back to me” in 3:7.

[3:19]  ² tn Heb “How I would place you among the sons.” Israel appears to be addressed here contextually as the Lord’s wife (see the next verse). The pronouns of address in the first two lines are second feminine singular as are the readings of the two verbs preferred by the Masoretes (the Qere readings) in the third and fourth lines. The verbs that are written in the text in the third and fourth lines (the Kethib readings) are second masculine plural as is the verb describing Israel’s treachery in the next verse.

[3:19]  ³ tn The words “What a joy it would be for me to” are not in the Hebrew text but are implied in the parallel structure.

[3:19]  ⁴ tn Heb “the most beautiful heritage among the nations.”

[3:19]  ⁵ tn Heb “my father.”

[3:19]  ⁶ tn Heb “turn back from [following] after me.”

[11:4]  ⁷ tn Heb “fathers” (also in vv. 5, 7, 10).

[11:4]  ⁸ tn Heb “does not listen…this covenant which I commanded your fathers.” The sentence is broken up this way in conformity with contemporary English style.

[11:4]  ⁹ tn Heb “out of the land of Egypt, out of the iron-smelting furnace.”

[11:4]  ¹⁰ tn In place of the words “I said at that time” the Hebrew text has “saying.” The sentence is again being restructured in English to avoid the long, confusing style of the Hebrew original.

[11:4]  ¹¹ tn Heb “Obey me and carry them out.” The “them” refers back to the terms of the covenant which they were charged to keep according to the preceding. The referent is made specific to avoid ambiguity.

[11:4]  ¹² tn The words, “If you do” are not in the text. They have been supplied in the translation to break up a long sentence consisting of an imperative followed by a consequential sentence.

[11:4]  ¹³ sn Obey me and carry out the terms of the agreement…and I will be your God. This refers to the Mosaic law which was instituted at Sinai and renewed on the Plains of Moab before Israel entered into the land. The words “the terms of the covenant” are explicitly used for the Ten Commandments in Exod 34:28 and for the additional legislation given in Deut 28:69; 29:8. The formulation here is reminiscent of Deut 29:9-14 (29:10-15 HT). The book of Deuteronomy is similar in its structure and function to an ancient Near Eastern treaty. In these the great king reminded his vassal of past benefits that he had given to him, charged him with obligations (the terms or stipulations of the covenant) chief among which was absolute loyalty and sole allegiance, promised him future benefits for obeying the stipulations (the blessings), and placed him under a curse for disobeying them. Any disobedience was met with stern warnings of punishment in the form of destruction and exile. Those who had witnessed the covenant were called in to confirm the continuing goodness of the great king and the disloyalty of the vassal. The vassal was then charged with a list of particular infringements of the stipulations and warned to change his actions or suffer the consequences. This is the background for Jer 11:1-9. Jeremiah is here functioning as a messenger from the Lord, Israel’s great king, and charging both the fathers and the children with breach of covenant.

[23:32]  ¹³ tn Heb “Oracle of the Lord.”

[23:32]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “with their lies and their recklessness.” This is an example of hendiadys where two nouns (in this case a concrete and an abstract one) are joined by “and” but one is intended to be the adjectival modifier of the other.

[23:32]  ¹⁵ sn In the light of what has been said this is a rhetorical understatement; they are not only “not helping,” they are leading them to their doom (cf. vv. 19-22). This figure of speech is known as litotes.

[23:32]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “Oracle of the Lord.”

[24:7]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “I will give them a heart to know me that I am the Lord.” For the use of “heart” here referring to “inclinations, resolutions, and determinations of the will” see BDB 525 s.v. לֵב 4 and compare the usage in 2 Chr 12:14. For the use of “know” to mean “acknowledge” see BDB 384 s.v. יָדַע Qal.1.f and compare the usage in Jer 39:4. For the construction “know ‘someone’ that he…” = “know that ‘someone’…” see GKC 365 §117.h and compare the usage in 2 Sam 3:25.

[24:7]  ²⁰ tn Heb “with all their heart.”

[29:23]  ²⁵ tn It is commonly assumed that this word is explained by the two verbal actions that follow. The word (נְבָלָה, nÿvalah) is rather commonly used of sins of unchastity (cf., e.g., Gen 34:7; Judg 19:23; 2 Sam 13:12) which would fit the reference to adultery. However, the word is singular and not likely to cover both actions that follow. The word is also used of the greedy act of Achan (Josh 7:15) which threatened Israel with destruction and the churlish behavior of Nabal (1 Sam 25:25) which threatened him and his household with destruction. The word is also used of foolish talk in Isa 9:17 (9:16 HT) and Isa 32:6. It is possible that this refers to a separate act, one that would have brought the death penalty from Nebuchadnezzar, i.e., the preaching of rebellion in conformity with the message of the false prophets in Jerusalem and other nations (cf. 27:9, 13). Hence it is possible that the translation should read: “This will happen because of their vile conduct. They have propagated rebellion. They have committed adultery with their neighbors’ wives. They have spoken words that I did not command them to speak. They have spoken lies while claiming my authority.”

[29:23]  ²⁶ tn Heb “prophesying lies in my name.” For an explanation of this idiom see the study notes on 14:14 and 23:27.

[29:23]  ²⁷ tn Heb “Oracle of the Lord.”

[31:32]  ³¹ tn The word “old” is not in the text but is implicit in the use of the word “new.” It is supplied in the translation for greater clarity.

[31:32]  ³² tn Heb “fathers.”

[31:32]  ³³ tn Heb “when I took them by the hand and led them out.”

[31:32]  ³⁴ tn Or “I was their master.” See the study note on 3:14.

[31:32]  ³⁵ tn Heb “Oracle of the Lord.”