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 6:19

6:19 Hear this, you peoples of the earth: ⁷ 

‘Take note! ⁸  I am about to bring disaster on these people.

It will come as punishment for their scheming. ⁹ 

For they have paid no attention to what I have said, ¹⁰ 

and they have rejected my law.

Jeremiah 11:4

11:4 Those are the terms that I charged your ancestors ¹¹  to keep ¹²  when I brought them out of Egypt, that place which was like an iron-smelting furnace. ¹³  I said at that time, ¹⁴  “Obey me and carry out the terms of the agreement ¹⁵  exactly as I commanded you. If you do, ¹⁶  you will be my people and I will be your God. ¹⁷ 

Jeremiah 14:12

14:12 Even if they fast, I will not hear their cries for help. Even if they offer burnt offerings and grain offerings, I will not accept them. ¹⁸  Instead, I will kill them through wars, famines, and plagues.” ¹⁹ 

Jeremiah 18:11

18:11 So now, tell the people of Judah and the citizens of Jerusalem ²⁰  this: The Lord says, ‘I am preparing to bring disaster on you! I am making plans to punish you. ²¹  So, every one of you, stop the evil things you have been doing. ²²  Correct the way you have been living and do what is right.’ ²³ 

Jeremiah 23:32

23:32 I, the Lord, affirm ²⁴  that I am opposed to those prophets who dream up lies and report them. They are misleading my people with their reckless lies. ²⁵  I did not send them. I did not commission them. They are not helping these people at all. ²⁶  I, the Lord, affirm it!” ²⁷ 

Jeremiah 24:7

24:7 I will give them the desire to acknowledge that I ²⁸  am the Lord. I will be their God and they will be my people. For they will wholeheartedly ²⁹  return to me.’

Jeremiah 25:15

Judah and the Nations Will Experience God’s Wrath

25:15 So ³⁰  the Lord, the God of Israel, spoke to me in a vision. ³¹  “Take this cup from my hand. It is filled with the wine of my wrath. ³²  Take it and make the nations to whom I send you drink it.

Jeremiah 25:27

25:27 Then the Lord said to me, ³³  “Tell them that the Lord God of Israel who rules over all ³⁴  says, ³⁵  ‘Drink this cup ³⁶  until you get drunk and vomit. Drink until you fall down and can’t get up. ³⁷  For I will send wars sweeping through you.’ ³⁸ 

Jeremiah 25:29

25:29 For take note, I am already beginning to bring disaster on the city that I call my own. ³⁹  So how can you possibly avoid being punished? ⁴⁰  You will not go unpunished! For I am proclaiming war against all who live on the earth. I, the Lord who rules over all, ⁴¹  affirm it!’ ⁴² 

Jeremiah 27:5-6

27:5 “I made the earth and the people and animals on it by my mighty power and great strength, ⁴³  and I give it to whomever I see fit. ⁴⁴  27:6 I have at this time placed all these nations of yours under the power ⁴⁵  of my servant, ⁴⁶  King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon. I have even made all the wild animals subject to him. ⁴⁷ 

Jeremiah 29:23

29:23 This will happen to them because they have done what is shameful ⁴⁸  in Israel. They have committed adultery with their neighbors’ wives and have spoken lies while claiming my authority. ⁴⁹  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.” ⁵⁰ 

Jeremiah 31:32

31:32 It will not be like the old ⁵¹  covenant that I made with their ancestors ⁵²  when I delivered them ⁵³  from Egypt. For they violated that covenant, even though I was like a faithful husband to them,” ⁵⁴  says the Lord. ⁵⁵ 

Jeremiah 36:3

36:3 Perhaps when the people of Judah hear about all the disaster I intend to bring on them, they will all stop doing the evil things they have been doing. ⁵⁶  If they do, I will forgive their sins and the wicked things they have done.” ⁵⁷ 

Jeremiah 50:9

50:9 For I will rouse into action and bring against Babylon

a host of mighty nations ⁵⁸  from the land of the north.

They will set up their battle lines against her.

They will come from the north and capture her. ⁵⁹ 

Their arrows will be like a skilled soldier ⁶⁰ 

who does not return from the battle empty-handed. ⁶¹ 

[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.”

[6:19]  ⁷ tn Heb “earth.”

[6:19]  ⁸ tn Heb “Behold!”

[6:19]  ⁹ tn Heb “disaster on these people, the fruit of their schemes.”

[6:19]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “my word.”

[11:4]  ¹³ tn Heb “fathers” (also in vv. 5, 7, 10).

[11:4]  ¹⁴ 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]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “out of the land of Egypt, out of the iron-smelting furnace.”

[11:4]  ¹⁶ 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]  ¹⁷ 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]  ¹⁸ 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]  ¹⁹ 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.

[14:12]  ¹⁹ sn See 6:16-20 for parallels.

[14:12]  ²⁰ tn Heb “through sword, starvation, and plague.”

[18:11]  ²⁵ map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.

[18:11]  ²⁶ sn Heb “I am forming disaster and making plans against you.” The word translated “forming” is the same as that for “potter,” so there is a wordplay taking the reader back to v. 5. They are in his hands like the clay in the hands of the potter. Since they have not been pliable he forms new plans. He still offers them opportunity to repent; but their response is predictable.

[18:11]  ²⁷ tn Heb “Turn, each one from his wicked way.” See v. 8.

[18:11]  ²⁸ tn Or “Make good your ways and your actions.” See the same expression in 7:3, 5.

[23:32]  ³¹ tn Heb “Oracle of the Lord.”

[23:32]  ³² 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]  ³³ 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]  ³⁴ tn Heb “Oracle of the Lord.”

[24:7]  ³⁷ 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]  ³⁸ tn Heb “with all their heart.”

[25:15]  ⁴³ tn This is an attempt to render the Hebrew particle כִּי (ki) which is probably being used in the sense that BDB 473-74 s.v. כִּי 3.c notes, i.e., the causal connection is somewhat loose, related here to the prophecies against the nations. “So” seems to be the most appropriate way to represent this.

[25:15]  ⁴⁴ tn Heb “Thus said the Lord, the God of Israel, to me.” It is generally understood that the communication is visionary. God does not have a “hand” and the action of going to the nations and making them drink of the cup are scarcely literal. The words are supplied in the translation to show the figurative nature of this passage.

[25:15]  ⁴⁵ sn “Drinking from the cup of wrath” is a common figure to represent being punished by God. Isaiah had used it earlier to refer to the punishment which Judah was to suffer and from which God would deliver her (Isa 51:17, 22) and Jeremiah’s contemporary Habakkuk uses it of Babylon “pouring out its wrath” on the nations and in turn being forced to drink the bitter cup herself (Hab 2:15-16). In Jer 51:7 the Lord will identify Babylon as the cup which makes the nations stagger. In v. 16 drinking from the cup will be identified with the sword (i.e., wars) that the Lord will send against the nations. Babylon is also to be identified as the sword (cf. Jer 51:20-23). What is being alluded to here in highly figurative language is the judgment that the Lord will wreak on the nations listed here through the Babylonians. The prophecy given here in symbolical form is thus an expansion of the one in vv. 9-11.

[25:27]  ⁴⁹ tn The words “Then the Lord said to me” are not in the text. They are supplied in the translation for clarity, to connect this part of the narrative with vv. 15, 17 after the long intervening list of nations who were to drink the cup of God’s wrath in judgment.

[25:27]  ⁵⁰ tn Heb “Yahweh of armies, the God of Israel.”

[25:27]  ⁵¹ tn Heb “Tell them, ‘Thus says the Lord….’” The translation is intended to eliminate one level of imbedded quotation marks to help avoid confusion.

[25:27]  ⁵² tn The words “this cup” are not in the text but are implicit to the metaphor and the context. They are supplied in the translation for clarity.

[25:27]  ⁵³ tn Heb “Drink, and get drunk, and vomit and fall down and don’t get up.” The imperatives following drink are not parallel actions but consequent actions. For the use of the imperative plus the conjunctive “and” to indicate consequent action, even intention see GKC 324-25 §110.f and compare usage in 1 Kgs 22:12; Prov 3:3b-4a.

[25:27]  ⁵⁴ tn Heb “because of the sword that I will send among you.” See the notes on 2:16 for explanation.

[25:29]  ⁵⁵ tn Heb “which is called by my name.” See translator’s note on 7:10 for support.

[25:29]  ⁵⁶ 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]  ⁵⁷ tn Heb “Yahweh of armies.”

[25:29]  ⁵⁸ tn Heb “Oracle of Yahweh of armies.”

[27:5]  ⁶¹ tn Heb “by my great power and my outstretched arm.” Again “arm” is symbolical for “strength.” Compare the similar expression in 21:5.

[27:5]  ⁶² sn See Dan 4:17 for a similar statement.

[27:6]  ⁶⁷ tn Heb “have given…into the hand of.”

[27:6]  ⁶⁸ sn See the study note on 25:9 for the significance of the application of this term to Nebuchadnezzar.

[27:6]  ⁶⁹ tn Heb “I have given…to him to serve him.” The verb “give” in this syntactical situation is functioning like the Hiphil stem, i.e., as a causative. See Dan 1:9 for parallel usage. For the usage of “serve” meaning “be subject to” compare 2 Sam 22:44 and BDB 713 s.v. עָבַד 3.

[29:23]  ⁷³ 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]  ⁷⁴ 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]  ⁷⁵ tn Heb “Oracle of the Lord.”

[31:32]  ⁷⁹ 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]  ⁸⁰ tn Heb “fathers.”

[31:32]  ⁸¹ tn Heb “when I took them by the hand and led them out.”

[31:32]  ⁸² tn Or “I was their master.” See the study note on 3:14.

[31:32]  ⁸³ tn Heb “Oracle of the Lord.”

[36:3]  ⁸⁵ tn Heb “will turn each one from his wicked way.”

[36:3]  ⁸⁶ tn Heb “their iniquity and their sin.”

[50:9]  ⁹¹ sn Some of these are named in Jer 51:27-28.

[50:9]  ⁹² tn Heb “She will be captured from there (i.e., from the north).”

[50:9]  ⁹³ tc Read Heb ַָמשְׂכִּיל (moskil) with a number of Hebrew mss and some of the versions in place of מַשְׁכִּיל (mashkil, “one who kills children”) with the majority of Hebrew mss and some of the versions. See BHS note d for the details.

[50:9]  ⁹⁴ tn Or more freely, “Their arrows will be as successful at hitting their mark // as a skilled soldier always returns from battle with plunder.”