Jeremiah 3:2

3:2 “Look up at the hilltops and consider this. ¹ 

You have had sex with other gods on every one of them. ² 

You waited for those gods like a thief lying in wait in the desert. ³ 

You defiled the land by your wicked prostitution to other gods. ⁴ 

Jeremiah 4:11

4:11 “At that time the people of Judah and Jerusalem ⁵  will be told,

‘A scorching wind will sweep down

from the hilltops in the desert on ⁶  my dear people. ⁷ 

It will not be a gentle breeze

for winnowing the grain and blowing away the chaff. ⁸ 

Jeremiah 9:2

9:2 (9:1) I wish I had a lodging place in the desert

where I could spend some time like a weary traveler. ⁹ 

Then I would desert my people

and walk away from them

because they are all unfaithful to God,

a congregation ¹⁰  of people that has been disloyal to him. ¹¹ 

Jeremiah 17:6

17:6 They will be like a shrub ¹²  in the desert.

They will not experience good things even when they happen.

It will be as though they were growing in the desert,

in a salt land where no one can live.

[3:2]  ¹ tn Heb “and see.”

[3:2]  ² tn Heb “Where have you not been ravished?” The rhetorical question expects the answer “nowhere,” which suggests she has engaged in the worship of pagan gods on every one of the hilltops.

[3:2]  ³ tn Heb “You sat for them [the lovers, i.e., the foreign gods] beside the road like an Arab in the desert.”

[3:2]  ⁴ tn Heb “by your prostitution and your wickedness.” This is probably an example of hendiadys where, when two nouns are joined by “and,” one expresses the main idea and the other qualifies it.

[4:11]  ⁵ tn Heb “this people and Jerusalem.”

[4:11]  ⁶ tn Heb “A scorching wind from the hilltops in the desert toward…”

[4:11]  ⁷ tn Heb “daughter of my people.” The term “daughter of” is appositional to “my people” and is supplied in the translation as a term of sympathy and endearment. Compare the common expression “daughter of Zion.”

[4:11]  ⁸ tn Heb “not for winnowing and not for cleansing.” The words “It will not be a gentle breeze” are not in the text but are implicit in the connection. They are supplied in the translation here for clarification.

[9:2]  ⁹ tn Heb “I wish I had in the desert a lodging place [inn, or place to spend the night] for travelers.”

[9:2]  ¹⁰ tn Or “bunch,” but this loses the irony; the word is used for the solemn assemblies at the religious feasts.

[9:2]  ¹¹ tn Heb “they are all adulterers, a congregation of unfaithful people.” However, spiritual adultery is, of course, meant, not literal adultery. So the literal translation would be misleading.

[17:6]  ¹³ tn This word occurs only here and in Jer 48:6. It has been identified as a kind of juniper, which is a short shrub with minute leaves that look like scales. For a picture and more discussion see Fauna and Flora of the Bible, 131.