Jeremiah 35:5

35:5 Then I set cups and pitchers full of wine in front of the members of the Rechabite community and said to them, “Have some wine.” ¹ 

Jeremiah 13:12

13:12 “So tell them, ²  ‘The Lord, the God of Israel, says, “Every wine jar is made to be filled with wine.”’ ³  And they will probably say to you, ‘Do you not think we know ⁴  that every wine jar is supposed to be filled with wine?’

Jeremiah 35:6

35:6 But they answered, “We do not drink wine because our ancestor Jonadab son of Rechab commanded us not to. He told us, ‘You and your children must never drink wine.

Jeremiah 23:9

Oracles Against the False Prophets ⁵ 

23:9 Here is what the Lord says concerning the false prophets: ⁶ 

My heart and my mind are deeply disturbed.

I tremble all over. ⁷ 

I am like a drunk person,

like a person who has had too much wine, ⁸ 

because of the way the Lord

and his holy word are being mistreated. ⁹ 

Jeremiah 35:2

35:2 “Go to the Rechabite community. ¹⁰  Invite them to come into one of the side rooms ¹¹  of the Lord’s temple and offer them some wine to drink.”

Jeremiah 35:8

35:8 We and our wives and our sons and daughters have obeyed everything our ancestor Jonadab commanded us. We have never drunk wine. ¹² 

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 

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. ¹⁶ 

Jeremiah 35:14

35:14 Jonadab son of Rechab ordered his descendants not to drink wine. His orders have been carried out. ¹⁷  To this day his descendants have drunk no wine because they have obeyed what their ancestor commanded them. But I ¹⁸  have spoken to you over and over again, ¹⁹  but you have not obeyed me!

[35:5]  ¹ tn Heb “Drink wine.”

[13:12]  ² tn Heb “So you shall say this word [or message] to them.”

[13:12]  ³ tn Heb “Every wine jar is supposed to be filled with wine.”

[13:12]  ⁴ tn This is an attempt to render a construction which involves an infinitive of a verb being added before the same verb in a question which expects a positive answer. There may, by the way, be a pun being passed back and forth here involving the sound play been “fool” (נָבָל, naval) and “wine bottle” (נֶבֶל, nebel).

[23:9]  ³ sn Jeremiah has already had a good deal to say about the false prophets and their fate. See 2:8, 26; 5:13, 31; 14:13-15. Here he parallels the condemnation of the wicked prophets and their fate (23:9-40) with that of the wicked kings (21:11-22:30).

[23:9]  ⁴ tn The word “false” is not in the text, but it is clear from the context that these are whom the sayings are directed against. The words “Here is what the Lord says” are also not in the text. But comparison with 46:2; 48:1; 49:1, 7, 23, 28; and 21:11 will show that this is a heading. The words are supplied in the translation for clarity.

[23:9]  ⁵ tn Heb “My heart is crushed within me. My bones tremble.” It has already been noted several times that the “heart” in ancient Hebrew psychology was the intellectual and volitional center of the person, the kidneys were the emotional center, and the bones the locus of strength and also the subject of joy, distress, and sorrow. Here Jeremiah is speaking of his distress of heart and mind in modern psychology, a distress that leads him to trembling of body which he compares to that of a drunken person staggering around under the influence of wine.

[23:9]  ⁶ tn Heb “wine has passed over him.”

[23:9]  ⁷ tn Heb “wine because of the Lord and because of his holy word.” The words that are supplied in the translation are implicit from the context and are added for clarity.

[35:2]  ⁴ tn Heb “the house of the Rechabites.” “House” is used here in terms of “household” or “family” (cf. BDB 109 s.v. בַּיִת 5.a, b).

[35:2]  ⁵ sn This refers to one of the rooms built on the outside of the temple that were used as living quarters for the priests and for storage rooms (cf. Neh 13:4-5; 1 Kgs 6:5; 1 Chr 28:12; 2 Chr 31:11 and compare Ezek 41:1-14).

[35:8]  ⁵ tn Heb “We have not drunk wine all our days.” Actually vv. 8b-9a are a series of infinitive constructs plus the negative לְבִלְתִּי (lÿvilti) explaining the particulars of how they have obeyed, i.e., by not drinking wine…and by not building….” The more direct declarative statement is used here to shorten the sentence and is more in keeping with contemporary style.

[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).

[40:12]  ⁷ tn Heb “summer fruit.” “Summer fruit” is meaningless to most modern readers; dates and figs are what is involved.

[35:14]  ⁸ tn Heb “The words of Jonadab son of Rechab which he commanded his descendants not to drink wine have been carried out.” (For the construction of the accusative of subject after a passive verb illustrated here see GKC 388 §121.b.) The sentence has been broken down and made more direct to better conform to contemporary English style.

[35:14]  ⁹ tn The vav (ו) plus the independent pronoun before the verb is intended to mark a sharp contrast. It is difficult, if not impossible to mark this in English other than “But I.”

[35:14]  ¹⁰ tn On this idiom (which occurs again in the following verse) see the translator’s note on 7:13 for this idiom and compare its use in 7:13, 25; 11:7; 25:3, 4; 26:5; 29:19; 32:33; 35:14, 15; 44:9.