Jeremiah 4:11

4:11 “At that time the people of Judah and Jerusalem ¹  will be told,

‘A scorching wind will sweep down

from the hilltops in the desert on ²  my dear people. ³ 

It will not be a gentle breeze

for winnowing the grain and blowing away the chaff. ⁴ 

Jeremiah 6:26

6:26 So I said, ⁵  “Oh, my dear people, ⁶  put on sackcloth

and roll in ashes.

Mourn with painful sobs

as though you had lost your only child.

For any moment now ⁷  that destructive army ⁸ 

will come against us.”

Jeremiah 8:22--9:1

8:22 There is still medicinal ointment ⁹  available in Gilead!

There is still a physician there! ¹⁰ 

Why then have my dear people ¹¹ 

not been restored to health? ¹² 

9:1 (8:23) ¹³  I wish that my head were a well full of water ¹⁴ 

and my eyes were a fountain full of tears!

If they were, I could cry day and night

for those of my dear people ¹⁵  who have been killed.

Jeremiah 9:7

9:7 Therefore the Lord who rules over all says, ¹⁶ 

“I will now purify them in the fires of affliction ¹⁷  and test them.

The wickedness of my dear people ¹⁸  has left me no choice.

What else can I do? ¹⁹ 

Jeremiah 46:11

46:11 Go up to Gilead and get medicinal ointment, ²⁰ 

you dear poor people of Egypt. ²¹ 

But it will prove useless no matter how much medicine you use; ²² 

there will be no healing for you.

Jeremiah 46:19

46:19 Pack your bags for exile,

you inhabitants of poor dear Egypt. ²³ 

For Memphis will be laid waste.

It will lie in ruins ²⁴  and be uninhabited.

Jeremiah 48:18

48:18 Come down from your place of honor;

sit on the dry ground, ²⁵  you who live in Dibon. ²⁶ 

For the one who will destroy Moab will attack you;

he will destroy your fortifications.

Jeremiah 51:33

51:33 For the Lord God of Israel who rules over all says,

‘Fair Babylon ²⁷  will be like a threshing floor

which has been trampled flat for harvest.

The time for her to be cut down and harvested

will come very soon.’ ²⁸ 

Jeremiah 52:1

The Fall of Jerusalem

52:1 ²⁹ Zedekiah was twenty-one years old when he became king, and he ruled in Jerusalem ³⁰  for eleven years. His mother’s name was Hamutal ³¹  daughter of Jeremiah, from Libnah.

[4:11]  ¹ tn Heb “this people and Jerusalem.”

[4:11]  ² tn Heb “A scorching wind from the hilltops in the desert toward…”

[4:11]  ³ 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]  ⁴ 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.

[6:26]  ⁵ tn These words are not in the text but are implicit from the context.

[6:26]  ⁶ tn Heb “daughter of my people.” For the translation given here see 4:11 and the translator’s note there.

[6:26]  ⁷ tn Heb “suddenly.”

[6:26]  ⁸ tn Heb “the destroyer.”

[8:22]  ⁹ tn Heb “balm.” The more familiar “ointment” has been used in the translation, supplemented with the adjective “medicinal.”

[8:22]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “Is there no balm in Gilead? Is there no physician there?” In this context the questions are rhetorical and expect a positive answer, which is made explicit in the translation.

[8:22]  ¹¹ tn Heb “daughter of my people.” For the translation given here see 4:11 and the note on the phrase “dear people” there.

[8:22]  ¹² tn Or more clearly, “restored to spiritual health”; Heb “Why then has healing not come to my dear people?”

[9:1]  ¹³ sn Beginning with 9:1, the verse numbers through 9:26 in the English Bible differ from the verse numbers in the Hebrew text (BHS), with 9:1 ET = 8:23 HT, 9:2 ET = 9:1 HT, 9:3 ET = 9:2 HT, etc., through 9:26 ET = 9:25 HT. Beginning with 10:1 the verse numbers in the ET and HT are again the same.

[9:1]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “I wish that my head were water.”

[9:1]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “daughter of my people.” For the translation given here see 4:11 and the note on the phrase “dear people” there.

[9:7]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “Yahweh of armies.”

[9:7]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “I will refine/purify them.” The words “in the fires of affliction” are supplied in the translation to give clarity to the metaphor.

[9:7]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “daughter of my people.” For the translation given here see 4:11 and the note on the phrase “dear people” there.

[9:7]  ²⁰ tc Heb “For how else shall I deal because of the wickedness of the daughter of my people.” The MT does not have the word “wickedness.” The word, however, is read in the Greek version. This is probably a case of a word dropping out because of its similarities to the consonants preceding or following it (i.e., haplography). The word “wickedness” (רַעַת, ra’at) has dropped out before the words “my dear people” (בַּת־עַמִּי, bat-’ammi). The causal nuance which is normal for מִפְּנֵי (mippÿne) does not make sense without some word like this, and the combination of רַעַת מִפְּנֵי (mippÿne ra’at) does occur in Jer 7:12 and one very like it occurs in Jer 26:3.

[46:11]  ²¹ tn Heb “balm.” See 8:22 and the notes on this phrase there.

[46:11]  ²² sn Heb “Virgin Daughter of Egypt.” See the study note on Jer 14:17 for the significance of the use of this figure. The use of the figure here perhaps refers to the fact that Egypt’s geographical isolation allowed her safety and protection that a virgin living at home would enjoy under her father’s protection (so F. B. Huey, Jeremiah, Lamentations [NAC], 379). By her involvement in the politics of Palestine she had forfeited that safety and protection and was now suffering for it.

[46:11]  ²³ tn Heb “In vain you multiply [= make use of many] medicines.”

[46:19]  ²⁵ tn Heb “inhabitants of daughter Egypt.” Like the phrase “daughter Zion,” “daughter Egypt” is a poetic personification of the land, here perhaps to stress the idea of defenselessness.

[46:19]  ²⁶ tn For the verb here see HALOT 675 s.v. II נָצָה Nif and compare the usage in Jer 4:7; 9:11 and 2 Kgs 19:25. BDB derives the verb from יָצַת (so BDB 428 s.v. יָצַת Niph meaning “kindle, burn”) but still give it the meaning “desolate” here and in 2:15 and 9:11.

[48:18]  ²⁹ tn Heb “sit in thirst.” The abstract “thirst” is put for the concrete, i.e., thirsty or parched ground (cf. Deut 8:19; Isa 35:7; Ps 107:33) for the concrete. There is no need to emend to “filth” (צֹאָה [tso’ah] for צָמָא [tsama’]) as is sometimes suggested.

[48:18]  ³⁰ tn Heb “inhabitant of Daughter Dibon.” “Daughter” is used here as often in Jeremiah for the personification of a city, a country, or its inhabitants. The word “inhabitant” is to be understood as a collective as also in v. 19.

[51:33]  ³³ sn Heb “Daughter Babylon.” See the study note at 50:42 for explanation.

[51:33]  ³⁴ tn Heb “Daughter Babylon will be [or is; there is no verb and the tense has to be supplied from the context] like a threshing floor at the time one tramples it. Yet a little while and the time of the harvest will come for her.” It is generally agreed that there are two figures here: one of leveling the threshing floor and stamping it into a smooth, hard surface and the other of the harvest where the grain is cut, taken to the threshing floor, and threshed by trampling the sheaves of grain to loosen the grain from the straw, and finally winnowed by throwing the mixture into the air (cf., e.g., J. A. Thompson, Jeremiah [NICOT], 760). The translation has sought to convey those ideas as clearly as possible without digressing too far from the literal.

[52:1]  ³⁷ sn This final chapter does not mention Jeremiah, but its description of the downfall of Jerusalem and exile of the people validates the prophet’s ministry.

[52:1]  ³⁸ map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.

[52:1]  ³⁹ tn Some textual witnesses support the Kethib (consonantal text) in reading “Hamital.”