Jeremiah 4:15

4:15 For messengers are coming, heralding disaster,

from the city of Dan and from the hills of Ephraim. ¹ 

Jeremiah 7:15

7:15 And I will drive you out of my sight just like I drove out your relatives, the people of Israel.’” ² 

Jeremiah 31:6

31:6 Yes, a time is coming

when watchmen ³  will call out on the mountains of Ephraim,

“Come! Let us go to Zion

to worship the Lord our God!”’” ⁴ 

Jeremiah 31:18

31:18 I have indeed ⁵  heard the people of Israel ⁶  say mournfully,

‘We were like a calf untrained to the yoke. ⁷ 

You disciplined us and we learned from it. ⁸ 

Let us come back to you and we will do so, ⁹ 

for you are the Lord our God.

Jeremiah 50:19

50:19 But I will restore the flock of Israel to their own pasture.

They will graze on Mount Carmel and the land of Bashan.

They will eat until they are full ¹⁰ 

on the hills of Ephraim and the land of Gilead. ¹¹ 

Jeremiah 31:20

31:20 Indeed, the people of Israel are my dear children.

They are the children I take delight in. ¹² 

For even though I must often rebuke them,

I still remember them with fondness.

So I am deeply moved with pity for them ¹³ 

and will surely have compassion on them.

I, the Lord, affirm it! ¹⁴ 

[4:15]  ¹ tn Heb “For a voice declaring from Dan and making heard disaster from the hills of Ephraim.”

[7:15]  ² tn Heb “the descendants of Ephraim.” However, Ephraim here stands (as it often does) for all the northern tribes of Israel.

[31:6]  ³ sn Watchmen were stationed at vantage points to pass on warning of coming attack (Jer 6:17; Ezek 33:2, 6) or to spread the news of victory (Isa 52:8). Here reference is made to the watchmen who signaled the special times of the year such as the new moon and festival times when Israel was to go to Jerusalem to worship. Reference is not made to these in the Hebrew Bible but there is a good deal of instruction regarding them in the later Babylonian Talmud.

[31:6]  ⁴ sn Not only will Israel and Judah be reunited under one ruler (cf. 23:5-6), but they will share a unified place and practice of worship once again in contrast to Israel using the illicit places of worship, illicit priesthood, and illicit feasts instituted by Jeroboam (1 Kgs 12:26-31) and continued until the downfall of Samaria in 722 b.c.

[31:18]  ⁴ tn The use of “indeed” is intended to reflect the infinitive absolute which precedes the verb for emphasis (see IBHS 585-86 §35.3.1f).

[31:18]  ⁵ tn Heb “Ephraim.” See the study note on 31:9. The more familiar term is used, the term “people” added to it, and plural pronouns used throughout the verse to aid in understanding.

[31:18]  ⁶ tn Heb “like an untrained calf.” The metaphor is that of a calf who has never been broken to bear the yoke (cf. Hos 4:16; 10:11).

[31:18]  ⁷ tn The verb here is from the same root as the preceding and is probably an example of the “tolerative Niphal,” i.e., “I let myself be disciplined/I responded to it.” See IBHS 389-90 §23.4g and note the translation of some of the examples there, especially Isa 19:22; 65:1.

[31:18]  ⁸ tn Heb “Bring me back in order that I may come back.” For the use of the plural pronouns see the marginal note at the beginning of the verse. The verb “bring back” and “come back” are from the same root in two different verbal stems and in the context express the idea of spiritual repentance and restoration of relationship not physical return to the land. (See BDB 999 s.v. שׁוּב Hiph.2.a for the first verb and 997 s.v. Qal.6.c for the second.) For the use of the cohortative to express purpose after the imperative see GKC 320 §108.d or IBHS 575 §34.5.2b.

[50:19]  ⁵ tn Heb “their soul [or hunger/appetite] will be satisfied.”

[50:19]  ⁶ sn The metaphor of Israel as a flock of sheep (v. 17) is continued here. The places named were all in Northern Israel and in the Transjordan, lands that were lost to the Assyrians in the period 738-722 b.c. All of these places were known for their fertility, for their woods and their pastures. The hills (hill country) of Ephraim formed the center of Northern Israel. Mount Carmel lies on the seacoast of the Mediterranean north and west of the hill country of Ephraim. Gilead formed the central part of Transjordan and was used to refer at times to the territory between the Yarmuk and Jabbok Rivers, at times to the territory between the Yarmuk and the Arnon Rivers, and at times for all of Israel in the Transjordan. Bashan refers to the territory north of Gilead.

[31:20]  ⁶ tn Heb “Is Ephraim a dear son to me or a child of delight?” For the substitution of Israel for Ephraim and the plural pronouns for the singular see the note on v. 18. According to BDB 210 s.v. הֲ 1.c the question is rhetorical having the force of an impassioned affirmation. See 1 Sam 2:27; Job 41:9 (41:1 HT) for parallel usage.

[31:20]  ⁷ tn Heb “my stomach churns for him.” The parallelism shows that this refers to pity or compassion.

[31:20]  ⁸ tn Heb “Oracle of the Lord.”