Jeremiah 42:3
Context42:3 Pray that the Lord your God will tell us where we should go and what we should do.”
Jeremiah 51:3
Context51:3 Do not give her archers time to string their bows
or to put on their coats of armor. 1
Do not spare any of her young men.
Completely destroy 2 her whole army.
Jeremiah 7:23
Context7:23 I also explicitly commanded them: 3 “Obey me. If you do, I 4 will be your God and you will be my people. Live exactly the way I tell you 5 and things will go well with you.”


[51:3] 1 tc The text and consequent meaning of these first two lines are uncertain. Literally the Masoretic reads “against let him string let him string the one who strings his bow and against let him raise himself up in his coat of armor.” This makes absolutely no sense and the ancient versions and Hebrew
[51:3] 2 sn For the concept underlying this word see the study note on “utterly destroy” in Jer 25:9 and compare the usage in 50:21, 26.
[7:23] 1 tn Verses 22-23a read in Hebrew, “I did not speak with your ancestors and I did not command them when I brought them out of Egypt about words/matters concerning burnt offering and sacrifice, but I commanded them this word:” Some modern commentators have explained this passage as an evidence for the lateness of the Pentateuchal instruction regarding sacrifice or a denial that sacrifice was practiced during the period of the wilderness wandering. However, it is better explained as an example of what R. de Vaux calls a dialectical negative, i.e., “not so much this as that” or “not this without that” (Ancient Israel, 454-56). For other examples of this same argument see Isa 1:10-17; Hos 6:4-6; Amos 5:21-25.
[7:23] 2 tn Heb “Obey me and I will be.” The translation is equivalent syntactically but brings out the emphasis in the command.