Jeremiah 48:13

48:13 The people of Moab will be disappointed by their god Chemosh.

They will be as disappointed as the people of Israel were

when they put their trust in the calf god at Bethel. ¹ 

Jeremiah 17:7

17:7 My blessing is on those people who trust in me,

who put their confidence in me. ² 

Jeremiah 7:8

7:8 “‘But just look at you! ³  You are putting your confidence in a false belief ⁴  that will not deliver you. ⁵ 

Jeremiah 2:37

2:37 Moreover, you will come away from Egypt

with your hands covering your faces in sorrow and shame ⁶ 

because the Lord will not allow your reliance on them to be successful

and you will not gain any help from them. ⁷ 

Jeremiah 49:11

49:11 Leave your orphans behind and I will keep them alive.

Your widows too can depend on me.” ⁸ 

Jeremiah 7:4

7:4 Stop putting your confidence in the false belief that says, ⁹  “We are safe! ¹⁰  The temple of the Lord is here! The temple of the Lord is here! The temple of the Lord is here!” ¹¹ 

Jeremiah 49:31

49:31 The Lord says, ¹²  “Army of Babylon, ¹³  go and attack

a nation that lives in peace and security.

They have no gates or walls to protect them. ¹⁴ 

They live all alone.

[48:13]  ¹ tn Heb “Moab will be ashamed because of Chemosh as the house of Israel was ashamed because of Bethel, their [source of] confidence.” The “shame” is, of course, the disappointment, disillusionment because of the lack of help from these gods in which they trusted (for this nuance of the verb see BDB 101 s.v. בּוֹשׁ Qal.2 and compare usage in Jer 2:13; Isa 20:5). Because of the parallelism, some see the reference to Bethel to be a reference to a West Semitic god worshiped by the people of Israel (see J. P. Hyatt, “Bethel [Deity],” IDB 1:390 for the arguments). However, there is no evidence in the OT that such a god was worshiped in Israel, and there is legitimate evidence that northern Israel placed its confidence in the calf god that Jeroboam set up in Bethel (cf. 1 Kgs 12:28-32; Hos 10:5; 8:5-6; Amos 7:10-17).

[17:7]  ² tn Heb “Blessed is the person who trusts in the Lord, and whose confidence is in the Lord.” However, because this is a statement of the Lord and the translation chooses to show that the blessing comes from him, the first person is substituted for the divine name.

[7:8]  ³ tn Heb “Behold!”

[7:8]  ⁴ tn Heb “You are trusting in lying words.” See the similar phrase in v. 4 and the note there.

[7:8]  ⁵ tn Heb “not profit [you].”

[2:37]  ⁴ tn Heb “with your hands on your head.” For the picture here see 2 Sam 13:19.

[2:37]  ⁵ tn Heb “The Lord has rejected those you trust in; you will not prosper by/from them.”

[49:11]  ⁵ tn Or “Their children and relatives will all be destroyed. And none of their neighbors will say, ‘Leave your orphans with me and I’ll keep them alive. Your widows can trust in me.’” This latter interpretation is based on a reading in a couple of the Greek versions (Symmachus and Lucian) and is accepted by a number of the modern commentaries, (J. Bright, J. A. Thompson, W. L. Holladay, and G. L. Keown, P. J. Scalise, T. G. Smothers). However, the majority of modern English versions do not follow it and lacking any other Hebrew or versional evidence it is probable that this is an interpretation to explain the mitigation of what appears as a prophecy of utter annihilation. There have been other cases in Jeremiah where a universal affirmation (either positive or negative) has been modified in the verses that follow. The verb in the second line תִּבְטָחוּ (tivtakhu) is highly unusual; it is a second masculine plural form with a feminine plural subject. The form is explained in GKC 127-28 §47.k and 160-61 §60.a, n. 1 as a pausal substitution for the normal form תִּבְטַחְנָה (tivtakhnah) and a similar form in Ezek 37:7 cited as a parallel.

[7:4]  ⁶ tn Heb “Stop trusting in lying words which say.”

[7:4]  ⁷ tn The words “We are safe!” are not in the text but are supplied in the translation for clarity.

[7:4]  ⁸ tn Heb “The temple of the Lord, the temple of the Lord, the temple of the Lord are these (i.e., these buildings).” Elsewhere triple repetition seems to mark a kind of emphasis (cf. Isa 6:3; Jer 22:29; Ezek 21:27 [32 HT]). The triple repetition that follows seems to be Jeremiah’s way of mocking the (false) sense of security that people had in the invincibility of Jerusalem because God dwelt in the temple. They appeared to be treating the temple as some kind of magical charm. A similar feeling had grown up around the ark in the time of the judges (cf. 1 Sam 3:3) and the temple and city of Jerusalem in Micah’s day (cf. Mic 3:11). It is reflected also in some of the Psalms (cf., e.g., Ps 46, especially v. 5).

[49:31]  ⁷ tn Heb “Oracle of the Lord.”

[49:31]  ⁸ tn The words “Army of Babylon” are not in the text but are implicit from the context. They are supplied in the translation for clarity.

[49:31]  ⁹ tn Heb “no gates and no bar,” i.e., “that lives securely without gates or bars.” The phrase is used by the figure of species for genus (synecdoche) to refer to the fact that they have no defenses, i.e., no walls, gates, or bars on the gates. The figure has been interpreted in the translation for the benefit of the average reader.