Jeremiah 48:27

48:27 For did not you people of Moab laugh at the people of Israel?

Did you think that they were nothing but thieves, ¹ 

that you shook your head in contempt ² 

every time you talked about them? ³ 

Jeremiah 49:9

49:9 If grape pickers came to pick your grapes,

would they not leave a few grapes behind? ⁴ 

If robbers came at night,

would they not pillage only what they needed? ⁵ 

Jeremiah 51:58

51:58 This is what the Lord who rules over all ⁶  says,

“Babylon’s thick wall ⁷  will be completely demolished. ⁸ 

Her high gates will be set on fire.

The peoples strive for what does not satisfy. ⁹ 

The nations grow weary trying to get what will be destroyed.” ¹⁰ 

Jeremiah 20:8

20:8 For whenever I prophesy, ¹¹  I must cry out, ¹² 

“Violence and destruction are coming!” ¹³ 

This message from the Lord ¹⁴  has made me

an object of continual insults and derision.

Jeremiah 31:20

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

They are the children I take delight in. ¹⁵ 

For even though I must often rebuke them,

I still remember them with fondness.

So I am deeply moved with pity for them ¹⁶ 

and will surely have compassion on them.

I, the Lord, affirm it! ¹⁷ 

[48:27]  ¹ tn Heb “were they caught among thieves?”

[48:27]  ² tn Heb “that you shook yourself.” But see the same verb in 18:16 in the active voice with the object “head” in a very similar context of contempt or derision.

[48:27]  ³ tc The reading here presupposes the emendation of דְבָרֶיךָ (dÿvarekha, “your words”) to דַבֶּרְךָ (dabberkha, “your speaking”), suggested by BHS (cf. fn c) on the basis of one of the Greek versions (Symmachus). For the idiom cf. BDB 191 s.v. דַּי 2.c.α.

[49:9]  ⁴ tn The translation of this verse is generally based on the parallels in Obad 5. There the second line has a ה interrogative in front of it. The question can still be assumed because questions can be asked in Hebrew without a formal marker (cf. GKC 473 §150.a and BDB 519 s.v. לֹא 1.a[e] and compare usage in 2 Kgs 5:26).

[49:9]  ⁵ tn The tense and nuance of the verb translated “pillage” are both different than the verb in Obad 5. There the verb is the imperfect of גָּנַב (ganav, “to steal”). Here the verb is the perfect of a verb which means to “ruin” or “spoil.” The English versions and commentaries, however, almost all render the verb here in much the same way as in Obad 5. The nuance must mean they only “ruin, destroy” (by stealing) only as much as they need (Heb “their sufficiency”), and the verb is used as metonymical substitute, effect for cause. The perfect must be some kind of a future perfect; “would they not have destroyed only…” The negative question is carried over by ellipsis from the preceding lines.

[51:58]  ⁷ sn See the note at Jer 2:19.

[51:58]  ⁸ tn The text has the plural “walls,” but many Hebrew mss read the singular “wall,” which is also supported by the ancient Greek version. The modifying adjective “thick” is singular as well.

[51:58]  ⁹ tn The infinitive absolute emphasizes the following finite verb. Another option is to translate, “will certainly be demolished.”

[51:58]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “for what is empty.”

[51:58]  ¹¹ tn Heb “and the nations for fire, and they grow weary.”

[20:8]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “speak,” but the speaking is in the context of speaking as a prophet.

[20:8]  ¹¹ tn Heb “I cry out, I proclaim.”

[20:8]  ¹² tn Heb “Violence and destruction.”

[20:8]  ¹³ tn Heb “the word of the Lord.” For the use of כִּי…כִּי (ki…ki) here in the sense of “for…and” see KBL 432 s.v. כּי 10.

[31:20]  ¹³ 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]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “my stomach churns for him.” The parallelism shows that this refers to pity or compassion.

[31:20]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “Oracle of the Lord.”