Discovery BoxJeremiah 5:1
Context“Go up and down 2 through the streets of Jerusalem. 3
Look around and see for yourselves.
Search through its public squares.
See if any of you can find a single person
who deals honestly and tries to be truthful. 4
If you can, 5 then I will not punish this city. 6
Jeremiah 27:18
Context27:18 I also told them, 7 “If they are really prophets and the Lord is speaking to them, 8 let them pray earnestly to the Lord who rules over all. 9 Let them plead with him not to let the valuable articles that are still left in the Lord’s temple, in the royal palace, and in Jerusalem be taken away 10 to Babylon.
Jeremiah 37:17
Context37:17 Then King Zedekiah had him brought to the palace. There he questioned him privately and asked him, 11 “Is there any message from the Lord?” Jeremiah answered, “Yes, there is.” Then he announced, 12 “You will be handed over to the king of Babylon.” 13
Jeremiah 41:8
Context41:8 But there were ten men among them who said 14 to Ishmael, “Do not kill us. For we will give you the stores of wheat, barley, olive oil, and honey we have hidden in a field. 15 So he spared their lives and did not kill 16 them along with the rest. 17
[5:1] 1 tn These words are not in the text, but since the words at the end are obviously those of the
[5:1] 2 tn It is not clear who is being addressed here. The verbs are plural so they are not addressed to Jeremiah per se. Since the passage is talking about the people of Jerusalem, it is unlikely they are addressed here except perhaps rhetorically. Some have suggested that the heavenly court is being addressed here as in Job 1:6-8; 2:1-3. It is clear from Jer 23:18, 22; Amos 3:7 that the prophets had access to this heavenly counsel through visions (cf. 1 Kgs 22:19-23), so Jeremiah could have been privy to this speech through that means. Though these are the most likely addressee, it is too presumptuous to supply such an explicit addressee without clearer indication in the text. The translation will just have to run the risk of the probable erroneous assumption by most English readers that the addressee is Jeremiah.
[5:1] 3 map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.
[5:1] 4 tn Heb “who does justice and seeks faithfulness.”
[5:1] 5 tn Heb “squares. If you can find…if there is one person…then I will…”
[5:1] 6 tn Heb “forgive [or pardon] it.”
[27:18] 7 tn The words “I also told them” are not in the text, but it is obvious from the fact that the
[27:18] 8 tn Heb “the word of the
[27:18] 9 tn Heb “Yahweh of armies.”
[27:18] 10 tn Heb “…speaking to them, let them entreat the
[37:17] 13 tn Heb “Then King Zedekiah sent and brought him and the king asked him privately [or more literally, in secret] and said.”
[37:17] 14 tn Heb “Then he said.”
[37:17] 15 sn Jeremiah’s answer even under duress was the same that he had given Zedekiah earlier. (See Jer 34:3 and see the study note on 34:1 for the relative timing of these two incidents.)
[41:8] 19 tn Heb “But there were ten men found among them and they said.” However, for the use of “were found” = “be, happened to be” see BDB 594 s.v. מָצָא 2.c and compare the usage in 41:3.
[41:8] 20 tn This sentence is a good example of the elliptical nature of some of the causal connections in the Hebrew Bible. All the Hebrew says literally is “For we have hidden stores of wheat, barley, olive oil, and honey in a field.” However, it is obvious that they are using this as their bargaining chip to prevent Ishmael and his men from killing them. For the use of “for” (כִּי, ki) for such elliptical thoughts see BDB 473-74 s.v. כִּי 3.c.
[41:8] 21 tn Or “So he refrained from killing them”; Heb “he refrained and did not kill them.”
[41:8] 22 tn Heb “in the midst of their brothers/fellow countrymen.”
