Jeremiah 5:20

5:20 “Proclaim ¹  this message among the descendants of Jacob. ² 

Make it known throughout Judah.

Jeremiah 2:4

The Lord Reminds Them of the Unfaithfulness of Their Ancestors

2:4 Now listen to what the Lord has to say, you descendants ³  of Jacob,

all you family groups from the nation ⁴  of Israel.

Jeremiah 31:11

31:11 For the Lord will rescue the descendants of Jacob.

He will secure their release ⁵  from those who had overpowered them. ⁶ 

Jeremiah 30:10

30:10 So I, the Lord, tell you not to be afraid,

you descendants of Jacob, my servants. ⁷ 

Do not be terrified, people of Israel.

For I will rescue you and your descendants

from a faraway land where you are captives. ⁸ 

The descendants of Jacob will return to their land and enjoy peace.

They will be secure and no one will terrify them. ⁹ 

Jeremiah 9:4

9:4 Everyone must be on his guard around his friends.

He must not even trust any of his relatives. ¹⁰ 

For every one of them will find some way to cheat him. ¹¹ 

And all of his friends will tell lies about him.

Jeremiah 10:16

10:16 The Lord, who is the inheritance ¹²  of Jacob’s descendants, ¹³  is not like them.

He is the one who created everything.

And the people of Israel are those he claims as his own. ¹⁴ 

He is known as the Lord who rules over all.” ¹⁵ 

Jeremiah 10:25

10:25 Vent your anger on the nations that do not acknowledge you. ¹⁶ 

Vent it on the peoples ¹⁷  who do not worship you. ¹⁸ 

For they have destroyed the people of Jacob. ¹⁹ 

They have completely destroyed them ²⁰ 

and left their homeland in utter ruin.

Jeremiah 46:27-28

A Promise of Hope for Israel

46:27 ²¹ “You descendants of Jacob, my servants, ²²  do not be afraid;

do not be terrified, people of Israel.

For I will rescue you and your descendants

from the faraway lands where you are captives. ²³ 

The descendants of Jacob will return to their land and enjoy peace.

They will be secure and no one will terrify them.

46:28 I, the Lord, tell ²⁴  you not to be afraid,

you descendants of Jacob, my servant,

for I am with you.

Though I completely destroy all the nations where I scatter you,

I will not completely destroy you.

I will indeed discipline you but only in due measure.

I will not allow you to go entirely unpunished.” ²⁵ 

[5:20]  ¹ sn The verbs are second plural here. Jeremiah, speaking for the Lord, addresses his people, calling on them to make the message further known.

[5:20]  ² tn Heb “in the house of Jacob.”

[2:4]  ³ tn Heb “house.”

[2:4]  ⁴ tn Heb “house.”

[31:11]  ⁵ sn Two rather theologically significant metaphors are used in this verse. The Hebrew word translated “will set…free” is a word used in the legal sphere for paying a redemption price to secure the freedom of a person or thing (see, e.g., Exod 13:13, 15). It is used metaphorically and theologically to refer to Israel’s deliverance from Egyptian bondage (Deut 15:15; Mic 6:4) and its deliverance from Babylonian exile (Isa 35:10). The word translated “secure their release” is a word used in the sphere of family responsibility where a person paid the price to free an indentured relative (Lev 25:48, 49) or paid the price to restore a relative’s property seized to pay a debt (Lev 25:25, 33). This word, too, was used to refer metaphorically and theologically to Israel’s deliverance from Egyptian bondage (Exod 6:6) or release from Babylonian exile (Isa 43:1-4; 44:22). These words are traditionally translated “ransom” and “redeem” and are a part of traditional Jewish and Christian vocabulary for physical and spiritual deliverance.

[31:11]  ⁶ tn Heb “from the hand/power of the one too strong for him.”

[30:10]  ⁷ tn Heb “So do not be afraid, my servant Jacob, oracle of the Lord.” Here and elsewhere in the verse the terms Jacob and Israel are poetic for the people of Israel descended from the patriarch Jacob. The terms have been supplied throughout with plural referents for greater clarity.

[30:10]  ⁸ tn Heb “For I will rescue you from far away, your descendants from the land of their captivity.”

[30:10]  ⁹ sn Compare the ideals of the Mosaic covenant in Lev 26:6, the Davidic covenant in 2 Sam 7:10-11, and the new covenant in Ezek 34:25-31.

[9:4]  ⁹ tn Heb “Be on your guard…Do not trust.” The verbs are second masculine plural of direct address and there seems no way to translate literally and not give the mistaken impression that Jeremiah is being addressed. This is another example of the tendency in Hebrew style to turn from description to direct address (a figure of speech called apostrophe).

[9:4]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “cheating, each of them will cheat.”

[10:16]  ¹¹ tn The words “The Lord who is” are not in the text. They are supplied in the translation for clarity. For the significance of the words that follow them see the study note that follows.

[10:16]  ¹² tn Heb “The Portion of Jacob.” “Descendants” is implied, and is supplied in the translation for clarity.

[10:16]  ¹³ tn Heb “And Israel is the tribe of his possession.”

[10:16]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “Yahweh of armies is his name.”

[10:25]  ¹³ tn Heb “know you.” For this use of the word “know” (יָדַע, yada’) see the note on 9:3.

[10:25]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “tribes/clans.”

[10:25]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “who do not call on your name.” The idiom “to call on your name” (directed to God) refers to prayer (mainly) and praise. See 1 Kgs 18:24-26 and Ps 116:13, 17. Here “calling on your name” is parallel to “acknowledging you.” In many locations in the OT “name” is equivalent to the person. In the OT, the “name” reflected the person’s character (cf. Gen 27:36; 1 Sam 25:25) or his reputation (Gen 11:4; 2 Sam 8:13). To speak in a person’s name was to act as his representative or carry his authority (1 Sam 25:9; 1 Kgs 21:8). To call someone’s name over something was to claim it for one’s own (2 Sam 12:28).

[10:25]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “have devoured Jacob.”

[10:25]  ¹⁷ tn Or “have almost completely destroyed them”; Heb “they have devoured them and consumed them.” The figure of hyperbole is used here; elsewhere Jeremiah and God refer to the fact that they will not be completely consumed. See for example 4:27; 5:10, 18.

[46:27]  ¹⁵ sn Jer 46:27-28 are virtually the same as 30:10-11. The verses are more closely related to that context than to this. But the presence of a note of future hope for the Egyptians may have led to a note of encouragement also to the Judeans who were under threat of judgment at the same time (cf. the study notes on 46:2, 13 and 25:1-2 for the possible relative dating of these prophecies).

[46:27]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “And/But you do not be afraid, my servant Jacob.” Here and elsewhere in the verse the terms Jacob and Israel are poetic for the people of Israel descended from the patriarch Jacob. The terms have been supplied throughout with plural referents for greater clarity.

[46:27]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “For I will rescue you from far away, your descendants from the land of their captivity.”

[46:28]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “Oracle of the Lord.” Again the first person is adopted because the Lord is speaking and the indirect quotation is used to avoid an embedded quotation with quotation marks on either side.

[46:28]  ¹⁸ tn The translation “entirely unpunished” is intended to reflect the emphatic construction of the infinitive absolute before the finite verb.