Jeremiah 5:21

5:21 Tell them: ‘Hear this,

you foolish people who have no understanding,

who have eyes but do not discern,

who have ears but do not perceive: ¹ 

Jeremiah 17:23

17:23 Your ancestors, ²  however, did not listen to me or pay any attention to me. They stubbornly refused ³  to pay attention or to respond to any discipline.’

Jeremiah 22:21

22:21 While you were feeling secure I gave you warning. ⁴ 

But you said, “I refuse to listen to you.”

That is the way you have acted from your earliest history onward. ⁵ 

Indeed, you have never paid attention to me.

Jeremiah 23:18

23:18 Yet which of them has ever stood in the Lord’s inner circle ⁶ 

so they ⁷  could see and hear what he has to say? ⁸ 

Which of them have ever paid attention or listened to what he has said?

Jeremiah 25:4

25:4 Over and over again ⁹  the Lord has sent ¹⁰  his servants the prophets to you. But you have not listened or paid attention. ¹¹ 

Jeremiah 26:5

26:5 You must pay attention to the exhortations of my servants the prophets. I have sent them to you over and over again. ¹²  But you have not paid any attention to them.

Jeremiah 26:21

26:21 When the king and all his bodyguards ¹³  and officials heard what he was prophesying, ¹⁴  the king sought to have him executed. But Uriah found out about it and fled to Egypt out of fear. ¹⁵ 

Jeremiah 31:18

31:18 I have indeed ¹⁶  heard the people of Israel ¹⁷  say mournfully,

‘We were like a calf untrained to the yoke. ¹⁸ 

You disciplined us and we learned from it. ¹⁹ 

Let us come back to you and we will do so, ²⁰ 

for you are the Lord our God.

Jeremiah 46:14

46:14 “Make an announcement throughout Egypt.

Proclaim it in Migdol, Memphis, and Tahpanhes. ²¹ 

‘Take your positions and prepare to do battle.

For the enemy army is destroying all the nations around you.’ ²² 

[5:21]  ¹ tn Heb “they have eyes but they do not see, they have ears but they do not hear.”

[17:23]  ² tn Heb “They.” The antecedent is spelled out to avoid any possible confusion.

[17:23]  ³ tn Heb “They hardened [or made stiff] their neck so as not to.”

[22:21]  ³ tn Heb “I spoke to you in your security.” The reference is to the sending of the prophets. Compare this context with the context of 7:25. For the nuance “security” for this noun (שַׁלְוָה, shalvah) rather than “prosperity” as many translate see Pss 122:7; 30:6 and the related adjective (שָׁלֵו, shalev) in Jer 49:31; Job 16:2; 21:23.

[22:21]  ⁴ tn Heb “from your youth.” Compare the usage in 2:2; 3:24 and compare a similar idea in 7:25.

[23:18]  ⁴ tn Or “has been the Lord’s confidant.”

[23:18]  ⁵ tn The form here is a jussive with a vav of subordination introducing a purpose after a question (cf. GKC 322 §109.f).

[23:18]  ⁶ tc Heb “his word.” In the second instance (“what he has said” at the end of the verse) the translation follows the suggestion of the Masoretes (Qere) and many Hebrew mss rather than the consonantal text (Kethib) of the Leningrad Codex.

[25:4]  ⁵ tn For the idiom involved here see the notes at 7:13 and 11:7.

[25:4]  ⁶ tn The vav consecutive with the perfect in a past narrative is a little unusual. Here it is probably indicating repeated action in past time in keeping with the idiom that precedes and follows it. See GKC 332 §112.f for other possible examples.

[25:4]  ⁷ tn Heb “inclined your ear to hear.” This is idiomatic for “paying attention.” It is often parallel with “listen” as here or with “pay attention” (see, e.g., Prov 4:20; 51:1).

[26:5]  ⁶ tn See the translator’s note on 7:13 for the idiom here.

[26:21]  ⁷ tn Heb “all his mighty men/soldiers.” It is unlikely that this included all the army. It more likely was the palace guards or royal bodyguards (see 2 Sam 23 where the same word is used of David’s elite corps).

[26:21]  ⁸ tn Heb “his words.”

[26:21]  ⁹ tn Heb “But Uriah heard and feared and fled and entered Egypt.”

[31:18]  ⁸ tn The use of “indeed” is intended to reflect the infinitive absolute which precedes the verb for emphasis (see IBHS 585-86 §35.3.1f).

[31:18]  ⁹ tn Heb “Ephraim.” See the study note on 31:9. The more familiar term is used, the term “people” added to it, and plural pronouns used throughout the verse to aid in understanding.

[31:18]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “like an untrained calf.” The metaphor is that of a calf who has never been broken to bear the yoke (cf. Hos 4:16; 10:11).

[31:18]  ¹¹ tn The verb here is from the same root as the preceding and is probably an example of the “tolerative Niphal,” i.e., “I let myself be disciplined/I responded to it.” See IBHS 389-90 §23.4g and note the translation of some of the examples there, especially Isa 19:22; 65:1.

[31:18]  ¹² tn Heb “Bring me back in order that I may come back.” For the use of the plural pronouns see the marginal note at the beginning of the verse. The verb “bring back” and “come back” are from the same root in two different verbal stems and in the context express the idea of spiritual repentance and restoration of relationship not physical return to the land. (See BDB 999 s.v. שׁוּב Hiph.2.a for the first verb and 997 s.v. Qal.6.c for the second.) For the use of the cohortative to express purpose after the imperative see GKC 320 §108.d or IBHS 575 §34.5.2b.

[46:14]  ⁹ tn Heb “Declare in Egypt and announce in Migdol and announce in Noph [= Memphis] and in Tahpanhes.” The sentence has been restructured to reflect the fact that the first command is a general one, followed by announcements in specific (representative?) cities.

[46:14]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “For the sword devours those who surround you.” The “sword” is again figurative of destructive forces. Here it is a reference to the forces of Nebuchadnezzar which have already destroyed the Egyptian forces at Carchemish and have made victorious forays into the Philistine plain.