Jeremiah 5:4

5:4 I thought, “Surely it is only the ignorant poor who act this way. ¹ 

They act like fools because they do not know what the Lord demands. ² 

They do not know what their God requires of them. ³ 

Jeremiah 7:5

7:5 You must change ⁴  the way you have been living and do what is right. You must treat one another fairly. ⁵ 

Jeremiah 8:7

8:7 Even the stork knows

when it is time to move on. ⁶ 

The turtledove, swallow, and crane ⁷ 

recognize ⁸  the normal times for their migration.

But my people pay no attention

to ⁹  what I, the Lord, require of them. ¹⁰ 

Jeremiah 22:13

Judgment on Jehoiakim

22:13 “‘Sure to be judged ¹¹  is the king who builds his palace using injustice

and treats people unfairly while adding its upper rooms. ¹² 

He makes his countrymen work for him for nothing.

He does not pay them for their labor.

Jeremiah 22:15

22:15 Does it make you any more of a king

that you outstrip everyone else in ¹³  building with cedar?

Just think about your father.

He was content that he had food and drink. ¹⁴ 

He did what was just and right. ¹⁵ 

So things went well with him.

Jeremiah 23:5

23:5 “I, the Lord, promise ¹⁶  that a new time will certainly come ¹⁷ 

when I will raise up for them a righteous branch, ¹⁸  a descendant of David.

He will rule over them with wisdom and understanding ¹⁹ 

and will do what is just and right in the land. ²⁰ 

[5:4]  ¹ tn Heb “Surely they are poor.” The translation is intended to make clear the explicit contrasts and qualifications drawn in this verse and the next.

[5:4]  ² tn Heb “the way of the Lord.”

[5:4]  ³ tn Heb “the judgment [or ordinance] of their God.”

[7:5]  ⁴ tn The infinitive absolute precedes the finite verb for emphasis.

[7:5]  ⁵ tn Heb “you must do justice between a person and his fellow/neighbor.” The infinitive absolute precedes the finite verb for emphasis.

[8:7]  ⁷ tn Heb “its appointed time.” The translation is contextually motivated to avoid lack of clarity.

[8:7]  ⁸ tn There is debate in the commentaries and lexicons about the identification of some of these birds, particularly regarding the identification of the “swallow” which is more likely the “swift” and the “crane” which some identify with the “thrush.” For a discussion see the Bible encyclopedias and the UBS handbook Fauna and Flora of the Bible. The identity of the individual birds makes little difference to the point being made and “swallow” is more easily identifiable to the average reader than the “swift.”

[8:7]  ⁹ tn Heb “keep.” Ironically birds, which do not think, obey the laws of nature, but Israel does not obey the laws of God.

[8:7]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “do not know.” But here as elsewhere the word “know” is more than an intellectual matter. It is intended here to summarize both “know” and “follow” (Heb “observe”) in the preceding lines.

[8:7]  ¹¹ tn Heb “the ordinance/requirement of the Lord.”

[22:13]  ¹⁰ sn Heb “Woe.” This particle is used in laments for the dead (cf., e.g., 1 Kgs 13:30; Jer 34:5) and as an introductory particle in indictments against a person on whom judgment is pronounced (cf., e.g., Isa 5:8, 11; Jer 23:1). The indictment is found here in vv. 13-17 and the announcement of judgment in vv. 18-19.

[22:13]  ¹¹ tn Heb “Woe to the one who builds his house by unrighteousness and its upper rooms with injustice using his neighbor [= countryman] as a slave for nothing and not giving to him his wages.”

[22:15]  ¹³ tn For the use of this verb see Jer 12:5 where it is used of Jeremiah “competing” with horses. The form is a rare Tiphel (see GKC 153 §55.h).

[22:15]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “Your father, did he not eat and drink and do justice and right.” The copulative vav in front of the verbs here (all Hebrew perfects) shows that these actions are all coordinate not sequential. The contrast drawn here between the actions of Jehoiakim and Josiah show that the phrase eating and drinking should be read in the light of the same contrasts in Eccl 2 which ends with the note of contentment in Eccl 2:24 (see also Eccl 3:13; 5:18 [5:17 HT]; 8:15). The question is, of course, rhetorical setting forth the positive role model against which Jehoiakim’s actions are to be condemned. The key terms here are “then things went well with him” which is repeated in the next verse after the reiteration of Josiah’s practice of justice.

[22:15]  ¹⁵ sn The father referred to here is the godly king Josiah. He followed the requirements for kings set forth in 22:3 in contrast to his son who did not (22:13).

[23:5]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “Oracle of the Lord.”

[23:5]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “Behold the days are coming.”

[23:5]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “a righteous sprig to David” or “a righteous shoot” (NAB).

[23:5]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “he will reign as king and act wisely.” This is another example of the use of two verbs joined by “and” where one becomes the adverbial modifier of the other (hendiadys). For the nuance of the verb “act wisely” rather than “prosper” see Amos 5:13; Ps 2:10 (cf. BDB 968 s.v. שָׂכַל Hiph.5).

[23:5]  ²⁰ sn This has been the constant emphasis in this section. See 22:3 for the demand, 22:15 for its fulfillment, and 22:13 for its abuse. The ideal king would follow in the footsteps of his illustrious ancestor David (2 Sam 8:15) who set this forth as an ideal for his dynasty (2 Sam 23:3) and prayed for it to be true of his son Solomon (Ps 72:1-2).