Jeremiah 5:7

5:7 The Lord asked, ¹ 

“How can I leave you unpunished, Jerusalem? ² 

Your people ³  have rejected me

and have worshiped gods that are not gods at all. ⁴ 

Even though I supplied all their needs, ⁵  they were like an unfaithful wife to me. ⁶ 

They went flocking ⁷  to the houses of prostitutes. ⁸ 

Jeremiah 6:1

The Destruction of Jerusalem Depicted

6:1 “Run for safety, people of Benjamin!

Get out of Jerusalem! ⁹ 

Sound the trumpet ¹⁰  in Tekoa!

Light the signal fires at Beth Hakkerem!

For disaster lurks ¹¹  out of the north;

it will bring great destruction. ¹² 

Jeremiah 16:14

16:14 Yet ¹³  I, the Lord, say: ¹⁴  “A new time will certainly come. ¹⁵  People now affirm their oaths with ‘I swear as surely as the Lord lives who delivered the people of Israel out of Egypt.’

Jeremiah 17:19

Observance of the Sabbath Day Is a Key to the Future ¹⁶ 

17:19 The Lord told me, “Go and stand in the People’s Gate ¹⁷  through which the kings of Judah enter and leave the city. Then go and stand in all the other gates of the city of Jerusalem. ¹⁸ 

Jeremiah 22:30

22:30 The Lord says,

“Enroll this man in the register as though he were childless. ¹⁹ 

Enroll him as a man who will not enjoy success during his lifetime.

For none of his sons will succeed in occupying the throne of David

or ever succeed in ruling over Judah.”

Jeremiah 23:7

23:7 “So I, the Lord, say: ²⁰  ‘A new time will certainly come. ²¹  People now affirm their oaths with “I swear as surely as the Lord lives who delivered the people of Israel out of Egypt.”

Jeremiah 26:23

26:23 and they brought Uriah back from there. ²²  They took him to King Jehoiakim, who had him executed and had his body thrown into the burial place of the common people. ²³ 

Jeremiah 36:30

36:30 So the Lord says concerning King Jehoiakim of Judah, “None of his line will occupy the throne of David. ²⁴  His dead body will be thrown out to be exposed to scorching heat by day and frost by night. ²⁵ 

Jeremiah 49:28

Judgment Against Kedar and Hazor

49:28 The Lord spoke about Kedar ²⁶  and the kingdoms of Hazor ²⁷  that King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon conquered.

“Army of Babylon, ²⁸  go and attack Kedar.

Lay waste those who live in the eastern desert. ²⁹ 

[5:7]  ¹ tn These words are not in the text, but are supplied in the translation to make clear who is speaking.

[5:7]  ² tn Heb “How can I forgive [or pardon] you.” The pronoun “you” is second feminine singular, referring to the city. See v. 1.

[5:7]  ³ tn Heb “your children.”

[5:7]  ⁴ tn Heb “and they have sworn [oaths] by not-gods.”

[5:7]  ⁵ tn Heb “I satisfied them to the full.”

[5:7]  ⁶ tn Heb “they committed adultery.” It is difficult to decide whether literal adultery with other women or spiritual adultery with other gods is meant. The word for adultery is used for both in the book of Jeremiah. For examples of its use for spiritual adultery see 3:8, 9; 9:2. For examples of its use for literal adultery see 7:9; 23:14. The context here could argue for either. The swearing by other gods and the implicit contradiction in their actions in contrast to the expected gratitude for supplying their needs argues for spiritual adultery. However, the reference to prostitution in the next line and the reference to chasing after their neighbor’s wives argues for literal adultery. The translation opts for spiritual adultery because of the contrast implicit in the concessive clause.

[5:7]  ⁷ tn There is a great deal of debate about the meaning of this word. Most of the modern English versions follow the lead of lexicographers who relate this word to a noun meaning “troop” and understand it to mean “they trooped together” (cf. BDB 151 s.v. גָּדַד Hithpo.2 and compare the usage in Mic 5:1 [4:14 HT]). A few of the modern English versions and commentaries follow the reading of the Greek and read a word meaning “they lodged” (reading ִיתְגּוֹרְרוּ [yitggorÿru] from I גּוּר [gur; cf. HALOT 177 s.v. Hithpo. and compare the usage in 1 Kgs 17:20] instead of יִתְגֹּדָדוּ [yitggodadu]). W. L. Holladay (Jeremiah [Hermeneia], 1:180) sees a reference here to the cultic practice of cutting oneself in supplication to pagan gods (cf. BDB 151 s.v. גָּדַד Hithpo.1 and compare the usage in 1 Kgs 18:28). The houses of prostitutes would then be a reference to ritual prostitutes at the pagan shrines. The translation follows BDB and the majority of modern English versions.

[5:7]  ⁸ tn Heb “to a house of a prostitute.”

[6:1]  ⁹ tn Heb “Flee for safety, people of Benjamin, out of the midst of Jerusalem.”

[6:1]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “ram’s horn,” but the modern equivalent is “trumpet” and is more readily understandable.

[6:1]  ¹¹ tn Heb “leans down” or “looks down.” This verb personifies destruction leaning/looking down from its window in the sky, ready to attack.

[6:1]  ¹² tn Heb “[It will be] a severe fracture.” The nation is pictured as a limb being fractured.

[16:14]  ¹⁷ tn The particle translated here “Yet” (לָכֵן, lakhen) is regularly translated “So” or “Therefore” and introduces a consequence. However, in a few cases it introduces a contrasting set of conditions. Compare its use in Judg 11:8; Jer 48:12; 49:2; 51:52; and Hos 2:14 (2:16 HT).

[16:14]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “Oracle of the Lord.” The Lord has been speaking; the first person has been utilized in translation to avoid a shift which might create confusion.

[16:14]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “Behold the days are coming.”

[17:19]  ²⁵ sn Observance of the Sabbath day (and the Sabbatical year) appears to have been a litmus test of the nation’s spirituality since it is mentioned in a number of passages besides this one (cf., e.g., Isa 56:2, 6; 58:13; Neh 13:15-18). Perhaps this is because the Sabbath day was the sign of the Mosaic covenant (Exod 31:13-17) just as the rainbow was the sign of the Noahic covenant (Gen 9:12, 13, 17) and circumcision was the sign of the Abrahamic covenant (Gen 17:11). This was not the only command they failed to obey, nor was their failure to obey this one the sole determining factor in the Lord’s decision to destroy Judah (cf. 7:23- 24; 11:7-8 in their contexts).

[17:19]  ²⁶ sn The identity and location of the People’s Gate is uncertain since it is mentioned nowhere else in the Hebrew Bible. Some identify it with the Benjamin Gate mentioned in Jer 37:13; 38:7 (cf. NAB), but there is no textual support for this in the Hebrew Bible or in any of the ancient versions.

[17:19]  ²⁷ map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.

[22:30]  ³³ tn Heb “Write this man childless.” For the explanation see the study note. The word translated “childless” has spawned some debate because Jeconiah was in fact not childless. There is record from both the Bible and ancient Near Eastern texts that he had children (see, e.g., 1 Chr 3:17). G. R. Driver, “Linguistic and Textual Problems: Jeremiah,” JQR 28 (1937-38): 115, has suggested that the word both here and in Lev 20:20-21 should be translated “stripped of honor.” While that would relieve some of the difficulties here, the word definitely means “childless” in Gen 15:2 and also in Sir 16:3 where it is contrasted with having godless children. The issue is not one of childlessness but of having “one of his sons” succeed to the Davidic throne. The term for “one of his sons” is literally “from his seed a man” and the word “seed” is the same one that is used to refer to his “children” who were forced into exile with him (v. 28).

[23:7]  ⁴¹ tn Heb “Oracle of the Lord.”

[23:7]  ⁴² tn Heb “Behold the days are coming.”

[26:23]  ⁴⁹ tn Heb “from Egypt.”

[26:23]  ⁵⁰ sn The burial place of the common people was the public burial grounds, distinct from the family tombs, where poor people without any distinction were buried. It was in the Kidron Valley east of Jerusalem (2 Kgs 23:6). The intent of reporting this is to show the ruthlessness of Jehoiakim.

[36:30]  ⁵⁷ sn This prophesy was not “totally” fulfilled because his son Jehoiachin (Jeconiah) did occupy the throne for three months (2 Kgs 23:8). However, his rule was negligible and after his capitulation and exile to Babylon, he himself was promised that neither he nor his successors would occupy the throne of David (cf. Jer 22:30; and see the study notes on 22:24, 30).

[36:30]  ⁵⁸ sn Compare the more poetic prophecy in Jer 22:18-19 and see the study note on 22:19.

[49:28]  ⁶⁵ sn Kedar appears to refer to an Arabic tribe of nomads descended from Ishmael (Gen 25:13). They are associated here with the people who live in the eastern desert (Heb “the children of the east”; בְּנֵי־קֶדֶם, bÿne-qedem). In Isa 21:16 they are associated with the Temanites and the Dedanites, Arabic tribes in the north Arabian desert. They were sheep breeders (Isa 60:7) who lived in tents (Ps 120:5) and unwalled villages (Isa 42:11). According to Assyrian records they clashed with Assyria from the time of Shalmaneser in 850 until the time of Esarhaddon and Ashurbanipal in the late seventh century. According to the Babylonian Chronicles, Nebuchadnezzar defeated them in 599 b.c.

[49:28]  ⁶⁶ sn Hazor. Nothing is know about this Hazor other than what is said here in vv. 28, 30, 33. They appear to also be nomadic tent dwellers who had a loose association with the Kedarites.

[49:28]  ⁶⁷ tn The words “Army of Babylon” are not in the Hebrew text but are implicit from the context. They are supplied in the translation for clarity.

[49:28]  ⁶⁸ sn Heb “the children of the east.” Nothing much is known about them other than their association with the Midianites and Amalekites in their attack on Israel in the time of Gideon (Judg 6:3, 33) and the fact that God would let tribes from the eastern desert capture Moab and Ammon in the future (Ezek 25:4, 10). Midian and Amalek were consider to be located in the region in north Arabia east of Ezion Geber. That would put them in the same general locality as the region of Kedar. The parallelism here suggests that they are the same as the people of Kedar. The words here are apparently addressed to the armies of Nebuchadnezzar.