Jeremiah 6:10

6:10 I answered, ¹ 

“Who would listen

if I spoke to them and warned them? ² 

Their ears are so closed ³ 

that they cannot hear!

Indeed, ⁴  what the Lord says is offensive to them.

They do not like it at all. ⁵ 

Jeremiah 9:2

9:2 (9:1) I wish I had a lodging place in the desert

where I could spend some time like a weary traveler. ⁶ 

Then I would desert my people

and walk away from them

because they are all unfaithful to God,

a congregation ⁷  of people that has been disloyal to him. ⁸ 

Jeremiah 10:5

10:5 Such idols are like scarecrows in a cucumber field.

They cannot talk.

They must be carried

because they cannot walk.

Do not be afraid of them

because they cannot hurt you.

And they do not have any power to help you.” ⁹ 

Jeremiah 10:14

10:14 All these idolaters ¹⁰  will prove to be stupid and ignorant.

Every goldsmith will be disgraced by the idol he made.

For the image he forges is merely a sham. ¹¹ 

There is no breath in any of those idols. ¹² 

Jeremiah 11:17

11:17 For though I, the Lord who rules over all, ¹³  planted you in the land, ¹⁴ 

I now decree that disaster will come on you ¹⁵ 

because the nations of Israel and Judah have done evil

and have made me angry by offering sacrifices to the god Baal.” ¹⁶ 

Jeremiah 17:24

17:24 The Lord says, ¹⁷  ‘You must make sure to obey me. You must not bring any loads through the gates of this city on the Sabbath day. You must set the Sabbath day apart to me. You must not do any work on that day.

Jeremiah 19:5

19:5 They have built places here ¹⁸  for worship of the god Baal so that they could sacrifice their children as burnt offerings to him in the fire. Such sacrifices ¹⁹  are something I never commanded them to make! They are something I never told them to do! Indeed, such a thing never even entered my mind!

Jeremiah 22:24

Jeconiah Will Be Permanently Exiled

22:24 The Lord says, ²⁰ 

“As surely as I am the living God, you, Jeconiah, ²¹  king of Judah, son of Jehoiakim, will not be the earthly representative of my authority. Indeed, I will take that right away from you. ²² 

Jeremiah 26:23

26:23 and they brought Uriah back from there. ²³  They took him to King Jehoiakim, who had him executed and had his body thrown into the burial place of the common people. ²⁴ 

Jeremiah 27:7

27:7 All nations must serve him and his son and grandson ²⁵  until the time comes for his own nation to fall. ²⁶  Then many nations and great kings will in turn subjugate Babylon. ²⁷ 

Jeremiah 31:19

31:19 For after we turned away from you we repented.

After we came to our senses ²⁸  we beat our breasts in sorrow. ²⁹ 

We are ashamed and humiliated

because of the disgraceful things we did previously.’ ³⁰ 

Jeremiah 33:24

33:24 “You have surely noticed what these people are saying, haven’t you? They are saying, ³¹  ‘The Lord has rejected the two families of Israel and Judah ³²  that he chose.’ So they have little regard that my people will ever again be a nation. ³³ 

Jeremiah 42:11

42:11 Do not be afraid of the king of Babylon whom you now fear. ³⁴  Do not be afraid of him because I will be with you to save you and to rescue you from his power. I, the Lord, affirm it! ³⁵ 

Jeremiah 51:17

51:17 All idolaters will prove to be stupid and ignorant.

Every goldsmith will be disgraced by the idol he made.

For the image he forges is merely a sham.

There is no breath in any of those idols.

[6:10]  ¹ tn These words are not in the text but are supplied in the translation for clarity.

[6:10]  ² tn Or “To whom shall I speak? To whom shall I give warning? Who will listen?” Heb “Unto whom shall I speak and give warning that they may listen?”

[6:10]  ³ tn Heb “are uncircumcised.”

[6:10]  ⁴ tn Heb “Behold!”

[6:10]  ⁵ tn Heb “They do not take pleasure in it.”

[9:2]  ⁶ tn Heb “I wish I had in the desert a lodging place [inn, or place to spend the night] for travelers.”

[9:2]  ⁷ tn Or “bunch,” but this loses the irony; the word is used for the solemn assemblies at the religious feasts.

[9:2]  ⁸ tn Heb “they are all adulterers, a congregation of unfaithful people.” However, spiritual adultery is, of course, meant, not literal adultery. So the literal translation would be misleading.

[10:5]  ¹¹ tn Heb “And it is not in them to do good either.”

[10:14]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “Every man.” But in the context this is not a reference to all people without exception but to all idolaters. The referent is made explicit for the sake of clarity.

[10:14]  ¹⁷ tn Or “nothing but a phony god”; Heb “a lie/falsehood.”

[10:14]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “There is no breath in them.” The referent is made explicit so that no one will mistakenly take it to refer to the idolaters or goldsmiths.

[11:17]  ²¹ tn Heb “Yahweh of armies.”

[11:17]  ²² tn The words “in the land” are not in the text but are supplied in the translation to clarify the meaning of the metaphor.

[11:17]  ²³ tn Heb “For Yahweh of armies who planted you speaks disaster upon you.” Because of the way the term Lord of armies has been rendered this sentence has been restructured to avoid confusion in English style.

[11:17]  ²⁴ tn Heb “pronounced disaster…on account of the evil of the house of Israel and the house of Judah which they have done to make me angry [or thus making me angry] by sacrificing to Baal.” The lines have been broken up in conformity with contemporary English style.

[17:24]  ²⁶ tn Heb “Oracle of the Lord.”

[19:5]  ³¹ tn The word “here” is not in the text. However, it is implicit from the rest of the context. It is supplied in the translation for clarity.

[19:5]  ³² tn The words “such sacrifices” are not in the text. The text merely says “to burn their children in the fire as burnt offerings to Baal which I did not command.” The command obviously refers not to the qualification “to Baal” but to burning the children in the fire as burnt offerings. The words are supplied in the translation to avoid a possible confusion that the reference is to sacrifices to Baal. Likewise the words should not be translated so literally that they leave the impression that God never said anything about sacrificing their children to other gods. The fact is he did. See Lev 18:21; Deut 12:30; 18:10.

[22:24]  ³⁶ tn Heb “Oracle of the Lord.”

[22:24]  ³⁷ tn Heb “Coniah.” This is the spelling of this king’s name here and in v. 28 and 37:1. Elsewhere in Jeremiah he is called Jeconiah (24:1; 27:20; 28:4; 29:2 [see also 1 Chr 3:16, 17; Esth 2:6]) and Jehoiachin (52:31, 33 [see also 2 Kgs 24:6, 8, 12, 15; 25:27, 29; 2 Chr 36:8, 9; Ezek 1:2]). For the sake of consistency the present translation uses the name Jeconiah throughout.

[22:24]  ³⁸ tn Heb “As surely as I live, Jeconiah, King of Judah, son of Jehoiakim will not be a signet ring on my right hand. Indeed I will tear you off from it [i.e., pull you off of my finger as a signet ring].” The signet ring was the king’s seal by which he verified all his legal and political transactions. To have the signet ring was to exercise authority in the king’s name. For examples of this see Gen 41:42, 43; 1 Kgs 21:8; Esth 3:10; 8:2. The figure has been interpreted in the translation for the sake of clarity. The particles כִּי אִם (ki ’im) that stand after the oath formula “As I live” introduce a negative statement according to the usage of Hebrew grammar (cf. BDB 474 s.v. כִּי אִם 1.a and BDB 50 s.v. אִם 1.b[2] and compare 2 Sam 3:35). The particle כִּי that stands in front of “I will tear you off” introduces a positive affirmation according to the same rules of Hebrew grammar (cf. BDB 472 s.v. כִּי 1.c and compare 1 Sam 14:39, 44). The Lord is swearing emphatically that Jeconiah will not be the earthly representative of his rule; i.e., not carry the authority of the signet ring bearer. As in several other places in Jeremiah there is a sudden shift from the third person to the second person which runs throughout vv. 24-27. The pronouns are leveled in the translation to the second person to avoid confusion. The figures are interpreted in the translation to convey the proper significance. See the study note for explanation.

[26:23]  ⁴¹ tn Heb “from Egypt.”

[26:23]  ⁴² 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.

[27:7]  ⁴⁶ sn This is a figure that emphasizes that they will serve for a long time but not for an unlimited duration. The kingdom of Babylon lasted a relatively short time by ancient standards. It lasted from 605 b.c. when Nebuchadnezzar defeated Necho at Carchemish until the fall of Babylon in 538 b.c. There were only four rulers. Nebuchadnezzar was succeeded by his son, Evil Merodach (cf. 52:31), and two other rulers who were not descended from him.

[27:7]  ⁴⁷ tn Heb “until the time of his land, even his, comes.” The independent pronoun is placed here for emphasis on the possessive pronoun. The word “time” is used by substitution for the things that are done in it (compare in the NT John 2:4; 7:30; 8:20 “his hour had not yet come”).

[27:7]  ⁴⁸ tn Heb “him.” This is a good example of the figure of substitution where the person is put for his descendants or the nation or subject he rules. (See Gen 28:13-14 for another good example and Acts 22:7 in the NT.)

[31:19]  ⁵¹ tn For this meaning of the verb see HAL 374 s.v. יָדַע Nif 5 or W. L. Holladay, Concise Hebrew and Aramaic Lexicon, 129. REB translates “Now that I am submissive” relating the verb to a second root meaning “be submissive.” (See HALOT 375 s.v. II יָדַע and J. Barr, Comparative Philology and the Text of the Old Testament, 19-21, for evidence for this verb. Other passages cited with this nuance are Judg 8:16; Prov 10:9; Job 20:20.)

[31:19]  ⁵² tn Heb “I struck my thigh.” This was a gesture of grief and anguish (cf. Ezek 21:12 [21:17 HT]). The modern equivalent is “to beat the breast.”

[31:19]  ⁵³ tn Heb “because I bear the reproach of my youth.” For the plural referents see the note at the beginning of v. 18.

[33:24]  ⁵⁶ tn Heb “Have you not seen what this people have said, saying.” The question is rhetorical and expects a positive answer. The sentence has been broken in two to better conform with contemporary English style.

[33:24]  ⁵⁷ tn Heb “The two families which the Lord chose, he has rejected them.” This is an example of an object prepositioned before the verb and resumed by a redundant pronoun to throw emphasis of focus on it (called casus pendens in the grammars; cf. GKC 458 §143.d). Some commentators identify the “two families” as those of David and Levi mentioned in the previous verses, and some identify them as the families of the Israelites and of David mentioned in the next verse. However, the next clause in this verse and the emphasis on the restoration and regathering of Israel and Judah in this section (cf. 33:7, 14) show that the reference is to Israel and Judah (see also 30:3, 4; 31:27, 31 and 3:18).

[33:24]  ⁵⁸ tn Heb “and my people [i.e., Israel and Judah] they disdain [or look down on] from being again a nation before them.” The phrase “before them” refers to their estimation, their mental view (cf. BDB s.v. פָּנֶה II.4.a[g]). Hence it means they look with disdain on the people being a nation again (cf. BDB s.v. עוֹד 1.a[b] for the usage of עוֹד [’od] here).

[42:11]  ⁶¹ sn See Jer 41:18 for their reason for fear.

[42:11]  ⁶² tn Heb “oracle of the Lord.”