Jeremiah 6:11

6:11 I am as full of anger as you are, Lord, ¹ 

I am tired of trying to hold it in.”

The Lord answered, ² 

“Vent it, then, ³  on the children who play in the street

and on the young men who are gathered together.

Husbands and wives are to be included, ⁴ 

as well as the old and those who are advanced in years.

Jeremiah 12:16

12:16 But they must make sure you learn to follow the religious practices of my people. ⁵  Once they taught my people to swear their oaths using the name of the god Baal. ⁶  But then, they must swear oaths using my name, saying, “As surely as the Lord lives, I swear.” ⁷  If they do these things, ⁸  then they will be included among the people I call my own. ⁹ 

Jeremiah 17:25

17:25 If you do this, ¹⁰  then the kings and princes who follow in David’s succession ¹¹  and ride in chariots or on horses will continue to enter through these gates, as well as their officials and the people of Judah and the citizens of Jerusalem. ¹²  This city will always be filled with people. ¹³ 

Jeremiah 19:13

19:13 The houses in Jerusalem and the houses of the kings of Judah will be defiled by dead bodies ¹⁴  just like this place, Topheth. For they offered sacrifice to the stars ¹⁵  and poured out drink offerings to other gods on the roofs of those houses.’”

Jeremiah 19:15

19:15 “The Lord God of Israel who rules over all ¹⁶  says, ‘I will soon bring on this city and all the towns surrounding it ¹⁷  all the disaster I threatened to do to it. I will do so because they have stubbornly refused ¹⁸  to pay any attention to what I have said!’”

Jeremiah 20:10

20:10 I ¹⁹  hear many whispering words of intrigue against me.

Those who would cause me terror are everywhere! ²⁰ 

They are saying, “Come on, let’s publicly denounce him!” ²¹ 

All my so-called friends ²²  are just watching for

something that would lead to my downfall. ²³ 

They say, “Perhaps he can be enticed into slipping up,

so we can prevail over ²⁴  him and get our revenge on him.

Jeremiah 27:8

27:8 But suppose a nation or a kingdom will not be subject to King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon. Suppose it will not submit to the yoke of servitude to ²⁵  him. I, the Lord, affirm that ²⁶  I will punish that nation. I will use the king of Babylon to punish it ²⁷  with war, ²⁸  starvation, and disease until I have destroyed it. ²⁹ 

Jeremiah 27:18

27:18 I also told them, ³⁰  “If they are really prophets and the Lord is speaking to them, ³¹  let them pray earnestly to the Lord who rules over all. ³²  Let them plead with him not to let the valuable articles that are still left in the Lord’s temple, in the royal palace, and in Jerusalem be taken away ³³  to Babylon.

Jeremiah 29:32

29:32 Because he has done this,” ³⁴  the Lord says, “I will punish Shemaiah the Nehelamite and his whole family. There will not be any of them left to experience the good things that I will do for my people. I, the Lord, affirm it! For he counseled rebellion against the Lord.”’” ³⁵ 

Jeremiah 31:34

31:34 “People will no longer need to teach their neighbors and relatives to know me. ³⁶  For all of them, from the least important to the most important, will know me,” ³⁷  says the Lord. “For ³⁸  I will forgive their sin and will no longer call to mind the wrong they have done.”

Jeremiah 35:17

35:17 So I, the Lord, the God who rules over all, the God of Israel, say: ³⁹  “I will soon bring on Judah and all the citizens of Jerusalem all the disaster that I threatened to bring on them. I will do this because I spoke to them but they did not listen. I called out to them but they did not answer.”’”

Jeremiah 38:4

38:4 So these officials said to the king, “This man must be put to death. For he is demoralizing ⁴⁰  the soldiers who are left in the city as well as all the other people there by these things he is saying. ⁴¹  This ⁴²  man is not seeking to help these people but is trying to harm them.” ⁴³ 

Jeremiah 43:10

43:10 Then tell them, ⁴⁴  ‘The Lord God of Israel who rules over all ⁴⁵  says, “I will bring ⁴⁶  my servant ⁴⁷  King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon. I will set his throne over these stones which I ⁴⁸  have buried. He will pitch his royal tent ⁴⁹  over them.

Jeremiah 48:44

48:44 Anyone who flees at the sound of terror

will fall into a pit.

Anyone who climbs out of the pit

will be caught in a trap. ⁵⁰ 

For the time is coming

when I will punish the people of Moab. ⁵¹ 

I, the Lord, affirm it! ⁵² 

Jeremiah 50:29

50:29 “Call for archers ⁵³  to come against Babylon!

Summon against her all who draw the bow!

Set up camp all around the city!

Do not allow anyone to escape!

Pay her back for what she has done.

Do to her what she has done to others.

For she has proudly defied me, ⁵⁴ 

the Holy One of Israel. ⁵⁵ 

[6:11]  ¹ tn Heb “I am full of the wrath of the Lord.”

[6:11]  ² tn These words are not in the text but are implicit from the words that follow. They are supplied in the translation for clarity.

[6:11]  ³ tn Heb “Pour it out.”

[6:11]  ⁴ tn Heb “are to be captured.”

[12:16]  ⁵ tn Heb “the ways of my people.” For this nuance of the word “ways” compare 10:2 and the notes there.

[12:16]  ⁶ tn Heb “taught my people to swear by Baal.”

[12:16]  ⁷ tn The words “I swear” are not in the text but are implicit to the oath formula. They are supplied in the translation for clarity.

[12:16]  ⁸ tn The words “If they do this” are not in the text. They are part of an attempt to break up a Hebrew sentence which is long and complex into equivalent shorter sentences consistent with contemporary English style. Verse 16 in Hebrew is all one sentence with a long complex conditional clause followed by a short consequence: “If they carefully learn the ways of my people to swear by name, ‘By the life of the Lord,’ as they taught my people to swear by Baal, then they will be built up in the midst of my people.” The translation strives to create the same contingencies and modifications by breaking up the sentence into shorter sentences in accord with contemporary English style.

[12:16]  ⁹ tn Heb “they will be built up among my people.” The expression “be built up among” is without parallel. However, what is involved here is conceptually parallel to the ideas expressed in Isa 19:23-25 and Zech 14:16-19. That is, these people will be allowed to live on their own land, to worship the Lord there, and to come to Jerusalem to celebrate the feasts. To translate literally would be meaningless or misleading for many readers.

[17:25]  ⁹ tn Heb “If you will carefully obey me by not bringing…and by sanctifying…by not doing…, then kings will….” The structure of prohibitions and commands followed by a brief “if” clause has been used to break up a long condition and consequence relationship which is contrary to contemporary English style.

[17:25]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “who sit [or are to sit] on David’s throne.”

[17:25]  ¹¹ tn Heb “There will come through the gates of this city the kings and princes…riding in chariots and on horses, they and their officials…” The structure of the original text is broken up here because of the long compound subject which would make the English sentence too long. The term “princes” is often omitted as a supposed double writing of the word that follows it and looks somewhat like it (the Hebrew reads here וְשָׂרִים יֹשְׁבִים, vÿsarim yoshÿvim) or the same word which occurs later in the verse and is translated “officials” (the word can refer to either). It is argued that “princes” are never said to sit on the throne of David (translated here “follow in the succession of David”). However, the word is in all texts and versions and the concept of sitting on the throne of someone is descriptive of both past, present, and future and is even used with the participle in a proleptic sense of “the one who is to sit on the throne” (cf. Exod 11:5; 12:29).

[17:25]  ¹² tn Heb “will be inhabited forever.”

[19:13]  ¹³ tn The words “by dead bodies” is not in the text but is implicit from the context. They are supplied in the translation for clarity.

[19:13]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “the host of heaven.”

[19:15]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “Yahweh of armies, the God of Israel.”

[19:15]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “all its towns.”

[19:15]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “They hardened [or made stiff] their neck so as not to.”

[20:10]  ²¹ tn It would be difficult to render accurately the Hebrew particle כִּי (ki) that introduces this verse without lengthening the English line unduly. It probably means something like “This is true even though I…,” i.e., the particle is concessive (cf. BDB s.v. כִּי 2.c). No other nuance seems appropriate. The particle is left out of the translation, but its presence is acknowledged here.

[20:10]  ²² tn The phrase translated “Those who would cause me terror are everywhere” has already occurred in 6:25 in the context of the terror caused by the enemy from the north and in 20:3 in reference to the curse pronounced on Pashhur who would experience it first hand. Some have seen the phrase here not as Jeremiah’s ejaculation of terror but of his assailant’s taunts of his message or even their taunting nickname for him. But comparison of this passage with the first two lines of Ps 31:13 (31:14 HT) which are word for word the same as these two will show that it refers to the terror inspired by the plots of his enemies to do away with him. It is also clear from the context of that passage and the following context here that the “whispering of many” (the literal translation of “many whispering words of intrigue against me) refers to intrigues to take vengeance on him and do away with him.

[20:10]  ²³ tn Heb “Denounce and let us denounce him.” The verb which is translated “denounce” (נָגַד, nagad) does not take an accusative object of person as it does here very often. When it does it usually means to inform someone. The only relevant passage appears to be Job 17:5 where it means something like “denounce.” What is probably involved here are the attempts to portray Jeremiah as a traitor (Jer 26:10) and a false prophet (see his conflict with Hananiah in Jer 28).

[20:10]  ²⁴ tn Heb “the men of my peace [who are concerned about my welfare].” For this phrase compare Ps 41:9 (41:10 HT); Jer 38:22. It is generally agreed that irony is being invoked here, hence “so-called” is supplied in the translation to bring out the irony.

[20:10]  ²⁵ tn Heb “watching my stumbling [for me to stumble].” Metaphorically they were watching for some slip-up that would lead to his downfall. Compare the use in Pss 35:15 and 38:17 (38:18 HT).

[20:10]  ²⁶ tn All the text says literally is “Perhaps he can be enticed so that we can prevail over him.” However the word “enticed” needs some qualification. As W. McKane (Jeremiah [ICC], 1:479) notes it should probably be read in the context of the “stumbling” (= “something that would lead to my downfall”). Hence “slipping up” has been supplied as an object. It is vague enough to avoid specifics as the original text does but suggests some reference to “something that would lead to my downfall.”

[27:8]  ²⁵ tn Heb “put their necks in the yoke of.” See the study note on v. 2 for the figure.

[27:8]  ²⁶ tn Heb “oracle of the Lord.”

[27:8]  ²⁷ tn Heb “The nation and/or the kingdom which will not serve him, Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon, and which will not put its neck in the yoke of the king of Babylon, by sword, starvation, and disease I will punish [or more literally, “visit upon”] that nation, oracle of the Lord.” The long complex Hebrew sentence has been broken up in conformity with contemporary English style and the figures interpreted for the sake of clarity. The particle אֵת, the sign of the accusative, before “which will not put…” is a little unusual here. For its use to introduce a new topic (here a second relative clause) see BDB 85 s.v. אֵת 3.α.

[27:8]  ²⁸ tn Heb “with/by the sword.”

[27:8]  ²⁹ tc The verb translated “destroy” (תָּמַם, tamam) is usually intransitive in the stem of the verb used here. It is found in a transitive sense elsewhere only in Ps 64:7. BDB 1070 s.v. תָּמַם 7 emends both texts. In this case they recommend תִּתִּי (titi): “until I give them into his hand.” That reading is suggested by the texts of the Syriac and Targumic translations (see BHS fn c). The Greek translation supports reading the verb “destroy” but treats it as though it were intransitive “until they are destroyed by his hand” (reading תֻּמָּם [tummam]). The MT here is accepted as the more difficult reading and support is seen in the transitive use of the verb in Ps 64:7.

[27:18]  ²⁹ tn The words “I also told them” are not in the text, but it is obvious from the fact that the Lord is spoken about in the third person in vv. 18, 19, 21 that he is not the speaker. This is part of Jeremiah’s own speech to the priests and the people (v. 16). These words are supplied in the translation for clarity.

[27:18]  ³⁰ tn Heb “the word of the Lord is with them.”

[27:18]  ³¹ tn Heb “Yahweh of armies.”

[27:18]  ³² tn Heb “…speaking to them, let them entreat the Lord…so that the valuable articles…will not go to Babylon.” The long original sentence has been broken up for the sake of English style.

[29:32]  ³³ tn Heb “Therefore.”

[29:32]  ³⁴ sn Compare the same charge against Hananiah in Jer 28:16 and see the note there. In this case, the false prophesy of Shemaiah is not given but it likely had the same tenor since he wants Jeremiah reprimanded for saying that the exile will be long and the people are to settle down in Babylon.

[31:34]  ³⁷ tn Heb “teach…, saying, ‘Know the Lord.’” The indirect quote has been chosen for stylistic reasons, i.e., to better parallel the following line.

[31:34]  ³⁸ sn This statement should be understood against the background of Jer 8:8-9 where class distinctions were drawn and certain people were considered to have more awareness and responsibility for knowing the law and also Jer 5:1-5 and 9:3-9 where the sinfulness of Israel was seen to be universal across these class distinctions and no trust was to be placed in friends, neighbors, or relatives because all without distinction had cast off God’s yoke (i.e., refused to submit themselves to his authority).

[31:34]  ³⁹ tn The Hebrew particle כִּי (ki) that introduces this clause refers to more than just the preceding clause (i.e., that all will know the Lord) but to all of vv. 31-34a (See BDB 474 s.v. כִּי 3.c).

[35:17]  ⁴¹ tn Heb “Therefore, thus says the Lord, the God of armies, the God of Israel.” For the title see 7:13 and the study note on 2:19. The first person address is again used in the translation because this whole section is a speech from the Lord (see vv. 12-13).

[38:4]  ⁴⁵ tn Heb “weakening the hands of.” For this idiom see BDB 951 s.v. רָפָה Pi. and compare the usage in Isa 13:7; Ezek 21:7 (21:12 HT).

[38:4]  ⁴⁶ tn Heb “by saying these things.”

[38:4]  ⁴⁷ tn The Hebrew particle כִּי (ki) has not been rendered here because it is introducing a parallel causal clause to the preceding one. To render “For” might be misunderstood as a grounds for the preceding statement. To render “And” or “Moreover” sounds a little odd here. If it must be represented, “Moreover” is perhaps the best rendering.

[38:4]  ⁴⁸ tn Or “is not looking out for these people’s best interests but is really trying to do them harm”; Heb “is not seeking the welfare [or “well-being”; Hebrew shalom] of this people but [their] harm [more literally, evil].”

[43:10]  ⁴⁹ sn This is another of those symbolic prophecies of Jeremiah which involved an action and an explanation. Compare Jer 19, 27.

[43:10]  ⁵⁰ tn Heb “Yahweh of armies, the God of Israel.” Compare 7:3 and see the study note on 2:19 for explanation of the translation and significance of this title.

[43:10]  ⁵¹ tn Heb “send and take/fetch.”

[43:10]  ⁵² sn See the study note on Jer 25:9 for the use of this epithet for foreign rulers. The term emphasizes God’s sovereignty over history.

[43:10]  ⁵³ tn The Greek version reads the verbs in this sentence as third person, “he will set,” and second person, “you have buried.” This fits the context better but it is difficult to explain how the Hebrew could have arisen from this smoother reading. The figure of substitution (metonymy of cause for effect) is probably involved: “I will have him set” and “I have had you bury.” The effect of these substitutions is to emphasize the sovereignty of God.

[43:10]  ⁵⁴ tn The meaning of this word is uncertain. The word here (שַׁפְרִירוֹ [shafriro] Qere, שַׁפְרוּרוֹ [shafruro] Kethib) occurs only here in the Hebrew Bible. According to the lexicons it refers to either the carpet for his throne or the canopy over it. See, e.g., HALOT 1510 s.v. שַׁפְרִיר.

[48:44]  ⁵³ sn Jer 48:43-44a are in the main the same as Isa 24:17-18 which shows that the judgment was somewhat proverbial. For a very similar kind of argumentation see Amos 5:19; judgment is unavoidable.

[48:44]  ⁵⁴ tn Heb “For I will bring upon her, even upon Moab, the year of her punishment.”

[48:44]  ⁵⁵ tn Heb “Oracle of the Lord.”

[50:29]  ⁵⁷ tn For this word see BDB 914 s.v. III רַב and compare usage in Prov 26:10 and Job 16:12 and compare the usage of the verb in Gen 49:23. Based on this evidence, it is not necessary to emend the form to רֹבִים (rovim) as many commentators contend.

[50:29]  ⁵⁸ tn Heb “for she has acted insolently against the Lord.” Once again there is the problem of the Lord speaking about himself in the third person (or the prophet dropping his identification with the Lord). As in several other places the present translation, along with several other modern English versions (TEV, CEV, NIrV), has substituted the first person to maintain consistency with the context.

[50:29]  ⁵⁹ sn The Holy One of Israel is a common title for the Lord in the book of Isaiah. It is applied to the Lord only here and in 51:5 in the book of Jeremiah. It is a figure where an attribute of a person is put as a title of a person (compare “your majesty” for a king). It pictures the Lord as the sovereign king who rules over his covenant people and exercises moral authority over them.