Jeremiah 6:14

6:14 They offer only superficial help

for the harm my people have suffered. ¹ 

They say, ‘Everything will be all right!’

But everything is not all right! ² 

Jeremiah 8:11

8:11 They offer only superficial help

for the hurt my dear people ³  have suffered. ⁴ 

They say, “Everything will be all right!”

But everything is not all right! ⁵ 

Jeremiah 23:25

23:25 The Lord says, ⁶  “I have heard what those prophets who are prophesying lies in my name are saying. They are saying, ‘I have had a dream! I have had a dream!’ ⁷ 

Jeremiah 26:17

26:17 Then some of the elders of Judah ⁸  stepped forward and spoke to all the people gathered there. They said,

Jeremiah 28:2

28:2 “The Lord God of Israel who rules over all ⁹  says, ‘I will break the yoke of servitude ¹⁰  to the king of Babylon.

Jeremiah 33:1

The Lord Promises a Second Time to Restore Israel and Judah

33:1 The Lord spoke ¹¹  to Jeremiah a second time while he was still confined in the courtyard of the guardhouse. ¹² 

Jeremiah 36:5

36:5 Then Jeremiah told Baruch, “I am no longer allowed to go ¹³  into the Lord’s temple.

Jeremiah 38:8

38:8 Ebed Melech departed the palace and went to speak to the king. He said to him,

Jeremiah 39:11

39:11 Now King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon had issued orders concerning Jeremiah. He had passed them on through Nebuzaradan, the captain of his royal guard, ¹⁴ 

Jeremiah 39:15

Ebed Melech Is Promised Deliverance because of His Faith

39:15 ¹⁵ Now the Lord had spoken to Jeremiah while he was still confined in the courtyard of the guardhouse, ¹⁶ 

[6:14]  ¹ tn Heb “They heal [= bandage] the wound of my people lightly”; TEV “They act as if my people’s wounds were only scratches.”

[6:14]  ² tn Heb “They say, ‘Peace! Peace!’ and there is no peace!”

[8:11]  ³ tn Heb “daughter of my people.” For the translation given here see 4:11 and the note on the phrase “dear people” there.

[8:11]  ⁴ tn Heb “They heal the wound of my people lightly.”

[8:11]  ⁵ tn Heb “They say, ‘Peace! Peace!’ and there is no peace!”

[23:25]  ⁵ tn The words, “The Lord says” are not in the text. They are supplied in the translation for clarity to show that the Lord continues speaking.

[23:25]  ⁶ sn To have had a dream was not an illegitimate means of receiving divine revelation. God had revealed himself in the past to his servants through dreams (e.g., Jacob [Gen 31:10-11] and Joseph [Gen 37:6, 7, 9]) and God promised to reveal himself through dreams (Num 12:6; Joel 2:28 [3:1 HT]). What was illegitimate was to use the dream to lead people away from the Lord (Deut 13:1-5 [13:2-6 HT]). That was what the prophets were doing through their dreams which were “lies” and “the delusions of their own minds.” Through them they were making people forget who the Lord really was which was just like what their ancestors had done through worshiping Baal.

[26:17]  ⁷ tn Heb “elders of the land.”

[28:2]  ⁹ tn Heb “Yahweh of armies, the God of Israel.” See the study notes on 2:19 and 7:3 for the explanation of this title.

[28:2]  ¹⁰ sn See the study note on 27:2 for this figure. Hananiah is given the same title “the prophet” as Jeremiah throughout the chapter and claims to speak with the same authority (compare v. 2a with 27:21a). He even speaks like the true prophet; the verb form “I will break” is in the “prophetic perfect” emphasizing certitude. His message here is a contradiction of Jeremiah’s message recorded in the preceding chapter (compare especially v. 3 with 27:16, 19-22 and v. 4 with 22:24-28). The people and the priests are thus confronted with a choice of whom to believe. Who is the “true” prophet and who is the “false” one? Only fulfillment of their prophecies will prove which is which (see Deut 18:21-22).

[33:1]  ¹¹ sn The introductory statement here ties this incident in with the preceding chapter which was the first time that the Lord spoke to him about the matters discussed here. There is no indication of how much time passed between the two incidents though it appears that the situation has worsened somewhat (cf. v. 4).

[33:1]  ¹² tn Heb “And the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah a second time…, saying.”

[36:5]  ¹³ tn Heb “I am restrained; I cannot go into.” The word “restrained” is used elsewhere in Jeremiah of his being confined to the courtyard of the guardhouse (33:1; 39:15). However, that occurred only later during the tenth year of Zedekiah (Jer 32:1-2) and Jeremiah appears here to be free to come and go as he pleased (vv. 19, 26). The word is used in the active voice of the Lord preventing Sarah from having a baby (Gen 16:2). The probable nuance is here “I am prevented/ debarred” from being able to go. No reason is given why he was prevented/debarred. It has been plausibly suggested that he was prohibited from going into the temple any longer because of the scathing sermon he delivered there earlier (Jer 26:1-3; 7:1-15).

[39:11]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “And Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon commanded concerning Jeremiah by the hand of Nebuzaradan, the captain of the guard, saying.” Since Nebuchadnezzar is at Riblah (v. 6) and Nebuzaradan and the other officers named in the next verse are at Jerusalem, the vav consecutive imperfect should again be translated as a pluperfect (see 38:2 and the translator’s notes there for explanation). For the meaning of “through” or “through the agency of” for the phrase בְּיַד (bÿyad) see BDB 391 s.v. יָד 5.d. The sentence has been broken up to better conform with contemporary English style.

[39:15]  ¹⁷ sn Jer 39:15-18. This incident is out of chronological order (see Jer 38:7-13). It is placed here either due to a desire not to interrupt the sequential ordering of events centering on Jeremiah’s imprisonment and his release (38:14–39:14) or to contrast God’s care and concern for the faithful (Ebed-Melech who, though a foreigner, trusted in God) with his harsh treatment of the faithless (Zedekiah who, though informed of God’s will, was too weak-willed in the face of opposition by his courtiers to carry it out).

[39:15]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “Now the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah while he…saying.” The form of this clause is disjunctive showing that it does not follow the preceding events in either chronological or logical sequence. For a discussion of the form and function of such disjunctive clauses see IBHS 650-52 §39.2.3. This example most closely fits the description and function of example 12, Ruth 4:18, 21-22 on p. 652.