Jeremiah 6:18

6:18 So the Lord said, ¹ 

“Hear, you nations!

Be witnesses and take note of what will happen to these people. ² 

Jeremiah 7:1

Faulty Religion and Unethical Behavior Will Lead to Judgment

7:1 The Lord said to Jeremiah: ³ 

Jeremiah 11:1

The People Have Violated Their Covenant with God

11:1 The Lord said to Jeremiah: ⁴ 

Jeremiah 17:7

17:7 My blessing is on those people who trust in me,

who put their confidence in me. ⁵ 

Jeremiah 18:1

An Object Lesson from the Making of Pottery

18:1 The Lord said to Jeremiah: ⁶ 

Jeremiah 30:1

Introduction to the Book of Consolation

30:1 The Lord spoke to Jeremiah. ⁷ 

Jeremiah 32:34

32:34 They set up their disgusting idols in the temple which I have claimed for my own ⁸  and defiled it.

Jeremiah 52:2

52:2 He did what displeased the Lord ⁹  just as Jehoiakim had done.

[6:18]  ¹ tn These words are not in the text but are implicit from the flow of the context. They are supplied in the translation for clarity.

[6:18]  ² tn Heb “Know, congregation [or witness], what in [or against] them.” The meaning of this line is somewhat uncertain. The meaning of the noun of address in the second line (“witness,” rendered as an imperative in the translation, “Be witnesses”) is greatly debated. It is often taken as “congregation” but the lexicons and commentaries generally question the validity of reading that word since it is nowhere else applied to the nations. BDB 417 s.v. עֵדָה 3 says that the text is dubious. HALOT 747 s.v. I עֵדָה, 4 emends the text to דֵּעָה (de’ah). Several modern English versions (e.g., NIV, NCV, God’s Word) take it as the feminine singular noun “witness” (cf. BDB 729 s.v. II עֵדָה) and understand it as a collective. This solution is also proposed by J. A. Thompson (Jeremiah [NICOT], 259, n. 3) and appears to make the best sense in the context. The end of the line is very elliptical but is generally taken as either, “what I will do with/to them,” or “what is coming against them” (= “what will happen to them”) on the basis of the following context.

[7:1]  ³ tn Heb “The word which came to Jeremiah from the Lord.”

[11:1]  ⁵ tn Heb “The word which came to Jeremiah from the Lord, saying.” The proposed translation is more in keeping with contemporary English idiom. Cf. 1:2 and 7:1 and footnotes there.

[17:7]  ⁷ tn Heb “Blessed is the person who trusts in the Lord, and whose confidence is in the Lord.” However, because this is a statement of the Lord and the translation chooses to show that the blessing comes from him, the first person is substituted for the divine name.

[18:1]  ⁹ tn Heb “The word which came to Jeremiah from the Lord, saying:” This same formula occurs ten other times in Jeremiah. It has already occurred at 7:1 and 11:1.

[30:1]  ¹¹ tn Compare the headings at 7:1; 11:1; 18:1; 21:1 and the translator’s note at those places.

[32:34]  ¹³ tn Heb “the house which is called by my name.” Cf. 7:10, 11, 14 and see the translator’s note on 7:10 for the explanation for this rendering.

[52:2]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “what was evil in the eyes of the Lord.”