Jeremiah 7:27

7:27 Then the Lord said to me, ¹  “When you tell them all this, they will not listen to you. When you call out to them, they will not respond to you.

Jeremiah 11:20

11:20 So I said to the Lord, ² 

“O Lord who rules over all, ³  you are a just judge!

You examine people’s hearts and minds. ⁴ 

I want to see you pay them back for what they have done

because I trust you to vindicate my cause.” ⁵ 

Jeremiah 12:1

12:1 Lord, you have always been fair

whenever I have complained to you. ⁶ 

However, I would like to speak with you about the disposition of justice. ⁷ 

Why are wicked people successful? ⁸ 

Why do all dishonest people have such easy lives?

Jeremiah 15:20

15:20 I will make you as strong as a wall to these people,

a fortified wall of bronze.

They will attack you,

but they will not be able to overcome you.

For I will be with you to rescue you and deliver you,” ⁹ 

says the Lord.

Jeremiah 19:2

19:2 Go out to the part of the Hinnom Valley which is near the entrance of the Potsherd Gate. ¹⁰  Announce there what I tell you. ¹¹ 

Jeremiah 20:12

20:12 O Lord who rules over all, ¹²  you test and prove the righteous.

You see into people’s hearts and minds. ¹³ 

Pay them back for what they have done

because I trust you to vindicate my cause.

Jeremiah 21:13

21:13 Listen, you ¹⁴  who sit enthroned above the valley on a rocky plateau.

I am opposed to you,’ ¹⁵  says the Lord. ¹⁶ 

‘You boast, “No one can swoop down on us.

No one can penetrate into our places of refuge.” ¹⁷ 

Jeremiah 22:21

22:21 While you were feeling secure I gave you warning. ¹⁸ 

But you said, “I refuse to listen to you.”

That is the way you have acted from your earliest history onward. ¹⁹ 

Indeed, you have never paid attention to me.

Jeremiah 30:2

30:2 “The Lord God of Israel says, ²⁰  ‘Write everything that I am about to tell you in a scroll. ²¹ 

Jeremiah 38:20

38:20 Then Jeremiah answered, “You will not be handed over to them. Please obey the Lord by doing what I have been telling you. ²²  Then all will go well with you and your life will be spared. ²³ 

Jeremiah 39:12

39:12 “Find Jeremiah ²⁴  and look out for him. ²⁵  Do not do anything to harm him, ²⁶  but do with him whatever he tells you.”

[7:27]  ¹ tn The words, “Then the Lord said to me” are not in the text but are implicit in the shift from the second and third person plural pronouns in vv. 21-26 and the second singular in this verse. The words are supplied in the translation for clarity.

[11:20]  ² tn The words “So I said to the Lord” are not in the text but are implicit from the context. They are supplied in the translation for clarity to show the shift in address.

[11:20]  ³ tn Heb “Yahweh of armies.”

[11:20]  ⁴ tn Heb “Lord of armies, just judge, tester of kidneys and heart.” The sentence has been broken up to avoid a long and complex English sentence. The translation is more in keeping with contemporary English style. In Hebrew thought the “kidneys” were thought of as the seat of the emotions and passions and the “heart” was viewed as the seat of intellect, conscience, and will. The “heart” and the “kidneys” are often used figuratively for the thoughts, emotions, motives, and drives that are thought to be seated in them.

[11:20]  ⁵ tn Heb “Let me see your retribution [i.e., see you exact retribution] from them because I reveal my cause [i.e., plea for justice] to you.”

[12:1]  ³ tn Or “Lord, you are fair when I present my case before you.”

[12:1]  ⁴ tn Heb “judgments” or “matters of justice.” For the nuance of “complain to,” “fair,” “disposition of justice” assumed here, see BDB 936 s.v. רִיב Qal.4 (cf. Judg 21:22); BDB 843 s.v. צַדִּיק 1.d (cf. Ps 7:12; 11:7); BDB 1049 s.v. מִשְׁפָּט 1.f (cf. Isa 26:8; Ps 10:5; Ezek 7:27).

[12:1]  ⁵ tn Heb “Why does the way [= course of life] of the wicked prosper?”

[15:20]  ⁴ sn See 1:18. The Lord renews his promise of protection and reiterates his call to Jeremiah.

[19:2]  ⁵ sn The exact location of the Potsherd Gate is unknown since it is nowhere else mentioned in the Hebrew Bible. It is sometimes identified with the Dung Gate mentioned in Neh 2:13; 3:13-14; 12:31 on the basis of the Jerusalem Targum. It is probably called “Potsherd Gate” because that is where the potter threw out the broken pieces of pottery which were no longer of use to him. The Valley of Ben Hinnom has already been mentioned in 7:31-32 in connection with the illicit religious practices, including child sacrifice, which took place there. The Valley of Ben Hinnom (or sometimes Valley of Hinnom) runs along the west and south sides of Jerusalem.

[19:2]  ⁶ tn Heb “the words that I will speak to you.”

[20:12]  ⁶ tn Heb “Yahweh of armies.”

[20:12]  ⁷ tn Heb “Lord of armies, the one who tests the righteous, who sees kidneys and heart.” The sentence has been broken up to avoid a long and complex English sentence. The translation is more in keeping with contemporary English style.

[21:13]  ⁷ tn Or “Listen, Jerusalem, you…”; Heb text of v. 21a-b reads, “Behold I am against you [fem. sg.], O inhabitant [fem. sg.] of the valley [and of] the rock of the plain, oracle of the Lord, who are saying [masc. pl.].” Verses 13-14 are generally treated as a separate oracle addressed to Jerusalem. The basis for this is (1) the appropriateness of the description here to the city of Jerusalem; (2) the rather similar reference to Jerusalem smugly living in her buildings made from cedars of Lebanon in 22:23; (3) the use of the second feminine singular pronoun “you” in other places in reference to Jerusalem (cf. clearly in 4:14; 6:8; 13:20; 15:5-6); (4) the use of the feminine singular participle to refer to personified Jerusalem in 10:17 as well as 20:23. However, the description in 21:13 is equally appropriate to the royal household that the Lord has been addressing; the palace stood on the Ophel or fill between the northern and southern hill just south of the temple and overlooked the Kidron valley. Moreover, the word “enthroned” is even more fitting to the royal household than to Jerusalem. The phrase “enthroned above the valley” is literally “inhabitant of the valley.” But since the literal is inappropriate for either Jerusalem or the royal palace, the phrase is regularly interpreted after the parallel phrase referring to the Lord “enthroned above the cherubim.” The royal house was “enthroned” more literally than Jerusalem was. Taking this to refer to the royal court rather than Jerusalem also introduces one less unintroduced entity by the shift in pronoun in vv. 11-14 as well as eliminating the introduction of an otherwise unintroduced oracle. The “you” of “you boast” is actually the masculine plural participle (Heb “who say”) that modifies the feminine singular participle “you who sit enthroned” and goes back to the masculine plural imperatives in v. 12 rather than introducing a new entity, the people of the city. The participle “you who sit enthroned” is to be interpreted as a collective referring to the royal court not a personification of the city of Jerusalem (cf. GKC 394 §122.s and see, e.g., Isa 12:6; Mic 1:11). Moreover, taking the referent to be the royal court makes the reference to the word translated “palace” much more natural. The word is literally “forest” and is often seen to be an allusion to the armory which was called the “Forest of Lebanon” (1 Kgs 7:2; 10:17; 10:21; Isa 22:8 and see also Ezek 17:3 in an allegory (17:2-18) which may have been contemporary with this oracle). Taking the oracle to refer to the royal court also makes this oracle more parallel with the one that follows where destruction of the palace leads also to the destruction of the city.

[21:13]  ⁸ tn Heb “I am against you.”

[21:13]  ⁹ tn Heb “oracle of the Lord.”

[21:13]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “Who can swoop…Who can penetrate…?” The questions are rhetorical and expect a negative answer. They are rendered as negative affirmations for clarity.

[22:21]  ⁸ tn Heb “I spoke to you in your security.” The reference is to the sending of the prophets. Compare this context with the context of 7:25. For the nuance “security” for this noun (שַׁלְוָה, shalvah) rather than “prosperity” as many translate see Pss 122:7; 30:6 and the related adjective (שָׁלֵו, shalev) in Jer 49:31; Job 16:2; 21:23.

[22:21]  ⁹ tn Heb “from your youth.” Compare the usage in 2:2; 3:24 and compare a similar idea in 7:25.

[30:2]  ⁹ tn Heb “Thus says Yahweh of armies, the God of Israel, saying….” For significance of the title “Yahweh of armies, the God of Israel” see the note at 2:19.

[30:2]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “Write all the words which I speak to you in a scroll.” The verb “which I speak” is the instantaneous use of the perfect tense (cf. GKC 311-12 §106.i or IBHS 488-89 §30.5.1d). The words that the Lord is about to speak follow in chs. 30–31.

[38:20]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “Please listen to the voice of the Lord with regard to what I have been telling you.” For the idiom “listen to the voice” = “obey” see BDB 1034 s.v. שָׁמַע 1.m. Obedience here is expressed by following the advice in the qualifying clause, i.e., what I have been telling you.

[38:20]  ¹¹ tn Heb “your life [or you yourself] will live.” Compare v. 17 and the translator’s note there for the idiom.

[39:12]  ¹¹ tn Heb “Get [or fetch] him.” The referent is supplied for clarity.

[39:12]  ¹² tn Or “take care of him”; Heb “set your eyes on him.” For the meaning of this idiom see BDB 963 s.v. שִׂים 2.c and compare 24:6 where the phrase “for good” is added.

[39:12]  ¹³ tn Heb “Don’t do anything evil [= harmful] to him.”