Jeremiah 7:29

7:29 So, mourn, ¹  you people of this nation. ²  Cut off your hair and throw it away. Sing a song of mourning on the hilltops. For the Lord has decided to reject ³  and forsake this generation that has provoked his wrath!’” ⁴ 

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.” ⁵ 

Jeremiah 13:10

13:10 These wicked people refuse to obey what I have said. ⁶  They follow the stubborn inclinations of their own hearts and pay allegiance ⁷  to other gods by worshiping and serving them. So ⁸  they will become just like these linen shorts which are good for nothing.

Jeremiah 14:3

14:3 The leading men of the cities send their servants for water.

They go to the cisterns, ⁹  but they do not find any water there.

They return with their containers ¹⁰  empty.

Disappointed and dismayed, they bury their faces in their hands. ¹¹ 

Jeremiah 14:10

14:10 Then the Lord spoke about these people. ¹² 

“They truly ¹³  love to go astray.

They cannot keep from running away from me. ¹⁴ 

So I am not pleased with them.

I will now call to mind ¹⁵  the wrongs they have done ¹⁶ 

and punish them for their sins.”

Jeremiah 49:30

49:30 The Lord says, ¹⁷  “Flee quickly, you who live in Hazor. ¹⁸ 

Take up refuge in remote places. ¹⁹ 

For King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon has laid out plans to attack you.

He has formed his strategy on how to defeat you.” ²⁰ 

[7:29]  ¹ tn The word “mourn” is not in the text. It is supplied in the translation for clarity to explain the significance of the words “Cut your hair and throw it away.”

[7:29]  ² tn The words, “you people of this nation” are not in the text. Many English versions supply, “Jerusalem.” The address shifts from second masculine singular addressing Jeremiah (vv. 27-28a) to second feminine singular. It causes less disruption in the flow of the context to see the nation as a whole addressed here as a feminine singular entity (as, e.g., in 2:19, 23; 3:2, 3; 6:26) than to introduce a new entity, Jerusalem.

[7:29]  ³ tn The verbs here are the Hebrew scheduling perfects. For this use of the perfect see GKC 312 §106.m.

[7:29]  ⁴ tn Heb “the generation of his wrath.”

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

[13:10]  ⁹ tn Heb “to listen to my words.”

[13:10]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “and [they follow] after.” See the translator’s note at 2:5 for the idiom.

[13:10]  ¹¹ tn The structure of this verse is a little unusual. It consists of a subject, “this wicked people” qualified by several “which” clauses preceding a conjunction and a form which would normally be taken as a third person imperative (a Hebrew jussive; וִיהִי, vihi). This construction, called casus pendens by Hebrew grammarians, lays focus on the subject, here calling attention to the nature of Israel’s corruption which makes it rotten and useless to God. See GKC 458 §143.d for other examples of this construction.

[14:3]  ¹³ tn Though the concept of “cisterns” is probably not familiar to some readers, it would be a mistake to translate this word as “well.” Wells have continual sources of water. Cisterns were pits dug in the ground and lined with plaster to hold rain water. The drought had exhausted all the water in the cisterns.

[14:3]  ¹⁴ tn The word “containers” is a generic word in Hebrew = “vessels.” It would probably in this case involve water “jars” or “jugs.” But since in contemporary English one would normally associate those terms with smaller vessels, “containers” may be safer.

[14:3]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “they cover their heads.” Some of the English versions have gone wrong here because of the “normal” use of the words translated here “disappointed” and “dismayed.” They are regularly translated “ashamed” and “disgraced, humiliated, dismayed” elsewhere (see e.g., Jer 22:22); they are somewhat synonymous terms which are often parallel or combined. The key here, however, is the expression “they cover their heads” which is used in 2 Sam 15:30 for the expression of grief. Moreover, the word translated here “disappointed” (בּוֹשׁ, bosh) is used that way several times. See for example Jer 12:13 and consult examples in BDB 101 s.v. בּוֹשׁ Qal.2. A very similar context with the same figure is found in Jer 2:36-37.

[14:10]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “Thus said the Lord concerning this people.”

[14:10]  ¹⁸ tn It is difficult to be certain how the particle כֵּן (ken, usually used for “thus, so”) is to be rendered here. BDB 485 s.v. כֵּן 1.b says that the force sometimes has to be elicited from the general context and points back to the line of v. 9. IHBS 666 §39.3.4e states that when there is no specific comparative clause preceding a general comparison is intended. They point to Judg 5:31 as a parallel. Ps 127:2 may also be an example if כִּי (ki) is not to be read (cf. BHS fn). “Truly” seemed the best way to render this idea in contemporary English.

[14:10]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “They do not restrain their feet.” The idea of “away from me” is implicit in the context and is supplied in the translation for clarity.

[14:10]  ²⁰ tn Heb “remember.”

[14:10]  ²¹ tn Heb “their iniquities.”

[49:30]  ²¹ tn Heb “Oracle of the Lord.”

[49:30]  ²² map For location see Map1 D2; Map2 D3; Map3 A2; Map4 C1.

[49:30]  ²³ tn Heb “Make deep to dwell.” See Jer 49:8 and the translator’s note there. The use of this same phrase here argues against the alternative there of going down from a height and going back home.

[49:30]  ²⁴ tn Heb “has counseled a counsel against you, has planned a plan against you.”