Jeremiah 8:7

8:7 Even the stork knows

when it is time to move on. ¹ 

The turtledove, swallow, and crane ² 

recognize ³  the normal times for their migration.

But my people pay no attention

to ⁴  what I, the Lord, require of them. ⁵ 

Jeremiah 16:11

16:11 Then tell them that the Lord says, ⁶  ‘It is because your ancestors ⁷  rejected me and paid allegiance to ⁸  other gods. They have served them and worshiped them. But they have rejected me and not obeyed my law. ⁹ 

[8:7]  ¹ tn Heb “its appointed time.” The translation is contextually motivated to avoid lack of clarity.

[8:7]  ² tn There is debate in the commentaries and lexicons about the identification of some of these birds, particularly regarding the identification of the “swallow” which is more likely the “swift” and the “crane” which some identify with the “thrush.” For a discussion see the Bible encyclopedias and the UBS handbook Fauna and Flora of the Bible. The identity of the individual birds makes little difference to the point being made and “swallow” is more easily identifiable to the average reader than the “swift.”

[8:7]  ³ tn Heb “keep.” Ironically birds, which do not think, obey the laws of nature, but Israel does not obey the laws of God.

[8:7]  ⁴ tn Heb “do not know.” But here as elsewhere the word “know” is more than an intellectual matter. It is intended here to summarize both “know” and “follow” (Heb “observe”) in the preceding lines.

[8:7]  ⁵ tn Heb “the ordinance/requirement of the Lord.”

[16:11]  ⁶ tn These two sentences have been recast in English to break up a long Hebrew sentence and incorporate the oracular formula “says the Lord (Heb ‘oracle of the Lord’)” which occurs after “Your fathers abandoned me.” In Hebrew the two sentences read: “When you tell them these things and they say, ‘…’, then tell them, ‘Because your ancestors abandoned me,’ oracle of the Lord.”

[16:11]  ⁷ tn Heb “fathers” (also in vv. 12, 13, 15, 19).

[16:11]  ⁸ tn Heb “followed after.” See the translator’s note at 2:5 for the explanation of the idiom.

[16:11]  ⁹ tn Heb “But me they have abandoned and my law they have not kept.” The objects are thrown forward to bring out the contrast which has rhetorical force. However, such a sentence in English would be highly unnatural.