Jeremiah 9:12

9:12 I said, ¹ 

“Who is wise enough to understand why this has happened? ² 

Who has a word from the Lord that can explain it? ³ 

Why does the land lie in ruins?

Why is it as scorched as a desert through which no one travels?”

Jeremiah 16:10

The Lord Promises Exile (But Also Restoration)

16:10 “When you tell these people about all this, ⁴  they will undoubtedly ask you, ‘Why has the Lord threatened us with such great disaster? What wrong have we done? What sin have we done to offend the Lord our God?’

Jeremiah 38:25

38:25 The officials may hear that I have talked with you. They may come to you and say, ‘Tell us what you said to the king and what the king said to you. ⁵  Do not hide anything from us. If you do, we will kill you.’ ⁶ 

Jeremiah 38:27

38:27 All the officials did indeed come and question Jeremiah. ⁷  He told them exactly what the king had instructed him to say. ⁸  They stopped questioning him any further because no one had actually heard their conversation. ⁹ 

Jeremiah 42:4

42:4 The prophet Jeremiah answered them, “Agreed! ¹⁰  I will indeed pray to the Lord your God as you have asked. I will tell you everything the Lord replies in response to you. ¹¹  I will not keep anything back from you.”

Jeremiah 42:20

42:20 You are making a fatal mistake. ¹²  For you sent me to the Lord your God and asked me, ‘Pray to the Lord our God for us. Tell us what the Lord our God says and we will do it.’ ¹³ 

Jeremiah 50:2

50:2 “Announce ¹⁴  the news among the nations! Proclaim it!

Signal for people to pay attention! ¹⁵ 

Declare the news! Do not hide it! Say:

‘Babylon will be captured.

Bel ¹⁶  will be put to shame.

Marduk will be dismayed.

Babylon’s idols will be put to shame.

Her disgusting images ¹⁷  will be dismayed. ¹⁸ 

[9:12]  ¹ tn The words, “I said” are not in the text. It is not clear that a shift in speaker has taken place. However, the words of the verse are very unlikely to be a continuation of the Lord’s threat. It is generally assumed that these are the words of Jeremiah and that a dialogue is going on between him and the Lord in vv. 9-14. That assumption is accepted here.

[9:12]  ² tn Heb “Who is the wise man that he may understand this?”

[9:12]  ³ tn Heb “And [who is the man] to whom the mouth of the Lord has spoken that he may explain it?”

[16:10]  ⁴ tn Heb “all these words/things.”

[38:25]  ⁷ tn The phrase “and what the king said to you” is actually at the end of the verse, but most commentators see it as also under the governance of “tell us” and many commentaries and English versions move the clause forward for the sake of English style as has been done here.

[38:25]  ⁸ tn Or “lest we kill you”; Heb “and we will not kill you,” which as stated in the translator’s note on 37:20 introduces a negative purpose (or result) clause. See 37:20, 38:24 for parallel usage.

[38:27]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “All the officials came to Jeremiah and questioned him.”

[38:27]  ¹¹ tn Heb “And he reported to them according to all these words which the king had commanded.”

[38:27]  ¹² tn Heb “And they were silent from him because the word/matter [i.e., the conversation between Jeremiah and the king] had not been heard.” According to BDB 578 s.v. מִן 1.a the preposition “from” is significant in this construction, implying a verb of motion. I.e., “they were [fell] silent [and turned away] from him.”

[42:4]  ¹³ tn Heb “I have heard” = “I agree.” For this nuance of the verb see BDB 1034 s.v. שָׁמַע Qal.1.j and compare the usage in Gen 37:27 and Judg 11:17 listed there.

[42:4]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “all the word which the Lord will answer you.

[42:20]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “you are erring at the cost of your own lives” (BDB 1073 s.v. תָּעָה Hiph.3 and HALOT 1626 s.v. תָּעָה Hif 4, and cf. BDB 90 s.v. בְּ 3 and see parallels in 1 Kgs 2:23; 2 Sam 23:17 for the nuance of “at the cost of your lives”). This fits the context better than “you are deceiving yourselves” (KBL 1035 s.v. תָּעָה Hif 4). The reading here follows the Qere הִתְעֵיתֶם (hit’etem) rather than the Kethib which has a metathesis of י (yod) and ת (tav), i.e., הִתְעֵתֶים. The Greek text presupposes הֲרֵעֹתֶם (hare’otem, “you have done evil”), but that reading is generally rejected as secondary.

[42:20]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “According to all which the Lord our God says so tell us and we will do.” The restructuring of the sentence is intended to better reflect contemporary English style.

[50:2]  ¹⁹ tn The verbs are masculine plural. Jeremiah is calling on other unnamed messengers to spread the news.

[50:2]  ²⁰ tn Heb “Raise a signal flag.”

[50:2]  ²¹ sn Bel was originally the name or title applied to the Sumerian storm god. During the height of Babylon’s power it became a title that was applied to Marduk who was Babylon’s chief deity. As a title it means “Lord.” Here it is a poetical parallel reference to Marduk mentioned in the next line.

[50:2]  ²² tn The Hebrew word used here (גִּלּוּלִים, gillulim) is always used as a disdainful reference to idols. It is generally thought to have originally referred to “dung pellets” (cf. KBL 183 s.v. גִלּוּלִים). It is only one of several terms used in this way, such as “worthless things” (אַלִילִים, ’alilim), “vanities,” or “empty winds” (הֲבָלִים, havalim).

[50:2]  ²³ tn The verbs here are all in the tense that views the actions as though they were already done (the Hebrew prophetic perfect). The verbs in the next verse are a mixture of prophetic perfects and imperfects which announce future actions.