Jeremiah 9:2-3

9:2 (9:1) I wish I had a lodging place in the desert

where I could spend some time like a weary traveler. ¹ 

Then I would desert my people

and walk away from them

because they are all unfaithful to God,

a congregation ²  of people that has been disloyal to him. ³ 

The Lord Laments That He Has No Choice But to Judge Them

9:3 The Lord says, ⁴ 

“These people are like soldiers who have readied their bows.

Their tongues are always ready to shoot out lies. ⁵ 

They have become powerful in the land,

but they have not done so by honest means. ⁶ 

Indeed, they do one evil thing after another ⁷ 

and do not pay attention to me. ⁸ 

Jeremiah 9:6

9:6 They do one act of violence after another,

and one deceitful thing after another. ⁹ 

They refuse to pay attention to me,” ¹⁰ 

says the Lord.

Jeremiah 15:10

Jeremiah Complains about His Lot and The Lord Responds

15:10 I said, ¹¹ 

“Oh, mother, how I regret ¹²  that you ever gave birth to me!

I am always starting arguments and quarrels with the people of this land. ¹³ 

I have not lent money to anyone and I have not borrowed from anyone.

Yet all of these people are treating me with contempt.” ¹⁴ 

Micah 7:1-2

Micah Laments Judah’s Sin

7:1 I am depressed! ¹⁵ 

Indeed, ¹⁶  it is as if the summer fruit has been gathered,

and the grapes have been harvested. ¹⁷ 

There is no grape cluster to eat,

no fresh figs that I crave so much. ¹⁸ 

7:2 Faithful men have disappeared ¹⁹  from the land;

there are no godly men left. ²⁰ 

They all wait in ambush so they can shed blood; ²¹ 

they hunt their own brother with a net. ²² 

Micah 7:2

7:2 Faithful men have disappeared ²³  from the land;

there are no godly men left. ²⁴ 

They all wait in ambush so they can shed blood; ²⁵ 

they hunt their own brother with a net. ²⁶ 

Micah 2:7-8

2:7 Does the family ²⁷  of Jacob say, ²⁸ 

‘The Lord’s patience ²⁹  can’t be exhausted –

he would never do such things’? ³⁰ 

To be sure, my commands bring a reward

for those who obey them, ³¹ 

2:8 but you rise up as an enemy against my people. ³² 

You steal a robe from a friend, ³³ 

from those who pass by peacefully as if returning from a war. ³⁴ 

Revelation 2:13

2:13 ‘I know ³⁵  where you live – where Satan’s throne is. Yet ³⁶  you continue to cling ³⁷  to my name and you have not denied your ³⁸  faith in me, ³⁹  even in the days of Antipas, my faithful witness, ⁴⁰  who was killed in your city ⁴¹  where Satan lives.

[9:2]  ¹ tn Heb “I wish I had in the desert a lodging place [inn, or place to spend the night] for travelers.”

[9:2]  ² tn Or “bunch,” but this loses the irony; the word is used for the solemn assemblies at the religious feasts.

[9:2]  ³ tn Heb “they are all adulterers, a congregation of unfaithful people.” However, spiritual adultery is, of course, meant, not literal adultery. So the literal translation would be misleading.

[9:3]  ⁴ tn The words “The Lord says” have been moved up from the end of the verse to make clear that a change in speaker has occurred.

[9:3]  ⁵ tn Heb “They have readied [or strung] their tongue as their bow for lies.”

[9:3]  ⁶ tn Heb “but not through honesty.”

[9:3]  ⁷ tn Heb “they go from evil to evil.”

[9:3]  ⁸ tn Or “do not acknowledge me”; Heb “do not know me.” But “knowing” in Hebrew thought often involves more than intellectual knowledge; it involves emotional and volitional commitment as well. For יָדַע meaning “acknowledge” see 1 Chr 28:9; Isa 29:21; Hos 2:20; Prov 3:6. This word is also found in ancient Near Eastern treaty contexts where it has the idea of a vassal king acknowledging the sovereignty of a greater king (cf. H. Huffmon, “The Treaty Background of Hebrew yada,” BASOR 181 [1966]: 31-37).

[9:6]  ⁹ tc An alternate reading for vv. 5d-6b is: “They wear themselves out doing wrong. Jeremiah, you live in the midst of deceitful people. They deceitfully refuse to take any thought of/acknowledge me.” The translation which has been adopted is based on a redivision of the lines, a redivision of some of the words, and a revocalization of some of the consonants. The MT reads literally “doing wrong they weary themselves. Your sitting in the midst of deceit; in deceit they refuse to know me” (הַעֲוֵה נִלְאוּ׃ שִׁבְתְּךָ בְּתוֹךְ מִרְמָה בְּמִרְמָה מֵאֲנוּ דַעַת־אוֹתִי). The Greek version reads literally “they do wrong and they do not cease to turn themselves around. Usury upon usury and deceit upon deceit. They do not want to know me.” This suggests that one should read the Hebrew text as שֻׁב׃ תֹּךְ בְּתוֹךְ מִרְ־מָה בְּמִרְ־מָה מֵאֲנוּ דַעַת אוֹתִי הַעֲוֵה נִלְאוּ, which translated literally yields “doing evil [= “they do evil” using the Hiphil infinitive absolute as a finite verb (cf. GKC 346 §113.ff)] they are not able [cf. KBL 468 s.v. לָאָה Niph.3 and see Exod 7:18 for parallel use] to repent. Oppression on oppression [cf. BDB 1067 s.v. תֹּךְ, II תּוֹךְ]; deceit on deceit. They refuse to know me.” This reading has ancient support and avoids the introduction of an unexpected second masculine suffix into the context. It has been adopted here along with a number of modern commentaries (cf., e.g., W. McKane, Jeremiah [ICC], 1:201) and English versions as the more likely reading.

[9:6]  ¹⁰ tn Or “do not acknowledge me”; Heb “do not know me.” See the note on the phrase “do not take any thought of me” in 9:3.

[15:10]  ¹¹ tn The words “I said” are not in the text. They are supplied in the translation for clarity to mark a shift in the speaker.

[15:10]  ¹² tn Heb “Woe to me, my mother.” See the comments on 4:13 and 10:19.

[15:10]  ¹³ tn Heb “A man of strife and a man of contention with all the land.” The “of” relationship (Hebrew and Greek genitive) can convey either subjective or objective relationships, i.e., he instigates strife and contention or he is the object of it. A study of usage elsewhere, e.g., Isa 41:11; Job 31:35; Prov 12:19; 25:24; 26:21; 27:15, is convincing that it is subjective. In his role as God’s covenant messenger charging people with wrong doing he has instigated counterarguments and stirred about strife and contention against him.

[15:10]  ¹⁴ tc The translation follows the almost universally agreed upon correction of the MT. Instead of reading כֻּלֹּה מְקַלְלַונִי (kulloh mÿqallavni, “all of him is cursing me”) as the Masoretes proposed (Qere) one should read קִלְלוּנִי (qilluni) with the written text (Kethib) and redivide and repoint with the suggestion in BHS כֻּלְּהֶם (qullÿhem, “all of them are cursing me”).

[7:1]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “woe to me!” In light of the image that follows, perhaps one could translate, “I am disappointed.”

[7:1]  ¹⁶ tn Or “for.”

[7:1]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “I am like the gathering of the summer fruit, like the gleanings of the harvest.” Micah is not comparing himself to the harvested fruit. There is an ellipsis here, as the second half of the verse makes clear. The idea is, “I am like [one at the time] the summer fruit is gathered and the grapes are harvested.”

[7:1]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “my appetite craves.”

[7:2]  ¹⁹ tn Or “have perished”; “have been destroyed.”

[7:2]  ²⁰ tn Heb “and an upright one among men there is not.”

[7:2]  ²¹ tn Heb “for bloodshed” (so NASB); TEV “for a chance to commit murder.”

[7:2]  ²² sn Micah compares these ungodly people to hunters trying to capture their prey with a net.

[7:2]  ²³ tn Or “have perished”; “have been destroyed.”

[7:2]  ²⁴ tn Heb “and an upright one among men there is not.”

[7:2]  ²⁵ tn Heb “for bloodshed” (so NASB); TEV “for a chance to commit murder.”

[7:2]  ²⁶ sn Micah compares these ungodly people to hunters trying to capture their prey with a net.

[2:7]  ²⁷ tn Heb “house” (so many English versions); CEV “descendants.’

[2:7]  ²⁸ tc The MT has אָמוּר (’amur), an otherwise unattested passive participle, which is better emended to אָמוֹר (’amor), an infinitive absolute functioning as a finite verb (see BDB 55 s.v. אָמַר).

[2:7]  ²⁹ tn The Hebrew word רוּחַ (ruach) often means “Spirit” when used of the Lord, but here it seems to have an abstract sense, “patience.” See BDB 925 s.v. 3.d.

[2:7]  ³⁰ tn Heb “Has the patience of the Lord run short? Or are these his deeds?” The rhetorical questions expect the answer, “No, of course not.” The people contest the prophet’s claims that the Lord’s judgment is falling on the nation.

[2:7]  ³¹ tn Heb “Do not my words accomplish good for the one who walks uprightly?” The rhetorical question expects the answer, “Of course they do!” The Lord begins his response to the claim of the house of Jacob that they are immune to judgment (see v. 7a). He points out that the godly are indeed rewarded, but then he goes on to show that those in the house of Jacob are not godly and can expect divine judgment, not blessing (vv. 8-11). Some emend “my words” to “his words.” In this case, v. 7b is a continuation of the immediately preceding quotation. The people, thinking they are godly, confidently ask, “Do not his [God’s] words accomplish good for the one who walks uprightly?”

[2:8]  ³² tc Heb “Recently my people rise up as an enemy.” The MT is problematic in light of v. 9, where “my people” are the object of oppression, not the perpetrators of it. The form וְאֶתְמוּל (vÿ’etmul, “and recently”) is probably the product of fusion and subsequent suppression of an (ע) ayin. The translation assumes an emendation to וְאַתֶּם עַל (vÿ’attem ’al, “and you against [my people]”). The second person plural pronoun fits well with the second plural verb forms of vv. 8b-10. If this emendation is accepted, then יְקוֹמֵם (yÿqomem, the imperfect of קוּם [qum]) should be emended to קָמִים (qamim; a participle from the same root).

[2:8]  ³³ tc Heb “From the front of a garment glory [or perhaps, “a robe”] you strip off,” but this makes little if any sense. The term מִמּוּל (mimmul, “from the front of”) is probably the product of dittography (note the preceding word, which ends in [ם] mem) and subsequent suppression of ע (ayin). The translation assumes an emendation to מֵעַל (me’al, “from upon”). The translation also assumes an emendation of שַׂלְמָה אֶדֶר (salmah ’eder, “a garment, glory [or robe]”) to שֹׁלְמִים אֲדֶרֶת (sholÿmim ’aderet, “[from] a friend the robe [you strip off]”). The MT’s אֶדֶר (’eder) is the result of misdivision (the article has erroneously been attached to the preceding word) and haplography (of the final tav, which also begins the following word).

[2:8]  ³⁴ tc The passive participle שׁוּבֵי (shuvey) is unattested elsewhere and should be emended to a participle שָׁבִים (shavim).

[2:13]  ³⁵ tc The shorter reading adopted here has superior ms support (א A C P 2053 al latt co), while the inclusion of “your works and” (τὰ ἔργα σου καί, ta erga sou kai) before “where you reside” is supported by the Byzantine witnesses and is evidently a secondary attempt to harmonize the passage with 2:2, 19; 3:1, 8, 15.

[2:13]  ³⁶ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “Yet” to indicate the contrast between their location and their faithful behavior.

[2:13]  ³⁷ tn The present indicative verb κρατεῖς (kratei") has been translated as a progressive present.

[2:13]  ³⁸ tn Grk “the faith”; here the Greek article is used as a possessive pronoun (ExSyn 215).

[2:13]  ³⁹ tn Grk “the faith of me” (τὴν πίστιν μου, thn pistin mou) with the genitive “of me” (μου) functioning objectively.

[2:13]  ⁴⁰ tn Or “martyr.” The Greek word μάρτυς can mean either “witness” or “martyr.”

[2:13]  ⁴¹ tn Grk “killed among you.” The term “city” does not occur in the Greek text of course, but the expression παρ᾿ ὑμῖν, ὅπου ὁ σατανᾶς κατοικεῖ (par’ Jumin, {opou Jo satana" katoikei) seems to indicate that this is what is meant. See G. B. Caird, Revelation (HNTC), 36-38.