¹ sn Here Death is personified (treated as though it were a person). Some have seen as possible background to this lament an allusion to Mesopotamian mythology where the demon Lamastu climbs in through the windows of houses and over their walls to kill children and babies.

¹ tn Heb “statutes.” According to BDB 350 s.v. חֻקָּה 2.b it refers to the firmly established customs or practices of the pagan nations. Compare the usage in Lev 20:23; 2 Kgs 17:8. Here it is essentially equivalent to דֶּרֶךְ (derekh) in v. Kir+Heres+AND+book%3A24&tab=notes" ver="">1, which has already been translated “religious practices.”

⁵ tn Or “have almost completely destroyed them”; Heb “they have devoured them and consumed them.” The figure of hyperbole is used here; elsewhere Jeremiah and God refer to the fact that they will not be completely consumed. See for example Kir+Heres+AND+book%3A24&tab=notes" ver="">4:27; 5:10, 18.

¹ tn Heb “The Lord once called you….” This is another example of the rapid shift in person that is common to Hebrew style which is not common in English and could lead to confusion for some readers. Here and in the verses that follow the person has been shifted to first person for consistency in English.

³ tn Heb “You are near in their mouths, but far from their kidneys.” The figure of substitution is being used here, “mouth” for “words” and “kidneys” for passions and affections. A contemporary equivalent might be, “your name is always on their lips, but their hearts are far from you.”

⁴ tn Heb “he.” The referent is usually identified as God and is supplied here for clarity. Some identify the referent with Jeremiah. If that is the case, then he returns to his complaint about the conspirators. It is more likely, however, that it refers to God and Jeremiah’s complaint that the people live their lives apart from concern about God.

⁵ sn The words here may be an outright rejection of the Lord’s words in Deut 32:20, which is part of a song that was to be taught to Israel in the light of their predicted rejection of the Lord.

² tn Some commentaries and English versions follow the suggestion given in HALOT 116 s.v. II בָּטַח that a homonym meaning “to stumble, fall down” is involved here and in Prov 14:16. The evidence for this homonym is questionable because both passages can be explained on other grounds with the usual root.

³ tn Heb “a land of tranquility.” The expression involves a figure of substitution where the feeling engendered is substituted for the conditions that engender it. For the idea see Isa 32:18. The translation both here and in the following line is intended to bring out the contrast implicit in the emotive connotations connected with “peaceful country” and “thicket along the Jordan.”

³ tn Heb “touched.” For the nuance of this verb here see BDB 619 s.v. נָגַע Qal.3 and compare the usage in 1 Chr 16:22 where it is parallel to “do harm to” and Zech 2:8 where it is parallel to “plundered.”

³ tn This is an attempt to render a construction which involves an infinitive of a verb being added before the same verb in a question which expects a positive answer. There may, by the way, be a pun being passed back and forth here involving the sound play been “fool” (נָבָל, naval) and “wine bottle” (נֶבֶל, nebel).

³ sn What is being alluded to here is the political policy of vacillating alliances through which Judah brought about her own downfall, allying herself first with Assyria, then Egypt, then Babylon, and then Egypt again. See 2 Kgs 23:29–Kir+Heres+AND+book%3A24&tab=notes" ver="">24:7 for an example of this policy and the disastrous consequences.

¹ tn Heb “Jerusalem.” This word has been pulled up from the end of the verse to help make the transition. The words “people of” have been supplied in the translation here to ease the difficulty mentioned earlier of sustaining the personification throughout.

² tn Heb “does your soul despise.” Here as in many places the word “soul” stands as part for whole for the person himself emphasizing emotional and volitional aspects of the person. However, in contemporary English one does not regularly speak of the “soul” in contexts such as this but of the person.

¹ sn Moses and Samuel were well-known for their successful intercession on behalf of Israel. See Ps 99:6-8 and see, e.g., Exod 32:11-14, 30-34; 1 Sam 7:5-9. The Lord is here rejecting Jeremiah’s intercession on behalf of the people (Kir+Heres+AND+book%3A24&tab=notes" ver="">14:19-22).

² tn Heb “my soul would not be toward them.” For the usage of “soul” presupposed here see BDB 660 s.v. נֶפֶשׁ 6 in the light of the complaints and petitions in Jeremiah’s prayer in Kir+Heres+AND+book%3A24&tab=notes" ver="">14:19, 21.

⁴ tn There is a difference of opinion on how the verbs here and in the following verses are to be rendered, whether past or future. KJV, NASB, NIV for example render them as future. ASV, RSV, TEV render them as past. NJPS has past here and future in vv. Kir+Heres+AND+book%3A24&tab=notes" ver="">7-9. This is perhaps the best solution. The imperfect + vav consecutive here responds to the perfect in the first line. The imperfects + vav consecutives followed by perfects in vv. Kir+Heres+AND+book%3A24&tab=notes" ver="">7-9 and concluded by an imperfect in v. Kir+Heres+AND+book%3A24&tab=notes" ver="">9 pick up the perfects + vav (ו) consecutives in vv. Kir+Heres+AND+book%3A24&tab=notes" ver="">3-4. Verses Kir+Heres+AND+book%3A24&tab=notes" ver="">7-9 are further development of the theme in vv. Kir+Heres+AND+book%3A24&tab=notes" ver="">1-4. Verses Kir+Heres+AND+book%3A24&tab=notes" ver="">5-6 have been an apostrophe or a turning aside to address Jerusalem directly. For a somewhat similar alternation of the tenses see Isa 5:14-17 and consult GKC 329-30 §111.w. One could of course argue that the imperfects + vav consecutive in vv. Kir+Heres+AND+book%3A24&tab=notes" ver="">7-9 continue the imperfect + vav consecutive here. In this case, vv. Kir+Heres+AND+book%3A24&tab=notes" ver="">7-9 are not a continuation of the oracle of doom but another lament by God (cf. Kir+Heres+AND+book%3A24&tab=notes" ver="">14:1-6, 17-18).

¹ tn The particle translated here “Yet” (לָכֵן, lakhen) is regularly translated “So” or “Therefore” and introduces a consequence. However, in a few cases it introduces a contrasting set of conditions. Compare its use in Judg 11:8; Jer 48:12; 49:2; 51:52; and Hos 2:14 (Kir+Heres+AND+book%3A24&tab=notes" ver="">2:16 HT).

¹ sn The shift here is consistent with the interruptions that have taken place in chapters Kir+Heres+AND+book%3A24&tab=notes" ver="">14 and 15 and in Jeremiah’s response to God’s condemnation of the people of Judah’s idolatry in chapter Kir+Heres+AND+book%3A24&tab=notes" ver="">10 (note especially vv. Kir+Heres+AND+book%3A24&tab=notes" ver="">6-16).

¹ tn The chapter division which was not a part of the original text but was added in the middle ages obscures the fact that there is no new speech here. The division may have resulted from the faulty identification of the “them” in the preceding verse. See the translator’s note on that verse.