Discovery Box| (0.1176057) | (Jer 8:6) |
3 sn The wordplay begun in v. Kir+Heres&tab=notes" ver="">4 is continued here. The word translated “turns aside” in the literal translation and “wayward” in the translation is from the same root as “go the wrong way,” “turn around,” “turn away from me,” “apostasy,” “turn back to me.” What God hoped for were confessions of repentance and change of behavior; what he got was denial of wrongdoing and continued turning away from him. |
| (0.1176057) | (Jer 9:10) |
1 tn The words “I said” are not in the text, but there is general agreement that Jeremiah is the speaker. Cf. the lament in Kir+Heres&tab=notes" ver="">8:18-9:1. These words are supplied in the translation for clarity. Some English versions follow the Greek text which reads a plural imperative here. Since this reading would make the transition between Kir+Heres&tab=notes" ver="">9:10 and 9:11 easier it is probably not original but a translator’s way of smoothing over a difficulty. |
| (0.1176057) | (Jer 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 |
| (0.1176057) | (Jer 9:23) |
1 sn It is not always clear why verses were placed in their present position in the editorial process of collecting Jeremiah’s sermons and the words the |
| (0.1176057) | (Jer 9:26) |
2 sn A contrast is drawn here between circumcision as a mere external cutting of the flesh and a sign of commitment to the covenant and the God of the covenant. The people of these nations practiced circumcision but not as a sign of the covenant. The people of Israel engaged in it as a religious practice but without any obedience to the covenant that it was a sign of or any real commitment to the |
| (0.1176057) | (Jer 10:2) |
2 sn The Hebrew word translated here “things that go on in the sky” (אֹתוֹת, ’otot) refers both to unusual disturbances such as eclipses, comets, meteors, etc., but also to such things as the changes in the position of the sun, moon, and stars in conjunction with the changes in seasons (cf. Gen 1:14). The people of Assyria and Babylonia worshiped the sun, moon, and stars, thinking that these heavenly bodies had some hold over them. |
| (0.1176057) | (Jer 10:19) |
2 tn Heb “Woe to me on account of my wound.” The words “woe to” in many contexts carry the connotation of hopelessness and of inevitable doom (cf. 1 Sam 4:7, 8; Isa 6:5), hence a “deadly blow.” See also the usage in Kir+Heres&tab=notes" ver="">4:13, 31; 6:4 and the notes on Kir+Heres&tab=notes" ver="">4:13. For the rendering of the pronoun as “we” and “our” here and in the verses to follow see the preceding note. |
| (0.1176057) | (Jer 10:20) |
2 sn What is being referred to is the exile of the people of the land. This passage could refer to the exiles of 605 |
| (0.1176057) | (Jer 12:1) |
2 tn Heb “judgments” or “matters of justice.” For the nuance of “complain to,” “fair,” “disposition of justice” assumed here, see BDB 936 s.v. רִיב Qal.4 (cf. Judg 21:22); BDB 843 s.v. צַדִּיק 1.d (cf. Ps 7:12; 11:7); BDB 1049 s.v. מִשְׁפָּט 1.f (cf. Isa 26:8; Ps 10:5; Ezek 7:27). |
| (0.1176057) | (Jer 12:5) |
4 sn The thick undergrowth along the Jordan River refers to the thick woods and underbrush alongside the Jordan where lions were known to have lived, and hence the area was considered dangerous. See Jer 49:14; 50:44. The |
| (0.1176057) | (Jer 12:16) |
5 tn Heb “they will be built up among my people.” The expression “be built up among” is without parallel. However, what is involved here is conceptually parallel to the ideas expressed in Isa 19:23-25 and Zech 14:16-19. That is, these people will be allowed to live on their own land, to worship the |
| (0.1176057) | (Jer 13:13) |
1 tn The Greek version is likely right in interpreting the construction of two perfects preceded by the conjunction as contingent or consequential here, i.e., “and when they say…then say.” See GKC 494 §159.g. However, to render literally would create a long sentence. Hence, the words “will probably” have been supplied in v. Kir+Heres&tab=notes" ver="">12 in the translation to set up the contingency/consequential sequence in the English sentences. |
| (0.1176057) | (Jer 13:20) |
2 tn The word “Jerusalem” is not in the Hebrew text. It is added in the Greek text and is generally considered to be the object of address because of the second feminine singular verbs here and throughout the following verses. The translation follows the consonantal text (Kethib) and the Greek text in reading the second feminine singular here. The verbs and pronouns in vv. Kir+Heres&tab=notes" ver="">20-22 are all second feminine singular with the exception of the suffix on the word “eyes” which is not reflected in the translation here (“Look up” = “Lift up your eyes”) and the verb and pronoun in v. Kir+Heres&tab=notes" ver="">23. The text may reflect the same kind of alternation between singular and plural that takes place in Isa 7 where the pronouns refer to Ahaz as an individual and his entourage, the contemporary ruling class (cf., e.g., Isa 7:4-5 [singular], 9 [plural], 11 [singular], 13-14 [plural]). Here the connection with the preceding may suggest that it is initially the ruling house (the king and the queen mother), then Jerusalem personified as a woman in her role as a shepherdess (i.e., leader). However, from elsewhere in the book the leadership has included the kings, the priests, the prophets, and the citizens as well (cf., e.g., Kir+Heres&tab=notes" ver="">13:13). In v. Kir+Heres&tab=notes" ver="">27 Jerusalem is explicitly addressed. It may be asking too much of some readers who are not familiar with biblical metaphors to understand an extended metaphor like this. If it is helpful to them, they may substitute plural referents for “I” and “me.” |
| (0.1176057) | (Jer 14:1) |
2 tn Heb “That which came [as] the word of the |
| (0.1176057) | (Jer 14:7) |
4 tn The Hebrew particle כִּי (ki) can scarcely be causal here; it is either intensive (BDB 472 s.v. כִּי 1.e) or concessive (BDB 473 s.v. כִּי 2.c). The parallel usage in Gen 18:20 argues for the intensive force as does the fact that the concessive has already been expressed by אִם (’im). |
| (0.1176057) | (Jer 15:7) |
2 sn Like straw blown away by the wind. A figurative use of the process of winnowing is referred to here. Winnowing was the process whereby a mixture of grain and straw was thrown up into the wind to separate the grain from the straw and the husks. The best description of the major steps in threshing and winnowing grain in the Bible is seen in another figurative passage in Isa 41:15-16. |
| (0.1176057) | (Jer 15:7) |
3 tn Or “did not repent of their wicked ways”; Heb “They did not turn back from their ways.” There is no casual particle here (either כִּי [ki], which is more formally casual, or וְ [vÿ], which sometimes introduces casual circumstantial clauses). The causal idea is furnished by the connection of ideas. If the verbs throughout this section are treated as pasts and this section seen as a lament, then the clause could be sequential: “but they still did not turn…” |
| (0.1176057) | (Jer 15:9) |
3 sn The sun was the source of light and hence has associations with life, prosperity, health, and blessing. The premature setting of the sun which brought these seems apropos as metaphor for the loss of her children which were not only a source of joy, help, and honor. Two references where “sun” is used figuratively, Ps 84:11 (Kir+Heres&tab=notes" ver="">84:12 HT) and Mal 4:2, may be helpful here. |
| (0.1176057) | (Jer 15:19) |
4 sn Once again the root “return” (שׁוּב, shuv) is being played on as in Kir+Heres&tab=notes" ver="">3:1–4:4. See the threefold call to repentance in Kir+Heres&tab=notes" ver="">3:12, 14, 22. The verb is used here four times “repent,” “restore,” and “become” twice. He is to serve as a model of repentance, not an imitator of their apostasy. In accusing God of being unreliable he was coming dangerously close to their kind of behavior. |
| (0.1176057) | (Jer 17:13) |
4 tn Heb “The fountain of living water.” For an earlier use of this metaphor and the explanation of it see Jer 2:13 and the notes there. There does not appear to be any way to retain this metaphor in the text without explaining it. In the earlier text the context would show that literal water was not involved. Here it might still be assumed that the |
