Jeremiah 17:24-25

New English Translation

Footnotes

1. Jeremiah 17:24 tn Heb “Oracle of the Lord.”
2. Jeremiah 17:25 tn Heb “And it will be, if you carefully obey me, declares the LORD, by not bringing…and by sanctifying…by not doing…, then kings will….” The structure of prohibitions and commands followed by a brief “if” clause has been used to break up a long condition and consequence relationship in verses 24-25 that is contrary to contemporary English style.
3. Jeremiah 17:25 tn Heb “who sit [or are to sit] on David’s throne.”
4. Jeremiah 17:25 tn Heb “There will come through the gates of this city kings and princes…riding in chariots and on horses, they and their officials…” The structure of the original text is broken up here because of the long compound subject, which would make the English sentence too long. The term “princes” is often omitted as a supposed double writing, either of the word that follows it and looks somewhat like it (the Hebrew reads here וְשָׂרִים יֹשְׁבִים, v^esarim yosh^evim), or of the same word (שַׂר), which occurs later in the verse and is translated “officials” (שַׂר can refer to either). It is argued that “princes” are never said to sit on the throne of David (translated here, “follow in the succession of David”). However, the word is in all texts and versions, and the concept of sitting on the throne of someone is descriptive of both past, present, and future. It is even used with the participle in a proleptic sense of “the one who is to sit on the throne” (cf. Exod 11:5; 12:29).
5. Jeremiah 17:25 tn Heb “will be inhabited forever.”