Jeremiah 4-6

New English Translation

Footnotes

1. Jeremiah 4:1 tn Or “If you, Israel, want to turn [away from your shameful ways (those described in 3:23-25)]…then you must turn back to me.” Or perhaps, “Israel, you must turn back…Yes, you must turn back to me.”
2. Jeremiah 4:1 tn Heb “disgusting things.”
3. Jeremiah 4:1 tn Or possibly, “If you get those disgusting idols out of my sight, you will not need to flee.” This is less probable because the normal meaning of the last verb is “to wander,” “to stray.”
4. Jeremiah 4:2 tn Heb “If you [= you must; see the translator’s note on the word “do” later in this verse] swear/take an oath, ‘As the Lord lives,’ in truth, justice, and righteousness…”
5. Jeremiah 4:2 tn 4:1-2a consists of a number of “if” clauses. Some are formally introduced by the Hebrew particle אִם (ʾim), while others are introduced by the conjunction “and.” Another conjunction (“and” = “then”) with a perfect in 4:2b introduces the consequence. The translation “You must…. If you do,” was chosen to avoid a long and complicated sentence.
6. Jeremiah 4:2 tn Heb “bless themselves in him and make their boasts in him.”
7. Jeremiah 4:3 tn The particle כִּי (ki) is asseverative (“indeed, yes”) here rather than causal (“for”) because the content of v. 3 and following reaffirms the content of vv. 1-2.
8. Jeremiah 4:3 sn The agricultural imagery seems to be that they are to plow over the thorns and make the ground ready for seeds that will produce a new crop. The spiritual application of breaking up their rebellious will and turning from sin is metaphorically stated in the next verse.
9. Jeremiah 4:4 tn Heb “Circumcise yourselves to the Lord and remove the foreskin of your heart.” sn Circumcising the heart is a metaphor for being dedicated to the Lord. It is associated with not being stubborn and with loving God in Deut 10:16; 30:6. See also Josh 5 for a ceremony of circumcision connected with national dedication.
10. Jeremiah 4:5 tn The words “The Lord said” are not in the text, but it is obvious from v. 6 and v. 9 that he is the speaker. These words are supplied in the translation for clarity.
11. Jeremiah 4:5 tn It is unclear who the addressees of the masculine plural imperatives are here. They may be the citizens of Jerusalem and Judah who are sounding the alarm to others. However, the first person reference to the Lord in v. 6 and Jeremiah’s response in v. 10 suggest that this is a word from the Lord that he is commanded to pass on to the citizens of Jerusalem and Judah. If the imperatives are not merely rhetorical plurals, they may reflect the practice referred to in Jer 23:18, 22; Amos 3:7. A similar phenomenon also occurs in Jer 5:1 and Isa 40:1-2. This may also be the explanation for the plural imperatives in Jer 31:6. For further discussion see the translator’s note on Jer 5:1.
12. Jeremiah 4:5 tn Heb “ram’s horn.” But the modern equivalent is “trumpet” and is more readily understandable.
13. Jeremiah 4:6 tn Heb “Raise up a signal toward Zion.”
14. Jeremiah 4:6 tn Heb “out of the north, even great destruction.”
15. Jeremiah 4:7 tn Heb “A lion has left its lair.” The metaphor is turned into a simile for clarification. The word translated “lair” has also been understood to refer to a hiding place. However, it appears to be cognate in meaning to the word translated “lair” in Ps 10:9; Jer 25:38, a word which also refers to the abode of the Lord in Ps 76:3.
16. Jeremiah 4:7 tn Heb “his place.”
17. Jeremiah 4:8 tn Or “wail because the fierce anger of the Lord has not turned away from us.” The translation does not need to assume a shift in speaker as the alternate reading does.
18. Jeremiah 4:9 tn Heb “In that day.”
19. Jeremiah 4:10 tn The words “In response to all this” are not in the text but are supplied in the translation to clarify the connection.
20. Jeremiah 4:10 tn Heb “Lord Yahweh.” The translation follows the ancient Jewish tradition of substituting the Hebrew word for God for the proper name Yahweh.
21. Jeremiah 4:10 tn Or “You have deceived.” The Hiphil of נָשָׁא (nashaʾ, “to deceive”) is understood in a tolerative sense here: “to allow [someone] to be deceived.” IBHS 446 §27.5c, notes that this function of the Hiphil describes caused activity that is “welcome to the undersubject, but unacceptable or disagreeable to a third party.” Jerusalem and Judah welcomed the assurances of false prophets who deceived them. Although this was detestable to God, he allowed it.
22. Jeremiah 4:10 tn Heb “this people and Jerusalem.”
23. Jeremiah 4:10 tn Heb “Jerusalem, saying, ‘You will have peace’”; or “You have deceived the people of Judah and Jerusalem, saying, ‘You will have peace.’” The words “you will be safe” are, of course, those of the false prophets (cf., Jer 6:14; 8:11; 14:13; 23:16-17). It is difficult to tell whether the charge here is meant literally as the emotional outburst of the prophet (compare for example, Jer 15:18) or whether it is to be understood as a figure of speech in which a verb of direct causation is to be understood as permissive or tolerative, i.e., God did not command the prophets to say this but allowed them to do so. While it is not beyond God to use false prophets to accomplish his will (cf., e.g., 1 Kgs 22:19-23), he elsewhere in the book of Jeremiah directly denies having sent the false prophets to say such things as this (cf., e.g., Jer 14:14-15; 23:21, 32). For examples of the use of this figure of speech, see E. W. Bullinger, Figures of Speech, 571, 823 and compare Ezek 20:25. The translation given attempts to resolve the issue.
24. Jeremiah 4:10 tn Heb “touches the throat/soul.” For this use of the word usually translated “soul” or “life,” see HALOT 672 s.v. נֶפֶשׁ 1-2, and compare the use in Ps 105:18.
25. Jeremiah 4:11 tn Heb “this people and Jerusalem.”
26. Jeremiah 4:11 tn Heb “A scorching wind from the hilltops in the desert toward…”sn The allusion is, of course, to the destructive forces of the enemy armies of Babylon, compared above in 4:7 to a destructive lion and here to the destructive desert winds of the Near Eastern sirocco.
27. Jeremiah 4:11 tn Heb “daughter of my people.” The term “daughter of” is appositional to “my people” and is supplied in the translation as a term of sympathy and endearment. Compare the common expression “daughter of Zion.”
28. Jeremiah 4:11 tn Heb “not for winnowing and not for cleansing.” The words “It will not be a gentle breeze” are not in the text but are implicit in the connection. They are supplied in the translation here for clarification.
29. Jeremiah 4:12 tn The word “No” is not in the text but is carried over from the connection with the preceding line “not for…”
30. Jeremiah 4:12 tn Heb “will speak judgments against them.”
31. Jeremiah 4:13 tn Heb “he is coming up like clouds.” The words “The enemy” are supplied in the translation to identify the referent, and the word “gathering” is supplied to try to convey the significance of the simile, i.e., that of quantity and of an approaching storm.
32. Jeremiah 4:13 tn Heb “his chariots [are] like a whirlwind.” The words “roar” and “sound” are supplied in the translation to clarify the significance of the simile.
33. Jeremiah 4:13 tn The words “I cry out” are not in the text, but the words that follow are obviously not the Lord’s. They are either those of the people or of Jeremiah. Taking them as Jeremiah’s parallels the interjection of Jeremiah’s response in 4:10 that is formally introduced.
34. Jeremiah 4:13 tn Heb “Woe to us!” The words “woe to” are common in funeral laments and at the beginning of oracles of judgment. In many contexts they carry the connotation of hopelessness or apprehensiveness of inevitable doom.
35. Jeremiah 4:14 tn Heb “O, Jerusalem, wash your heart from evil.”
36. Jeremiah 4:15 tn Heb “For a voice declaring from Dan and making heard disaster from the hills of Ephraim.”
37. Jeremiah 4:16 tn The words “They are saying” are not in the text but are implicit in the connection and are supplied in the translation for clarification.
38. Jeremiah 4:16 tn The word “surrounding” is not in the text but is implicit and is supplied in the translation for clarification.
39. Jeremiah 4:16 tc Or “Here they come!” Heb “Look!” or “Behold!” Or “Announce to the surrounding nations, indeed [or yes], proclaim to Jerusalem, ‘Besiegers…’” The text is very elliptical here. Some of the modern English versions appear to be emending the text from הִנֵּה (hinneh, “behold”) to either הֵנָּה (hennah, “these things”; so NEB), or הַזֶּה (hazzeh, “this”; so NIV). The solution proposed here is as old as the LXX, which reads, “Behold, they have come.”
40. Jeremiah 4:16 tn The words, “this message,” are not in the text but are supplied in the translation to make the introduction of the quote easier.
41. Jeremiah 4:16 tn Heb “Besiegers.” For the use of this verb to refer to besieging a city, compare Isa 1:8.
42. Jeremiah 4:16 tn Heb “They have raised their voices against.” The verb here, a vav (ו) consecutive with an imperfect, continues the nuance of the preceding participle “are coming.”
43. Jeremiah 4:17 tn Heb “will surround her.” The antecedent is Jerusalem in the preceding verse. The referent is again made explicit in the translation to avoid any possible lack of clarity. The verb form here emphasizes the fact as being as good as done (i.e., it is a prophetic perfect).
44. Jeremiah 4:17 sn There is some irony involved in the choice of the simile since the men guarding a field were there to keep thieves from getting in and stealing the crops. Here the besiegers are guarding the city to keep people from getting out.
45. Jeremiah 4:18 tn Heb “Your way and your deeds.”
46. Jeremiah 4:18 tn Heb “How bitter!”
47. Jeremiah 4:18 tn Heb “Indeed, it reaches to your heart.” The subject must be the pain alluded to in the last half of the preceding line; the verb is masculine, agreeing with the adjective translated “painful.” The only other possible antecedent, “punishment,” is feminine.
48. Jeremiah 4:19 tn The words “I said” are not in the text. They are used to mark the shift from the Lord’s promise of judgment to Jeremiah’s lament concerning it.
49. Jeremiah 4:19 tn Heb “My bowels! My bowels!”
50. Jeremiah 4:19 tn Heb “the walls of my heart!”
51. Jeremiah 4:19 tn Heb “ram’s horn.” But the modern equivalent is “trumpet” and is more readily understandable.
52. Jeremiah 4:19 tc The translation reflects a different division of the last two lines than that suggested by the Masoretes. The written text (the Kethib) reads “for the sound of the ram’s horn I have heard [or “you have heard,” if the form is understood as the old second feminine singular perfect] my soul” followed by “the battle cry” in the last line. The translation is based on taking “my soul” with the last line and understanding an elliptical expression “[to] my soul the battle cry.” Such an elliptical expression is in keeping with the elliptical nature of the exclamations at the beginning of the verse (cf. the literal translations of the first two lines of the verse in the notes on the words “stomach” and “heart”).
53. Jeremiah 4:20 tn The words “I see” are not in the text here or at the beginning of the third line. They are supplied in the translation to show that this is Jeremiah’s vision of what will happen as a result of the invasion announced in 4:5-9, 11-17a.
54. Jeremiah 4:20 tn Heb “my.” This is probably not a reference to Jeremiah’s own tents since he foresees the destruction of the whole land. Jeremiah so identifies with the plight of his people that he sees the destruction of their tents as though they were his very own. It would probably lead to confusion to translate literally, and it is not uncommon in Hebrew laments for the community or its representative to speak of the community as an “I.” See, for example, the interchange between first singular and first plural pronouns in Ps 44:4-8.
55. Jeremiah 4:20 tn Heb “my.”
56. Jeremiah 4:20 tn It is not altogether clear what Jeremiah intends by the use of this metaphor. In all likelihood he means that the defenses of Israel’s cities and towns have offered no more resistance than nomads’ tents. However, in light of the fact that the word “tent” came to be used generically for a person’s home (cf. 1 Kgs 8:66; 12:16), it is possible here that Jeremiah is referring to the destruction of their homes and the resultant feeling of homelessness and loss of even elementary protection. Given the lack of certainty, the present translation is rather literal here.
57. Jeremiah 4:21 tn Heb “the sound of ram’s horns.” But the modern equivalent is “bugles” and is more readily understandable.
58. Jeremiah 4:22 tn These words are not in the text but are supplied in the translation to show clearly the shift in speaker. Jeremiah has been speaking; now the Lord answers, giving the reason for the devastation Jeremiah foresees.
59. Jeremiah 4:22 tn Heb “For….” This gives the explanation for the destruction envisaged in 4:20 to which Jeremiah responds in 4:19, 21.
60. Jeremiah 4:22 tn Heb “They are senseless children.”
61. Jeremiah 4:23 tn Heb “I looked at the land and behold…” This indicates the visionary character of Jeremiah’s description of the future condition of the land of Israel.
62. Jeremiah 4:23 tn Heb “formless and empty.” This is a case of hendiadys (two nouns joined by “and” both describe the same thing): one noun retains its full nominal force; the other functions as an adjective. The words תֹהוּ וָבֹהוּ (tohu vavohu) allude to Gen 1:2, hyperbolically picturing a reversal of creation and return to the original precreation chaos.
63. Jeremiah 4:25 tn Heb “there was no man/human being.”
64. Jeremiah 4:26 tn Heb “because of the Lord, because of his blazing anger.”
65. Jeremiah 4:27 tn Heb “For this is what the Lord said.”
66. Jeremiah 4:28 sn The earth and the heavens are personified here and depicted in the act of mourning and wearing black clothes because of the destruction of the land of Israel.
67. Jeremiah 4:28 tn Heb “has spoken and purposed.” This is an example of hendiadys where two verbs are joined by “and” but one is meant to serve as a modifier of the other.
68. Jeremiah 4:28 tn Heb “will not turn back from it.”
69. Jeremiah 4:30 tn Heb “And you that are doomed to destruction.” The referent is supplied from the following context and the fact that Zion/Jerusalem represents the leadership that was continually making overtures to foreign nations for help.
70. Jeremiah 4:30 tn Heb “What are you accomplishing…?” The rhetorical question assumes a negative answer, made clear by the translation in the indicative.
71. Jeremiah 4:30 tn Heb “clothing yourself in scarlet.”
72. Jeremiah 4:30 tn Heb “enlarging your eyes with antimony.” Antimony was a black powder used by women as eyeliner to make their eyes look larger.
73. Jeremiah 4:30 tn Heb “they seek your life.”
74. Jeremiah 4:31 tn The particle כִּי (ki) is more likely asseverative here than causal.
75. Jeremiah 4:31 sn Jerusalem is personified as a helpless young woman giving birth.
76. Jeremiah 4:31 tn Heb “spreading out her hands.” The idea of asking or pleading for help is implicit in the figure.
77. Jeremiah 4:31 tn Heb “Woe, now to me!” See the translator’s note on 4:13 for the usage of “Woe to…”
78. Jeremiah 5:1 tn These words are not in the text, but since the words at the end are obviously those of the Lord, they are supplied in the translation here to mark the shift in speaker from 4:29-31, where Jeremiah is the obvious speaker.
79. Jeremiah 5:1 tn It is not clear who is being addressed here. The verbs are plural so they are not addressed to Jeremiah per se. Since the passage is talking about the people of Jerusalem, it is unlikely they are addressed here except perhaps rhetorically. Some have suggested that the heavenly court is being addressed as in Job 1:6-8; 2:1-3. It is clear from Jer 23:18, 22; Amos 3:7 that the prophets had access to this heavenly council through visions (cf. 1 Kgs 22:19-23), so Jeremiah could have been privy to this speech through that means. Though these angels are the most likely addressees, it is too presumptuous to supply such an explicit addressee without clearer indication in the text.
80. Jeremiah 5:1 tn Heb “who does justice and seeks faithfulness.”
81. Jeremiah 5:1 tn Heb “squares. If you can find…if there is one person…then I will…”
82. Jeremiah 5:1 tn Heb “forgive [or pardon] it.”
83. Jeremiah 5:2 tn Heb “Though they say, ‘As surely as the Lord lives.’” The idea of “swear on oath” comes from the second line.
84. Jeremiah 5:2 tc The translation follows many Hebrew mss and the Syriac version in reading “surely” (אָכֵן, ʾakhen) instead of “therefore” (לָכֵן, lakhen) in the MT. tn Heb “Surely.”
85. Jeremiah 5:2 tn Heb “they swear falsely.”
86. Jeremiah 5:3 tn Heb “O Lord, are your eyes not to faithfulness?” The question is rhetorical and expects a positive answer.
87. Jeremiah 5:3 tn Commentaries and lexicons debate the meaning of the verb here. The MT is pointed as though from a verb meaning “to writhe in anguish or contrition” (חוּל [khul]; see, e.g., BDB 297 s.v. חוּל 2.c), but some commentaries and lexicons repoint the text as though from a verb meaning “to be sick,” thus “to feel pain” (חָלָה [khalah]; see, e.g., HALOT 304 s.v. חָלָה 3). The former appears more appropriate to the context.
88. Jeremiah 5:3 tn Heb “They made their faces as hard as a rock.”
89. Jeremiah 5:3 tn Or “to repent”; Heb “to turn back.”
90. Jeremiah 5:4 tn Heb “Surely they are poor.” The translation is intended to make clear the explicit contrasts and qualifications drawn in this verse and the next.
91. Jeremiah 5:4 tn Heb “the way of the Lord.”
92. Jeremiah 5:4 tn Heb “the judgment [or ordinance] of their God.”
93. Jeremiah 5:5 tn Or “people in power”; Heb “the great ones.”
94. Jeremiah 5:5 tn Heb “the way of the Lord.”
95. Jeremiah 5:5 tn Heb “the judgment [or ordinance] of their God.”
96. Jeremiah 5:5 tn Heb “have broken the yoke and torn off the yoke ropes.” Cf. Jer 2:20 and the note there.
97. Jeremiah 5:6 tn Heb “So a lion from the thicket will kill them. A wolf from the desert will destroy them. A leopard will watch outside their cities. Anyone who goes out from them will be torn in pieces.” However, it is unlikely that, in the context of judgment that Jeremiah has previously been describing, literal lions are meant. The animals are metaphorical for their enemies. Cf. Jer 4:7.
98. Jeremiah 5:6 tn Heb “their rebellions are so many, and their unfaithful acts so numerous.”
99. Jeremiah 5:7 tn These words are not in the text, but are supplied in the translation to make clear who is speaking.
100. Jeremiah 5:7 tn Heb “How can I forgive [or pardon] you?” The pronoun “you” is second feminine singular, referring to the city. See v. 1.
101. Jeremiah 5:7 tn Heb “your children.”
102. Jeremiah 5:7 tn Heb “and they have sworn [oaths] by not-gods.”
103. Jeremiah 5:7 tn Heb “I satisfied them to the full.”
104. Jeremiah 5:7 tn Heb “they committed adultery.” It is difficult to decide whether literal adultery with other women or spiritual adultery with other gods is meant. The word for adultery is used for both in the book of Jeremiah. For examples of its use for spiritual adultery see 3:8, 9; 9:2. For examples of its use for literal adultery see 7:9; 23:14. The context here could argue for either. The swearing by other gods and the implicit contradiction in their actions in contrast to the expected gratitude for supplying their needs argues for spiritual adultery. However, the reference to prostitution in the next line and the reference to chasing after their neighbor’s wives argues for literal adultery. The translation opts for spiritual adultery because of the contrast implicit in the concessive clause.
105. Jeremiah 5:7 tn There is a great deal of debate about the meaning of this word. Most of the modern English versions follow the lead of lexicographers who relate this word to a noun meaning “troop” and understand it to mean “they trooped together” (cf. BDB 151 s.v. גָּדַד Hithpo.2 and compare the usage in Mic 5:1 [4:14 HT]). A few of the modern English versions and commentaries follow the reading of the Greek and read a word meaning “they lodged” (reading יִתְגּוֹרְרוּ [yitgor^eru] from I גּוּר [gur; cf. HALOT 177 s.v. Hithpo. and compare the usage in 1 Kgs 17:20] instead of יִתְגֹּדָדוּ [yitgodadu]). W. L. Holladay (Jeremiah [Hermeneia], 1:180) sees a reference here to the cultic practice of cutting oneself in supplication to pagan gods (cf. BDB 151 s.v. גָּדַד Hithpo.1 and compare the usage in 1 Kgs 18:28). The houses of prostitutes would then be a reference to ritual prostitutes at the pagan shrines. The translation follows BDB and the majority of modern English versions.
106. Jeremiah 5:7 tn Heb “to a house of a prostitute.”sn This could be a reference to cultic temple prostitution connected with the pagan shrines. For allusion to this in the OT, see, e.g., Deut 23:17 and 2 Kgs 23:7.
107. Jeremiah 5:8 tn The meanings of these two adjectives are uncertain. The translation of the first adjective is based on assuming that the word is a defectively written participle related to the noun “testicle” (a Hiphil participle מַאֲשִׁכִים [maʾashikhim] from a verb related to אֶשֶׁךְ [ʾeshekh, “testicle”]; cf. Lev 21:20) and hence “having testicles” (cf. HALOT 1379 s.v. שָׁכָה) instead of the Masoretic form מַשְׁכִּים (mashkim) from a root שָׁכָה (shakhah), which is otherwise unattested in either verbal or nominal forms. The second adjective is best derived from a verb root meaning “to feed” (a Hophal participle מוּזָנִים [muzanim, the Kethib] from a root זוּן [zun; cf. BDB 266 s.v. זוּן] for which there is the cognate noun מָזוֹן [mazon; cf. 2 Chr 11:23]). This is more likely than the derivation from a root יָזַן ([yazan]reading מְיֻזָּנִים [m^eyuzzanim], a Pual participle with the Qere) which is otherwise unattested in verbal or nominal forms and whose meaning is dependent only on a supposed Arabic cognate (cf. HALOT 387 s.v. יָזַן).
108. Jeremiah 5:8 tn Heb “neighs after.”
109. Jeremiah 5:9 tn Heb “Should I not punish them…? Should I not bring retribution…?” The rhetorical questions have the force of strong declarations.
110. Jeremiah 5:10 tn These words to not appear in the Hebrew text but have been added in the translation for the sake of clarity to identify the implied addressee.
111. Jeremiah 5:10 tn Heb “through her vine rows and destroy.” No object is given but “vines” must be implicit. The word for “vineyards” (or “vine rows”) is a hapax legomenon and its derivation is debated. BDB 1004 s.v. שּׁוּרָה repoints שָׁרוֹתֶיהָ (sharoteha) to שֻׁרוֹתֶיהָ (shuroteha) and relates it to a Mishnaic Hebrew and Palestinian Aramaic word meaning “row.” HALOT 1348 s.v. שּׁוּרָה also repoints to שֻׁרוֹתֶיהָ and relates it to a noun meaning “wall,” preferring to see the reference here to the walled terraces on which the vineyards were planted. The difference in meaning is minimal.
112. Jeremiah 5:10 tn Heb “for they do not belong to the Lord.” In the light of the context and Jeremiah’s identification of Israel as a vine (cf., e.g., 2:21) and a vineyard (cf., e.g., 12:10), it is likely that this verse has a totally metaphorical significance. The enemy is to go through the vineyard that is Israel and Judah and destroy all those who have been unfaithful to the Lord. It is not impossible, however, that the verse has a double meaning, a literal one and a figurative one: the enemy is not only to destroy Israel and Judah’s vines but to destroy Israel and Judah, lopping off the wicked Israelites who, because of their covenant unfaithfulness, the Lord has disowned. If the verse is totally metaphorical one might translate, “Pass through my vineyard, Israel and Judah, wreaking destruction. But do not destroy all of the people. Cut down like branches those unfaithful people because they no longer belong to the Lord.”
113. Jeremiah 5:11 tn Heb “the house of Israel and the house of Judah.”
114. Jeremiah 5:12 tn Heb “have denied the Lord.” The words “What…says” are implicit in what follows.
115. Jeremiah 5:12 tn Or “he will do nothing”; Heb “Not he [or it]!”
116. Jeremiah 5:12 tn Heb “we will not see the sword and famine.”
117. Jeremiah 5:13 tn Heb “will be wind.”sn There is a wordplay on the Hebrew word translated “wind” (רוּחַ, ruakh) which also means “spirit.” The prophets spoke by inspiration of the Spirit of the Lord (cf., e.g., 2 Chr 20:14); hence the prophet was sometimes called “the man of the spirit” (cf. Hos 9:7). The people were claiming that the prophets were speaking lies and hence were full of wind, not the Spirit.
118. Jeremiah 5:13 tc Heb “the word is not in them.” The MT has a highly unusual form here, the Piel perfect with the definite article (הַדִּבֵּר, haddibber). It is undoubtedly best to read with the LXX (Greek version) and one Hebrew ms the article on the noun (הַדָּבָר, haddavar).
119. Jeremiah 5:14 tn Heb “Therefore.”
120. Jeremiah 5:14 tn Heb “The Lord God of Armies.” See the translator’s note at 2:19.sn Here the emphasis appears to be on the fact that the Lord is in charge of the enemy armies whom he will use to punish Israel for their denial of his prior warnings through the prophets.
121. Jeremiah 5:14 tn The words, “to me” are not in the text but are implicit in the connection. They are supplied in the translation for clarification.
122. Jeremiah 5:14 tn Heb “you have spoken.” The text here דַּבֶּרְכֶם (dabber^ekhem, “you have spoken”) is either a case of a scribal error for דַּבֶּרָם (dabberam, “their speaking”; preceding יַעַן [ya‘an] would function as a preposition meaning “because of”) or an example of the rapid shift in addressee which is common in Jeremiah.
123. Jeremiah 5:14 tn Heb “this word.”
124. Jeremiah 5:14 tn Heb “like wood and it [i.e., the fire I put in your mouth] will consume them.”
125. Jeremiah 5:15 tn Heb “oracle of the Lord.”
126. Jeremiah 5:15 tn Heb “Behold!”
127. Jeremiah 5:15 tn Heb “house of Israel.”
128. Jeremiah 5:16 tn Heb “All of them are mighty warriors.”
129. Jeremiah 5:16 tn Heb “his quiver [is] an open grave.” The order of the lines has been reversed to make the transition from “nation” to “their arrows” easier.
130. Jeremiah 5:17 tn Heb “eat up.”
131. Jeremiah 5:17 tn Or “eat up your grapes and figs”; Heb “eat up your vines and your fig trees.”sn It was typical for an army in time of war in the ancient Near East not only to eat up the crops but to destroy the means of further production.
132. Jeremiah 5:17 tn Heb “They will beat down with the sword.” The term “sword” is a figure of speech (synecdoche) for military weapons in general. Siege ramps, not swords, beat down city walls; swords kill people, not city walls.
133. Jeremiah 5:18 tn Heb “in those days.”
134. Jeremiah 5:19 tn The word, “Jeremiah,” is not in the text but the second person address in the second half of the verse is obviously to him. The word is supplied in the translation here for clarity.
135. Jeremiah 5:19 tn The MT reads the second masculine plural; this is probably a case of attraction to the second masculine plural pronoun in the preceding line. An alternative would be to understand a shift from speaking first to the people in the first half of the verse and then speaking to Jeremiah in the second half, where the verb is second masculine singular (e.g., “When you [people] say, “Why…?” then you, Jeremiah, tell them…”).
136. Jeremiah 5:19 tn Heb “As you left me and…, so you will….” The translation was chosen so as to break up a rather long and complex sentence.
137. Jeremiah 5:19 sn This is probably a case of deliberate ambiguity (double entendre). The adjective “foreigners” is used for both foreign people (so Jer 30:8; 51:51) and foreign gods (so Jer 2:25; 3:13). See also Jer 16:13 for the idea of having to serve other gods in the lands of exile.
138. Jeremiah 5:20 sn The verbs are second plural here. Jeremiah, speaking for the Lord, addresses his people, calling on them to make the message further known.
139. Jeremiah 5:20 tn Heb “in the house of Jacob.”
140. Jeremiah 5:21 tn Heb “they have eyes but they do not see; they have ears but they do not hear.”
141. Jeremiah 5:22 tn Heb “Should you not fear me? Should you not tremble in awe before me?” The rhetorical questions expect the answer explicit in the translation.
142. Jeremiah 5:22 tn Heb “it.” The referent is made explicit to avoid any possible confusion.
143. Jeremiah 5:23 tn The words, “their own way” are not in the text but are implicit and are supplied in the translation for clarity.
144. Jeremiah 5:24 tn Heb “say in their hearts.”
145. Jeremiah 5:24 tn Heb “who keeps for us the weeks appointed for harvest.
146. Jeremiah 5:25 tn Heb “have turned these things away.”
147. Jeremiah 5:25 tn Heb “have withheld the good from you.”
148. Jeremiah 5:26 tn The meaning of the last three words is uncertain. The pointing and meaning of the Hebrew word rendered “hiding in ambush” is debated. BDB relates the form (כְּשַׁךְ, k^eshakh) to a root שָׁכַךְ (shakhakh), which elsewhere means “decrease, abate” (cf. BDB 1013 s.v. שָׁכַךְ). BDB notes that this is usually understood here as “like the crouching of fowlers,” but they say this meaning is dubious. HALOT 1345 s.v. I שׁוֹר questions the validity of the text and offers three proposals; the second appears to create the least textual modification, i.e., reading כְּשַׂךְ (k^esakh, “as in the hiding place of (bird catchers).” For the word שַׂךְ (sakh) see HALOT 1236 s.v. שׂךְ 4 and compare Lam 2:6 for usage. The versions do not help. The Greek does not translate the first two words of the line. The proposal given in HALOT is accepted with some hesitancy.
149. Jeremiah 5:26 tn Heb “a destroying thing.”
150. Jeremiah 5:27 tn The words, “that have been caught” are not in the text but are implicit in the comparison.
151. Jeremiah 5:27 tn Heb “are filled with deceit.” The translation assumes a figure of speech of cause for effect (metonymy). Compare the same word in the same figure in Zeph 1:9.
152. Jeremiah 5:27 tn Heb “therefore they have gotten great and rich.”
153. Jeremiah 5:28 tn These words are not in the text but are supplied in the translation to show that this line is parallel with the preceding.
154. Jeremiah 5:28 tn The meaning of this word is uncertain. This verb occurs only here. The lexicons generally relate it to the word translated “plate” in Song 5:14 and understand it to mean “smooth, shiny” (so BDB 799 s.v. I עֶשֶׁת) or “fat” (so HALOT 850 s.v. II עֶשֶׁת). The word in Song 5:14 more likely means “smooth” than “plate” (so TEV). So “sleek” is most likely here.
155. Jeremiah 5:28 tn Heb “they cross over/transgress with respect to matters of evil.”sn There is a wordplay in the use of this verb, which has twice been applied in v. 22 to the sea not crossing the boundary set for it by God.
156. Jeremiah 5:29 tn Heb “Should I not punish…? Should I not bring retribution…?” The rhetorical questions function as emphatic declarations.sn These words are repeated from 5:9 to give a kind of refrain justifying again the necessity of punishment in the light of such sins.
157. Jeremiah 5:31 tn Heb “they shall rule at their hands.” Since the word “hand” can be used figuratively for authority or mean “side,” and the pronoun “them” can refer to the priests themselves or the prophets, the following translations have also been suggested: “the priests rule under their [the prophets’] directions,” or “the priests rule in league with them [the prophets].” From the rest of the book it would appear that the prophets did not exercise authority over the priests, nor did they exercise the same authority over the people that the priests did. Hence it probably means “by their own hand/power/authority.”
158. Jeremiah 5:31 tn Heb “But what will you do at its end?” The rhetorical question implies a negative answer: “Nothing!”
159. Jeremiah 6:1 tn Heb “Flee for safety, people of Benjamin, out of the midst of Jerusalem.”sn Compare and contrast Jer 4:6. There people in the outlying areas were warned to seek safety in the fortified city of Jerusalem. Here they are told to flee it because it was about to be destroyed.
160. Jeremiah 6:1 tn Heb “ram’s horn.” But the modern equivalent is “trumpet” and is more readily understandable.
161. Jeremiah 6:1 tn Heb “leans down” or “looks down.” This verb personifies destruction leaning/looking down from its window in the sky, ready to attack.
162. Jeremiah 6:1 tn Heb “[It will be] a severe fracture.” The nation is pictured as a limb being fractured.sn This passage is emotionally charged. There are two examples of assonance or wordplay in the verse. “Sound” and “Tekoa” are built on the same root: תָּקַע (taqaʿ, “blow”). “Light” and “signal fire,” also come from the same root: נָשָׂא (nasaʾ, “lift up”). Also disaster is personified when it is said to “lurk” (Heb “look down on”) out of the north. This gives a sense of urgency and concern for the coming destruction.
163. Jeremiah 6:2 tn The verb here is another example of the Hebrew verb form that indicates the action is as good as done (a Hebrew prophetic perfect).
164. Jeremiah 6:2 sn Jerusalem is personified as a young maiden who is helpless in the hands of her enemies.
165. Jeremiah 6:2 tn Heb “The beautiful and delicate one I will destroy, the daughter of Zion.” The English versions and commentaries are divided over the rendering of this verse because (1) there are two verbs with these same consonants, one meaning “to be like” and the other meaning “to be destroyed” (intransitive) or “to destroy” (transitive), and (2) the word rendered “beautiful” (נָוָה, navah) can be understood as a noun meaning “pasture” or as a defective writing of an adjective meaning “beautiful, comely” (נָאוָה, naʾvah). Hence some render, “Fair Zion, you are like a lovely pasture,” reading the verb form as an example of the old second feminine singular perfect. Although this may fit the imagery of the next verse, that rendering ignores the absence of a preposition (לְ or אֶל, l^e or ʾel, both of which can be translated “to”) that normally goes with the verb “be like,” and it drops the conjunction in front of the adjective “delicate.” The parallel usage of the verb in Hos 4:5 argues for the meaning “destroy.”
166. Jeremiah 6:3 tn Heb “Shepherds and their flocks will attack it.” Rulers are often depicted as shepherds; see BDB 945 s.v. רָעָה 1.d(2) (cf. Jer 12:10). The translation of this verse attempts to clarify the point of this extended metaphor.
167. Jeremiah 6:3 tn Heb “They will thrust [= pitch] tents around it.” The shepherd imagery has a surprisingly ominous tone. The beautiful pasture filled with shepherds grazing their sheep is in reality a city under siege from an attacking enemy.
168. Jeremiah 6:3 tn Heb “They will graze each one his portion.” For the use of the verb “graze” to mean “strip” or “devastate” see BDB 945 s.v. רָעָה 2.c. For a similar use of the word normally meaning “hand” to mean portion, compare 2 Sam 19:43 (19:44 HT).sn There is another wordplay involving the root תָּקַע (taqaʿ). Here it is the verb for pitching tents, while in v. 1 it was used for sounding the trumpet. It is the root for the place name “Tekoa.”
169. Jeremiah 6:4 tn These words are not in the text but are implicit in the connection. They are supplied in the translation for clarity.
170. Jeremiah 6:4 tn Heb “Sanctify war.” This is probably an idiom from early Israel’s holy wars in which religious rites were to precede the battle.
171. Jeremiah 6:4 tn These words are not in the text but are supplied in the translation for clarity. Some commentaries and English versions see these not as the words of the enemy but as those of the Israelites expressing their fear that the enemy will launch a night attack against them and further destroy them. The connection with the next verse, however, fits better with them if they are the words of the enemy.
172. Jeremiah 6:4 tn For the usage of this phrase see the translator’s note on 4:13. The usage of this particle here is a little exaggerated. They have lost the most advantageous time for attack but they are scarcely in a hopeless or doomed situation. The equivalent in English slang is “Bad news!”
173. Jeremiah 6:6 tn Heb “For.” The translation attempts to make the connection clearer.
174. Jeremiah 6:6 tn Heb “Yahweh of Armies.”sn For an explanation of the significance of this title see the study note on 2:19.
175. Jeremiah 6:6 tn Heb “Cut down its trees and build up a siege ramp against Jerusalem.” The referent has been moved forward from the second line for clarity.
176. Jeremiah 6:6 tn Or “has been appointed.” The meaning of this line is uncertain. The LXX reads, “Woe, city of falsehood!” The MT presents a masculine singular verb with a feminine singular subject. The verb פָּקַד (paqad) in the Hophal verbal stem elsewhere means “to be appointed, designated.” It is used of officials who have been appointed to tasks or of leaving something deposited with someone. Hence many follow the Greek, which presupposes הוֹי עִיר הַשֶּׁקֶר (hoy ʿir hasheqer) instead of הִיא הָעִיר הָפְקַד (hiʾ haʿir hofqad). The Greek is the easier reading in light of the parallelism, and it would be hard to explain how the MT arose from it. KBL suggests reading a noun meaning “licentiousness” that occurs elsewhere only in Mishnaic Hebrew, hence “this is the city, the licentious one” (attributive apposition; cf. KBL 775 s.v. פֶּקֶר). Perhaps the Hophal perfect (הָפְקַד, hofqad) should be revocalized as a Niphal infinitive absolute (הִפָּקֹד, hippaqod), which would solve both anomalies in the MT since the Niphal is used in this nuance and the infinitive absolute can function in place of a finite verb (cf. GKC 346 §113.ee and ff). This change, however, is mere speculation and is supported by no Hebrew ms.
177. Jeremiah 6:6 tn Heb “All of it oppression in its midst.”
178. Jeremiah 6:7 tc Heb “As a well makes cool/fresh its water, she makes cool/fresh her wickedness.” The translation follows the reading proposed by the Masoretes (Qere) which reads a rare form of the word “well” (בַּיִר [bayir] for בְּאֵר [b^eʾer]) in place of the form written in the text (Kethib, בּוֹר [bor]), which means “cistern.” The latter noun is masculine and the pronoun “its” is feminine. If indeed בַּיִר (bayir) is a byform of בְּאֵר (b^eʾer), which is feminine, it would agree in gender with the pronoun. It also forms a more appropriate comparison since cisterns do not hold fresh water.
179. Jeremiah 6:7 tn Heb “Violence and destruction are heard in it.”
180. Jeremiah 6:7 tn Heb “Sickness and wound are continually before my face.”
181. Jeremiah 6:8 tn This word is not in the text but is supplied in the translation. Jeremiah uses a figure of speech (enallage) where the speaker turns from talking about someone to address him/her directly.
182. Jeremiah 6:8 tn Heb “lest my soul [= I] becomes disgusted with you.”sn The wordplay begun with “sound…in Tekoa” in v. 1 and continued with “encamp” (they will pitch [their tents]) in v. 3 is concluded here with “turn away in disgust” (תֵּקַע [teqaʿ]), which uses the same consonants although built now on the root יָקַע (yaqaʿ).
183. Jeremiah 6:9 tn Heb “Yahweh of Armies.”sn For an explanation of the significance of this title see the study note on 2:19.
184. Jeremiah 6:9 tn The words “to me” are not in the text but are supplied in the translation for clarity.
185. Jeremiah 6:9 tn Heb “They will thoroughly glean those who are left in Israel like a vine.” That is, they will be carried off by judgment. It is not necessary to read the verb forms here the way some English versions and commentaries do: as two imperatives, or as an infinitive absolute followed by an imperative. “Glean” is an example of a third plural verb used impersonally and translated as a passive (cf. GKC 460 §144.g).
186. Jeremiah 6:9 tn Heb “Pass your hand back over the branches like a grape harvester.” The translation is intended to clarify the metaphor that Jeremiah should try to rescue some from the coming destruction.
187. Jeremiah 6:10 tn These words are not in the text but are supplied in the translation for clarity.
188. Jeremiah 6:10 tn Heb “To whom shall I speak and give warning that they may listen?”
189. Jeremiah 6:10 tn Heb “are uncircumcised.”
190. Jeremiah 6:10 tn Heb “Behold!”
191. Jeremiah 6:10 tn Heb “They do not take pleasure in it.”
192. Jeremiah 6:11 tn Heb “I am full of the wrath of the Lord.”
193. Jeremiah 6:11 tn These words are not in the text but are implicit from the words that follow. They are supplied in the translation for clarity.
194. Jeremiah 6:11 tn Heb “Pour it out.”
195. Jeremiah 6:11 tn Heb “are to be captured.”
196. Jeremiah 6:12 tn Heb “I will reach out my hand.” This figure involves both comparing God to a person (anthropomorphism) and substituting the hand for its actions or exertions (metonymy). A common use of “hand” is for the exertion of power or strength (cf. BDB 290 s.v. יָד 2 and 289-90 s.v. יָד 1.e(2); cf. Deut 34:12; Ps 78:42; Jer 16:21).
197. Jeremiah 6:14 tn Heb “They heal [= bandage] the wound of my people lightly”; TEV “They act as if my people’s wounds were only scratches.”
198. Jeremiah 6:14 tn Heb “They say, ‘Peace! Peace!’ and there is no peace!”
199. Jeremiah 6:15 tn Heb “They will fall among the fallen.”
200. Jeremiah 6:16 tn The words, “to his people” are not in the text but are implicit in the interchange of pronouns in the Hebrew of vv. 16-17. They are supplied in the translation here for clarity.
201. Jeremiah 6:16 tn Heb “Stand at the crossroads and look.”
202. Jeremiah 6:16 tn Heb “the ancient path,” i.e., the path the Lord set out in ancient times (cf. Deut 32:7).
203. Jeremiah 6:16 tn Heb “the way of/to the good.”
204. Jeremiah 6:17 tn These words are not in the text but are implicit in the interchange of pronouns in the Hebrew of vv. 16-17. They are supplied in the translation here for clarity.
205. Jeremiah 6:17 tn Heb “I appointed watchmen over you.”
206. Jeremiah 6:17 tn Heb “Pay attention to the sound of the trumpet.” The word “warning” is not in the Hebrew text but is implied.
207. Jeremiah 6:18 tn These words are not in the text but are implicit from the flow of the context. They are supplied in the translation for clarity.
208. Jeremiah 6:18 tn Heb “Know, congregation [or witness], what in [or against] them.” The meaning of this line is somewhat uncertain. The meaning of the noun of address in the second line (“witness,” rendered as an imperative in the translation, “Be witnesses”) is greatly debated. It is often taken as “congregation” but the lexicons and commentaries generally question the validity of reading that word since it is nowhere else applied to the nations. BDB 417 s.v. עֵדָה 3 says that the text is dubious. HALOT 747 s.v. I עֵדָה, 4 emends the text to דֵּעָה (deʿah, “wisdom”). Several modern English versions (e.g., NIV, NCV, God’s Word) take it as the feminine singular noun “witness” (cf. BDB 729 s.v. II עֵדָה) and understand it as a collective. This solution is also proposed by J. A. Thompson (Jeremiah [NICOT], 259, n. 3) and appears to make the best sense in the context. The end of the line is very elliptical, but on the basis of the following context it is generally taken as either “what I will do with/to them” or “what is coming against them” (= “what will happen to them”).
209. Jeremiah 6:19 tn Heb “earth.”
210. Jeremiah 6:19 tn Heb “Behold!”
211. Jeremiah 6:19 tn Heb “disaster on these people, the fruit of their schemes.”
212. Jeremiah 6:19 tn Heb “my word.”
213. Jeremiah 6:20 tn Heb “To what purpose is it to me?” The question is rhetorical and expects a negative answer.
214. Jeremiah 6:20 tn The words “when they offer up to me” are not in the text but are implicit from the following context. They are supplied in the translation for clarity.
215. Jeremiah 6:20 tn Heb “Your burnt offerings are not acceptable, and your sacrifices are not pleasing to me.” The shift from “their” to “your” is an example of the figure of speech (apostrophe) where the speaker turns from talking about someone to addressing him/her directly. Though common in Hebrew style, it is not common in English. The shift to the third person in the translation is an accommodation to English style.
216. Jeremiah 6:21 tn This is an attempt to render the Hebrew particle rendered “behold,” which has a first person pronominal suffix.
217. Jeremiah 6:21 tn Heb “I will put stumbling blocks in front of these people.” In this context the stumbling blocks are the invading armies.
218. Jeremiah 6:21 tn The words “and fall to their destruction” are implicit in the metaphor and are supplied in the translation for clarity.
219. Jeremiah 6:22 tn Heb “people.”
220. Jeremiah 6:23 sn Jerualem is personified as a young maiden helpless before enemy attackers.
221. Jeremiah 6:24 tn These words are not in the text, but the context indicates that someone other than God is speaking for and to the people (either Jeremiah or the people themselves). These words are supplied in the translation for clarity.
222. Jeremiah 6:24 tn Or “We have lost our strength to do battle”; Heb “Our hands hang limp [or helpless at our sides].” According to BDB 951 s.v. רָפָה Qal.2, this idiom is used figuratively for losing heart or energy. The best example of its figurative use of loss of strength or the feeling of helplessness is in Ezek 21:12, where it appears in the context of the heart (courage) melting, the spirit sinking, and the knees becoming like water. For other examples compare 2 Sam 4:1; Zeph 3:16. In Neh 6:9 it is used literally of the builders “dropping their hands from the work” out of fear. The words “with fear” are supplied in the translation because they are implicit in the context.
223. Jeremiah 6:25 tn Heb “For the enemy has a sword.”
224. Jeremiah 6:25 tn Heb “Terror is all around!”
225. Jeremiah 6:26 tn These words are not in the text but are implicit from the context.
226. Jeremiah 6:26 tn Heb “daughter of my people.” For the translation given here see 4:11 and the translator’s note there.
227. Jeremiah 6:26 tn Heb “suddenly.”
228. Jeremiah 6:26 tn Heb “the destroyer.”
229. Jeremiah 6:27 tn These words are not in the text but are supplied in the translation for clarity. Note “I have made you.” Cf. Jer 1:18.
230. Jeremiah 6:27 tn Heb “I have made you an assayer of my people, a tester [?].” The meaning of the words translated “assayer” (בָּחוֹן, bakhon) and “tester” (מִבְצָר, mivtsar) is uncertain. The word בָּחוֹן (bakhon) can mean “tower” (cf. BDB 103 s.v. בָּחוֹן; cf. Isa 23:13 for the only other use) or “assayer” (cf. BDB 103 s.v. בָּחוֹן). The latter would be the more expected nuance because of the other uses of nouns and verbs from this root. The word מִבְצָר (mivtsar) normally means “fortress” (cf. BDB 131 s.v. מִבְצָר), but most modern commentaries and lexicons deem that nuance inappropriate here. HALOT follows a proposal that the word is to be repointed to מְבַצֵּר (m^evatser) and derived from a root בָּצַר (batsar) meaning “to test” (cf. HALOT 143 s.v. IV בָּצַר). That proposal makes the most sense in the context, but the root appears nowhere else in the OT.
231. Jeremiah 6:27 tn Heb “test their way.”
232. Jeremiah 6:28 tn These words are not in the text but are supplied in the translation for clarity. Some takes these words to be the continuation of the Lord’s commission of Jeremiah to the task of testing them. However, since this is the evaluation, the task appears to be complete. The words are better taken as Jeremiah’s report after he has completed the task.
233. Jeremiah 6:28 tn Or “arch rebels,” or “hardened rebels.” Literally “rebels of rebels.”
234. Jeremiah 6:29 tn Heb “The bellows blow fiercely; the lead is consumed by the fire.” The translation tries to clarify a metaphor involving ancient metallurgy. In the ancient refining process lead was added as a flux to remove impurities from silver ore in the process of oxidizing the lead. Jeremiah says that the lead has been used up and the impurities have not been removed. The translation is based on the recognition of an otherwise unused verb root meaning “blow” (נָחַר [nakhar]; cf. BDB 1123 s.v. I חָרַר and HALOT 651 s.v. נָחַר) and the Masoretes’ suggestion that the consonants מאשׁתם be read מֵאֵשׁ תַּם (meʾesh tam, “from fire it is consumed”) rather than as מֵאֶשָּׁתָם (meʾeshatam, “from their fire”) from an otherwise unattested noun אֶשָּׁה (ʾeshah).
235. Jeremiah 6:29 tn Heb “The refiner refines them in vain.”
236. Jeremiah 6:30 tn This translation is intended to reflect the wordplay in the Hebrew text where the same root word is repeated in the two lines.