Yeremiya 6
Endagaano Enkadde nʼEndagaano Empya
Abeesigwa Bagambibwa Okudduka
6 (A)Mwekuŋŋaanye mudduke mmwe abantu ba Benyamini!
Mmudduke muve mu Yerusaalemi.
Fuuwa ekkondeere mu Tekowa,
era yimusa ebbendera mu Besukakkeremu:
kubanga akacwano kasinzidde mu bukiikakkono,
okuzikirira okw’entiisa.
2 Ndizikiriza omuwala wa Sayuuni,
omulungi oyo omubalagavu.
3 (B)Abasumba balimulumba n’ebisibo byabwe.
Balimwetoolooza weema zaabwe zimwolekere enjuuyi zonna,
buli omu yeezimbire w’ayagala.
4 (C)“Mwetegeke mumulwanyise!
Muyimuke, tumulumbe mu ttuntu!
Naye, nedda, omusana gugenda guggwaayo,
n’ebisiikirize by’akawungeezi biwanvuye!
5 Tugende, tulumbe kiro
tuzikirize amayumba ge.”
6 (D)Bw’ati Mukama Katonda ow’Eggye bw’agamba nti,
“Muteme emiti mukole entuumo
muzingize Yerusaalemi.
Ekibuga kino kiteekwa okubonerezebwa kyonna,
kubanga kijjudde bujoozi bwerere.
7 (E)Ng’oluzzi bwe lukulukusa amazzi, bwe kityo bwe kikulukusa ebibi byakyo,
entalo era n’okuzikirira biwulirwa munda waakyo.
Obulwadde n’ebiwundu
bye ndaba buli bbanga.
8 (F)Nkulabula,
ggwe Yerusaalemi,
emmeeme yange ereme okwawukana naawe,
si kulwa ng’ofuuka amatongo.”
9 Bw’ati bw’ayogera Mukama Katonda ow’Eggye nti,
“Balisusumbulira ddala n’abo abatono
abaliba basigaddewo mu Isirayiri.
Ddamu oyise omukono mu matabi
ng’omunozi we zabbibu bw’akola.”
10 (G)Ndyogera eri ani gwe ndirabula?
Ani alimpuliriza?
Amatu gaabwe gagaddwa
ne batasobola kuwulira.
Ekigambo kya Mukama kiri nga kyakusesa gye bali,
tebakisanyukira n’akamu.
11 (H)Kyenva nzijula ekiruyi
sikyasobola kukizibiikiriza.
“Kiyiwe ku baana abali mu luguudo,
ne ku bavubuka abakuŋŋaanye;
abaami awamu n’abakazi n’abakadde
abo abawezezza emyaka emingi baliwambibwa.
12 (I)Enju zaabwe
ziritwalibwa abalala,
n’ennimiro zaabwe awamu ne bakazi baabwe;
kubanga ndigolola omukono gwange ku abo abali mu nsi,”
bw’ayogera Mukama.
13 (J)“Kubanga okuva ku asembayo wansi okutuusa ku asingayo waggulu,
buli omu alulunkanira kufuna.
Nnabbi ne kabona bonna
boogera eby’obulimba.
14 (K)Ekiwundu ky’abantu bange
bakijjanjaba ng’ekitali ky’amaanyi.
Boogera nti, ‘Mirembe, mirembe.’
So nga tewali mirembe.
15 (L)Bakwatibwa ensonyi olw’ebikolwa byabwe eby’emizizo?
Nedda.
Tebakwatibwa nsonyi n’akatono.
Noolwekyo baligwira wamu n’abo abaligwa;
balisuulibwa wansi bwe ndibabonereza,”
bw’ayogera Mukama.
16 (M)Kino Mukama ky’agamba nti,
“Yimirira mu masaŋŋanzira otunule.
Buuza amakubo ag’edda, buuza ekkubo eddungi gye liri,
era otambulire omwo,
emmeeme yammwe erifuna ekiwummulo.
Naye ne mugamba nti, ‘Tetujja kulitambuliramu.’
17 (N)Nabateerawo abakuumi babategeeze nti,
Muwulirize eddoboozi ly’ekkondeere,
naye ne mugamba nti, ‘Tetujja kuwuliriza.’
18 Kale muwulire,
mmwe amawanga
era mulabe mmwe ab’ekkuŋŋaaniro ekyo ekiribatuukako.
19 (O)Wuliriza, ggwe ensi:
laba, ndeeta akabi ku bantu bano,
by’ebibala by’enkwe zaabwe,
kubanga tebafuddeeyo ku bigambo byange
n’etteeka lyange baligaanye.
20 (P)Omugavu oguva e Seeba bampa gwa ki?
Oba zino emmuli ezakaloosa eziva mu nsi ey’ewala?
Ebiweebwayo byammwe ebyokebwa sijja kubikkiriza,
n’essaddaaka zammwe tezinsanyusa.”
21 (Q)Noolwekyo bw’ati bw’ayogera Mukama nti,
“Laba nditeeka enkonge mu maaso g’abantu bano;
bakitaabwe ne batabani baabwe bonna bazesittaleko.
Muliraanwa we ne mukwano gwe balizikirira.”
22 (R)Bw’ati bw’ayogera Mukama, nti,
“Laba, eggye lijja
eriva mu nsi ey’omu bukiikakkono,
eggwanga ery’amaanyi
liyimusibwa okuva ku nkomerero z’ensi.
23 (S)Bakutte omutego n’effumu,
abakambwe abatalina kusaasira.
Bawulikika ng’ennyanja ewuuma,
nga beebagadde embalaasi zaabwe:
bajja ng’abalwanyi mu byambalo by’olutalo
okulumba ggwe Muwala wa Sayuuni!”
24 (T)Tuwulidde ettutumu lyabwe;
era emikono gyaffe giweddemu amaanyi
okulumwa okunene kutukutte
n’okulumwa ng’okw’omukazi alumwa okuzaala.
25 (U)Togeza kugenda mu nnimiro
newaakubadde okutambulira mu kkubo;
kubanga omulabe abunye wonna wonna
n’entiisa ejjudde mu bantu.
26 (V)Kale nno mmwe abantu,
mwambale ebibukutu era mwevulunge mu vvu;
mukungubage ng’abakaabira
omwana owoobulenzi omu yekka.
Kubanga oyo agenda okuzikiriza
ajja kutugwako mavumbavumba.
27 (W)“Nkufudde ekigezesa
abantu bange n’ekyuma,
osobole okulaba n’okugezesa
amakubo gaabwe.
28 (X)Bonna bakyewaggula
abakakanyavu abagenda bawaayiriza,
bikomo era kyuma,
bonna boonoonefu.
29 Emivubo bagifukuta n’amaanyi,
omuliro gumalawo essasi,
naye balongoosereza bwereere
kubanga ababi tebaggyibwamu.
30 (Y)Baliyitibwa masengere ga ffeeza,
kubanga Mukama abalese.”
Jeremiah 6
New King James Version
Impending Destruction from the North
6 “O you children of Benjamin,
Gather yourselves to flee from the midst of Jerusalem!
Blow the trumpet in Tekoa,
And set up a signal-fire in (A)Beth Haccerem;
(B)For disaster appears out of the north,
And great destruction.
2 I have likened the daughter of Zion
To a lovely and delicate woman.
3 The (C)shepherds with their flocks shall come to her.
They shall pitch their tents against her all around.
Each one shall pasture in his own place.”
4 “Prepare(D) war against her;
Arise, and let us go up (E)at noon.
Woe to us, for the day goes away,
For the shadows of the evening are lengthening.
5 Arise, and let us go by night,
And let us destroy her palaces.”
6 For thus has the Lord of hosts said:
“Cut down trees,
And build a mound against Jerusalem.
This is the city to be punished.
She is full of oppression in her midst.
7 (F)As a fountain [a]wells up with water,
So she wells up with her wickedness.
(G)Violence and plundering are heard in her.
Before Me continually are [b]grief and wounds.
8 Be instructed, O Jerusalem,
Lest (H)My soul depart from you;
Lest I make you desolate,
A land not inhabited.”
9 Thus says the Lord of hosts:
“They shall thoroughly glean as a vine the remnant of Israel;
As a grape-gatherer, put your hand back into the branches.”
10 To whom shall I speak and give warning,
That they may hear?
Indeed their (I)ear is uncircumcised,
And they cannot give heed.
Behold, (J)the word of the Lord is a reproach to them;
They have no delight in it.
11 Therefore I am full of the fury of the Lord.
(K)I am weary of holding it in.
“I will pour it out (L)on the children outside,
And on the assembly of young men together;
For even the husband shall be taken with the wife,
The aged with him who is full of days.
12 And (M)their houses shall be turned over to others,
Fields and wives together;
For I will stretch out My hand
Against the inhabitants of the land,” says the Lord.
13 “Because from the least of them even to the greatest of them,
Everyone is given to (N)covetousness;
And from the prophet even to the (O)priest,
Everyone deals falsely.
14 They have also (P)healed the [c]hurt of My people [d]slightly,
(Q)Saying, ‘Peace, peace!’
When there is no peace.
15 Were they (R)ashamed when they had committed abomination?
No! They were not at all ashamed;
Nor did they know how to blush.
Therefore they shall fall among those who fall;
At the time I punish them,
They shall be cast down,” says the Lord.
16 Thus says the Lord:
“Stand in the ways and see,
And ask for the (S)old paths, where the good way is,
And walk in it;
Then you will find (T)rest for your souls.
But they said, ‘We will not walk in it.’
17 Also, I set (U)watchmen over you, saying,
(V)‘Listen to the sound of the trumpet!’
But they said, ‘We will not listen.’
18 Therefore hear, you nations,
And know, O congregation, what is among them.
19 (W)Hear, O earth!
Behold, I will certainly bring (X)calamity on this people—
(Y)The fruit of their thoughts,
Because they have not heeded My words
Nor My law, but rejected it.
20 (Z)For what purpose to Me
Comes frankincense (AA)from Sheba,
And (AB)sweet cane from a far country?
(AC)Your burnt offerings are not acceptable,
Nor your sacrifices sweet to Me.”
21 Therefore thus says the Lord:
“Behold, I will lay stumbling blocks before this people,
And the fathers and the sons together shall fall on them.
The neighbor and his friend shall perish.”
22 Thus says the Lord:
“Behold, a people comes from the (AD)north country,
And a great nation will be raised from the farthest parts of the earth.
23 They will lay hold on bow and spear;
They are cruel and have no mercy;
Their voice (AE)roars like the sea;
And they ride on horses,
As men of war set in array against you, O daughter of Zion.”
24 We have heard the report of it;
Our hands grow feeble.
(AF)Anguish has taken hold of us,
Pain as of a woman in [e]labor.
25 Do not go out into the field,
Nor walk by the way.
Because of the sword of the enemy,
Fear is on every side.
26 O daughter of my people,
(AG)Dress in sackcloth
(AH)And roll about in ashes!
(AI)Make mourning as for an only son, most bitter lamentation;
For the plunderer will suddenly come upon us.
27 “I have set you as an assayer and (AJ)a fortress among My people,
That you may know and test their way.
28 (AK)They are all stubborn rebels, (AL)walking as slanderers.
They are (AM)bronze and iron,
They are all corrupters;
29 The bellows blow fiercely,
The lead is consumed by the fire;
The smelter refines in vain,
For the wicked are not drawn off.
30 People will call them (AN)rejected silver,
Because the Lord has rejected them.”
Footnotes
- Jeremiah 6:7 gushes
- Jeremiah 6:7 sickness
- Jeremiah 6:14 Lit. crushing
- Jeremiah 6:14 Superficially
- Jeremiah 6:24 childbirth
Jeremiah 6
New English Translation
The Destruction of Jerusalem Depicted
6 “Run for safety, people of Benjamin!
Get out of Jerusalem![a]
Sound the trumpet[b] in Tekoa!
Light the signal fires at Beth Hakkerem!
For disaster lurks[c] out of the north;
it will bring great destruction.[d]
2 I will destroy[e] Daughter Zion,[f]
who is as delicate and defenseless as a young maiden.[g]
3 Kings will attack her with their armies.[h]
They will encamp in siege all around her.[i]
Each of them will devastate the portion assigned to him.[j]
4 They will say,[k] ‘Prepare to do battle[l] against it!
Come on! Let’s attack it at noon!’
But later they will say,[m] ‘Woe to us![n]
For the day is almost over,
and the shadows of evening are getting long.
5 So come on, let’s go ahead and attack it by night
and destroy all its fortified buildings.’
6 All this is because[o] the Lord of Heaven’s Armies[p] has said:
‘Cut down the trees around Jerusalem
and build up a siege ramp against its walls.[q]
This is the city that is to be punished.[r]
Nothing but oppression happens in it.[s]
7 As a well continually pours out fresh water
so it continually pours out wicked deeds.[t]
Sounds of violence and destruction echo throughout it.[u]
All I see are sick and wounded people.’[v]
8 So[w] take warning, Jerusalem,
or I will abandon you in disgust[x]
and make you desolate,
a place where no one can live.”
9 This is what the Lord of Heaven’s Armies[y] said to me:[z]
“Those who remain in Israel will be
like the grapes thoroughly gleaned[aa] from a vine.
So go over them again, as though you were a grape harvester
passing your hand over the branches one last time.”[ab]
10 I answered,[ac]
“Who would listen
if I spoke to them and warned them?[ad]
Their ears are so closed[ae]
that they cannot hear!
Indeed,[af] the Lord’s message is offensive to them.
They do not like it at all.[ag]
11 I am as full of anger as you are, Lord,[ah]
I am tired of trying to hold it in.”
The Lord answered,[ai]
“Vent it, then,[aj] on the children who play in the street
and on the young men who are gathered together.
Husbands and wives are to be included,[ak]
as well as the old and those who are advanced in years.
12 Their houses will be turned over to others
as will their fields and their wives.
For I will unleash my power[al]
against those who live in this land,”
says the Lord.
13 “That is because, from the least important to the most important of them,
all of them are greedy for dishonest gain.
Prophets and priests alike,
all of them practice deceit.
14 They offer only superficial help
for the harm my people have suffered.[am]
They say, ‘Everything will be all right!’
But everything is not all right![an]
15 Are they ashamed because they have done such shameful things?
No, they are not at all ashamed.
They do not even know how to blush!
So they will die, just like others have died.[ao]
They will be brought to ruin when I punish them,”
says the Lord.
16 The Lord said to his people:[ap]
“You are standing at the crossroads. So consider your path.[aq]
Ask where the old, reliable paths[ar] are.
Ask where the path is that leads to blessing[as] and follow it.
If you do, you will find rest for your souls.”
But they said, “We will not follow it!”
17 The Lord said,[at]
“I appointed prophets as watchmen to warn you,[au] saying,
‘Pay attention to the warning sound of the trumpet!’”[av]
But they said, “We will not pay attention!”
18 So the Lord said,[aw]
“Hear, you nations!
Be witnesses and take note of what will happen to these people.[ax]
19 Hear this, you peoples of the earth:[ay]
‘Take note![az] I am about to bring disaster on these people.
It will come as punishment for their scheming.[ba]
For they have paid no attention to what I have said,[bb]
and they have rejected my law.
20 I take no delight[bc] when they offer up to me[bd]
frankincense that comes from Sheba
or sweet-smelling cane imported from a faraway land.
I cannot accept the burnt offerings they bring me.
I get no pleasure from the sacrifices they offer to me.’”[be]
21 So, this is what the Lord says:
“I will assuredly[bf] make these people stumble to their doom.[bg]
Parents and children will stumble and fall to their destruction.[bh]
Friends and neighbors will die.”
22 This is what the Lord says:
“Beware! An army[bi] is coming from a land in the north.
A mighty nation is stirring into action in faraway parts of the earth.
23 Its soldiers are armed with bows and spears.
They are cruel and show no mercy.
They sound like the roaring sea
as they ride forth on their horses.
Lined up in formation like men going into battle
to attack you, Daughter Zion.”[bj]
24 The people cry out,[bk] “We have heard reports about them.
We have become helpless with fear![bl]
Anguish grips us,
agony like that of a woman giving birth to a baby!
25 Do not go out into the countryside.
Do not travel on the roads.
For the enemy is there with sword in hand.[bm]
They are spreading terror everywhere.”[bn]
26 So I said,[bo] “Oh, my dear people,[bp] put on sackcloth
and roll in ashes.
Mourn with painful sobs
as though you had lost your only child.
For any moment now[bq] that destructive army[br]
will come against us.”
27 The Lord said to me,[bs]
“I have made you like a metal assayer
to test my people like ore.[bt]
You are to observe them
and evaluate how they behave.”[bu]
28 I reported,[bv]
“All of them are the most stubborn of rebels![bw]
They are as hard as bronze or iron.
They go about telling lies.
They all deal corruptly.
29 The fiery bellows of judgment burn fiercely.
But there is too much dross to be removed.[bx]
The process of refining them has proved useless.[by]
The wicked have not been purged.
30 They are regarded as ‘rejected silver’[bz]
because the Lord rejects them.”
Footnotes
- 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.
- Jeremiah 6:1 tn Heb “ram’s horn.” But the modern equivalent is “trumpet” and is more readily understandable.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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).
- Jeremiah 6:2 sn Jerusalem is personified as a young maiden who is helpless in the hands of her enemies.
- 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, le 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.”
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.”
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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!”
- Jeremiah 6:6 tn Heb “For.” The translation attempts to make the connection clearer.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- Jeremiah 6:6 tn Heb “All of it oppression in its midst.”
- 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 [beʾer]) 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 (beʾer), 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.
- Jeremiah 6:7 tn Heb “Violence and destruction are heard in it.”
- Jeremiah 6:7 tn Heb “Sickness and wound are continually before my face.”
- 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.
- 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).
- 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.
- Jeremiah 6:9 tn The words “to me” are not in the text but are supplied in the translation for clarity.
- 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).
- 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.
- Jeremiah 6:10 tn These words are not in the text but are supplied in the translation for clarity.
- Jeremiah 6:10 tn Heb “To whom shall I speak and give warning that they may listen?”
- Jeremiah 6:10 tn Heb “are uncircumcised.”
- Jeremiah 6:10 tn Heb “Behold!”
- Jeremiah 6:10 tn Heb “They do not take pleasure in it.”
- Jeremiah 6:11 tn Heb “I am full of the wrath of the Lord.”
- 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.
- Jeremiah 6:11 tn Heb “Pour it out.”
- Jeremiah 6:11 tn Heb “are to be captured.”
- 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).
- 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.”
- Jeremiah 6:14 tn Heb “They say, ‘Peace! Peace!’ and there is no peace!”
- Jeremiah 6:15 tn Heb “They will fall among the fallen.”
- 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.
- Jeremiah 6:16 tn Heb “Stand at the crossroads and look.”
- Jeremiah 6:16 tn Heb “the ancient path,” i.e., the path the Lord set out in ancient times (cf. Deut 32:7).
- Jeremiah 6:16 tn Heb “the way of/to the good.”
- 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.
- Jeremiah 6:17 tn Heb “I appointed watchmen over you.”
- 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.
- 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.
- 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”).
- Jeremiah 6:19 tn Heb “earth.”
- Jeremiah 6:19 tn Heb “Behold!”
- Jeremiah 6:19 tn Heb “disaster on these people, the fruit of their schemes.”
- Jeremiah 6:19 tn Heb “my word.”
- Jeremiah 6:20 tn Heb “To what purpose is it to me?” The question is rhetorical and expects a negative answer.
- 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.
- 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.
- Jeremiah 6:21 tn This is an attempt to render the Hebrew particle rendered “behold,” which has a first person pronominal suffix.
- 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.
- Jeremiah 6:21 tn The words “and fall to their destruction” are implicit in the metaphor and are supplied in the translation for clarity.
- Jeremiah 6:22 tn Heb “people.”
- Jeremiah 6:23 sn Jerualem is personified as a young maiden helpless before enemy attackers.
- 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.
- 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.
- Jeremiah 6:25 tn Heb “For the enemy has a sword.”
- Jeremiah 6:25 tn Heb “Terror is all around!”
- Jeremiah 6:26 tn These words are not in the text but are implicit from the context.
- Jeremiah 6:26 tn Heb “daughter of my people.” For the translation given here see 4:11 and the translator’s note there.
- Jeremiah 6:26 tn Heb “suddenly.”
- Jeremiah 6:26 tn Heb “the destroyer.”
- 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.
- 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 (mevatser) 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.
- Jeremiah 6:27 tn Heb “test their way.”
- 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.
- Jeremiah 6:28 tn Or “arch rebels,” or “hardened rebels.” Literally “rebels of rebels.”
- 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).
- Jeremiah 6:29 tn Heb “The refiner refines them in vain.”
- 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.
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