Ulangan 32:21

32:21 They have made me jealous ¹  with false gods, ² 

enraging me with their worthless gods; ³ 

so I will make them jealous with a people they do not recognize, ⁴ 

with a nation slow to learn ⁵  I will enrage them.

Yeremia 44:3

44:3 This happened because of the wickedness the people living there did. ⁶  They made me angry ⁷  by worshiping and offering sacrifice to ⁸  other gods whom neither they nor you nor your ancestors ⁹  previously knew. ¹⁰ 

[32:21]  ¹ sn They have made me jealous. The “jealousy” of God is not a spirit of pettiness prompted by his insecurity, but righteous indignation caused by the disloyalty of his people to his covenant grace (see note on the word “God” in Deut 4:24). The jealousy of Israel, however (see next line), will be envy because of God’s lavish attention to another nation. This is an ironic wordplay. See H. Peels, NIDOTTE 3:938-39.

[32:21]  ² tn Heb “what is not a god,” or a “nondeity.”

[32:21]  ³ tn Heb “their empty (things).” The Hebrew term used here to refer pejoratively to the false gods is הֶבֶל (hevel, “futile” or “futility”), used frequently in Ecclesiastes (e.g., Eccl 1:1, “Futile! Futile!” laments the Teacher, “Absolutely futile! Everything is futile!”).

[32:21]  ⁴ tn Heb “what is not a people,” or a “nonpeople.” The “nonpeople” (לֹא־עָם, lo’-’am) referred to here are Gentiles who someday would become God’s people in the fullest sense (cf. Hos 1:9; 2:23).

[32:21]  ⁵ tn Heb “a foolish nation” (so KJV, NAB, NRSV); NIV “a nation that has no understanding”; NLT “I will provoke their fury by blessing the foolish Gentiles.”

[44:3]  ⁶ tn Heb “they.” The referent must be supplied from the preceding, i.e., Jerusalem and all the towns of Judah. “They” are those who have experienced the disaster and are distinct from those being addressed and their ancestors (44:3b).

[44:3]  ⁷ tn Heb “thus making me angry.” However, this is a good place to break the sentence to create a shorter sentence that is more in keeping with contemporary English style.

[44:3]  ⁸ tn Heb “by going to offer sacrifice in serving/worshiping.” The second לְ (lamed) + infinitive is epexegetical of the first (cf. IBHS 608-9 §36.2.3e).

[44:3]  ⁹ tn Heb “fathers” (also in vv. 9, 10, 17, 21).

[44:3]  ¹⁰ sn Compare Jer 19:4 for the same thought and see also 7:9.