Yeremia 12:1-4

12:1 Lord, you have always been fair

whenever I have complained to you. ¹ 

However, I would like to speak with you about the disposition of justice. ² 

Why are wicked people successful? ³ 

Why do all dishonest people have such easy lives?

12:2 You plant them like trees and they put down their roots. ⁴ 

They grow prosperous and are very fruitful. ⁵ 

They always talk about you,

but they really care nothing about you. ⁶ 

12:3 But you, Lord, know all about me.

You watch me and test my devotion to you. ⁷ 

Drag these wicked men away like sheep to be slaughtered!

Appoint a time when they will be killed! ⁸ 

12:4 How long must the land be parched ⁹ 

and the grass in every field be withered?

How long ¹⁰  must the animals and the birds die

because of the wickedness of the people who live in this land? ¹¹ 

For these people boast,

“God ¹²  will not see what happens to us.” ¹³ 

[12:1]  ¹ tn Or “Lord, you are fair when I present my case before you.”

[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).

[12:1]  ³ tn Heb “Why does the way [= course of life] of the wicked prosper?”

[12:2]  ⁴ tn Heb “You planted them and they took root.”

[12:2]  ⁵ tn Heb “they grow and produce fruit.” For the nuance “grow” for the verb which normally means “go, walk,” see BDB 232 s.v. חָלַךְ Qal.I.3 and compare Hos 14:7.

[12:2]  ⁶ tn Heb “You are near in their mouths, but far from their kidneys.” The figure of substitution is being used here, “mouth” for “words” and “kidneys” for passions and affections. A contemporary equivalent might be, “your name is always on their lips, but their hearts are far from you.”

[12:3]  ⁷ tn Heb “You, Lord, know me. You watch me and you test my heart toward you.”

[12:3]  sn Jeremiah appears to be complaining like Job that God cares nothing about the prosperity of the wicked, but watches his every move. The reverse ought to be true. Jeremiah shouldn’t be suffering the onslaughts of his fellow countrymen as he is. The wicked who are prospering should be experiencing punishment.

[12:3]  ⁸ tn Heb “set aside for them a day of killing.”

[12:4]  ⁹ tn The verb here is often translated “mourn.” However, this verb is from a homonymic root meaning “to be dry” (cf. HALOT 7 s.v. II אָבַל and compare Hos 4:3 for usage).

[12:4]  ¹⁰ tn The words “How long” are not in the text. They are carried over from the first line.

[12:4]  ¹¹ tn Heb “because of the wickedness of those who live in it.”

[12:4]  ¹² tn Heb “he.” The referent is usually identified as God and is supplied here for clarity. Some identify the referent with Jeremiah. If that is the case, then he returns to his complaint about the conspirators. It is more likely, however, that it refers to God and Jeremiah’s complaint that the people live their lives apart from concern about God.

[12:4]  ¹³ tc Or reading with the Greek version, “God does not see what we are doing.” In place of “what will happen to us (אַחֲרִיתֵנוּ, ’akharitenu, “our end”) the Greek version understands a Hebrew text which reads “our ways” (אָרְחוֹתֵנו, ’orkhotenu), which is graphically very close to the MT. The Masoretic is supported by the Latin and is retained here on the basis of external evidence. Either text makes good sense in the context. Some identify the “he” with Jeremiah and understand the text to be saying that the conspirators are certain that they will succeed and he will not live to see his prophecies fulfilled.

[12:4]  sn The words here may be an outright rejection of the Lord’s words in Deut 32:20, which is part of a song that was to be taught to Israel in the light of their predicted rejection of the Lord.