Yeremia 2:11
Konteks2:11 Has a nation ever changed its gods
(even though they are not really gods at all)?
But my people have exchanged me, their glorious God, 1
for a god that cannot help them at all! 2
Yeremia 2:17
Konteks2:17 You have brought all this on yourself, Israel, 3
by deserting the Lord your God when he was leading you along the right path. 4
Yeremia 4:17
Konteks4:17 They will surround Jerusalem 5
like men guarding a field 6
because they have rebelled against me,”
says the Lord.
Yeremia 10:21
Konteks10:21 For our leaders 7 are stupid.
They have not sought the Lord’s advice. 8
So they do not act wisely,
and the people they are responsible for 9 have all been scattered.
Yeremia 14:6
Konteks14:6 Wild donkeys stand on the hilltops
and pant for breath like jackals.
Their eyes are strained looking for food,
because there is none to be found.” 10
Yeremia 26:24
Konteks26:24 However, Ahikam son of Shaphan 11 used his influence to keep Jeremiah from being handed over and executed by the people. 12
Yeremia 40:6
Konteks40:6 So Jeremiah went to Gedaliah son of Ahikam at Mizpah 13 and lived there with him. He stayed there to live among the people who had been left in the land of Judah. 14
Yeremia 48:20
Konteks48:20 They will answer, ‘Moab is disgraced, for it has fallen!
Wail and cry out in mourning!
Announce along the Arnon River
that Moab has been destroyed.’
Yeremia 50:38
Konteks50:38 A drought will come upon her land;
her rivers and canals will be dried up. 15
All of this will happen because her land is filled with idols. 16
Her people act like madmen because of 17 those idols they fear. 18
[2:11] 1 tn Heb “have exchanged their glory [i.e., the God in whom they glory].” This is a case of a figure of speech where the attribute of a person or thing is put for the person or thing. Compare the common phrase in Isaiah, the Holy One of Israel, obviously referring to the
[2:11] 2 tn Heb “what cannot profit.” The verb is singular and the allusion is likely to Baal. See the translator’s note on 2:8 for the likely pun or wordplay.
[2:17] 3 tn Heb “Are you not bringing this on yourself.” The question is rhetorical and expects a positive answer.
[2:17] 4 tn Heb “at the time of leading you in the way.”
[4:17] 5 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 is a form of the verb that emphasizes the fact as being as good as done (i.e., it is a prophetic perfect).
[4:17] 6 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.
[10:21] 7 tn Heb “the shepherds.”
[10:21] 8 tn Heb “They have not sought the
[10:21] sn The idiom translated sought the
[10:21] 9 tn Heb “all their flock (or “pasturage”).”
[10:21] sn This verse uses the figure of rulers as shepherds and the people they ruled as sheep. It is a common figure in the Bible. See Ezek 34 for an extended development of this metaphor.
[14:6] 10 tn Heb “their eyes are strained because there is no verdure.”
[26:24] 11 sn Ahikam son of Shaphan was an official during the reign of Jehoiakim’s father, Josiah (2 Kgs 22:12, 14). He was also the father of Gedaliah who became governor of Judah after the fall of Jerusalem (Jer 40:5). The particle at the beginning of the verse is meant to contrast the actions of this man with the actions of Jehoiakim. The impression created by this verse is that it took more than just the royal officials’ opinion and the elders’ warnings to keep the priests and prophets from swaying popular opinion to put Jeremiah to death.
[26:24] 12 tn Heb “Nevertheless, the hand of Ahikam son of Shaphan was with Jeremiah so that he would not be given (even more literally, ‘so as not to give him’) into the hand of the people to kill him.” “Hand” is often used for “aid,” “support,” “influence,” “power,” “control.”
[40:6] 13 sn Mizpah. It is generally agreed that this is the Mizpah that was on the border between Benjamin and Judah. It was located approximately eight miles north of Jerusalem and had been an important military and religious center from the time of the judges on (cf., e.g., Judg 20:1-3; 1 Sam 7:5-14; 1 Sam 10:17; 1 Kgs 15:22). It was not far from Ramah which was approximately four miles north of Jerusalem.
[40:6] 14 tn Heb “So Jeremiah went to Gedaliah…and lived with him among the people who had been left in the land.” The long Hebrew sentence has been divided in two to better conform with contemporary English style.
[50:38] 15 tc Heb “a drought against her waters and they will dry up.” Several of the commentaries and modern English versions accept the emendation proposed by BHS and read here “sword” (חֶרֶב [kherev] in place of חֹרֶב [khorev], the change of only one vowel) in keeping with the rest of the context. According to BHS this reading is supported by the Lucianic and Hexaplaric recensions of the LXX (the Greek version) and the Syriac version. In this case the drying up of the waters (of the canals) is attributed to neglect brought about by war conditions. However, it is just as likely that these versions are influenced by the repetition of the word “sword” as the Hebrew and the other versions are influenced by the concept of “drying up” of the waters to read “drought.” Hence the present translation, along with the majority of modern English versions, retains the Hebrew “drought.”
[50:38] 16 tn Heb “for it is a land of idols.” The “for,” however, goes back to the whole context not just to the preceding prediction (cf. BDB 473-74 s.v. כִּי 1.c and compare usage in Isa 21:6 listed there).
[50:38] 17 tc Or “Her people boast in.” This translation is based on the reading of the majority of Hebrew
[50:38] 18 tn Heb “by the terrors.” However, as HALOT 40 s.v. אֵימָה indicates these are “images that cause terror” (a substitution of the effect for the cause). The translation of this line follows the interpretation of the majority of modern English versions and all the commentaries consulted. NIV, NCV, and God’s Word reflect a different syntax, understanding the subject to be the idols just mentioned rather than “her people” which is supplied here for the sake of clarity (the Hebrew text merely says “they.”) Following that lead, one could render “but those idols will go mad with terror.” This makes excellent sense in the context which often refers to effects (vv. 36b, d, 37c, 38b) of the war that is coming. However, that interpretation does not fit as well with the following “therefore/so,” which basically introduces a judgment or consequence after an accusation of sin.
