Yeremia 2:17-33
Konteks2:17 You have brought all this on yourself, Israel, 1
by deserting the Lord your God when he was leading you along the right path. 2
2:18 What good will it do you 3 then 4 to go down to Egypt
to seek help from the Egyptians? 5
What good will it do you 6 to go over to Assyria
to seek help from the Assyrians? 7
2:19 Your own wickedness will bring about your punishment.
Your unfaithful acts will bring down discipline on you. 8
Know, then, and realize how utterly harmful 9
it was for you to reject me, the Lord your God, 10
to show no respect for me,” 11
says the Lord God who rules over all. 12
2:20 “Indeed, 13 long ago you threw off my authority
and refused to be subject to me. 14
You said, ‘I will not serve you.’ 15
Instead, you gave yourself to other gods on every high hill
and under every green tree,
like a prostitute sprawls out before her lovers. 16
2:21 I planted you in the land
like a special vine of the very best stock.
Why in the world have you turned into something like a wild vine
that produces rotten, foul-smelling grapes? 17
2:22 You can try to wash away your guilt with a strong detergent.
You can use as much soap as you want.
But the stain of your guilt is still there for me to see,” 18
says the Lord God. 19
2:23 “How can you say, ‘I have not made myself unclean.
I have not paid allegiance to 20 the gods called Baal.’
Just look at the way you have behaved in the Valley of Hinnom! 21
Think about the things you have done there!
You are like a flighty, young female camel
that rushes here and there, crisscrossing its path. 22
2:24 You are like a wild female donkey brought up in the wilderness.
In her lust she sniffs the wind to get the scent of a male. 23
No one can hold her back when she is in heat.
None of the males need wear themselves out chasing after her.
At mating time she is easy to find. 24
2:25 Do not chase after other gods until your shoes wear out
and your throats become dry. 25
But you say, ‘It is useless for you to try and stop me
because I love those foreign gods 26 and want to pursue them!’
2:26 Just as a thief has to suffer dishonor when he is caught,
so the people of Israel 27 will suffer dishonor for what they have done. 28
So will their kings and officials,
their priests and their prophets.
2:27 They say to a wooden idol, 29 ‘You are my father.’
They say to a stone image, ‘You gave birth to me.’ 30
Yes, they have turned away from me instead of turning to me. 31
Yet when they are in trouble, they say, ‘Come and save us!’
2:28 But where are the gods you made for yourselves?
Let them save you when you are in trouble.
The sad fact is that 32 you have as many gods
as you have towns, Judah.
2:29 “Why do you try to refute me? 33
All of you have rebelled against me,”
says the Lord.
2:30 “It did no good for me to punish your people.
They did not respond to such correction.
You slaughtered your prophets
like a voracious lion.” 34
2:31 You people of this generation,
listen to what the Lord says.
“Have I been like a wilderness to you, Israel?
Have I been like a dark and dangerous land to you? 35
Why then do you 36 say, ‘We are free to wander. 37
We will not come to you any more?’
2:32 Does a young woman forget to put on her jewels?
Does a bride forget to put on her bridal attire?
But my people have forgotten me
for more days than can even be counted.
2:33 “My, how good you have become
at chasing after your lovers! 38
Why, you could even teach prostitutes a thing or two! 39
Yeremia 50:6-13
Konteks50:6 “My people have been lost sheep.
Their shepherds 40 have allow them to go astray.
They have wandered around in the mountains.
They have roamed from one mountain and hill to another. 41
They have forgotten their resting place.
50:7 All who encountered them devoured them.
Their enemies who did this said, ‘We are not liable for punishment!
For those people have sinned against the Lord, their true pasture. 42
They have sinned against the Lord in whom their ancestors 43 trusted.’ 44
50:8 “People of Judah, 45 get out of Babylon quickly!
Leave the land of Babylonia! 46
Be the first to depart! 47
Be like the male goats that lead the herd.
50:9 For I will rouse into action and bring against Babylon
a host of mighty nations 48 from the land of the north.
They will set up their battle lines against her.
They will come from the north and capture her. 49
Their arrows will be like a skilled soldier 50
who does not return from the battle empty-handed. 51
50:10 Babylonia 52 will be plundered.
Those who plunder it will take all they want,”
says the Lord. 53
50:11 “People of Babylonia, 54 you plundered my people. 55
That made you happy and glad.
You frolic about like calves in a pasture. 56
Your joyous sounds are like the neighs of a stallion. 57
50:12 But Babylonia will be put to great shame.
The land where you were born 58 will be disgraced.
Indeed, 59 Babylonia will become the least important of all nations.
It will become a dry and barren desert.
50:13 After I vent my wrath on it Babylon will be uninhabited. 60
It will be totally desolate.
All who pass by will be filled with horror and will hiss out their scorn
because of all the disasters that have happened to it. 61
[2:17] 1 tn Heb “Are you not bringing this on yourself.” The question is rhetorical and expects a positive answer.
[2:17] 2 tn Heb “at the time of leading you in the way.”
[2:18] 3 tn Heb “What to you to the way.”
[2:18] 4 tn The introductory particle וְעַתָּה (vÿ’attah, “and now”) carries a logical, not temporal, connotation here (cf. BDB 274 s.v. עַתָּה 2.b).
[2:18] 5 tn Heb “to drink water from the Shihor [a branch of the Nile].” The reference is to seeking help through political alliance with Egypt as opposed to trusting in God for help. This is an extension of the figure in 2:13.
[2:18] 6 tn Heb “What to you to the way.”
[2:18] 7 tn Heb “to drink water from the River [a common designation in biblical Hebrew for the Euphrates River].” This refers to seeking help through political alliance. See the preceding note.
[2:19] 8 tn Or “teach you a lesson”; Heb “rebuke/chide you.”
[2:19] 9 tn Heb “how evil and bitter.” The reference is to the consequences of their acts. This is a figure of speech (hendiadys) where two nouns or adjectives joined by “and” introduce a main concept modified by the other noun or adjective.
[2:19] 10 tn Heb “to leave the
[2:19] 11 tn Heb “and no fear of me was on you.”
[2:19] 12 tn Heb “the Lord Yahweh, [the God of] hosts.” For the title Lord
[2:20] 13 tn Or “For.” The Hebrew particle (כִּי, ki) here introduces the evidence that they had no respect for him.
[2:20] 14 tn Heb “you broke your yoke…tore off your yoke ropes.” The metaphor is that of a recalcitrant ox or heifer which has broken free from its master.
[2:20] 15 tc The MT of this verse has two examples of the old second feminine singular perfect, שָׁבַרְתִּי (shavarti) and נִתַּקְתִּי (nittaqti), which the Masoretes mistook for first singulars leading to the proposal to read אֶעֱבוֹר (’e’evor, “I will not transgress”) for אֶעֱבֹד (’e’evod, “I will not serve”). The latter understanding of the forms is accepted in KJV but rejected by almost all modern English versions as being less appropriate to the context than the reading accepted in the translation given here.
[2:20] 16 tn Heb “you sprawled as a prostitute on….” The translation reflects the meaning of the metaphor.
[2:21] 17 tc Heb “I planted you as a choice vine, all of it true seed. How then have you turned into a putrid thing to me, a strange [or wild] vine.” The question expresses surprise and consternation. The translation is based on a redivision of the Hebrew words סוּרֵי הַגֶּפֶן (sure haggefen) into סוֹרִיָּה גֶּפֶן (soriyyah gefen) and the recognition of a hapax legomenon סוֹרִיָּה (soriyyah) meaning “putrid, stinking thing.” See HALOT 707 s.v. סוֹרִי.
[2:22] 18 tn Heb “Even if you wash with natron/lye, and use much soap, your sin is a stain before me.”
[2:22] 19 tn Heb “Lord Yahweh.” For an explanation of this title see the study notes on 1:6.
[2:23] 20 tn Heb “I have not gone/followed after.” See the translator’s note on 2:5 for the meaning and usage of this idiom.
[2:23] 21 tn Heb “Look at your way in the valley.” The valley is an obvious reference to the Valley of Hinnom where Baal and Molech were worshiped and child sacrifice was practiced.
[2:23] 22 sn The metaphor is intended to depict Israel’s lack of clear direction and purpose without the
[2:24] 23 tn The words “to get the scent of a male” are implicit and are supplied in the translation for clarification.
[2:24] 24 sn The metaphor is intended to depict Israel’s irrepressible desire to worship other gods.
[2:25] 25 tn Heb “Refrain your feet from being bare and your throat from being dry/thirsty.”
[2:25] 26 tn Heb “It is useless! No!” For this idiom, see Jer 18:12; NEB “No; I am desperate.”
[2:26] 27 tn Heb “house of Israel.”
[2:26] 28 tn The words “for what they have done” are implicit in the comparison and are supplied in the translation for clarification.
[2:27] 29 tn Heb “wood…stone…”
[2:27] 30 sn The reference to wood and stone is, of course, a pejorative reference to idols made by human hands. See the next verse where reference is made to “the gods you have made.”
[2:27] 31 tn Heb “they have turned [their] backs to me, not [their] faces.”
[2:28] 32 tn This is an attempt to render the Hebrew particle כִּי (ki, “for, indeed”) contextually.
[2:29] 33 sn This is still part of the
[2:30] 34 tn Heb “Your sword devoured your prophets like a destroying lion.” However, the reference to the sword in this and many similar idioms is merely idiomatic for death by violent means.
[2:31] 35 tn Heb “a land of the darkness of Yah [= thick or deep darkness].” The idea of danger is an added connotation of the word in this context.
[2:31] 37 tn Or more freely, “free to do as we please.” There is some debate about the meaning of this verb (רוּד, rud) because its usage is rare and its meaning is debated in the few passages where it does occur. The key to its meaning may rest in the emended text (reading וְרַדְתִּי [vÿradti] for וְיָרַדְתִּי [vÿyaradti]) in Judg 11:37 where it refers to the roaming of Jephthah’s daughter on the mountains of Israel.
[2:33] 38 tn Heb “How good you have made your ways to seek love.”
[2:33] 39 tn Heb “so that even the wicked women you teach your ways.”
[50:6] 40 sn The shepherds are the priests, prophets, and leaders who have led Israel into idolatry (2:8).
[50:6] 41 sn The allusion here, if it is not merely a part of the metaphor of the wandering sheep, is to the worship of the false gods on the high hills (2:20, 3:2).
[50:7] 42 tn This same Hebrew phrase “the habitation of righteousness” is found in Jer 31:23 in relation to Jerusalem in the future as “the place where righteousness dwells.” Here, however, it refers to the same entity as “their resting place” in v. 6 and means “true pasture.” For the meaning of “pasture” for the word נָוֶה (naveh) see 2 Sam 7:8 and especially Isa 65:10 where it is parallel with “resting place” for the flocks. For the meaning of “true” for צֶדֶק (tsedeq) see BDB 841 s.v. צֶדֶק 1. For the interpretation adopted here see G. L. Keown, P. J. Scalise, T. G. Smothers, Jeremiah 26-52 (WBC), 365. The same basic interpretation is reflected in NRSV, NJPS, and God’s Word.
[50:7] 44 sn These two verses appear to be a poetical summary of the argument of Jer 2 where the nation is accused of abandoning its loyalty to God and worshiping idols. Whereas those who tried to devour Israel were liable for punishment when Israel was loyal to God (2:3), the enemies of Israel who destroyed them (i.e., the Babylonians [but also the Assyrians], 50:17) argue that they are not liable for punishment because the Israelites have sinned against the
[50:8] 45 tn The words “People of Judah” are not in the Hebrew text but are implicit from the context. They have been supplied in the translation to clarify the subject of the address.
[50:8] 46 tn Heb “the land of the Chaldeans.” See the study note on 21:4 for explanation.
[50:8] 47 tn The words “Be the first to leave” are not in the text but spell out the significance of the simile that follows. They have been supplied in the translation for clarity.
[50:9] 48 sn Some of these are named in Jer 51:27-28.
[50:9] 49 tn Heb “She will be captured from there (i.e., from the north).”
[50:9] 50 tc Read Heb ַָמשְׂכִּיל (moskil) with a number of Hebrew
[50:9] 51 tn Or more freely, “Their arrows will be as successful at hitting their mark // as a skilled soldier always returns from battle with plunder.”
[50:9] sn I.e., none of the arrows misses its mark.
[50:10] 52 tn Heb “The land of the Chaldeans.” See the study note on 21:4 for explanation.
[50:10] 53 tn Heb “Oracle of the
[50:11] 54 tn The words “People of Babylonia” are not in the text but they are implicit in the reference in the next verse to “your mother” which refers to the city and the land as the mother of its people. These words have been supplied in the translation to identify the referent of “you” and have been added for clarity.
[50:11] 55 tn Or “my land.” The word can refer to either the land (Jer 2:7, 16:8) or the nation/people (Jer 12:7, 8, 9).
[50:11] 56 tc Reading כְּעֶגְלֵי דֶשֶׁא (kÿ’egle deshe’) or כְּעֵגֶל בַּדֶּשֶׁא (kÿ’egel baddeshe’) as presupposed by the Greek and Latin versions (cf. BHS note d-d) in place of the reading in the Hebrew text כְּעֶגְלָה דָשָׁה (kÿ’eglah dashah, “like a heifer treading out the grain”) which does not fit the verb (פּוּשׁ [push] = “spring about” [BDB 807 s.v. I פּוּשׁ] or “paw the ground” [KBL 756 s.v. פּוּשׁ] and compare Mal 3:20 for usage). This variant reading is also accepted by J. Bright, J. A. Thompson, F. B. Huey, and G. L. Keown, P. J. Scalise, T. G. Smothers.
[50:11] 57 tn Heb “Though you rejoice, though you exult, you who have plundered my heritage, though you frolic like calves in a pasture and neigh like stallions, your mother…” The particle כִּי (ki) introduces a concessive protasis according to BDB 473 s.v. כִּי 2.c(a). Many interpret the particle as introducing the grounds for the next verse, i.e., “because…” The translation here will reflect the concessive by beginning the next verse with “But.” The long protasis has been broken up and restructured to better conform with contemporary English style.
[50:12] 58 tn Heb “Your mother will be utterly shamed, the one who gave you birth…” The word “mother” and the parallel term “the one who gave you birth” are used metaphorically for the land of Babylonia. For the figure compare the usage in Isa 50:1 (Judah) and Hos 2:2, 5 (2:4, 7 HT) and see BDB 52 s.v. אֵם 2 and 408 s.v. יָלַד Qal.2.c.
[50:12] 59 tn Heb “Behold.” For the use of this particle see the translator’s note on 1:6.
[50:13] 60 tn Heb “From [or Because of] the wrath of the
[50:13] 61 sn Compare Jer 49:17 and the study note there and see also the study notes on 18:16 and 19:8.
