Yeremia 2:31

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? ¹ 

Why then do you ²  say, ‘We are free to wander. ³ 

We will not come to you any more?’

Yeremia 3:18

3:18 At that time ⁴  the nation of Judah and the nation of Israel will be reunited. ⁵  Together they will come back from a land in the north to the land that I gave to your ancestors as a permanent possession. ” ⁶ 

Yeremia 5:3

5:3 Lord, I know you look for faithfulness. ⁷ 

But even when you punish these people, they feel no remorse. ⁸ 

Even when you nearly destroy them, they refuse to be corrected.

They have become as hardheaded as a rock. ⁹ 

They refuse to change their ways. ¹⁰ 

Yeremia 8:2

8:2 They will be spread out and exposed to the sun, the moon and the stars. ¹¹  These are things they ¹²  adored and served, things to which they paid allegiance, ¹³  from which they sought guidance, and worshiped. The bones of these people ¹⁴  will never be regathered and reburied. They will be like manure used to fertilize the ground. ¹⁵ 

Yeremia 16:5

16:5 “Moreover I, the Lord, tell you: ¹⁶  ‘Do not go into a house where they are having a funeral meal. Do not go there to mourn and express your sorrow for them. For I have stopped showing them my good favor, ¹⁷  my love, and my compassion. I, the Lord, so affirm it! ¹⁸ 

Yeremia 18:11

18:11 So now, tell the people of Judah and the citizens of Jerusalem ¹⁹  this: The Lord says, ‘I am preparing to bring disaster on you! I am making plans to punish you. ²⁰  So, every one of you, stop the evil things you have been doing. ²¹  Correct the way you have been living and do what is right.’ ²² 

Yeremia 22:30

22:30 The Lord says,

“Enroll this man in the register as though he were childless. ²³ 

Enroll him as a man who will not enjoy success during his lifetime.

For none of his sons will succeed in occupying the throne of David

or ever succeed in ruling over Judah.”

Yeremia 25:5

25:5 He said through them, ²⁴  ‘Each of you must turn from your wicked ways and stop doing the evil things you are doing. ²⁵  If you do, I will allow you to continue to live here in the land that I gave to you and your ancestors as a lasting possession. ²⁶ 

Yeremia 26:19

26:19 King Hezekiah and all the people of Judah did not put him to death, did they? Did not Hezekiah show reverence for the Lord and seek the Lord’s favor? ²⁷  Did not ²⁸  the Lord forgo destroying them ²⁹  as he threatened he would? But we are on the verge of bringing great disaster on ourselves.” ³⁰ 

Yeremia 27:19

27:19 For the Lord who rules over all ³¹  has already spoken about the two bronze pillars, ³²  the large bronze basin called ‘The Sea,’ ³³  and the movable bronze stands. ³⁴  He has already spoken about the rest of the valuable articles that are left in this city.

Yeremia 33:10

33:10 “I, the Lord, say: ³⁵  ‘You and your people are saying ³⁶  about this place, “It lies in ruins. There are no people or animals in it.” That is true. The towns of Judah and the streets of Jerusalem ³⁷  will soon be desolate, uninhabited either by people or by animals. But happy sounds will again be heard in these places.

Yeremia 37:21

37:21 Then King Zedekiah ordered that Jeremiah be committed to the courtyard of the guardhouse. He also ordered that a loaf of bread ³⁸  be given to him every day from the baker’s street until all the bread in the city was gone. So Jeremiah was kept ³⁹  in the courtyard of the guardhouse.

Yeremia 40:15

40:15 Then Johanan son of Kareah spoke privately to Gedaliah there at Mizpah, “Let me go and kill Ishmael the son of Nethaniah before anyone knows about it. Otherwise he will kill you ⁴⁰  and all the Judeans who have rallied around you will be scattered. Then what remains of Judah will disappear.”

[2:31]  ¹ 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]  ² tn Heb “my people.”

[2:31]  ³ 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.

[3:18]  ⁴ tn Heb “In those days.”

[3:18]  ⁵ tn Heb “the house of Judah will walk together with the house of Israel.”

[3:18]  ⁶ tn Heb “the land that I gave your [fore]fathers as an inheritance.”

[5:3]  ⁷ tn Heb “O Lord, are your eyes not to faithfulness?” The question is rhetorical and expects a positive answer.

[5:3]  ⁸ tn Commentaries and lexicons debate the meaning of the verb here. The MT is pointed as though from a verb meaning “to writhe in anguish or contrition” (חוּל [khul]; see, e.g., BDB 297 s.v. חוּל 2.c), but some commentaries and lexicons repoint the text as though from a verb meaning “to be sick,” thus “to feel pain” (חָלָה [khalah]; see, e.g., HALOT 304 s.v. חָלָה 3). The former appears more appropriate to the context.

[5:3]  ⁹ tn Heb “They made their faces as hard as a rock.”

[5:3]  ¹⁰ tn Or “to repent”; Heb “to turn back.”

[8:2]  ¹¹ tc MT, 4QJer^a and LXX read “the sun and the moon and all the host of heaven,” but 4QJer^c reads “the sun and all the stars.”

[8:2]  tn Heb “the host of heaven.”

[8:2]  ¹² tn Heb “the sun, moon, and host of heaven which they…”

[8:2]  ¹³ tn Heb “followed after.” See the translator’s note at 2:5 for the idiom.

[8:2]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “they will not” but the referent is far enough removed that it might be ambiguous.

[8:2]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “like dung/manure on the surface of the ground.”

[16:5]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “For thus says the Lord…”

[16:5]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “my peace.” The Hebrew word שְׁלוֹמִי (shÿlomi) can be translated “peace, prosperity” or “well-being” (referring to wholeness or health of body and soul).

[16:5]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “Oracle of the Lord.”

[18:11]  ¹⁹ map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.

[18:11]  ²⁰ sn Heb “I am forming disaster and making plans against you.” The word translated “forming” is the same as that for “potter,” so there is a wordplay taking the reader back to v. 5. They are in his hands like the clay in the hands of the potter. Since they have not been pliable he forms new plans. He still offers them opportunity to repent; but their response is predictable.

[18:11]  ²¹ tn Heb “Turn, each one from his wicked way.” See v. 8.

[18:11]  ²² tn Or “Make good your ways and your actions.” See the same expression in 7:3, 5.

[22:30]  ²³ tn Heb “Write this man childless.” For the explanation see the study note. The word translated “childless” has spawned some debate because Jeconiah was in fact not childless. There is record from both the Bible and ancient Near Eastern texts that he had children (see, e.g., 1 Chr 3:17). G. R. Driver, “Linguistic and Textual Problems: Jeremiah,” JQR 28 (1937-38): 115, has suggested that the word both here and in Lev 20:20-21 should be translated “stripped of honor.” While that would relieve some of the difficulties here, the word definitely means “childless” in Gen 15:2 and also in Sir 16:3 where it is contrasted with having godless children. The issue is not one of childlessness but of having “one of his sons” succeed to the Davidic throne. The term for “one of his sons” is literally “from his seed a man” and the word “seed” is the same one that is used to refer to his “children” who were forced into exile with him (v. 28).

[22:30]  sn The figure here is of registering a person on an official roll of citizens, etc. (cf. Num 11:26; 1 Chr 4:41; Ps 87:6). Here it probably refers to the “king list” of dynastic succession. While Jeconiah did have children (2 Chr 3:17) none of them ever returned to Judah or ruled over it. What is being denied here is his own succession and that of his immediate sons contrary to the popular hopes expressed in Jer 28:4. His grandson Zerubbabel did return to Judah, became governor (Hag 1:1; 2:2), and along with the high priest Joshua was responsible for rebuilding the second temple (e.g., Ezra 5:2).

[25:5]  ²⁴ tn Heb “saying.” The infinitive goes back to “he sent”; i.e., “he sent, saying.”

[25:5]  ²⁵ tn Heb “Turn [masc. pl.] each person from his wicked way and from the evil of your [masc. pl.] doings.” See the same demand in 23:22.

[25:5]  ²⁶ tn Heb “gave to you and your fathers with reference to from ancient times even unto forever.” See the same idiom in 7:7.

[26:19]  ²⁷ tn This Hebrew idiom (חָלָה פָּנִים, khalah panim) is often explained in terms of “stroking” or “patting the face” of someone, seeking to gain his favor. It is never used in a literal sense and is found in contexts of prayer (Exod 32:11; Ps 119:158), worship (Zech 8:21-22), humble submission (2 Chr 3:12), or amendment of behavior (Dan 9:13). All were true to one extent or another of Hezekiah.

[26:19]  ²⁸ tn The he interrogative (הַ)with the negative governs all three of the verbs, the perfect and the two vav (ו) consecutive imperfects that follow it. The next clause has disjunctive word order and introduces a contrast. The question expects a positive answer.

[26:19]  ²⁹ tn For the translation of the terms involved here see the translator’s note on 18:8.

[26:19]  ³⁰ tn Or “great harm to ourselves.” The word “disaster” (or “harm”) is the same one that has been translated “destroying” in the preceding line and in vv. 3 and 13.

[27:19]  ³¹ tn Heb “Yahweh of armies.” For the significance of this title see the note at 2:19.

[27:19]  ³² tn The words “two bronze” are not in the text. They have been supplied in the translation to help identify the referent.

[27:19]  sn The two bronze pillars are the two free-standing pillars at the entrance of the temple (Jakin and Boaz) described in 1 Kgs 7:15-22.

[27:19]  ³³ tn The words “the large bronze basin called” are not in the text. They have been supplied in the translation to help identify the referent.

[27:19]  sn “The Sea” refers to the large basin that was mounted on twelve bronze bulls. It stood in front of the temple and contained water for the priests to bathe themselves (2 Chr 4:6; cf. Exod 30:17-21). It is described in 1 Kgs 7:23-26.

[27:19]  ³⁴ tn The words “movable bronze” are not in the text. They have been supplied in the translation to help identify the referent. See the study note for further reference.

[27:19]  sn The bronze stands are the movable bronze stands described in 1 Kgs 7:27-37. They were the stands for the bronze basins described in 1 Kgs 7:38-39. According to 2 Chr 4:6 the latter were used to wash the burnt offerings. The priests would have been very concerned especially about the big bronze basin and the movable stands and their basins because they involved their ritual purification apart from which they would have had no sanctity. These articles (or furnishings in this case) were broken up and the bronze carried away to Babylon along with all the other bronze, silver, and gold furnishings when the temple and the city were destroyed in 587 b.c. (see 2 Kgs 25:13-15; Jer 52:17-19).

[33:10]  ³⁵ tn Heb “Thus says the Lord.” For the first person rendering see the translator’s note at the end of v. 2.

[33:10]  sn The phrase here is parallel to that in v. 4 and introduces a further amplification of the “great and mysterious things” of v. 3.

[33:10]  ³⁶ tn Heb “You.” However, the pronoun is plural as in 32:36, 43. See the translator’s note on 32:36.

[33:10]  ³⁷ map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.

[37:21]  ³⁸ tn Heb “And/Then King Zedekiah ordered and they committed Jeremiah to [or deposited…in] the courtyard of the guardhouse and they gave to him a loaf of bread.” The translation has been structured the way it has to avoid the ambiguous “they” which is the impersonal subject which is sometimes rendered passive in English (cf. GKC 460 §144.d). This text also has another example of the vav (ו) + infinitive absolute continuing a finite verbal form (וְנָתֹן [vÿnaton] = “and they gave”; cf. GKC 345 §113.y and see Jer 32:44; 36:23).

[37:21]  ³⁹ tn Heb “Stayed/Remained/ Lived.”

[40:15]  ⁴⁰ tn Heb “Why should he kill you?” However, this is one of those cases listed in BDB 554 s.v. מָה 4.d(b) where it introduces a question introducing rhetorically the reason why something should not be done. In cases like this BDB notes that it approximates the meaning “lest” and is translated in Greek by μήποτε (mhpote) or μή (mh) as the Greek version does here. Hence it is separated from the preceding and translated “otherwise” for the sake of English style.