Yeremia 2:8

2:8 Your priests ¹  did not ask, ‘Where is the Lord?’ ² 

Those responsible for teaching my law ³  did not really know me. ⁴ 

Your rulers rebelled against me.

Your prophets prophesied in the name of the god Baal. ⁵ 

They all worshiped idols that could not help them. ⁶ 

Yeremia 3:19

3:19 “I thought to myself, ⁷ 

‘Oh what a joy it would be for me to treat you like a son! ⁸ 

What a joy it would be for me to give ⁹  you a pleasant land,

the most beautiful piece of property there is in all the world!’ ¹⁰ 

I thought you would call me, ‘Father’ ¹¹ 

and would never cease being loyal to me. ¹² 

Yeremia 5:14

5:14 Because of that, ¹³  the Lord, the God who rules over all, ¹⁴  said to me, ¹⁵ 

“Because these people have spoken ¹⁶  like this, ¹⁷ 

I will make the words that I put in your mouth like fire.

And I will make this people like wood

which the fiery judgments you speak will burn up.” ¹⁸ 

Yeremia 14:9

14:9 Why should you be like someone who is helpless, ¹⁹ 

like a champion ²⁰  who cannot save anyone?

You are indeed with us, ²¹ 

and we belong to you. ²² 

Do not abandon us!”

[2:8]  ¹ tn Heb “The priests…the ones who grasp my law…the shepherds…the prophets…they…”

[2:8]  ² sn See the study note on 2:6.

[2:8]  ³ tn Heb “those who handle my law.”

[2:8]  sn The reference is likely to the priests and Levites who were responsible for teaching the law (so Jer 18:18; cf. Deut 33:10). According to Jer 8:8 it could possibly refer to the scribes who copied the law.

[2:8]  ⁴ tn Or “were not committed to me.” The Hebrew verb rendered “know” refers to more than mere intellectual knowledge. It carries also the ideas of emotional and volitional commitment as well intimacy. See for example its use in contexts like Hos 4:1; 6:6.

[2:8]  ⁵ tn Heb “by Baal.”

[2:8]  ⁶ tn Heb “and they followed after those things [the word is plural] which do not profit.” The poetic structure of the verse, four lines in which a distinct subject appears at the beginning followed by a fifth line beginning with a prepositional phrase and no distinct subject, argues that this line is climactic and refers to all four classes enumerated in the preceding lines. See W. L. Holladay, Jeremiah (Hermeneia), 1:88-89. There may be a play or pun in the Hebrew text on the name for the god Baal (בַּעַל, ba’al) and the verb “cannot help you” (Heb “do not profit”) which is spelled יַעַל (ya’al).

[3:19]  ⁷ tn Heb “I, myself, said.” See note on “I thought that she might come back to me” in 3:7.

[3:19]  ⁸ tn Heb “How I would place you among the sons.” Israel appears to be addressed here contextually as the Lord’s wife (see the next verse). The pronouns of address in the first two lines are second feminine singular as are the readings of the two verbs preferred by the Masoretes (the Qere readings) in the third and fourth lines. The verbs that are written in the text in the third and fourth lines (the Kethib readings) are second masculine plural as is the verb describing Israel’s treachery in the next verse.

[3:19]  sn The imagery here appears to be that of treating the wife as an equal heir with the sons and of giving her the best piece of property.

[3:19]  ⁹ tn The words “What a joy it would be for me to” are not in the Hebrew text but are implied in the parallel structure.

[3:19]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “the most beautiful heritage among the nations.”

[3:19]  ¹¹ tn Heb “my father.”

[3:19]  ¹² tn Heb “turn back from [following] after me.”

[5:14]  ¹³ tn Heb “Therefore.”

[5:14]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “The Lord God of armies.” See the translator’s note at 2:19.

[5:14]  sn Here the emphasis appears to be on the fact that the Lord is in charge of the enemy armies whom he will use to punish Israel for their denial of his prior warnings through the prophets.

[5:14]  ¹⁵ tn The words, “to me” are not in the text but are implicit in the connection. They are supplied in the translation for clarification.

[5:14]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “you have spoken.” The text here דַּבֶּרְכֶם (dabberkhem, “you have spoken”) is either a case of a scribal error for דַּבֶּרָם (dabberam, “they have spoken”) or an example of the rapid shift in addressee which is common in Jeremiah.

[5:14]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “this word.”

[5:14]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “like wood and it [i.e., the fire I put in your mouth] will consume them.”

[14:9]  ¹⁹ tn This is the only time this word occurs in the Hebrew Bible. The lexicons generally take it to mean “confused” or “surprised” (cf., e.g., BDB 187 s.v. דָּהַם). However, the word has been found in a letter from the seventh century in a passage where it must mean something like “be helpless”; see W. L. Holladay, Jeremiah (Hermeneia), 1:433, for discussion and bibliography of an article where this letter is dealt with.

[14:9]  ²⁰ tn Heb “mighty man, warrior.” For this nuance see 1 Sam 17:51 where it parallels a technical term used of Goliath used earlier in 17:4, 23.

[14:9]  ²¹ tn Heb “in our midst.”

[14:9]  ²² tn Heb “Your name is called upon us.” See Jer 7:10, 11, 14, 30 for this idiom with respect to the temple and see the notes on Jer 7:10.