Yeremia 5:19
Konteks5:19 “So then, Jeremiah, 1 when your people 2 ask, ‘Why has the Lord our God done all this to us?’ tell them, ‘It is because you rejected me and served foreign gods in your own land. So 3 you must serve foreigners 4 in a land that does not belong to you.’
Yeremia 13:22
Konteks13:22 You will probably ask yourself, 5
‘Why have these things happened to me?
Why have I been treated like a disgraced adulteress
whose skirt has been torn off and her limbs exposed?’ 6
It is because you have sinned so much. 7
Yeremia 16:10-12
Konteks16:10 “When you tell these people about all this, 8 they will undoubtedly ask you, ‘Why has the Lord threatened us with such great disaster? What wrong have we done? What sin have we done to offend the Lord our God?’ 16:11 Then tell them that the Lord says, 9 ‘It is because your ancestors 10 rejected me and paid allegiance to 11 other gods. They have served them and worshiped them. But they have rejected me and not obeyed my law. 12 16:12 And you have acted even more wickedly than your ancestors! Each one of you has followed the stubborn inclinations of your own wicked heart and not obeyed me. 13
Yeremia 22:8-9
Konteks22:8 “‘People from other nations will pass by this city. They will ask one another, “Why has the Lord done such a thing to this great city?” 22:9 The answer will come back, “It is because they broke their covenant with the Lord their God and worshiped and served other gods.”
Yeremia 22:28
Konteks22:28 This man, Jeconiah, will be like a broken pot someone threw away.
He will be like a clay vessel 14 that no one wants. 15
Why will he and his children be forced into exile?
Why will they be thrown out into a country they know nothing about? 16
[5:19] 1 tn The word, “Jeremiah,” is not in the text but the second person address in the second half of the verse is obviously to him. The word is supplied in the translation here for clarity.
[5:19] 2 tn The MT reads the second masculine plural; this is probably a case of attraction to the second masculine plural pronoun in the preceding line. An alternative would be to understand a shift from speaking first to the people in the first half of the verse and then speaking to Jeremiah in the second half where the verb is second masculine singular. E.g., “When you [people] say, “Why…?” then you, Jeremiah, tell them…”
[5:19] 3 tn Heb “As you left me and…, so you will….” The translation was chosen so as to break up a rather long and complex sentence.
[5:19] 4 sn This is probably a case of deliberate ambiguity (double entendre). The adjective “foreigners” is used for both foreign people (so Jer 30:8; 51:51) and foreign gods (so Jer 2:25; 3:13). See also Jer 16:13 for the idea of having to serve other gods in the lands of exile.
[13:22] 5 tn Heb “say in your heart.”
[13:22] 6 tn Heb “Your skirt has been uncovered and your heels have been treated with violence.” This is the generally accepted interpretation of these phrases. See, e.g., BDB 784 s.v. עָקֵב a and HALOT 329 s.v. I חָמַס Nif. The significance of the actions here are part of the metaphor (i.e., personification) of Jerusalem as an adulteress having left her husband and have been explained in the translation for the sake of readers unfamiliar with the metaphor.
[13:22] sn The actions here were part of the treatment of an adulteress by her husband, intended to shame her. See Hos 2:3, 10 (2:5, 12 HT); Isa 47:4.
[13:22] 7 tn The translation has been restructured to break up a long sentence involving a conditional clause and an elliptical consequential clause. It has also been restructured to define more clearly what “these things” are. The Hebrew text reads: “And if you say, ‘Why have these things happened to me?’ Because of the greatness of your iniquity your skirts [= what your skirt covers] have been uncovered and your heels have been treated with violence.”
[16:10] 8 tn Heb “all these words/things.”
[16:10] sn The actions of the prophet would undoubtedly elicit questions about his behavior and he would have occasion to explain the reason.
[16:11] 9 tn These two sentences have been recast in English to break up a long Hebrew sentence and incorporate the oracular formula “says the
[16:11] 10 tn Heb “fathers” (also in vv. 12, 13, 15, 19).
[16:11] 11 tn Heb “followed after.” See the translator’s note at 2:5 for the explanation of the idiom.
[16:11] 12 tn Heb “But me they have abandoned and my law they have not kept.” The objects are thrown forward to bring out the contrast which has rhetorical force. However, such a sentence in English would be highly unnatural.
[16:12] 13 sn For the argumentation here compare Jer 7:23-26.
[22:28] 14 tn The word translated “clay vessel” occurs only here. Its meaning, however, is assured on the basis of the parallelism and on the basis of the verb root which is used for shaping or fashioning in Job 10:8. The KJV renders it as “idol,” but that word, while having the same consonants, never appears in the singular. The word is missing in the Greek version but is translated “vessel” in the Latin version. The word “clay” is supplied in the translation to clarify what sort of vessel is meant; its inclusion is justified based on the context and the use of the same verb root in Job 10:8 to refer to shaping or fashioning, which would imply clay pots or vessels.
[22:28] 15 tn Heb “Is this man, Coniah, a despised, broken vessel or a vessel that no one wants?” The question is rhetorical expecting a positive answer in agreement with the preceding oracle.
[22:28] sn For the image of the rejected, broken vessel see Jer 19:1-13 (where, however, the vessel is rejected first and then broken) and compare also the image of the linen shorts which are good for nothing in Jer 13 (see especially vv. 10-11).
[22:28] 16 sn The question “Why?” is a common rhetorical feature in the book of Jeremiah. See Jer 2:14, 31; 8:5, 19, 22; 12:1; 13:22; 14:19. In several cases like this one no answer is given, leaving a sense of exasperation and hopelessness with the sinfulness of the nation that calls forth such punishment from God.
