Yeremia 6:10

6:10 I answered, ¹ 

“Who would listen

if I spoke to them and warned them? ² 

Their ears are so closed ³ 

that they cannot hear!

Indeed, ⁴  what the Lord says is offensive to them.

They do not like it at all. ⁵ 

Yeremia 7:26

7:26 But your ancestors ⁶  did not listen to me nor pay attention to me. They became obstinate ⁷  and were more wicked than even their own forefathers.’”

Yeremia 7:29

7:29 So, mourn, ⁸  you people of this nation. ⁹  Cut off your hair and throw it away. Sing a song of mourning on the hilltops. For the Lord has decided to reject ¹⁰  and forsake this generation that has provoked his wrath!’” ¹¹ 

Yeremia 16:12

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. ¹² 

Yeremia 23:17

23:17 They continually say ¹³  to those who reject what the Lord has said, ¹⁴ 

‘Things will go well for you!’ ¹⁵ 

They say to all those who follow the stubborn inclinations of their own hearts,

‘Nothing bad will happen to you!’

Yeremia 31:19

31:19 For after we turned away from you we repented.

After we came to our senses ¹⁶  we beat our breasts in sorrow. ¹⁷ 

We are ashamed and humiliated

because of the disgraceful things we did previously.’ ¹⁸ 

Yeremia 39:10

39:10 But he ¹⁹  left behind in the land of Judah some of the poor people who owned nothing. He gave them fields and vineyards at that time.

[6:10]  ¹ tn These words are not in the text but are supplied in the translation for clarity.

[6:10]  ² tn Or “To whom shall I speak? To whom shall I give warning? Who will listen?” Heb “Unto whom shall I speak and give warning that they may listen?”

[6:10]  ³ tn Heb “are uncircumcised.”

[6:10]  ⁴ tn Heb “Behold!”

[6:10]  ⁵ tn Heb “They do not take pleasure in it.”

[7:26]  ⁶ tn Or “But your predecessors…”; Heb “But they….” There is a confusing interchange in the pronouns in vv. 25-26 which has led to some leveling in the ancient versions and the modern English versions. What is involved here are four levels of referents, the “you” of the present generation (vv. 21-22a), the ancestors who were delivered from Egypt (i.e., the “they” of vv. 22b-24), the “you” of v. 25 which involves all the Israelites from the Exodus to the time of speaking, and the “they” of v. 26 which cannot be the ancestors of vv. 22-24 (since they cannot be more wicked than themselves) but must be an indefinite entity which is a part of the “you” of v. 25, i.e., the more immediate ancestors of the present generation. If this is kept in mind, there is no need to level the pronouns to “they” and “them” or to “you” and “your” as some of the ancient versions and modern English versions have done.

[7:26]  ⁷ tn Heb “hardened [or made stiff] their neck.”

[7:29]  ⁸ tn The word “mourn” is not in the text. It is supplied in the translation for clarity to explain the significance of the words “Cut your hair and throw it away.”

[7:29]  sn Cf. Mic 1:16; Job 1:20 for other examples of this practice which was involved in mourning.

[7:29]  ⁹ tn The words, “you people of this nation” are not in the text. Many English versions supply, “Jerusalem.” The address shifts from second masculine singular addressing Jeremiah (vv. 27-28a) to second feminine singular. It causes less disruption in the flow of the context to see the nation as a whole addressed here as a feminine singular entity (as, e.g., in 2:19, 23; 3:2, 3; 6:26) than to introduce a new entity, Jerusalem.

[7:29]  ¹⁰ tn The verbs here are the Hebrew scheduling perfects. For this use of the perfect see GKC 312 §106.m.

[7:29]  ¹¹ tn Heb “the generation of his wrath.”

[16:12]  ¹² sn For the argumentation here compare Jer 7:23-26.

[23:17]  ¹³ tn The translation reflects an emphatic construction where the infinitive absolute follows a participle (cf. GKC 343 §113.r).

[23:17]  ¹⁴ tc The translation follows the Greek version. The Hebrew text reads, “who reject me, ‘The Lord has spoken, “Things…”’” The Greek version is to be preferred here because of (1) the parallelism of the lines “reject what the Lord has said” // “follow the stubborn inclinations of their own hearts;” (2) the preceding context which speaks of “visions of their own imaginations not of what the Lord has given them;” (3) the following context which denies that they have ever had access to the Lord’s secrets; (4) the general contexts earlier regarding false prophecy where rejection of the Lord’s word is in view (6:14 [see there v. 10]; 8:11 [see there v. 9]); (5) the meter of the poetic lines (the Hebrew meter is 3/5/4/3; the meter presupposed by the translation is 5/3/4/3 with the 3’s being their words). The difference is one of vocalization of the same consonants. The vocalization of the MT is יְהוָה מְנַאֲצַי דִּבֶּר [mÿna’atsay dibber yÿhvah]; the Hebrew Vorlage behind the Greek would be vocalized as מְנַאֲצֵי דְּבַר יְהוָה (mÿna’atsey dÿvar yÿhvah).

[23:17]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “You will have peace.” But see the note on 14:13. See also 6:14 and 8:11.

[31:19]  ¹⁶ tn For this meaning of the verb see HAL 374 s.v. יָדַע Nif 5 or W. L. Holladay, Concise Hebrew and Aramaic Lexicon, 129. REB translates “Now that I am submissive” relating the verb to a second root meaning “be submissive.” (See HALOT 375 s.v. II יָדַע and J. Barr, Comparative Philology and the Text of the Old Testament, 19-21, for evidence for this verb. Other passages cited with this nuance are Judg 8:16; Prov 10:9; Job 20:20.)

[31:19]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “I struck my thigh.” This was a gesture of grief and anguish (cf. Ezek 21:12 [21:17 HT]). The modern equivalent is “to beat the breast.”

[31:19]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “because I bear the reproach of my youth.” For the plural referents see the note at the beginning of v. 18.

[31:19]  sn The expression the disgraceful things we did in our earlier history refers to the disgrace that accompanied the sins that Israel did in her earlier years before she learned the painful lesson of submission to the Lord through the discipline of exile. For earlier references to the sins of her youth (i.e., in her earlier years as a nation) see 3:24-25; 22:21 and see also 32:29. At the time that these verses were written, neither northern Israel or Judah had expressed the kind of contrition voiced in vv. 18-19. As one commentator notes, the words here are both prophetic and instructive.

[39:10]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “Nebuzaradan, the captain of the royal guard.” However, the subject is clear from the preceding and contemporary English style would normally avoid repeating the proper name and title.