Yeremia 9:4

9:4 Everyone must be on his guard around his friends.

He must not even trust any of his relatives. ¹ 

For every one of them will find some way to cheat him. ² 

And all of his friends will tell lies about him.

Yeremia 9:7

9:7 Therefore the Lord who rules over all says, ³ 

“I will now purify them in the fires of affliction ⁴  and test them.

The wickedness of my dear people ⁵  has left me no choice.

What else can I do? ⁶ 

Yeremia 9:9

9:9 I will certainly punish them for doing such things!” says the Lord.

“I will certainly bring retribution on such a nation as this!” ⁷ 

Yeremia 9:11

9:11 The Lord said, ⁸ 

“I will make Jerusalem ⁹  a heap of ruins.

Jackals will make their home there. ¹⁰ 

I will destroy the towns of Judah

so that no one will be able to live in them.”

Yeremia 9:14-15

9:14 Instead they have followed the stubborn inclinations of their own hearts. They have paid allegiance to ¹¹  the gods called Baal, ¹²  as their fathers ¹³  taught them to do. 9:15 So then, listen to what I, the Lord God of Israel who rules over all, ¹⁴  say. ¹⁵  ‘I will make these people eat the bitter food of suffering and drink the poison water of judgment. ¹⁶ 

Yeremia 9:23

9:23 ¹⁷ The Lord says,

“Wise people should not boast that they are wise.

Powerful people should not boast that they are powerful. ¹⁸ 

Rich people should not boast that they are rich. ¹⁹ 

Yeremia 9:25

9:25 The Lord says, “Watch out! ²⁰  The time is soon coming when I will punish all those who are circumcised only in the flesh. ²¹ 

Yeremia 51:32

51:32 They will report that the fords have been captured,

the reed marshes have been burned,

the soldiers are terrified. ²² 

[9:4]  ¹ tn Heb “Be on your guard…Do not trust.” The verbs are second masculine plural of direct address and there seems no way to translate literally and not give the mistaken impression that Jeremiah is being addressed. This is another example of the tendency in Hebrew style to turn from description to direct address (a figure of speech called apostrophe).

[9:4]  ² tn Heb “cheating, each of them will cheat.”

[9:4]  sn There is perhaps an intentional pun and allusion here to Gen 27:36 and the wordplay on the name Jacob there. The text here reads עָקוֹב יַעְקֹב (’aqob ya’qob).

[9:7]  ³ tn Heb “Yahweh of armies.”

[9:7]  sn For the significance of this title see the notes at 2:19 and 7:3.

[9:7]  ⁴ tn Heb “I will refine/purify them.” The words “in the fires of affliction” are supplied in the translation to give clarity to the metaphor.

[9:7]  ⁵ tn Heb “daughter of my people.” For the translation given here see 4:11 and the note on the phrase “dear people” there.

[9:7]  ⁶ tc Heb “For how else shall I deal because of the wickedness of the daughter of my people.” The MT does not have the word “wickedness.” The word, however, is read in the Greek version. This is probably a case of a word dropping out because of its similarities to the consonants preceding or following it (i.e., haplography). The word “wickedness” (רַעַת, ra’at) has dropped out before the words “my dear people” (בַּת־עַמִּי, bat-’ammi). The causal nuance which is normal for מִפְּנֵי (mippÿne) does not make sense without some word like this, and the combination of רַעַת מִפְּנֵי (mippÿne ra’at) does occur in Jer 7:12 and one very like it occurs in Jer 26:3.

[9:9]  ⁷ tn Heb “Should I not punish them…? Should I not bring retribution…?” The rhetorical questions function as emphatic declarations.

[9:9]  sn See 5:9, 29. This is somewhat of a refrain at the end of a catalog of Judah’s sins.

[9:11]  ⁸ tn The words “the Lord said” are not in the text, but it is obvious from the content that he is the speaker. These words are supplied in the translation for clarity.

[9:11]  ⁹ map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.

[9:11]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “a heap of ruins, a haunt for jackals.”

[9:14]  ¹¹ tn Heb “they have gone/followed after.” See the translator’s note at 2:5 for the idiom.

[9:14]  ¹² tn Heb “the Baals,” referring either to the pagan gods called “Baals” or the images of Baal (so NLT).

[9:14]  ¹³ tn Or “forefathers,” or “ancestors.” Here the referent could be the immediate parents or, by their example, more distant ancestors.

[9:15]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “Yahweh of armies, the God of Israel.”

[9:15]  sn See the study notes on 2:9 and 7:3.

[9:15]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “Therefore, thus says the Lord…” The person is shifted from third to first to better conform with English style.

[9:15]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “I will feed this people wormwood and make them drink poison water.” “Wormwood” and “poison water” are not to be understood literally here but are symbolic of judgment and suffering. See, e.g., BDB 542 s.v. לַעֲנָה.

[9:23]  ¹⁷ sn It is not always clear why verses were placed in their present position in the editorial process of collecting Jeremiah’s sermons and the words the Lord spoke to him (see Jer 36:4, 32 for reference to two of these collections). Here it is probable that vv. 23-26 were added as a further answer to the question raised in v. 12.

[9:23]  ¹⁸ tn Or “Strong people should not brag that they are strong.”

[9:23]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “…in their wisdom…in their power…in their riches.”

[9:25]  ²⁰ tn Heb “Behold!”

[9:25]  ²¹ tn Heb “punish all who are circumcised in the flesh.” The translation is contextually motivated to better bring out the contrast that follows.

[51:32]  ²² tn The words “They will report that” have been supplied in the translation to show the linkage between this verse and the previous one. This is still a part of the report of the messengers. The meaning of the word translated “reed marshes” has seemed inappropriate to some commentators because it elsewhere refers to “pools.” However, all the commentaries consulted agree that the word here refers to the reedy marshes that surrounded Babylon. (For a fuller discussion regarding the meaning of this word and attempts to connect it with a word meaning “fortress” see W. L. Holladay, Jeremiah [Hermeneia], 2:427.)

[51:32]  sn Babylon was a city covering over a thousand acres. The city itself was surrounded by two walls, the inner one 21 feet (6.3 m) thick and the outer 11 feet (3.3 m) thick. To provide further security, walls were built to the south and east of the city and irrigation ditches and canals north and east of the city were flooded to prevent direct access to the city. The reference to “fords” here is to the river crossings of the Euphrates River which ran right through the city and the crossings at the ditches and canals. The reference to the “reed marshes” refers to the low lying areas around the city where reeds grew. The burning of the reed marshes would deprive any fugitives of places to hide and flush out any who had already escaped.