Yeremia 1:6

1:6 I answered, “Oh, Lord God, ¹  I really ²  do not know how to speak well enough for that, ³  for I am too young.” ⁴ 

Yeremia 1:12

1:12 Then the Lord said, “You have observed correctly. This means ⁵  I am watching to make sure my threats are carried out.” ⁶ 

Yeremia 2:29

2:29 “Why do you try to refute me? ⁷ 

All of you have rebelled against me,”

says the Lord.

Yeremia 4:21

4:21 “How long must I see the enemy’s battle flags

and hear the military signals of their bugles?” ⁸ 

Yeremia 4:25

4:25 I looked and saw that there were no more people, ⁹ 

and that all the birds in the sky had flown away.

Yeremia 11:2

11:2 “Hear ¹⁰  the terms of the covenant ¹¹  I made with Israel ¹²  and pass them on ¹³  to the people of Judah and the citizens of Jerusalem. ¹⁴ 

Yeremia 16:8

16:8 “‘Do not go to a house where people are feasting and sit down to eat and drink with them either.

Yeremia 17:15

17:15 Listen to what they are saying to me. ¹⁵ 

They are saying, “Where are the things the Lord threatens us with?

Come on! Let’s see them happen!” ¹⁶ 

Yeremia 22:12

22:12 For he will die in the country where they took him as a captive. He will never see this land again.” ¹⁷ 

Yeremia 28:2

28:2 “The Lord God of Israel who rules over all ¹⁸  says, ‘I will break the yoke of servitude ¹⁹  to the king of Babylon.

Yeremia 29:15

29:15 “You say, ‘The Lord has raised up prophets of good news ²⁰  for us here in Babylon.’

Yeremia 35:12

35:12 Then the Lord spoke to Jeremiah.

Yeremia 37:16

37:16 So ²¹  Jeremiah was put in prison in a cell in the dungeon in Jonathan’s house. ²²  He ²³  was kept there for a long time.

Yeremia 39:11

39:11 Now King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon had issued orders concerning Jeremiah. He had passed them on through Nebuzaradan, the captain of his royal guard, ²⁴ 

Yeremia 43:7

43:7 They went on to Egypt ²⁵  because they refused to obey the Lord, and came to Tahpanhes. ²⁶ 

Yeremia 46:4

46:4 Harness the horses to the chariots!

Mount your horses!

Put on your helmets and take your positions!

Sharpen you spears!

Put on your armor!

Yeremia 46:24

46:24 Poor dear Egypt ²⁷  will be put to shame.

She will be handed over to the people from the north.”

Yeremia 49:6

49:6 Yet in days to come

I will reverse Ammon’s ill fortune.” ²⁸ 

says the Lord. ²⁹ 

Yeremia 49:15

49:15 The Lord says to Edom, ³⁰ 

“I will certainly make you small among nations.

I will make you despised by all humankind.

Yeremia 49:39

49:39 “Yet in days to come

I will reverse Elam’s ill fortune.” ³¹ 

says the Lord. ³² 

[1:6]  ¹ tn Heb “Lord Yahweh.”

[1:6]  sn The translation follows the ancient Jewish tradition of substituting the Hebrew word for “God” for the proper name Yahweh in this compound name. See the study note on v. 2 for the substitution of “Lord” in a similar kind of situation.

[1:6]  ² tn Heb “Behold, I do not know how to speak.” The particle הִנֵּה (hinneh, commonly rendered “behold”) often introduces a speech and calls special attention to a specific word or the statement as a whole (see IBHS 675-78 §40.2.1).

[1:6]  ³ tn The words “well enough for that” are implicit and are supplied in the translation for clarity. Jeremiah is not claiming an absolute inability to speak.

[1:6]  ⁴ tn Heb “I am a boy/youth.” The Hebrew word can refer to an infant (Exod 2:6), a young boy (1 Sam 2:11), a teenager (Gen 21:12), or a young man (2 Sam 18:5). The translation is deliberately ambiguous since it is unclear how old Jeremiah was when he was called to begin prophesying.

[1:12]  ⁵ tn This represents the Hebrew particle (כִּי, ki) that is normally rendered “for” or “because.” The particle here is meant to give the significance of the vision, not the rationale for the statement “you have observed correctly.”

[1:12]  ⁶ tn Heb “watching over my word to do it.”

[1:12]  sn There is a play on the Hebrew word for “almond tree” (שָׁקֵד, shaqed), which blossoms in January/February and is the harbinger of spring, and the Hebrew word for “watching” (שֹׁקֵד, shoqed), which refers to someone watching over someone or something in preparation for action. The play on words announces the certainty and imminence of the Lord carrying out the covenant curses of Lev 26 and Deut 28 threatened by the earlier prophets.

[2:29]  ⁷ sn This is still part of the Lord’s case against Israel. See 2:9 for the use of the same Hebrew verb. The Lord here denies their counter claims that they do not deserve to be punished.

[4:21]  ⁸ tn Heb “the sound of ram’s horns,” but the modern equivalent is “bugles” and is more readily understandable.

[4:25]  ⁹ tn Heb “there was no man/human being.”

[11:2]  ¹⁰ tn The form is a second masculine plural which is followed in the MT of vv. 2-3 by second masculine singulars. This plus the fact that the whole clause “listen to the terms of this covenant” is nearly repeated at the end of v. 3 has led many modern scholars to delete the whole clause (cf., e.g. W. McKane, Jeremiah [ICC], 1:236-37). However, this only leads to further adjustments in the rest of the verse which are difficult to justify. The form has also led to a good deal of speculation about who these others were that are initially addressed here. The juxtaposition of second plural and singular forms has a precedent in Deuteronomy, where the nation is sometimes addressed with the plural and at other times with a collective singular.

[11:2]  ¹¹ sn The covenant I made with Israel. Apart from the legal profession and Jewish and Christian tradition the term “covenant” may not be too familiar. There were essentially three kinds of “covenants” that were referred to under the Hebrew term used here: (1) “Parity treaties” or “covenants” between equals in which each party pledged itself to certain agreed upon stipulations and took an oath to it in the name of their god or gods (cf. Gen 31:44-54); (2) “Suzerain-vassal treaties” or “covenants” in which a great king pledged himself to protect the vassal’s realm and his right to rule over his own domain in exchange for sovereignty over the vassal, including the rendering of absolute loyalty and submission to the great king’s demands spelled out in detailed stipulations; (3) “Covenants of grant” in which a great king granted to a loyal servant or vassal king permanent title to a piece of land or dominion over a specified realm in recognition of past service. It is generally recognized that the Mosaic covenant which is being referred to here is of the second type and that it resembles in kind the ancient Near Eastern suzerain-vassal treaties. These treaties typically contained the following elements: (1) a preamble identifying the great king (cf. Exod 20:2a; Deut 1:1-4); (2) a historical prologue summarizing the great king’s past benefactions as motivation for future loyalty (cf. Exod 20:2b; Deut 1:5–4:43); (3) the primary stipulation of absolute and unconditional loyalty (cf. Exod 20:3-8; Deut 5:1–11:32); (4) specific stipulations governing future relations between the vassal and the great king and the vassal’s relation to other vassals (cf. Exod 20:22–23:33; Deut 12:1–26:15); (5) the invoking of curses on the vassal for disloyalty and the pronouncing of blessing on him for loyalty (cf. Lev 26; Deut 27-28); (6) the invoking of witnesses to the covenant, often the great king’s and the vassal’s gods (cf. Deut 30:19; 31:28 where the reference is to the “heavens and the earth” as enduring witnesses). It is also generally agreed that the majority of the threats of punishment by the prophets refer to the invocation of these covenant curses for disloyalty to the basic stipulation, that of absolute loyalty.

[11:2]  ¹² tn Heb “this covenant.” The referent of “this” is left dangling until it is further defined in vv. 3-4. Leaving it undefined in the translation may lead to confusion hence the anticipatory nature of the demonstrative is spelled out explicitly in the translation.

[11:2]  ¹³ tn Heb “and speak/tell them.” However, the translation chosen is more appropriate to modern idiom.

[11:2]  ¹⁴ tn Or “those living in Jerusalem”; Heb “inhabitants of.”

[11:2]  map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.

[17:15]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “Behold, they are saying to me.”

[17:15]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “Where is the word of the Lord. Let it come [or come to pass] please.”

[22:12]  ¹⁷ sn This prophecy was fulfilled according to 2 Kgs 23:34.

[28:2]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “Yahweh of armies, the God of Israel.” See the study notes on 2:19 and 7:3 for the explanation of this title.

[28:2]  ¹⁹ sn See the study note on 27:2 for this figure. Hananiah is given the same title “the prophet” as Jeremiah throughout the chapter and claims to speak with the same authority (compare v. 2a with 27:21a). He even speaks like the true prophet; the verb form “I will break” is in the “prophetic perfect” emphasizing certitude. His message here is a contradiction of Jeremiah’s message recorded in the preceding chapter (compare especially v. 3 with 27:16, 19-22 and v. 4 with 22:24-28). The people and the priests are thus confronted with a choice of whom to believe. Who is the “true” prophet and who is the “false” one? Only fulfillment of their prophecies will prove which is which (see Deut 18:21-22).

[29:15]  ²⁰ tn The words “of good news” are not in the text but are implicit from the context. They are supplied in the translation for clarity.

[37:16]  ²¹ tn The particle כִּי (ki) here is probably temporal, introducing the protasis to the main clause in v. 17 (cf. BDB 473 s.v. כִּי 2.a). However, that would make the translation too long, so the present translation does what several modern English versions do here, though there are no parallels listed for this nuance in the lexicons.

[37:16]  ²² tn Heb “Jeremiah came into the house of the pit [= “dungeon,” BDB 92 s.v. בּוֹר 4 and compare usage in Gen 40:15; 41:14] and into the cells [this word occurs only here; it is defined on the basis of the cognate languages (cf. BDB 333 s.v. חָנוּת)].” The sentence has been restructured and some words supplied in the translation to better relate it to the preceding context.

[37:16]  ²³ tn Heb “Jeremiah.” But the proper name is somewhat redundant and unnecessary in a modern translation.

[39:11]  ²⁴ tn Heb “And Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon commanded concerning Jeremiah by the hand of Nebuzaradan, the captain of the guard, saying.” Since Nebuchadnezzar is at Riblah (v. 6) and Nebuzaradan and the other officers named in the next verse are at Jerusalem, the vav consecutive imperfect should again be translated as a pluperfect (see 38:2 and the translator’s notes there for explanation). For the meaning of “through” or “through the agency of” for the phrase בְּיַד (bÿyad) see BDB 391 s.v. יָד 5.d. The sentence has been broken up to better conform with contemporary English style.

[43:7]  ²⁵ sn This had been their intention all along (41:17). Though they consulted the Lord and promised to do what he told them whether they agreed with it or not (42:5-6), it is clear that they had no intention of doing so. Jeremiah could see that (42:19-22). They refused to believe that the Lord had really said what Jeremiah told them (43:4) and feared reprisal from the Babylonians more than any potential destruction from the Lord (43:3).

[43:7]  ²⁶ sn Tahpanhes was an important fortress city on the northern border of Egypt in the northeastern Nile delta. It is generally equated with the Greek city of Daphne. It has already been mentioned in 2:16 in conjunction with Memphis (the Hebrew name is “Noph”) as a source of soldiers who did violence to the Israelites in the past.

[46:24]  ²⁷ tn Heb “Daughter Egypt.” See the translator’s note on v. 19.

[49:6]  ²⁸ tn See Jer 29:14; 30:3 and the translator’s note on 29:14 for the idiom used here.

[49:6]  ²⁹ tn Heb “Oracle of the Lord.”

[49:15]  ³⁰ tn The words “The Lord says to Edom” are not in the text. They have been supplied in the translation to mark the shift from the address of the messenger summoning the nations to prepare to do battle against Edom. The Lord is clearly the speaker (see the end of v. 16) and Edom is clearly the addressee. Such sudden shifts are common in Hebrew poetry, particularly Hebrew prophecy, but are extremely disruptive to a modern reader trying to follow the argument of a passage. TEV adds “The Lord said” and then retains third person throughout. CEV puts all of vv. 14-16 in the second person and uses indirect discourse in v. 15.

[49:39]  ³¹ tn See Jer 29:14; 30:3 and the translator’s note on 29:14 for the idiom used here.

[49:39]  sn See a similar note on the reversal of Moab’s fortunes in Jer 48:47 and compare also 46:26 for a future restoration of Egypt.

[49:39]  ³² tn Heb “Oracle of the Lord.”