Yeremia 14:18

14:18 If I go out into the countryside,

I see those who have been killed in battle.

If I go into the city,

I see those who are sick because of starvation. ¹ 

For both prophet and priest go about their own business

in the land without having any real understanding.’” ² 

Yeremia 18:6

18:6 “I, the Lord, say: ³  ‘O nation of Israel, can I not deal with you as this potter deals with the clay? ⁴  In my hands, you, O nation of Israel, are just like the clay in this potter’s hand.’

Yeremia 25:29

25:29 For take note, I am already beginning to bring disaster on the city that I call my own. ⁵  So how can you possibly avoid being punished? ⁶  You will not go unpunished! For I am proclaiming war against all who live on the earth. I, the Lord who rules over all, ⁷  affirm it!’ ⁸ 

Yeremia 31:40

31:40 The whole valley where dead bodies and sacrificial ashes are thrown ⁹  and all the terraced fields ¹⁰  out to the Kidron Valley ¹¹  on the east as far north ¹²  as the Horse Gate ¹³  will be included within this city that is sacred to the Lord. ¹⁴  The city will never again be torn down or destroyed.”

Yeremia 32:8

32:8 Now it happened just as the Lord had said! My cousin Hanamel ¹⁵  came to me in the courtyard of the guardhouse. He said to me, ‘Buy my field which is at Anathoth in the territory of the tribe of Benjamin. Buy it for yourself since you are entitled as my closest relative to take possession of it for yourself.’ When this happened, I recognized that the Lord had indeed spoken to me.

Yeremia 40:9

40:9 Gedaliah, the son of Ahikam and grandson of Shaphan, took an oath so as to give them and their troops some assurance of safety. ¹⁶  “Do not be afraid to submit to the Babylonians. ¹⁷  Settle down in the land and submit to the king of Babylon. Then things will go well for you.

Yeremia 42:2

42:2 They said to him, “Please grant our request ¹⁸  and pray to the Lord your God for all those of us who are still left alive here. ¹⁹  For, as you yourself can see, there are only a few of us left out of the many there were before. ²⁰ 

Yeremia 42:4

42:4 The prophet Jeremiah answered them, “Agreed! ²¹  I will indeed pray to the Lord your God as you have asked. I will tell you everything the Lord replies in response to you. ²²  I will not keep anything back from you.”

Yeremia 48:11

48:11 “From its earliest days Moab has lived undisturbed.

It has never been taken into exile.

Its people are like wine allowed to settle undisturbed on its dregs,

never poured out from one jar to another.

They are like wine which tastes like it always did,

whose aroma has remained unchanged. ²³ 

[14:18]  ¹ tn The word “starvation” has been translated “famine” elsewhere in this passage. It is the word which refers to hunger. The “starvation” here may be war induced and not simply that which comes from famine per se. “Starvation” will cover both.

[14:18]  ² tn The meaning of these last two lines is somewhat uncertain. The meaning of these two lines is debated because of the uncertainty of the meaning of the verb rendered “go about their business” (סָחַר, sakhar) and the last phrase translated here “without any real understanding.” The verb in question most commonly occurs as a participle meaning “trader” or “merchant” (cf., e.g., Ezek 27:21, 36; Prov 31:14). It occurs as a finite verb elsewhere only in Gen 34:10, 21; 42:34 and there in a literal sense of “trading,” “doing business.” While the nuance is metaphorical here it need not extend to “journeying into” (cf., e.g., BDB 695 s.v. סָחַר Qal.1) and be seen as a reference to exile as is sometimes assumed. That seems at variance with the causal particle which introduces this clause, the tense of the verb, and the surrounding context. People are dying in the land (vv. 17-18a) not because prophet and priest have gone (the verb is the Hebrew perfect or past) into exile but because prophet and priest have no true knowledge of God or the situation. The clause translated here “without having any real understanding” (Heb “and they do not know”) is using the verb in the absolute sense indicated in BDB 394 s.v. יָדַע Qal.5 and illustrated in Isa 1:3; 56:10. For a more thorough discussion of the issues one may consult W. McKane, Jeremiah (ICC), 1:330-31.

[14:18]  sn For the “business” of the prophets and priest see 2:8; 5:13; 6:13; 8:10. In the context it refers to the prophets prophesying lies (see vv. 13-15).

[18:6]  ³ tn This phrase (literally “Oracle of the Lord”) has been handled this way on several occasions when it occurs within first person addresses where the Lord is the speaker. See, e.g., 16:16; 17:24.

[18:6]  ⁴ tn The words “deals with the clay” are not in the text. They are part of an elliptical comparison and are supplied in the translation here for clarity.

[25:29]  ⁵ tn Heb “which is called by my name.” See translator’s note on 7:10 for support.

[25:29]  ⁶ tn This is an example of a question without the formal introductory particle following a conjunctive vav introducing an opposition. (See Joüon 2:609 §161.a.) It is also an example of the use of the infinitive before the finite verb in a rhetorical question involving doubt or denial. (See Joüon 2:422-23 §123.f, and compare usage in Gen 37:8.)

[25:29]  ⁷ tn Heb “Yahweh of armies.”

[25:29]  sn See the study notes on 2:19 and 7:3 for explanation of this extended title.

[25:29]  ⁸ tn Heb “Oracle of Yahweh of armies.”

[31:40]  ⁹ sn It is generally agreed that this refers to the Hinnom Valley which was on the southwestern and southern side of the city. It was here where the people of Jerusalem had burned their children as sacrifices and where the Lord had said that there would be so many dead bodies when he punished them that they would be unable to bury all of them (cf. Jer 7:31-32). Reference here may be to those dead bodies and to the ashes of the cremated victims. This defiled place would be included within the holy city.

[31:40]  ¹⁰ tc The translation here follows the Qere and a number of Hebrew mss in reading שְׁדֵמוֹת (shÿdemot) for the otherwise unknown word שְׁרֵמוֹת (shÿremot) exhibiting the common confusion of ר (resh) and ד (dalet). The fields of Kidron are mentioned also in 2 Kgs 23:4 as the place where Josiah burned the cult objects of Baal.

[31:40]  ¹¹ sn The Kidron Valley is the valley that joins the Hinnom Valley in the southeastern corner of the city and runs northward on the east side of the city.

[31:40]  ¹² tn The words “on the east” and “north” are not in the text but are supplied in the translation to give orientation.

[31:40]  ¹³ sn The Horse Gate is mentioned in Neh 3:28 and is generally considered to have been located midway along the eastern wall just south of the temple area.

[31:40]  ¹⁴ tn The words “will be included within this city that is” are not in the text. The text merely says that “The whole valley…will be sacred to the Lord.” These words have been supplied in the translation because they are really implicit in the description of the whole area as being included within the new city plan, not just the Hinnom and terraced fields as far as the Kidron Valley.

[31:40]  sn The area that is here delimited is larger than any of the known boundaries of Jerusalem during the OT period. Again, this refers to the increase in population of the restored community (cf. 31:27).

[32:8]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “And according to the word of the Lord my cousin Hanamel came to me to the courtyard of the guardhouse and said, ‘…’” The sentence has been broken down to conform better with contemporary English style.

[40:9]  ¹⁶ tn The words “so as to give them some assurance of safety” are not in the text but are generally understood by all commentators. This would be a case of substitution of cause for effect, the oath, put for the effect, the assurance of safety (NJPS translates directly “reassured them”).

[40:9]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “Chaldeans.” See the study note on 21:4 for explanation.

[42:2]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “please let our petition fall before you.” For the idiom here see 37:20 and the translator’s note there.

[42:2]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “on behalf of us, [that is] on behalf of all this remnant.”

[42:2]  sn This refers to the small remnant of people who were left of those from Mizpah who had been taken captive by Ishmael after he had killed Gedaliah and who had been rescued from him at Gibeon. There were other Judeans still left in the land of Judah who had not been killed or deported by the Babylonians.

[42:2]  ²⁰ tn Heb “For we are left a few from the many as your eyes are seeing us.” The words “used to be” are not in the text but are implicit. These words are supplied in the translation for clarity and smoothness of English style.

[42:4]  ²¹ tn Heb “I have heard” = “I agree.” For this nuance of the verb see BDB 1034 s.v. שָׁמַע Qal.1.j and compare the usage in Gen 37:27 and Judg 11:17 listed there.

[42:4]  ²² tn Heb “all the word which the Lord will answer you.

[48:11]  ²³ tn Heb “Therefore his taste remains in him and his aroma is not changed.” The metaphor is changed into a simile in an attempt to help the reader understand the figure in the context.

[48:11]  sn The picture is that of undisturbed complacency (cf. Zeph 1:12). Because Moab had never known the discipline of exile she had remained as she always was.