Yeremia 2:17

2:17 You have brought all this on yourself, Israel, ¹ 

by deserting the Lord your God when he was leading you along the right path. ² 

Yeremia 4:14

4:14 “Oh people of Jerusalem, purify your hearts from evil ³ 

so that you may yet be delivered.

How long will you continue to harbor up

wicked schemes within you?

Yeremia 4:26

4:26 I looked and saw that the fruitful land had become a desert

and that all of the cities had been laid in ruins.

The Lord had brought this all about

because of his blazing anger. ⁴ 

Yeremia 6:27

6:27 The Lord said to me, ⁵ 

“I have made you like a metal assayer

to test my people like ore. ⁶ 

You are to observe them

and evaluate how they behave.” ⁷ 

Yeremia 7:3

7:3 The Lord God of Israel who rules over all ⁸  says: Change the way you have been living and do what is right. ⁹  If you do, I will allow you to continue to live in this land. ¹⁰ 

Yeremia 14:4

14:4 They are dismayed because the ground is cracked ¹¹ 

because there has been no rain in the land.

The farmers, too, are dismayed

and bury their faces in their hands.

Yeremia 26:17

26:17 Then some of the elders of Judah ¹²  stepped forward and spoke to all the people gathered there. They said,

Yeremia 26:23

26:23 and they brought Uriah back from there. ¹³  They took him to King Jehoiakim, who had him executed and had his body thrown into the burial place of the common people. ¹⁴ 

Yeremia 31:27

Israel and Judah Will Be Repopulated

31:27 “Indeed, a time is coming,” ¹⁵  says the Lord, ¹⁶  “when I will cause people and animals to sprout up in the lands of Israel and Judah. ¹⁷ 

Yeremia 33:17

33:17 For I, the Lord, promise: “David will never lack a successor to occupy ¹⁸  the throne over the nation of Israel. ¹⁹ 

Yeremia 35:10

35:10 We have lived in tents. We have obeyed our ancestor Jonadab and done exactly as he commanded us. ²⁰ 

Yeremia 48:27

48:27 For did not you people of Moab laugh at the people of Israel?

Did you think that they were nothing but thieves, ²¹ 

that you shook your head in contempt ²² 

every time you talked about them? ²³ 

Yeremia 49:26

49:26 For her young men will fall in her city squares.

All her soldiers will be destroyed at that time,”

says the Lord who rules over all. ²⁴ 

Yeremia 51:13

51:13 “You who live along the rivers of Babylon, ²⁵ 

the time of your end has come.

You who are rich in plundered treasure,

it is time for your lives to be cut off. ²⁶ 

Yeremia 51:28

51:28 Prepare the nations to do battle against her. ²⁷ 

Prepare the kings of the Medes.

Prepare their governors and all their leaders. ²⁸ 

Prepare all the countries they rule to do battle against her. ²⁹ 

Yeremia 51:49

51:49 “Babylon must fall ³⁰ 

because of the Israelites she has killed, ³¹ 

just as the earth’s mortally wounded fell

because of Babylon. ³² 

Yeremia 51:51

51:51 ‘We ³³  are ashamed because we have been insulted. ³⁴ 

Our faces show our disgrace. ³⁵ 

For foreigners have invaded

the holy rooms ³⁶  in the Lord’s temple.’

Yeremia 51:60

51:60 Jeremiah recorded ³⁷  on one scroll all the judgments ³⁸  that would come upon Babylon – all these prophecies ³⁹  written about Babylon.

[2:17]  ¹ tn Heb “Are you not bringing this on yourself.” The question is rhetorical and expects a positive answer.

[2:17]  ² tn Heb “at the time of leading you in the way.”

[4:14]  ³ tn Heb “Oh, Jerusalem, wash your heart from evil.”

[4:26]  ⁴ tn Heb “because of the Lord, because of his blazing anger.”

[6:27]  ⁵ tn These words are not in the text but are supplied in the translation for clarity. Note “I have appointed you.” Compare Jer 1:18.

[6:27]  ⁶ tn Heb “I have made you an assayer of my people, a tester [?].” The meaning of the words translated “assayer” (בָּחוֹן, bakhon) and “tester” (מִבְצָר, mivtsar) is uncertain. The word בָּחוֹן (bakhon) can mean “tower” (cf. BDB 103 s.v. בָּחוֹן; cf. Isa 23:13 for the only other use) or “assayer” (cf. BDB 103 s.v. בָּחוֹן). The latter would be the more expected nuance because of the other uses of nouns and verbs from this root. The word מִבְצָר (mivtsar) normally means “fortress” (cf. BDB 131 s.v. מִבְצָר), but most modern commentaries and lexicons deem that nuance inappropriate here. HALOT follows a proposal that the word is to be repointed to מְבַצֵּר (mÿvatser) and derived from a root בָּצַר (batsar) meaning “to test” (cf. HALOT 143 s.v. IV בָּצַר). That proposal makes the most sense in the context, but the root appears nowhere else in the OT.

[6:27]  ⁷ tn Heb “test their way.”

[7:3]  ⁸ tn Heb “Yahweh of armies, the God Israel.”

[7:3]  sn Compare the use of similar titles in 2:19; 5:14; 6:6 and see the explanation in the study note at 2:19. In this instance the title appears to emphasize the Lord as the heavenly King who drags his disobedient vassals into court (and threatens them with judgment).

[7:3]  ⁹ tn Or “Make good your ways and your actions.” J. Bright’s translation (“Reform the whole pattern of your conduct”; Jeremiah [AB], 52) is excellent.

[7:3]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “place” but this might be misunderstood to refer to the temple.

[14:4]  ¹¹ tn For the use of the verb “is cracked” here see BDB 369 s.v. חָתַת Qal.1 and compare the usage in Jer 51:56 where it refers to broken bows. The form is a relative clause without relative pronoun (cf., GKC 486-87 §155.f). The sentence as a whole is related to the preceding through a particle meaning “because of” or “on account of.” Hence the subject and verb have been repeated to make the connection.

[26:17]  ¹² tn Heb “elders of the land.”

[26:17]  sn The elders were important land-owning citizens, separate from the “heads” or leaders of the tribes, the officers and the judges. They were very influential in both the judicial, political, and religious proceedings of the cities and the state. (See, e.g., Josh 24:1; 2 Sam 19:11; 2 Kgs 23:1 for elders of Israel/Judah, and Deut 21:1-9; Ruth 4:1-2 for elders of the cities.)

[26:23]  ¹³ tn Heb “from Egypt.”

[26:23]  sn A standard part of international treaties at this time was a stipulation of mutual extradition of political prisoners. Jehoiakim was a vassal of Pharaoh Necho (see 2 Kgs 23:34-35) and undoubtedly had such a treaty with him.

[26:23]  ¹⁴ sn The burial place of the common people was the public burial grounds, distinct from the family tombs, where poor people without any distinction were buried. It was in the Kidron Valley east of Jerusalem (2 Kgs 23:6). The intent of reporting this is to show the ruthlessness of Jehoiakim.

[31:27]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “Behold days are coming!” The particle “Behold” is probably used here to emphasize the reality of a fact. See the translator’s note on 1:6.

[31:27]  sn This same expression is found in the introduction to the Book of Consolation (Jer 30:1-3) and in the introduction to the promise of a new covenant (or covenant; 31:31). In all three passages it is emphasized that the conditions apply to both Israel and Judah. The Lord will reverse their fortunes and restore them to their lands (30:3), increase their numbers and build them up (31:27-28), and make a new covenant with them involving forgiveness of sins (31:31-34).

[31:27]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “Oracle of the Lord.”

[31:27]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “Behold, the days are coming and [= when] I will sow the house of Israel and the house of Judah with the seed of people and of animals.” For the significance of the metaphor see the study note.

[31:27]  sn The metaphor used here presupposes that drawn in Hos 2:23 (2:25 HT) which is in turn based on the wordplay with Jezreel (meaning “God sows”) in Hos 2:22. The figure is that of plant seed in the ground which produces a crop; here what are sown are the “seeds of people and animals.” For a similar picture of the repopulating of Israel and Judah see Ezek 36:10-11. The promise here reverses the scene of devastation that Jeremiah had depicted apocalyptically and hyperbolically in Jer 4:23-29 as judgment for Judah’s sins.

[33:17]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “a man shall not be cut off to David [i.e., belonging to the Davidic line] sitting on the throne of the house of Israel.”

[33:17]  ¹⁹ sn It should be noted once again that the reference is to all Israel, not just to Judah (cf. Jer 23:5-6; 30:9).

[35:10]  ²⁰ tn Heb “We have obeyed and done according to all which our ancestor Jonadab commanded us.”

[48:27]  ²¹ tn Heb “were they caught among thieves?”

[48:27]  ²² tn Heb “that you shook yourself.” But see the same verb in 18:16 in the active voice with the object “head” in a very similar context of contempt or derision.

[48:27]  ²³ tc The reading here presupposes the emendation of דְבָרֶיךָ (dÿvarekha, “your words”) to דַבֶּרְךָ (dabberkha, “your speaking”), suggested by BHS (cf. fn c) on the basis of one of the Greek versions (Symmachus). For the idiom cf. BDB 191 s.v. דַּי 2.c.α.

[49:26]  ²⁴ tn Heb “Oracle of Yahweh of armies.” For this title for God see the study note on 2:19.

[51:13]  ²⁵ sn Babylon was situated on the Euphrates River and was surrounded by canals (also called “rivers”).

[51:13]  ²⁶ tn Heb “You who live upon [or beside] many waters, rich in treasures, your end has come, the cubit of your cutting off.” The sentence has been restructured and paraphrased to provide clarity for the average reader. The meaning of the last phrase is debated. For a discussion of the two options see W. L. Holladay, Jeremiah (Hermeneia), 2:423. Most modern commentaries and English versions see an allusion to the figure in Isa 38:12 where the reference is to the end of life compared to a tapestry which is suddenly cut off from the loom. Hence, NRSV renders the last line as “the thread of your life is cut” and TEV renders “its thread of life is cut.” That idea is accepted also in HALOT 141 s.v. בצע Qal.1.

[51:28]  ²⁷ tn See the first translator’s note on 51:27 and compare also 6:4 and the study note there.

[51:28]  ²⁸ tn See the translator’s note at 51:23 for the rendering of the terms here.

[51:28]  ²⁹ tc The Hebrew text has a confusing switch of possessive pronouns in this verse: “Consecrate the nations against her, the kings of the Medes, her governors and prefects, and all the land of his dominion.” This has led to a number of different resolutions. The LXX (the Greek version) renders the word “kings” as singular and levels all the pronouns to “his,” paraphrasing the final clause and combining it with “king of the Medes” to read “and of all the earth.” The Latin Vulgate levels them all to the third masculine plural, and this is followed by the present translation as well as a number of other modern English versions (NASB, NIV, NRSV, TEV, NCV). The ASV and NJPS understand the feminine to refer to Media, i.e., “her governors and all her prefects” and understand the masculine in the last line to be a distributive singular referring back to the lands each of the governors and prefects ruled over. This is probably correct but since governors and prefects refer to officials appointed over provinces and vassal states it amounts to much the same interpretation that the Latin Vulgate, the present translation, and other modern English versions have given.

[51:49]  ³⁰ tn The infinitive construct is used here to indicate what is about to take place. See IBHS 610 §36.2.3g.

[51:49]  ³¹ tn Heb “the slain of Israel.” The words “because of” are supplied in the translation for clarification. The preceding context makes it clear that Babylon would be judged for its atrocities against Israel (see especially 50:33-34; 51:10, 24, 35).

[51:49]  ³² tn The juxtaposition of גַם…גַם (gam...gam), often “both…and,” here indicates correspondence. See BDB 169 s.v. גַּם 4. Appropriately Babylon will fall slain just as her victims, including God’s covenant people, did.

[51:51]  ³³ sn The exiles lament the way they have been humiliated.

[51:51]  ³⁴ tn Heb “we have heard an insult.”

[51:51]  ³⁵ tn Heb “disgrace covers our face.”

[51:51]  ³⁶ tn Or “holy places, sanctuaries.”

[51:60]  ³⁷ tn Or “wrote.”

[51:60]  ³⁸ tn Or “disaster”; or “calamity.”

[51:60]  ³⁹ tn Heb “words” (or “things”).