Yeremia 2:22
Konteks2:22 You can try to wash away your guilt with a strong detergent.
You can use as much soap as you want.
But the stain of your guilt is still there for me to see,” 1
says the Lord God. 2
Yeremia 4:10
Konteks4:10 In response to all this 3 I said, “Ah, Lord God, 4 you have surely allowed 5 the people of Judah and Jerusalem 6 to be deceived by those who say, ‘You will be safe!’ 7 But in fact a sword is already at our throats.” 8
Yeremia 5:24
Konteks5:24 They do not say to themselves, 9
“Let us revere the Lord our God.
It is he who gives us the autumn rains and the spring rains at the proper time.
It is he who assures us of the regular weeks of harvest.” 10
Yeremia 13:16
Konteks13:16 Show the Lord your God the respect that is due him. 11
Do it before he brings the darkness of disaster. 12
Do it before you stumble 13 into distress
like a traveler on the mountains at twilight. 14
Do it before he turns the light of deliverance you hope for
into the darkness and gloom of exile. 15
Yeremia 20:12
Konteks20:12 O Lord who rules over all, 16 you test and prove the righteous.
You see into people’s hearts and minds. 17
Pay them back for what they have done
because I trust you to vindicate my cause.
Yeremia 22:5
Konteks22:5 But, if you do not obey these commands, I solemnly swear 18 that this palace will become a pile of rubble. I, the Lord, affirm it!” 19
Yeremia 23:24
Konteks23:24 “Do you really think anyone can hide himself
where I cannot see him?” the Lord asks. 20
“Do you not know that I am everywhere?” 21
the Lord asks. 22
Yeremia 38:18
Konteks38:18 But if you do not surrender to the officers of the king of Babylon, this city will be handed over to the Babylonians 23 and they will burn it down. You yourself will not escape from them.’” 24
Yeremia 42:15
Konteks42:15 If you people who remain in Judah do that, then listen to what the Lord says. The Lord God of Israel who rules over all 25 says, ‘If you are so determined 26 to go to Egypt that you go and settle there,
Yeremia 46:5
Konteks46:5 What do I see?” 27 says the Lord. 28
“The soldiers 29 are terrified.
They are retreating.
They have been defeated.
They are overcome with terror; 30
they desert quickly
without looking back.
Yeremia 49:4
Konteks49:4 Why do you brag about your great power?
Your power is ebbing away, 31 you rebellious people of Ammon, 32
who trust in your riches and say,
‘Who would dare to attack us?’
Yeremia 49:9
Konteks49:9 If grape pickers came to pick your grapes,
would they not leave a few grapes behind? 33
If robbers came at night,
would they not pillage only what they needed? 34
Yeremia 52:21
Konteks52:21 Each of the pillars was about 27 feet 35 high, about 18 feet 36 in circumference, three inches 37 thick, and hollow.
[2:22] 1 tn Heb “Even if you wash with natron/lye, and use much soap, your sin is a stain before me.”
[2:22] 2 tn Heb “Lord Yahweh.” For an explanation of this title see the study notes on 1:6.
[4:10] 3 tn The words “In response to all this” are not in the text but are supplied in the translation to clarify the connection.
[4:10] 4 tn Heb “Lord Yahweh.” The translation follows the ancient Jewish tradition of substituting the Hebrew word for God for the proper name Yahweh.
[4:10] 5 tn Or “You have deceived.” The Hiphil of נָשָׁא (nasha’, “to deceive”) is understood in a tolerative sense here: “to allow [someone] to be deceived.” IBHS 446 §27.5c notes that this function of the hiphil describes caused activity that is welcome to the undersubject, but unacceptable or disagreeable to a third party. Jerusalem and Judah welcomed the assurances of false prophets who deceived them. Although this was detestable to God, he allowed it.
[4:10] 6 tn Heb “this people and Jerusalem.”
[4:10] 7 tn Heb “Jerusalem, saying, ‘You will have peace’”; or “You have deceived the people of Judah and Jerusalem, saying, ‘You will have peace.’” The words “you will be safe” are, of course, those of the false prophets (cf., Jer 6:14; 8:11; 14:13; 23:16-17). It is difficult to tell whether the charge here is meant literally as the emotional outburst of the prophet (compare for example, Jer 15:18) or whether it is to be understood as a figure of speech in which a verb of direct causation is to be understood as permissive or tolerative, i.e., God did not command the prophets to say this but allowed them to do so. While it is not beyond God to use false prophets to accomplish his will (cf., e.g., 1 Kgs 22:19-23), he elsewhere in the book of Jeremiah directly denies having sent the false prophets to say such things as this (cf., e.g., Jer 14:14-15; 23:21, 32). For examples of the use of this figure of speech, see E. W. Bullinger, Figures of Speech, 571, 823 and compare Ezek 20:25. The translation given attempts to resolve the issue.
[4:10] 8 tn Heb “touches the throat/soul.” For this use of the word usually translated “soul” or “life” cf. HALOT 672 s.v. נֶפֶשׁ 1, 2 and compare the use in Ps 105:18.
[5:24] 9 tn Heb “say in their hearts.”
[5:24] 10 tn Heb “who keeps for us the weeks appointed for harvest.”
[13:16] 11 tn Heb “Give glory/respect to the
[13:16] 12 tn The words “of disaster” are not in the text. They are supplied in the translation to explain the significance of the metaphor to readers who may not be acquainted with the metaphorical use of light and darkness for salvation and joy and distress and sorrow respectively.
[13:16] sn For the metaphorical use of these terms the reader should consult O. A. Piper, “Light, Light and Darkness,” IDB 3:130-32. For the association of darkness with the Day of the
[13:16] 13 tn Heb “your feet stumble.”
[13:16] 14 tn Heb “you stumble on the mountains at twilight.” The added words are again supplied in the translation to help explain the metaphor to the uninitiated reader.
[13:16] 15 tn Heb “and while you hope for light he will turn it into deep darkness and make [it] into gloom.” The meaning of the metaphor is again explained through the addition of the “of” phrases for readers who are unacquainted with the metaphorical use of these terms.
[13:16] sn For the meaning and usage of the term “deep darkness” (צַלְמָוֶת, tsalmavet), see the notes on Jer 2:6. For the association of the term with exile see Isa 9:2 (9:1 HT). For the association of the word gloom with the Day of the
[20:12] 16 tn Heb “Yahweh of armies.”
[20:12] sn See the study note on 2:19 for explanation of this title for God.
[20:12] 17 tn Heb “
[20:12] sn This verse is almost an exact duplication of the petition in one of Jeremiah’s earlier prayers and complaints. See Jer 11:20 and notes there for explanation of the Hebrew psychology underlying the use of “kidneys and heart” here. For the thoughts expressed here see Ps 17.
[22:5] 18 sn Heb “I swear by myself.” Oaths were guaranteed by invoking the name of a god or swearing by “his life.” See Jer 12:16; 44:26. Since the
[22:5] 19 tn Heb “Oracle of the
[23:24] 20 tn Heb “Oracle of the
[23:24] 21 tn The words “Don’t you know” are not in the text. They are a way of conveying the idea that the question which reads literally “Do I not fill heaven and earth?” expects a positive answer. They follow the pattern used at the beginning of the previous two questions and continue that thought. The words are supplied in the translation for clarity.
[23:24] 22 tn Heb “Oracle of the
[38:18] 23 tn Heb “Chaldeans.” See the study note on 21:4 for explanation.
[38:18] 24 tn Heb “will not escape from their hand.”
[38:18] sn Zedekiah held out this hope of escape until the end and attempted to do so but was unsuccessful (cf. 39:4-5).
[42:15] 25 tn Heb “Yahweh of armies, the God of Israel.” See the study note on 2:19 for the translation and significance of this title.
[42:15] 26 tn Heb “set your face to.” See Jer 42:17; 44:11; Dan 11:17; 2 Kgs 12:17 (12:18 HT) for parallel usage.
[46:5] 27 tn Heb “Why do I see?” The rendering is that of J. A. Thompson (Jeremiah [NICOT], 685, 88) and J. Bright (Jeremiah [AB], 301; TEV; NIV). The question is not asking for information but is expressing surprise or wonder (see E. W. Bullinger, Figures of Speech, 951).
[46:5] sn The passage takes an unexpected turn at v. 5. After ironically summoning the Egyptian army to battle, the
[46:5] 28 tn Heb “oracle of the
[46:5] 29 tn Heb “Their soldiers.” These words are actually at the midpoint of the stanza as the subject of the third of the five verbs. However, as G. L. Keown, P. J. Scalise, and T. G. Smothers (Jeremiah 26-52 [WBC], 291) note, this is the subject of all five verbs “are terrified,” “are retreating,” “have been defeated,” “have run away,” and “have not looked back.” The subject is put at the front to avoid an unidentified “they.”
[46:5] 30 tn Heb “terror is all around.”
[49:4] 31 tn Or “Why do you brag about your valleys, about the fruitfulness of your valleys.” The meaning of the first two lines of this verse are uncertain primarily due to the ambiguity of the expression זָב עִמְקֵךְ (zav ’imqekh). The form זָב (zav) is either a Qal perfect or Qal participle of a verb meaning flow. It is common in the expression “a land flowing with milk and honey” and is also common to refer to the seminal discharge or discharge of blood which makes a man or woman unclean. BDB 264 s.v. זוּב Qal.2 sees it as an abbreviation of the idea of “flowing with milk and honey” and sees it as referring to the fertility of Ammon’s valley. However, there are no other examples of such an ellipsis. Several of the modern English versions and commentaries have taken the word עֵמֶק (’emeq) not as a reference to a valley but to the homonym cited in the note on 47:5 and see the reference here to the flowing away of Ammon’s strength. That interpretation is followed here. Instead of explaining the plural ending on עֲמָקִים (’amaqim) as being an enclitic ם (mem) as others who follow this interpretation (e.g., J. Bright, Jeremiah [AB], 325), the present translation understands the plural as a plural of amplification (cf. GKC 397-98 §124.e and compare the noun “might” in Isa 40:26).
[49:4] 32 tn Heb “apostate daughter.” This same term is applied to Israel in Jer 31:22 but seems inappropriate here to Ammon because she had never been loyal to the
[49:9] 33 tn The translation of this verse is generally based on the parallels in Obad 5. There the second line has a ה interrogative in front of it. The question can still be assumed because questions can be asked in Hebrew without a formal marker (cf. GKC 473 §150.a and BDB 519 s.v. לֹא 1.a[e] and compare usage in 2 Kgs 5:26).
[49:9] 34 tn The tense and nuance of the verb translated “pillage” are both different than the verb in Obad 5. There the verb is the imperfect of גָּנַב (ganav, “to steal”). Here the verb is the perfect of a verb which means to “ruin” or “spoil.” The English versions and commentaries, however, almost all render the verb here in much the same way as in Obad 5. The nuance must mean they only “ruin, destroy” (by stealing) only as much as they need (Heb “their sufficiency”), and the verb is used as metonymical substitute, effect for cause. The perfect must be some kind of a future perfect; “would they not have destroyed only…” The negative question is carried over by ellipsis from the preceding lines.
[52:21] 35 tn Heb “eighteen cubits.” A “cubit” was a unit of measure, approximately equivalent to a foot and a half.
[52:21] 36 tn Heb “twelve cubits.” A “cubit” was a unit of measure, approximately equivalent to a foot and a half.