Yeremia 2:5
Konteks2:5 This is what the Lord says:
“What fault could your ancestors 1 have possibly found in me
that they strayed so far from me? 2
They paid allegiance to 3 worthless idols, and so became worthless to me. 4
Yeremia 17:22
Konteks17:22 Do not carry any loads out of your houses or do any work on the Sabbath day. 5 But observe the Sabbath day as a day set apart to the Lord, 6 as I commanded your ancestors. 7
Yeremia 44:3
Konteks44:3 This happened because of the wickedness the people living there did. 8 They made me angry 9 by worshiping and offering sacrifice to 10 other gods whom neither they nor you nor your ancestors 11 previously knew. 12
[2:5] 2 tn Or “I did not wrong your ancestors in any way. Yet they went far astray from me.” Both translations are an attempt to render the rhetorical question which demands a negative answer.
[2:5] 3 tn Heb “They went/followed after.” This idiom is found most often in Deuteronomy or covenant contexts. It refers to loyalty to God and to his covenant or his commandments (e.g., 1 Kgs 14:8; 2 Chr 34:31) with the metaphor of a path or way underlying it (e.g., Deut 11:28; 28:14). To “follow other gods” was to abandon this way and this loyalty (i.e., to “abandon” or “forget” God, Judg 2:12; Hos 2:13) and to follow the customs or religious traditions of the pagan nations (e.g., 2 Kgs 17:15). The classic text on “following” God or another god is 1 Kgs 18:18, 21 where Elijah taunts the people with “halting between two opinions” whether the
[2:5] 4 tn The words “to me” are not in the Hebrew text but are implicit from the context: Heb “they followed after the worthless thing/things and became worthless.” There is an obvious wordplay on the verb “became worthless” and the noun “worthless thing,” which is probably to be understood collectively and to refer to idols as it does in Jer 8:19; 10:8; 14:22; Jonah 2:8.
[17:22] 5 tn Heb “Do not carry any loads out of your houses on the Sabbath day and do not do any work.” Translating literally might give the wrong impression that they were not to work at all. The phrase “on the Sabbath day” is, of course, intended to qualify both prohibitions.
[17:22] 6 tn Heb “But sanctify [or set apart as sacred] the Sabbath day.” The idea of setting it apart as something sacred to the
[44:3] 8 tn Heb “they.” The referent must be supplied from the preceding, i.e., Jerusalem and all the towns of Judah. “They” are those who have experienced the disaster and are distinct from those being addressed and their ancestors (44:3b).
[44:3] 9 tn Heb “thus making me angry.” However, this is a good place to break the sentence to create a shorter sentence that is more in keeping with contemporary English style.
[44:3] 10 tn Heb “by going to offer sacrifice in serving/worshiping.” The second לְ (lamed) + infinitive is epexegetical of the first (cf. IBHS 608-9 §36.2.3e).
[44:3] 11 tn Heb “fathers” (also in vv. 9, 10, 17, 21).
[44:3] 12 sn Compare Jer 19:4 for the same thought and see also 7:9.