Yeremia 3:4

3:4 Even now you say to me, ‘You are my father! ¹ 

You have been my faithful companion ever since I was young.

Yeremia 5:21

5:21 Tell them: ‘Hear this,

you foolish people who have no understanding,

who have eyes but do not discern,

who have ears but do not perceive: ² 

Yeremia 8:22

8:22 There is still medicinal ointment ³  available in Gilead!

There is still a physician there! ⁴ 

Why then have my dear people ⁵ 

not been restored to health? ⁶ 

Yeremia 23:21

23:21 I did not send those prophets.

Yet they were in a hurry to give their message. ⁷ 

I did not tell them anything.

Yet they prophesied anyway.

Yeremia 32:11

32:11 There were two copies of the deed of purchase. One was sealed and contained the order of transfer and the conditions of purchase. ⁸  The other was left unsealed.

Yeremia 35:16

35:16 Yes, ⁹  the descendants of Jonadab son of Rechab have carried out the orders that their ancestor gave them. But you people ¹⁰  have not obeyed me!

Yeremia 39:17

39:17 But I will rescue you when it happens. ¹¹  I, the Lord, affirm it! ¹²  You will not be handed over to those whom you fear. ¹³ 

Yeremia 40:16

40:16 But Gedaliah son of Ahikam said to Johanan son of Kareah, “Do not do that ¹⁴  because what you are saying about Ishmael is not true.” ¹⁵ 

Yeremia 52:10

52:10 The king of Babylon had Zedekiah’s sons put to death while Zedekiah was forced to watch. He also had all the nobles of Judah put to death there at Riblah.

[3:4]  ¹ tn Heb “Have you not just now called out to me, ‘[you are] my father!’?” The rhetorical question expects a positive answer.

[5:21]  ² tn Heb “they have eyes but they do not see, they have ears but they do not hear.”

[8:22]  ³ tn Heb “balm.” The more familiar “ointment” has been used in the translation, supplemented with the adjective “medicinal.”

[8:22]  sn This medicinal ointment (Heb “balm”) consisted of the gum or resin from a tree that grows in Egypt and Palestine and was thought to have medicinal value (see also Jer 46:11).

[8:22]  ⁴ tn Heb “Is there no balm in Gilead? Is there no physician there?” In this context the questions are rhetorical and expect a positive answer, which is made explicit in the translation.

[8:22]  sn The prophet means by this metaphor that there are still means available for healing the spiritual ills of his people, mainly repentance, obedience to the law, and sole allegiance to God, and still people available who will apply this medicine to them, namely prophets like himself.

[8:22]  ⁵ tn Heb “daughter of my people.” For the translation given here see 4:11 and the note on the phrase “dear people” there.

[8:22]  ⁶ tn Or more clearly, “restored to spiritual health”; Heb “Why then has healing not come to my dear people?”

[8:22]  sn Jeremiah is lamenting that though there is a remedy available for the recovery of his people they have not availed themselves of it.

[23:21]  ⁷ tn Heb “Yet they ran.”

[23:21]  sn The image is that of a messenger bearing news from the king. See 2 Sam 18:19-24; Jer 51:31; Isa 40:9; 52:7; Hab 2:2 (the tablet/scroll bore the message the runner was to read to the intended recipients of his message). Their message has been given in v. 17 (see notes there for cross references).

[32:11]  ⁸ tn There is some uncertainty about the precise meaning of the phrases translated “the order of transfer and the regulations.” The translation follows the interpretation suggested by J. Bright, Jeremiah (AB), 237; J. A. Thompson, Jeremiah (NICOT), 586, n. 5; and presumably BDB 349 s.v. חֹק 7, which defines the use of חֹק (khoq) here as “conditions of the deed of purchase.”

[35:16]  ⁹ tn This is an attempt to represent the particle כִּי (ki) which is probably not really intensive here (cf. BDB 472 s.v. כִּי 1.e) but is one of those causal uses of כִּי that BDB discusses on 473-74 s.v. כִּי 3.c where the cause is really the failure of the people of Judah and Jerusalem to listen/obey. I.e., the causal particle is at the beginning of the sentence so as not to interrupt the contrast drawn.

[35:16]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “this people.” However, the speech is addressed to the people of Judah and the citizens of Jerusalem, so the second person is retained in English. In addition to the stylistic difference that Hebrew exhibits in the rapid shift between persons (second to third and third to second, which have repeatedly been noted and documented from GKC 462 §144.p) there may be a subtle rhetorical reason for the shift here. The shift from direct address to indirect address which characterizes this verse and the next may reflect the Lord’s rejection of the people he is addressing. A similar shift takes place in Wisdom’s address to the simple minded, fools, and mockers in Prov 1:28-32 after the direct address of 1:22-27.

[39:17]  ¹¹ tn Heb “But I will rescue you on that day” (referring to the same day mentioned in the preceding verse).

[39:17]  ¹² tn Heb “Oracle of the Lord.”

[39:17]  ¹³ sn Some commentators see this as a reference to the princes from whose clutches Ebed-Melech delivered Jeremiah (38:7-13). However, it is clear that in this context it refers to those that he would fear when the Lord brings about the threatened disaster, i.e., the Babylonians who are attacking the city.

[40:16]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “this thing.”

[40:16]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “is false” or “is a lie.”