Yeremia 6:17

6:17 The Lord said, ¹ 

“I appointed prophets as watchmen to warn you, ²  saying:

‘Pay attention to the warning sound of the trumpet!’” ³ 

But they said, “We will not pay attention!”

Yeremia 26:17

26:17 Then some of the elders of Judah ⁴  stepped forward and spoke to all the people gathered there. They said,

Yeremia 36:15

36:15 They said to him, “Please sit down and read it to us.” So Baruch sat down and read it to them. ⁵ 

[6:17]  ¹ tn These words are not in the text but are implicit in the interchange of pronouns in the Hebrew of vv. 16-17. They are supplied in the translation here for clarity.

[6:17]  ² tn Heb “I appointed watchmen over you.”

[6:17]  ³ tn Heb “Pay attention to the sound of the trumpet.” The word “warning” is not in the Hebrew text, but is implied.

[26:17]  ⁴ 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.)

[36:15]  ⁵ tn Or “‘to us personally’…to them personally”; Heb “‘in our ears’…in their ears.” Elsewhere this has been rendered “in the hearing of” or “where they could hear.” All three of those idioms sound unnatural in this context. The mere personal pronoun seems adequate.