Yeremia 6:28

6:28 I reported, ¹ 

“All of them are the most stubborn of rebels! ² 

They are as hard as bronze or iron.

They go about telling lies.

They all deal corruptly.

Yeremia 8:8

8:8 How can you say, “We are wise!

We have the law of the Lord”?

The truth is, ³  those who teach it ⁴  have used their writings

to make it say what it does not really mean. ⁵ 

Yeremia 27:14

27:14 Do not listen to the prophets who are telling you that you do not need to serve ⁶  the king of Babylon. For they are prophesying lies to you.

[6:28]  ¹ tn These words are not in the text but are supplied in the translation for clarity. Some takes these words to be the continuation of the Lord’s commission of Jeremiah to the task of testing them. However, since this is the evaluation, the task appears to be complete. The words are better to be taken as Jeremiah’s report after he has completed the task.

[6:28]  ² tn Or “arch rebels,” or “hardened rebels.” Literally “rebels of rebels.”

[8:8]  ³ tn Heb “Surely, behold!”

[8:8]  ⁴ tn Heb “the scribes.”

[8:8]  ⁵ tn Heb “The lying pen of the scribes have made [it] into a lie.” The translation is an attempt to make the most common interpretation of this passage understandable for the average reader. This is, however, a difficult passage whose interpretation is greatly debated and whose syntax is capable of other interpretations. The interpretation of the NJPS, “Assuredly, for naught has the pen labored, for naught the scribes,” surely deserves consideration within the context; i.e. it hasn’t done any good for the scribes to produce a reliable copy of the law, which the people have refused to follow. That interpretation has the advantage of explaining the absence of an object for the verb “make” or “labored” but creates a very unbalanced poetic couplet.

[27:14]  ⁶ tn The verb in this context is best taken as a negative obligatory imperfect. See IBHS 508 §31.4g for discussion and examples. See Exod 4:15 as an example of positive obligation.