Yeremia 8:6
Konteks8:6 I have listened to them very carefully, 1
but they do not speak honestly.
None of them regrets the evil he has done.
None of them says, “I have done wrong!” 2
All of them persist in their own wayward course 3
like a horse charging recklessly into battle.
Amos 1:14
Konteks1:14 So I will set fire to Rabbah’s 4 city wall; 5
fire 6 will consume her fortresses.
War cries will be heard on the day of battle; 7
a strong gale will blow on the day of the windstorm. 8
[8:6] 1 tn Heb “I have paid attention and I have listened.” This is another case of two concepts being joined by “and” where one expresses the main idea and the other acts as an adverbial or adjectival modifier (a figure called hendiadys).
[8:6] 2 tn Heb “What have I done?” The addition of the word “wrong” is implicit in the context and is supplied in the translation for clarity. The rhetorical question does not function as a denial of wrongdoing, but rather as contrite shock at one’s own wrongdoing. It is translated as a declaration for the sake of clarity.
[8:6] 3 tn Heb “each one of them turns aside into their own running course.”
[8:6] sn The wordplay begun in v. 4 is continued here. The word translated “turns aside” in the literal translation and “wayward” in the translation is from the same root as “go the wrong way,” “turn around,” “turn away from me,” “apostasy,” “turn back to me.” What God hoped for were confessions of repentance and change of behavior; what he got was denial of wrongdoing and continued turning away from him.
[1:14] 4 sn Rabbah was the Ammonite capital.
[1:14] 5 sn The city wall symbolizes the city’s defenses and security.
[1:14] 6 tn Heb “it”; the referent (the fire mentioned in the previous line) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[1:14] 7 tn Heb “with a war cry in the day of battle.”
[1:14] 8 tn Heb “with wind in the day of the windstorm.”
[1:14] sn A windstorm is a metaphor for judgment and destruction in the OT (see Isa 29:6; Jer 23:19) and ancient Near Eastern literature.
