Yeremia 25:1
Konteks25:1 In the fourth year that Jehoiakim son of Josiah was king of Judah, the Lord spoke to Jeremiah 1 concerning all the people of Judah. (That was the same as the first year that Nebuchadnezzar was king of Babylon.) 2
Yeremia 6:1--7:34
Konteks6:1 “Run for safety, people of Benjamin!
Get out of Jerusalem! 3
Sound the trumpet 4 in Tekoa!
Light the signal fires at Beth Hakkerem!
For disaster lurks 5 out of the north;
it will bring great destruction. 6
6:2 I will destroy 7 Daughter Zion, 8
who is as delicate and defenseless as a young maiden. 9
6:3 Kings will come against it with their armies. 10
They will encamp in siege all around it. 11
Each of them will devastate the portion assigned to him. 12
6:4 They will say, 13 ‘Prepare to do battle 14 against it!
Come on! Let’s attack it at noon!’
But later they will say, 15 ‘Oh, oh! Too bad! 16
The day is almost over
and the shadows of evening are getting long.
6:5 So come on, let’s go ahead and attack it by night
and destroy all its fortified buildings.’
6:6 All of this is because 17 the Lord who rules over all 18 has said:
‘Cut down the trees around Jerusalem
and build up a siege ramp against its walls. 19
This is the city which is to be punished. 20
Nothing but oppression happens in it. 21
6:7 As a well continually pours out fresh water
so it continually pours out wicked deeds. 22
Sounds of violence and destruction echo throughout it. 23
All I see are sick and wounded people.’ 24
6:8 So 25 take warning, Jerusalem,
or I will abandon you in disgust 26
and make you desolate,
a place where no one can live.”
6:9 This is what the Lord who rules over all 27 said to me: 28
“Those who remain in Israel will be
like the grapes thoroughly gleaned 29 from a vine.
So go over them again, as though you were a grape harvester
passing your hand over the branches one last time.” 30
“Who would listen
if I spoke to them and warned them? 32
Their ears are so closed 33
that they cannot hear!
Indeed, 34 what the Lord says is offensive to them.
They do not like it at all. 35
6:11 I am as full of anger as you are, Lord, 36
I am tired of trying to hold it in.”
The Lord answered, 37
“Vent it, then, 38 on the children who play in the street
and on the young men who are gathered together.
Husbands and wives are to be included, 39
as well as the old and those who are advanced in years.
6:12 Their houses will be turned over to others
as will their fields and their wives.
For I will unleash my power 40
against those who live in this land,”
says the Lord.
6:13 “That is because, from the least important to the most important of them,
all of them are greedy for dishonest gain.
Prophets and priests alike,
all of them practice deceit.
6:14 They offer only superficial help
for the harm my people have suffered. 41
They say, ‘Everything will be all right!’
But everything is not all right! 42
6:15 Are they ashamed because they have done such shameful things?
No, they are not at all ashamed.
They do not even know how to blush!
So they will die, just like others have died. 43
They will be brought to ruin when I punish them,”
says the Lord.
6:16 The Lord said to his people: 44
“You are standing at the crossroads. So consider your path. 45
Ask where the old, reliable paths 46 are.
Ask where the path is that leads to blessing 47 and follow it.
If you do, you will find rest for your souls.”
But they said, “We will not follow it!”
“I appointed prophets as watchmen to warn you, 49 saying:
‘Pay attention to the warning sound of the trumpet!’” 50
But they said, “We will not pay attention!”
“Hear, you nations!
Be witnesses and take note of what will happen to these people. 52
6:19 Hear this, you peoples of the earth: 53
‘Take note! 54 I am about to bring disaster on these people.
It will come as punishment for their scheming. 55
For they have paid no attention to what I have said, 56
and they have rejected my law.
6:20 I take no delight 57 when they offer up to me 58
frankincense that comes from Sheba
or sweet-smelling cane imported from a faraway land.
I cannot accept the burnt offerings they bring me.
I get no pleasure from the sacrifices they offer to me.’ 59
6:21 So, this is what the Lord says:
‘I will assuredly 60 make these people stumble to their doom. 61
Parents and children will stumble and fall to their destruction. 62
Friends and neighbors will die.’
6:22 “This is what the Lord says:
‘Beware! An army 63 is coming from a land in the north.
A mighty nation is stirring into action in faraway parts of the earth.
6:23 Its soldiers are armed with bows and spears.
They are cruel and show no mercy.
They sound like the roaring sea
as they ride forth on their horses.
Lined up in formation like men going into battle
to attack you, Daughter Zion.’” 64
6:24 The people cry out, 65 “We have heard reports about them!
We have become helpless with fear! 66
Anguish grips us,
agony like that of a woman giving birth to a baby!
6:25 Do not go out into the countryside.
Do not travel on the roads.
For the enemy is there with sword in hand. 67
They are spreading terror everywhere.” 68
6:26 So I said, 69 “Oh, my dear people, 70 put on sackcloth
and roll in ashes.
Mourn with painful sobs
as though you had lost your only child.
For any moment now 71 that destructive army 72
will come against us.”
“I have made you like a metal assayer
to test my people like ore. 74
You are to observe them
and evaluate how they behave.” 75
“All of them are the most stubborn of rebels! 77
They are as hard as bronze or iron.
They go about telling lies.
They all deal corruptly.
6:29 The fiery bellows of judgment burn fiercely.
But there is too much dross to be removed. 78
The process of refining them has proved useless. 79
The wicked have not been purged.
6:30 They are regarded as ‘rejected silver’ 80
because the Lord rejects them.”
7:1 The Lord said to Jeremiah: 81 7:2 “Stand in the gate of the Lord’s temple and proclaim 82 this message: ‘Listen, all you people of Judah who have passed through these gates to worship the Lord. 83 Hear what the Lord has to say. 7:3 The Lord God of Israel who rules over all 84 says: Change the way you have been living and do what is right. 85 If you do, I will allow you to continue to live in this land. 86 7:4 Stop putting your confidence in the false belief that says, 87 “We are safe! 88 The temple of the Lord is here! The temple of the Lord is here! The temple of the Lord is here!” 89 7:5 You must change 90 the way you have been living and do what is right. You must treat one another fairly. 91 7:6 Stop oppressing foreigners who live in your land, children who have lost their fathers, and women who have lost their husbands. 92 Stop killing innocent people 93 in this land. Stop paying allegiance to 94 other gods. That will only bring about your ruin. 95 7:7 If you stop doing these things, 96 I will allow you to continue to live in this land 97 which I gave to your ancestors as a lasting possession. 98
7:8 “‘But just look at you! 99 You are putting your confidence in a false belief 100 that will not deliver you. 101 7:9 You steal. 102 You murder. You commit adultery. You lie when you swear on oath. You sacrifice to the god Baal. You pay allegiance to 103 other gods whom you have not previously known. 7:10 Then you come and stand in my presence in this temple I have claimed as my own 104 and say, “We are safe!” You think you are so safe that you go on doing all those hateful sins! 105 7:11 Do you think this temple I have claimed as my own 106 is to be a hideout for robbers? 107 You had better take note! 108 I have seen for myself what you have done! says the Lord. 7:12 So, go to the place in Shiloh where I allowed myself to be worshiped 109 in the early days. See what I did to it 110 because of the wicked things my people Israel did. 7:13 You also have done all these things, says the Lord, and I have spoken to you over and over again. 111 But you have not listened! You have refused to respond when I called you to repent! 112 7:14 So I will destroy this temple which I have claimed as my own, 113 this temple that you are trusting to protect you. I will destroy this place that I gave to you and your ancestors, 114 just like I destroyed Shiloh. 115 7:15 And I will drive you out of my sight just like I drove out your relatives, the people of Israel.’” 116
7:16 Then the Lord said, 117 “As for you, Jeremiah, 118 do not pray for these people! Do not cry out to me or petition me on their behalf! Do not plead with me to save them, 119 because I will not listen to you. 7:17 Do you see 120 what they are doing in the towns of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem? 121 7:18 Children are gathering firewood, fathers are building fires with it, and women are mixing dough to bake cakes to offer to the goddess they call the Queen of Heaven. 122 They are also pouring out drink offerings to other gods. They seem to do all this just 123 to trouble me. 7:19 But I am not really the one being troubled!” 124 says the Lord. “Rather they are bringing trouble on themselves to their own shame! 125 7:20 So,” the Lord God 126 says, “my raging fury will be poured out on this land. 127 It will be poured out on human beings and animals, on trees and crops. 128 And it will burn like a fire which cannot be extinguished.”
7:21 The Lord said to the people of Judah, 129 “The Lord God of Israel who rules over all 130 says: ‘You might as well go ahead and add the meat of your burnt offerings to that of the other sacrifices and eat it, too! 131 7:22 Consider this: 132 When I spoke to your ancestors after I brought them out of Egypt, I did not merely give them commands about burnt offerings and sacrifices. 7:23 I also explicitly commanded them: 133 “Obey me. If you do, I 134 will be your God and you will be my people. Live exactly the way I tell you 135 and things will go well with you.” 7:24 But they did not listen to me or pay any attention to me. They followed the stubborn inclinations of their own wicked hearts. They acted worse and worse instead of better. 136 7:25 From the time your ancestors departed the land of Egypt until now, 137 I sent my servants the prophets to you again and again, 138 day after day. 139 7:26 But your ancestors 140 did not listen to me nor pay attention to me. They became obstinate 141 and were more wicked than even their own forefathers.’”
7:27 Then the Lord said to me, 142 “When you tell them all this, they will not listen to you. When you call out to them, they will not respond to you. 7:28 So tell them: ‘This is a nation that has not obeyed the Lord their God and has not accepted correction. Faithfulness is nowhere to be found in it. These people do not even profess it anymore. 143 7:29 So, mourn, 144 you people of this nation. 145 Cut off your hair and throw it away. Sing a song of mourning on the hilltops. For the Lord has decided to reject 146 and forsake this generation that has provoked his wrath!’” 147
7:30 The Lord says, “I have rejected them because 148 the people of Judah have done what I consider evil. 149 They have set up their disgusting idols in the temple 150 which I have claimed for my own 151 and have defiled it. 7:31 They have also built places of worship 152 in a place called Topheth 153 in the Valley of Ben Hinnom so that they can sacrifice their sons and daughters by fire. That is something I never commanded them to do! Indeed, it never even entered my mind to command such a thing! 154 7:32 So, watch out!” 155 says the Lord. “The time will soon come when people will no longer call those places Topheth or the Valley of Ben Hinnom. But they will call that valley 156 the Valley of Slaughter and they will bury so many people in Topheth they will run out of room. 157 7:33 Then the dead bodies of these people will be left on the ground for the birds and wild animals to eat. 158 There will not be any survivors to scare them away. 7:34 I will put an end to the sounds of joy and gladness, or the glad celebration of brides and grooms throughout the towns of Judah and the streets of Jerusalem. For the whole land will become a desolate wasteland.”
[25:1] 1 tn Heb “The word was to Jeremiah.” It is implicit from the context that it was the
[25:1] 2 sn The year referred to would be 605
[6:1] 3 tn Heb “Flee for safety, people of Benjamin, out of the midst of Jerusalem.”
[6:1] sn Compare and contrast Jer 4:6. There people in the outlying areas were warned to seek safety in the fortified city of Jerusalem. Here they are told to flee it because it was about to be destroyed.
[6:1] map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.
[6:1] 4 tn Heb “ram’s horn,” but the modern equivalent is “trumpet” and is more readily understandable.
[6:1] 5 tn Heb “leans down” or “looks down.” This verb personifies destruction leaning/looking down from its window in the sky, ready to attack.
[6:1] 6 tn Heb “[It will be] a severe fracture.” The nation is pictured as a limb being fractured.
[6:1] sn This passage is emotionally charged. There are two examples of assonance or wordplay in the verse: “sound” (Heb tiq’u, “blow”), which has the same consonants as “Tekoa” (Heb uvitqoa’), and “signal fire,” which comes from the same root as “light” (Heb sÿ’u mas’et, “lift up”). There is also an example of personification where disaster is said to “lurk” (Heb “look down on”) out of the north. This gives a sense of urgency and concern for the coming destruction.
[6:2] 7 tn The verb here is another example of the Hebrew verb form that indicates the action is as good as done (a Hebrew prophetic perfect).
[6:2] 8 sn Jerusalem is personified as a young maiden who is helpless in the hands of her enemies.
[6:2] 9 tn Heb “The beautiful and delicate one I will destroy, the daughter of Zion. The English versions and commentaries are divided over the rendering of this verse because (1) there are two verbs with these same consonants, one meaning “to be like” and the other meaning “to be destroyed” (intransitive) or “to destroy” (transitive), and (2) the word rendered “beautiful” (נָוָה, navah) can be understood as a noun meaning “pasture” or as a defective writing of an adjective meaning “beautiful, comely” (נָאוָה, na’vah). Hence some render “Fair Zion, you are like a lovely pasture,” reading the verb form as an example of the old second feminine singular perfect. Although this may fit the imagery of the next verse, that rendering ignores the absence of a preposition (לְ or אֶל, lÿ or ’el, both of which can be translated “to”) that normally goes with the verb “be like” and drops the conjunction in front of the adjective “delicate.” The parallel usage of the verb in Hos 4:5 argues for the meaning “destroy.”
[6:3] 10 tn Heb “Shepherds and their flocks will come against it.” Rulers are often depicted as shepherds; see BDB 945 s.v. רָעָה 1.d(2) (cf. Jer 12:10). The translation of this verse attempts to clarify the point of this extended metaphor.
[6:3] 11 tn Heb “They will thrust [= pitch] tents around it.” The shepherd imagery has a surprisingly ominous tone. The beautiful pasture filled with shepherds grazing their sheep is in reality a city under siege from an attacking enemy.
[6:3] 12 tn Heb “They will graze each one his portion.” For the use of the verb “graze” to mean “strip” or “devastate” see BDB 945 s.v. רָעָה 2.c. For a similar use of the word normally meaning “hand” to mean portion compare 2 Sam 19:43 (19:44 HT).
[6:3] sn There is a wordplay involving “sound…in Tekoa” mentioned in the study note on “destruction” in v. 1. The Hebrew verb “they will pitch” is from the same root as the word translated “sound” (taqÿ’u [תִּקְעוּ] here and tiq’u [תִּקְעוּ] in v. 1).
[6:4] 13 tn These words are not in the text but are implicit in the connection. They are supplied in the translation for clarity.
[6:4] 14 tn Heb “Sanctify war.” This is probably an idiom from early Israel’s holy wars in which religious rites were to precede the battle.
[6:4] 15 tn These words are not in the text but are supplied in the translation for clarity. Some commentaries and English versions see these not as the words of the enemy but as those of the Israelites expressing their fear that the enemy will launch a night attack against them and further destroy them. The connection with the next verse, however, fits better with them if they are the words of the enemy.
[6:4] 16 tn Heb “Woe to us!” For the usage of this phrase see the translator’s note on 4:13. The usage of this particle here is a little exaggerated. They have lost the most advantageous time for attack but they are scarcely in a hopeless or doomed situation. The equivalent in English slang is “Bad news!”
[6:6] 17 tn Heb “For.” The translation attempts to make the connection clearer.
[6:6] 18 tn Heb “Yahweh of armies.”
[6:6] sn For an explanation of the significance of this title see the study note on 2:19.
[6:6] 19 tn Heb “Cut down its trees and build up a siege ramp against Jerusalem.” The referent has been moved forward from the second line for clarity.
[6:6] 20 tn Or “must be punished.” The meaning of this line is uncertain. The LXX reads, “Woe, city of falsehood!” The MT presents two anomalies: a masculine singular verb with a feminine singular subject in a verbal stem (Hophal) that elsewhere does not have the meaning “is to be punished.” Hence many follow the Greek which presupposes הוֹי עִיר הַשֶּׁקֶר (hoy ’ir hasheqer) instead of הִיא הָעִיר הָפְקַד (hi’ ha’ir hofqad). The Greek is the easier reading in light of the parallelism, and it would be hard to explain how the MT arose from it. KBL suggests reading a noun meaning “licentiousness” which occurs elsewhere only in Mishnaic Hebrew, hence “this is the city, the licentious one” (attributive apposition; cf. KBL 775 s.v. פֶּקֶר). Perhaps the Hophal perfect (הָפְקַד, hofÿqad) should be revocalized as a Niphal infinitive absolute (הִפָּקֹד, hippaqod); this would solve both anomalies in the MT since the Niphal is used in this nuance and the infinitive absolute can function in place of a finite verb (cf. GKC 346 §113.ee and ff). This, however, is mere speculation and is supported by no Hebrew
[6:6] 21 tn Heb “All of it oppression in its midst.”
[6:7] 22 tc Heb “As a well makes cool/fresh its water, she makes cool/fresh her wickedness.” The translation follows the reading proposed by the Masoretes (Qere) which reads a rare form of the word “well” (בַּיִר [bayir] for בְּאֵר [bÿ’er]) in place of the form written in the text (Kethib, בּוֹר [bor]), which means “cistern.” The latter noun is masculine and the pronoun “its” is feminine. If indeed בַּיִר (bayir) is a byform of בְּאֵר (be’er), which is feminine, it would agree in gender with the pronoun. It also forms a more appropriate comparison since cisterns do not hold fresh water.
[6:7] 23 tn Heb “Violence and destruction are heard in it.”
[6:7] 24 tn Heb “Sickness and wound are continually before my face.”
[6:8] 25 tn This word is not in the text but is supplied in the translation. Jeremiah uses a figure of speech (enallage) where the speaker turns from talking about someone to address him/her directly.
[6:8] 26 tn Heb “lest my soul [= I] becomes disgusted with you.”
[6:8] sn The wordplay begun with “sound…in Tekoa” in v. 1 and continued with “they will pitch” in v. 3 is concluded here with “turn away” (וּבִתְקוֹעַ תִּקְעוּ [uvitqoa’ tiq’u] in v. 1, תָּקְעוּ [taq’u] in v. 3 and תֵּקַע [teqa’] here).
[6:9] 27 tn Heb “Yahweh of armies.”
[6:9] sn For an explanation of the significance of this title see the study note on 2:19.
[6:9] 28 tn The words “to me” are not in the text but are supplied in the translation for clarity.
[6:9] 29 tn Heb “They will thoroughly glean those who are left in Israel like a vine.” That is, they will be carried off by judgment. It is not necessary to read the verb forms here as two imperatives or an infinitive absolute followed by an imperative as some English versions and commentaries do. This is an example of a third plural verb used impersonally and translated as a passive (cf. GKC 460 §144.g).
[6:9] 30 tn Heb “Pass your hand back over the branches like a grape harvester.” The translation is intended to clarify the metaphor that Jeremiah should try to rescue some from the coming destruction.
[6:10] 31 tn These words are not in the text but are supplied in the translation for clarity.
[6:10] 32 tn Or “To whom shall I speak? To whom shall I give warning? Who will listen?” Heb “Unto whom shall I speak and give warning that they may listen?”
[6:10] 33 tn Heb “are uncircumcised.”
[6:10] 35 tn Heb “They do not take pleasure in it.”
[6:11] 36 tn Heb “I am full of the wrath of the
[6:11] 37 tn These words are not in the text but are implicit from the words that follow. They are supplied in the translation for clarity.
[6:11] 38 tn Heb “Pour it out.”
[6:11] 39 tn Heb “are to be captured.”
[6:12] 40 tn Heb “I will reach out my hand.” This figure involves both comparing God to a person (anthropomorphism) and substitution (metonymy) where hand is put for the actions or exertions of the hand. A common use of “hand” is for the exertion of power or strength (cf. BDB 290 s.v. יָד 2 and 289-90 s.v. יָד 1.e(2); cf. Deut 34:12; Ps 78:42; Jer 16:21).
[6:14] 41 tn Heb “They heal [= bandage] the wound of my people lightly”; TEV “They act as if my people’s wounds were only scratches.”
[6:14] 42 tn Heb “They say, ‘Peace! Peace!’ and there is no peace!”
[6:15] 43 tn Heb “They will fall among the fallen.”
[6:16] 44 tn The words, “to his people” 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.
[6:16] 45 tn Heb “Stand at the crossroads and look.”
[6:16] 46 tn Heb “the ancient path,” i.e., the path the
[6:16] 47 tn Heb “the way of/to the good.”
[6:17] 48 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] 49 tn Heb “I appointed watchmen over you.”
[6:17] 50 tn Heb “Pay attention to the sound of the trumpet.” The word “warning” is not in the Hebrew text, but is implied.
[6:18] 51 tn These words are not in the text but are implicit from the flow of the context. They are supplied in the translation for clarity.
[6:18] 52 tn Heb “Know, congregation [or witness], what in [or against] them.” The meaning of this line is somewhat uncertain. The meaning of the noun of address in the second line (“witness,” rendered as an imperative in the translation, “Be witnesses”) is greatly debated. It is often taken as “congregation” but the lexicons and commentaries generally question the validity of reading that word since it is nowhere else applied to the nations. BDB 417 s.v. עֵדָה 3 says that the text is dubious. HALOT 747 s.v. I עֵדָה, 4 emends the text to דֵּעָה (de’ah). Several modern English versions (e.g., NIV, NCV, God’s Word) take it as the feminine singular noun “witness” (cf. BDB 729 s.v. II עֵדָה) and understand it as a collective. This solution is also proposed by J. A. Thompson (Jeremiah [NICOT], 259, n. 3) and appears to make the best sense in the context. The end of the line is very elliptical but is generally taken as either, “what I will do with/to them,” or “what is coming against them” (= “what will happen to them”) on the basis of the following context.
[6:19] 55 tn Heb “disaster on these people, the fruit of their schemes.”
[6:20] 57 tn Heb “To what purpose is it to me?” The question is rhetorical and expects a negative answer.
[6:20] 58 tn The words “when they offer up to me” are not in the text but are implicit from the following context. They are supplied in the translation for clarity.
[6:20] 59 tn Heb “Your burnt offerings are not acceptable and your sacrifices are not pleasing to me.” “The shift from “your” to “their” is an example of the figure of speech (apostrophe) where the speaker turns from talking about someone to addressing him/her directly. Though common in Hebrew style, it is not common in English. The shift to the third person in the translation is an accommodation to English style.
[6:21] 60 tn This is an attempt to render the Hebrew particle rendered “behold” joined to the first person pronoun.
[6:21] 61 tn Heb “I will put stumbling blocks in front of these people.” In this context the stumbling blocks are the invading armies.
[6:21] 62 tn The words “and fall to their destruction” are implicit in the metaphor and are supplied in the translation for clarity.
[6:23] 64 sn Jerualem is personified as a young maiden helpless before enemy attackers.
[6:24] 65 tn These words are not in the text, but, from the context, someone other than God is speaking and is speaking for and to the people (either Jeremiah or the people themselves). These words are supplied in the translation for clarity.
[6:24] 66 tn Or “We have lost our strength to do battle”; Heb “Our hands hang limp [or helpless at our sides].” According to BDB 951 s.v. רָפָה Qal.2, this idiom is used figuratively for losing heart or energy. The best example of its figurative use of loss of strength or the feeling of helplessness is in Ezek 21:12 where it appears in the context of the heart (courage) melting, the spirit sinking, and the knees becoming like water. For other examples compare 2 Sam 4:1; Zeph 3:16. In Neh 6:9 it is used literally of the builders “dropping their hands from the work” out of fear. The words “with fear” are supplied in the translation because they are implicit in the context.
[6:25] 67 tn Heb “For the enemy has a sword.”
[6:25] 68 tn Heb “Terror is all around!”
[6:26] 69 tn These words are not in the text but are implicit from the context.
[6:26] 70 tn Heb “daughter of my people.” For the translation given here see 4:11 and the translator’s note there.
[6:26] 72 tn Heb “the destroyer.”
[6:27] 73 tn These words are not in the text but are supplied in the translation for clarity. Note “I have appointed you.” Compare Jer 1:18.
[6:27] 74 tn Heb “I have made you an assayer of my people, a tester [?].” The meaning of the words translated “assayer” (בָּחוֹן, bakhon) and “tester” (מִבְצָר, mivtsar) is uncertain. The word בָּחוֹן (bakhon) can mean “tower” (cf. BDB 103 s.v. בָּחוֹן; cf. Isa 23:13 for the only other use) or “assayer” (cf. BDB 103 s.v. בָּחוֹן). The latter would be the more expected nuance because of the other uses of nouns and verbs from this root. The word מִבְצָר (mivtsar) normally means “fortress” (cf. BDB 131 s.v. מִבְצָר), but most modern commentaries and lexicons deem that nuance inappropriate here. HALOT follows a proposal that the word is to be repointed to מְבַצֵּר (mÿvatser) and derived from a root בָּצַר (batsar) meaning “to test” (cf. HALOT 143 s.v. IV בָּצַר). That proposal makes the most sense in the context, but the root appears nowhere else in the OT.
[6:27] 75 tn Heb “test their way.”
[6:28] 76 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
[6:28] 77 tn Or “arch rebels,” or “hardened rebels.” Literally “rebels of rebels.”
[6:29] 78 tn Heb “The bellows blow fiercely; the lead is consumed by the fire.” The translation tries to clarify a metaphor involving ancient metallurgy. In the ancient refining process lead was added as a flux to remove impurities from silver ore in the process of oxidizing the lead. Jeremiah says that the lead has been used up and the impurities have not been removed. The translation is based on the recognition of an otherwise unused verb root meaning “blow” (נָחַר [nakhar]; cf. BDB 1123 s.v. I חָרַר and HALOT 651 s.v. נָחַר) and the Masoretes’ suggestion that the consonants מאשׁתם be read מֵאֵשׁ תַּם (me’esh tam) rather than as מֵאֶשָּׁתָם (me’eshatam, “from their fire”) from an otherwise unattested noun אֶשָּׁה (’eshah).
[6:29] 79 tn Heb “The refiner refines them in vain.”
[6:30] 80 tn This translation is intended to reflect the wordplay in the Hebrew text where the same root word is repeated in the two lines.
[7:1] 81 tn Heb “The word which came to Jeremiah from the
[7:2] 82 tn Heb “Proclaim there…” The adverb is unnecessary in English style.
[7:2] 83 sn That is, all those who have passed through the gates of the outer court and are standing in the courtyard of the temple.
[7:3] 84 tn Heb “Yahweh of armies, the God Israel.”
[7:3] sn Compare the use of similar titles in 2:19; 5:14; 6:6 and see the explanation in the study note at 2:19. In this instance the title appears to emphasize the
[7:3] 85 tn Or “Make good your ways and your actions.” J. Bright’s translation (“Reform the whole pattern of your conduct”; Jeremiah [AB], 52) is excellent.
[7:3] 86 tn Heb “place” but this might be misunderstood to refer to the temple.
[7:4] 87 tn Heb “Stop trusting in lying words which say.”
[7:4] 88 tn The words “We are safe!” are not in the text but are supplied in the translation for clarity.
[7:4] 89 tn Heb “The temple of the
[7:5] 90 tn The infinitive absolute precedes the finite verb for emphasis.
[7:5] 91 tn Heb “you must do justice between a person and his fellow/neighbor.” The infinitive absolute precedes the finite verb for emphasis.
[7:6] 92 tn Heb “Stop oppressing foreigner, orphan, and widow.”
[7:6] 93 tn Heb “Stop shedding innocent blood.”
[7:6] 94 tn Heb “going/following after.” See the translator’s note at 2:5 for an explanation of the idiom involved here.
[7:6] 95 tn Heb “going after other gods to your ruin.”
[7:7] 96 tn The translation uses imperatives in vv. 5-6 followed by the phrase, “If you do all this,” to avoid the long and complex sentence structure of the Hebrew sentence which has a series of conditional clauses in vv. 5-6 followed by a main clause in v. 7.
[7:7] 97 tn Heb “live in this place, in this land.”
[7:7] 98 tn Heb “gave to your fathers [with reference to] from ancient times even unto forever.”
[7:8] 100 tn Heb “You are trusting in lying words.” See the similar phrase in v. 4 and the note there.
[7:8] 101 tn Heb “not profit [you].”
[7:9] 102 tn Heb “Will you steal…then say, ‘We are safe’?” Verses 9-10 are one long sentence in the Hebrew text.
[7:9] 103 tn Heb “You go/follow after.” See the translator’s note at 2:5 for an explanation of the idiom involved here.
[7:10] 104 tn Heb “over which my name is called.” For this nuance of this idiom cf. BDB 896 s.v. קָרָא Niph.2.d(4) and see the usage in 2 Sam 12:28.
[7:10] 105 tn Or “‘We are safe!’ – safe, you think, to go on doing all those hateful things.” Verses 9-10 are all one long sentence in the Hebrew text. It has been broken up for English stylistic reasons. Somewhat literally it reads “Will you steal…then come and stand…and say, ‘We are safe’ so as to/in order to do…” The Hebrew of v. 9 has a series of infinitives which emphasize the bare action of the verb without the idea of time or agent. The effect is to place a kind of staccato like emphasis on the multitude of their sins all of which are violations of one of the Ten Commandments. The final clause in v. 8 expresses purpose or result (probably result) through another infinitive. This long sentence is introduced by a marker (ה interrogative in Hebrew) introducing a rhetorical question in which God expresses his incredulity that they could do these sins, come into the temple and claim the safety of his protection, and then go right back out and commit the same sins. J. Bright (Jeremiah [AB], 52) catches the force nicely: “What? You think you can steal, murder…and then come and stand…and say, ‘We are safe…’ just so that you can go right on…”
[7:11] 106 tn Heb “over which my name is called.” For this nuance of this idiom cf. BDB 896 s.v. קָרָא Niph.2.d(4) and see the usage in 2 Sam 12:28.
[7:11] 107 tn Heb “Is this house…a den/cave of robbers in your eyes?”
[7:12] 109 tn Heb “where I caused my name to dwell.” The translation does not adequately represent the theology of the
[7:12] 110 sn The place in Shiloh…see what I did to it. This refers to the destruction of Shiloh by the Philistines circa 1050
[7:13] 111 tn This reflects a Hebrew idiom (e.g., 7:25; 11:7; 25:3, 4), i.e., an infinitive of a verb meaning “to do something early [or eagerly]” followed by an infinitive of another verb of action. Cf. HALOT 1384 s.v. שָׁכַם Hiph.2.
[7:13] 112 tn Heb “I called to you and you did not answer.” The words “to repent” are not in the text but are supplied in the translation for clarity.
[7:14] 113 tn Heb “over which my name is called.” For this nuance of this idiom cf. BDB 896 s.v. קָרָא Niph.2.d(4) and see the usage in 2 Sam 12:28.
[7:14] 114 tn Heb “fathers” (also in vv. 22, 25, 26).
[7:14] 115 tn Heb “I will do to this house which I…in which you put…and to this place which…as I did to Shiloh.”
[7:15] 116 tn Heb “the descendants of Ephraim.” However, Ephraim here stands (as it often does) for all the northern tribes of Israel.
[7:16] 117 tn The words “Then the
[7:16] 118 tn Heb “As for you.” The personal name Jeremiah is supplied in the translation for clarity.
[7:16] 119 tn The words “to save them” are not in the text but are implicit from the context. They are supplied in the translation for clarity.
[7:17] 120 tn Or “Just look at…” The question is rhetorical and expects a positive answer.
[7:17] 121 map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.
[7:18] 122 tn The form for “queen” is unusual. It is pointed (מְלֶכֶת [mÿlekhet] instead of מַלְכַּת [malkat]) as though the Masoretes wanted to read the word for “work” (מְלֶאכֶת [mÿle’khet]), i.e., the “hosts of,” a word that several Hebrew
[7:18] sn The Queen of Heaven is probably a reference to the goddess known as Ishtar in Mesopotamia, Anat in Canaan, Ashtoreth in Israel. She was the goddess of love and fertility. For further discussion, see G. L. Keown, P. J. Scalise, T. G. Smothers, Jeremiah 26-52 (WBC), 266-68.
[7:18] 123 tn Heb “to provoke me.” There is debate among grammarians and lexicographers about the nuance of the Hebrew particle לְמַעַן (lÿma’an). Some say it always denotes purpose, while others say it may denote either purpose or result, depending on the context. For example, BDB 775 s.v. לְמַעַן note 1 says that it always denotes purpose, never result, but that sometimes what is really a result is represented ironically as though it were a purpose. That explanation fits nicely here in the light of the context of the next verse. The translation is intended to reflect some of that ironic sarcasm.
[7:19] 124 tn Heb “Is it I whom they provoke?” The rhetorical question expects a negative answer which is made explicit in the translation.
[7:19] 125 tn Heb “Is it not themselves to their own shame?” The rhetorical question expects a positive answer which is made explicit in the translation.
[7:20] 126 tn Heb “Lord Yahweh.” The translation follows the ancient Jewish tradition of substituting the Hebrew word for God for the proper name Yahweh.
[7:20] 127 tn Heb “this place.” Some see this as a reference to the temple but the context has been talking about what goes on in the towns of Judah and Jerusalem and the words that follow, meant as a further explanation, are applied to the whole land.
[7:20] 128 tn Heb “the trees of/in the field and the fruit of/in the ground.”
[7:21] 129 tn The words “The
[7:21] 130 tn Heb “Yahweh of armies, the God of Israel.”
[7:21] sn See the study notes on 2:19 and 7:3.
[7:21] 131 tn Heb “Add your burnt offerings to your [other] sacrifices and eat the meat!” See the following sn for explanation. This is an example of the rhetorical use of the imperative for a sarcastic challenge. Cf. GKC 324 §110.a; cf. Amos 4:4, “Go to Bethel and sin!”
[7:21] sn All of the burnt offering, including the meat, was to be consumed on the altar (e.g., Lev 1:6-9). The meat of the other sacrifices could be eaten by the priest who offered the sacrifice and the person who brought it (e.g., Lev 7:16-18, 32). Since, however, the people of Judah were making a mockery of the sacrificial system by offering sacrifices while disobeying the law, the
[7:22] 132 tn Heb “For” but this introduces a long explanation about the relative importance of sacrifice and obedience.
[7:23] 133 tn Verses 22-23a read in Hebrew, “I did not speak with your ancestors and I did not command them when I brought them out of Egypt about words/matters concerning burnt offering and sacrifice, but I commanded them this word:” Some modern commentators have explained this passage as an evidence for the lateness of the Pentateuchal instruction regarding sacrifice or a denial that sacrifice was practiced during the period of the wilderness wandering. However, it is better explained as an example of what R. de Vaux calls a dialectical negative, i.e., “not so much this as that” or “not this without that” (Ancient Israel, 454-56). For other examples of this same argument see Isa 1:10-17; Hos 6:4-6; Amos 5:21-25.
[7:23] 134 tn Heb “Obey me and I will be.” The translation is equivalent syntactically but brings out the emphasis in the command.
[7:23] 135 tn Heb “Walk in all the way that I command you.”
[7:24] 136 tn Or “They went backward and not forward”; Heb “They were to the backward and not to the forward.” The two phrases used here appear nowhere else in the Bible and the latter preposition plus adverb elsewhere is used temporally meaning “formerly” or “previously.” The translation follows the proposal of J. Bright, Jeremiah (AB), 57. Another option is “they turned their backs to me, not their faces,” understanding the line as a variant of a line in 2:27.
[7:25] 137 tn Heb “from the day your ancestors…until this very day.” However, “day” here is idiomatic for “the present time.”
[7:25] 138 tn On the Hebrew idiom see the note at 7:13.
[7:25] 139 tc There is some textual debate about the legitimacy of this expression here. The text reads merely “day” (יוֹם, yom). BHS suggests the word is to be deleted as a dittography of the plural ending of the preceding word. The word is in the Greek and Latin, and the Syriac represents the typical idiom “day after day” as though the noun were repeated. Either יוֹם has dropped out by haplography or a ם (mem) has been left out, i.e., reading יוֹמָם (yomam, “daily”).
[7:26] 140 tn Or “But your predecessors…”; Heb “But they….” There is a confusing interchange in the pronouns in vv. 25-26 which has led to some leveling in the ancient versions and the modern English versions. What is involved here are four levels of referents, the “you” of the present generation (vv. 21-22a), the ancestors who were delivered from Egypt (i.e., the “they” of vv. 22b-24), the “you” of v. 25 which involves all the Israelites from the Exodus to the time of speaking, and the “they” of v. 26 which cannot be the ancestors of vv. 22-24 (since they cannot be more wicked than themselves) but must be an indefinite entity which is a part of the “you” of v. 25, i.e., the more immediate ancestors of the present generation. If this is kept in mind, there is no need to level the pronouns to “they” and “them” or to “you” and “your” as some of the ancient versions and modern English versions have done.
[7:26] 141 tn Heb “hardened [or made stiff] their neck.”
[7:27] 142 tn The words, “Then the
[7:28] 143 tn Heb “Faithfulness has vanished. It is cut off from their lips.”
[7:28] sn For the need for faithfulness see 5:1, 3.
[7:29] 144 tn The word “mourn” is not in the text. It is supplied in the translation for clarity to explain the significance of the words “Cut your hair and throw it away.”
[7:29] sn Cf. Mic 1:16; Job 1:20 for other examples of this practice which was involved in mourning.
[7:29] 145 tn The words, “you people of this nation” are not in the text. Many English versions supply, “Jerusalem.” The address shifts from second masculine singular addressing Jeremiah (vv. 27-28a) to second feminine singular. It causes less disruption in the flow of the context to see the nation as a whole addressed here as a feminine singular entity (as, e.g., in 2:19, 23; 3:2, 3; 6:26) than to introduce a new entity, Jerusalem.
[7:29] 146 tn The verbs here are the Hebrew scheduling perfects. For this use of the perfect see GKC 312 §106.m.
[7:29] 147 tn Heb “the generation of his wrath.”
[7:30] 148 tn The words “I have rejected them” are not in the Hebrew text, which merely says “because.” These words are supplied in the translation to show more clearly the connection to the preceding.
[7:30] 149 tn Heb “have done the evil in my eyes.”
[7:30] 150 sn Compare, e.g., 2 Kgs 21:3, 5, 7; 23:4, 6; Ezek 8:3, 5, 10-12, 16. Manasseh had desecrated the temple by building altars, cult symbols, and idols in it. Josiah had purged the temple of these pagan elements. But it is obvious from both Jeremiah and Ezekiel that they had been replaced shortly after Josiah’s death. They were a primary cause of Judah’s guilt and punishment (see beside this passage, 19:5; 32:34-35).
[7:30] 151 tn Heb “the house which is called by my name.” Cf. 7:10, 11, 14 and see the translator’s note 7:10 for the explanation for this rendering.
[7:31] 152 tn Heb “high places.”
[7:31] sn These places of worship were essentially open air shrines often located on hills or wooded heights. They were generally connected with pagan worship and equipped with altars of sacrifice and of incense and cult objects such as wooden poles and stone pillars which were symbols of the god and/or goddess worshiped at the sight. The Israelites were commanded to tear down these Canaanite places of worship (Num 33:52) but they did not do so, often taking over the site for the worship of Yahweh but even then incorporating some of the pagan cult objects and ritual into their worship of Yahweh (1 Kgs 12:31, 32; 14:23). The prophets were especially opposed to these places and to this kind of syncretism (Hos 10:8; Amos 7:9) and to the pagan worship that was often practiced at them (Jer 7:31; 19:5; 32:35).
[7:31] 153 tn Heb “the high places of [or in] Topheth.”
[7:31] sn The noun Topheth is generally explained as an artificial formation of a word related to the Aramaic word for “cooking stove” combined with the vowels for the word for “shame.” Hence, Jewish piety viewed it as a very shameful act, one that was contrary to the law (see Lev 18:21; 20:2-6). Child sacrifice was practiced during the reigns of the wicked kings Ahaz and Manasseh and apparently during Jeremiah’s day (cf. 2 Kgs 16:3; 21:6; Jer 32:35).
[7:31] 154 tn Heb “It never entered my heart.” The words “to command such a thing” do not appear in the Hebrew but are added for the sake of clarity.
[7:32] 155 tn Heb “Therefore, behold!”
[7:32] 156 tn Heb “it will no longer be said ‘Topheth’ or ‘the Valley of Ben Hinnom’ but ‘the valley of slaughter.’
[7:32] 157 tn Heb “And they will bury in Topheth so there is not room.”
[7:33] 158 tn Heb “Their dead bodies will be food for the birds of the air and the beasts of the earth.”
