Yeremia 5:12-13

5:12 “These people have denied what the Lord says. ¹ 

They have said, ‘That is not so! ² 

No harm will come to us.

We will not experience war and famine. ³ 

5:13 The prophets will prove to be full of wind. ⁴ 

The Lord has not spoken through them. ⁵ 

So, let what they say happen to them.’”

Yeremia 5:2

5:2 These people make promises in the name of the Lord. ⁶ 

But the fact is, ⁷  what they swear to is really a lie.” ⁸ 

Yeremia 36:13

36:13 Micaiah told them everything he had heard Baruch read from the scroll in the hearing of the people. ⁹ 

Yesaya 7:9

7:9 Ephraim’s leader is Samaria,

and Samaria’s leader is the son of Remaliah.

If your faith does not remain firm,

then you will not remain secure.” ¹⁰ 

[5:12]  ¹ tn Heb “have denied the Lord.” The words “What…says” are implicit in what follows.

[5:12]  ² tn Or “he will do nothing”; Heb “Not he [or it]!”

[5:12]  ³ tn Heb “we will not see the sword and famine.”

[5:13]  ⁴ tn Heb “will be wind.”

[5:13]  sn There is a wordplay on the Hebrew word translated “wind” (רוּחַ, ruakh) which also means “spirit.” The prophets spoke by inspiration of the Spirit of the Lord (cf., e.g., 2 Chr 20:14); hence the prophet was sometimes called “the man of the spirit” (cf. Hos 9:7). The people were claiming that the prophets were speaking lies and hence were full of wind, not the Spirit.

[5:13]  ⁵ tc Heb “the word is not in them.” The MT has a highly unusual form here, the Piel perfect with the definite article (הַדִּבֵּר, haddibber). It is undoubtedly best to read with the LXX (Greek version) and one Hebrew ms the article on the noun (הַדָּבָר, haddavar).

[5:2]  ⁶ tn Heb “Though they say, ‘As surely as the Lord lives.” The idea of “swear on oath” comes from the second line.

[5:2]  ⁷ tc The translation follows many Hebrew mss and the Syriac version in reading “surely” (אָכֵן, ’akhen) instead of “therefore” (לָכֵן, lakhen) in the MT.

[5:2]  tn Heb “Surely.”

[5:2]  ⁸ tn Heb “they swear falsely.”

[36:13]  ⁹ tn Heb “Micaiah reported to them all the words which he heard when Baruch read from the scroll in the ears of the people.”

[7:9]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “if you do not believe, you will not endure.” The verb forms are second plural; the Lord here addresses the entire Davidic family and court. (Verse 4 was addressed to the king.) There is a wordplay in the Hebrew text, designed to draw attention to the alternatives set before the king (cf. 1:20). “Believe” (תַאֳמִינוּ, ta’aminu) is a Hiphil form of the verb אָמָן (’aman); “endure” (תֵאָמֵנוּ, te’amenu) is a Niphal form of this same verb.