Yeremia 2:27
Konteks2:27 They say to a wooden idol, 1 ‘You are my father.’
They say to a stone image, ‘You gave birth to me.’ 2
Yes, they have turned away from me instead of turning to me. 3
Yet when they are in trouble, they say, ‘Come and save us!’
Yeremia 18:17
Konteks18:17 I will scatter them before their enemies
like dust blowing in front of a burning east wind.
I will turn my back on them and not look favorably on them 4
when disaster strikes them.”
[2:27] 2 sn The reference to wood and stone is, of course, a pejorative reference to idols made by human hands. See the next verse where reference is made to “the gods you have made.”
[2:27] 3 tn Heb “they have turned [their] backs to me, not [their] faces.”
[18:17] 4 tc Heb “I will show them [my] back and not [my] face.” This reading follows the suggestion of some of the versions and some of the Masoretes. The MT reads “I will look on their back and not on their faces.”
[18:17] sn To “turn the back” is universally recognized as a symbol of rejection. The turning of the face toward one is the subject of the beautiful Aaronic blessing in Num 6:24-26.