2:8 Your priests 1 did not ask, ‘Where is the Lord?’ 2
Those responsible for teaching my law 3 did not really know me. 4
Your rulers rebelled against me.
Your prophets prophesied in the name of the god Baal. 5
They all worshiped idols that could not help them. 6
3:19 “I thought to myself, 7
‘Oh what a joy it would be for me to treat you like a son! 8
What a joy it would be for me to give 9 you a pleasant land,
the most beautiful piece of property there is in all the world!’ 10
I thought you would call me, ‘Father’ 11
and would never cease being loyal to me. 12
6:16 The Lord said to his people: 13
“You are standing at the crossroads. So consider your path. 14
Ask where the old, reliable paths 15 are.
Ask where the path is that leads to blessing 16 and follow it.
If you do, you will find rest for your souls.”
But they said, “We will not follow it!”
8:6 I have listened to them very carefully, 17
but they do not speak honestly.
None of them regrets the evil he has done.
None of them says, “I have done wrong!” 18
All of them persist in their own wayward course 19
like a horse charging recklessly into battle.
14:10 Then the Lord spoke about these people. 23
“They truly 24 love to go astray.
They cannot keep from running away from me. 25
So I am not pleased with them.
I will now call to mind 26 the wrongs they have done 27
and punish them for their sins.”
1 tn Heb “The priests…the ones who grasp my law…the shepherds…the prophets…they…”
2 sn See the study note on 2:6.
3 tn Heb “those who handle my law.”
4 tn Or “were not committed to me.” The Hebrew verb rendered “know” refers to more than mere intellectual knowledge. It carries also the ideas of emotional and volitional commitment as well intimacy. See for example its use in contexts like Hos 4:1; 6:6.
5 tn Heb “by Baal.”
6 tn Heb “and they followed after those things [the word is plural] which do not profit.” The poetic structure of the verse, four lines in which a distinct subject appears at the beginning followed by a fifth line beginning with a prepositional phrase and no distinct subject, argues that this line is climactic and refers to all four classes enumerated in the preceding lines. See W. L. Holladay, Jeremiah (Hermeneia), 1:88-89. There may be a play or pun in the Hebrew text on the name for the god Baal (בַּעַל, ba’al) and the verb “cannot help you” (Heb “do not profit”) which is spelled יַעַל (ya’al).
7 tn Heb “I, myself, said.” See note on “I thought that she might come back to me” in 3:7.
8 tn Heb “How I would place you among the sons.” Israel appears to be addressed here contextually as the
9 tn The words “What a joy it would be for me to” are not in the Hebrew text but are implied in the parallel structure.
10 tn Heb “the most beautiful heritage among the nations.”
11 tn Heb “my father.”
12 tn Heb “turn back from [following] after me.”
13 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.
14 tn Heb “Stand at the crossroads and look.”
15 tn Heb “the ancient path,” i.e., the path the
16 tn Heb “the way of/to the good.”
17 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).
18 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.
19 tn Heb “each one of them turns aside into their own running course.”
20 tn Or “They have repeated the evil actions of….”
21 tn Heb “have walked/followed after.” See the translator’s note at 2:5 for the idiom.
22 tn Heb “house of Israel and house of Judah.”
23 tn Heb “Thus said the
24 tn It is difficult to be certain how the particle כֵּן (ken, usually used for “thus, so”) is to be rendered here. BDB 485 s.v. כֵּן 1.b says that the force sometimes has to be elicited from the general context and points back to the line of v. 9. IHBS 666 §39.3.4e states that when there is no specific comparative clause preceding a general comparison is intended. They point to Judg 5:31 as a parallel. Ps 127:2 may also be an example if כִּי (ki) is not to be read (cf. BHS fn). “Truly” seemed the best way to render this idea in contemporary English.
25 tn Heb “They do not restrain their feet.” The idea of “away from me” is implicit in the context and is supplied in the translation for clarity.
26 tn Heb “remember.”
27 tn Heb “their iniquities.”
28 tn These two sentences have been recast in English to break up a long Hebrew sentence and incorporate the oracular formula “says the
29 tn Heb “fathers” (also in vv. 12, 13, 15, 19).
30 tn Heb “followed after.” See the translator’s note at 2:5 for the explanation of the idiom.
31 tn Heb “But me they have abandoned and my law they have not kept.” The objects are thrown forward to bring out the contrast which has rhetorical force. However, such a sentence in English would be highly unnatural.