Yeremia 3:15

3:15 I will give you leaders ¹  who will be faithful to me. ²  They will lead you with knowledge and insight.

Yeremia 8:8-9

8:8 How can you say, “We are wise!

We have the law of the Lord”?

The truth is, ³  those who teach it ⁴  have used their writings

to make it say what it does not really mean. ⁵ 

8:9 Your wise men will be put to shame.

They will be dumbfounded and be brought to judgment. ⁶ 

Since they have rejected the word of the Lord,

what wisdom do they really have?

Yeremia 9:12

9:12 I said, ⁷ 

“Who is wise enough to understand why this has happened? ⁸ 

Who has a word from the Lord that can explain it? ⁹ 

Why does the land lie in ruins?

Why is it as scorched as a desert through which no one travels?”

Yeremia 9:17

9:17 The Lord who rules over all ¹⁰  told me to say to this people, ¹¹ 

“Take note of what I say. ¹² 

Call for the women who mourn for the dead!

Summon those who are the most skilled at it!” ¹³ 

Yeremia 9:23

9:23 ¹⁴ The Lord says,

“Wise people should not boast that they are wise.

Powerful people should not boast that they are powerful. ¹⁵ 

Rich people should not boast that they are rich. ¹⁶ 

Yeremia 10:7-9

10:7 Everyone should revere you, O King of all nations, ¹⁷ 

because you deserve to be revered. ¹⁸ 

For there is no one like you

among any of the wise people of the nations nor among any of their kings. ¹⁹ 

10:8 The people of those nations ²⁰  are both stupid and foolish.

Instruction from a wooden idol is worthless! ²¹ 

10:9 Hammered-out silver is brought from Tarshish ²² 

and gold is brought from Uphaz ²³  to cover those idols. ²⁴ 

They are the handiwork of carpenters and goldsmiths. ²⁵ 

They are clothed in blue and purple clothes. ²⁶ 

They are all made by skillful workers. ²⁷ 

Yeremia 14:7

14:7 Then I said, ²⁸ 

“O Lord, intervene for the honor of your name ²⁹ 

even though our sins speak out against us. ³⁰ 

Indeed, ³¹  we have turned away from you many times.

We have sinned against you.

Yeremia 18:18

Jeremiah Petitions the Lord to Punish Those Who Attack Him

18:18 Then some people ³²  said, “Come on! Let us consider how to deal with Jeremiah! ³³  There will still be priests to instruct us, wise men to give us advice, and prophets to declare God’s word. ³⁴  Come on! Let’s bring charges against him and get rid of him! ³⁵  Then we will not need to pay attention to anything he says.”

Yeremia 18:23

18:23 But you, Lord, know

all their plots to kill me.

Do not pardon their crimes!

Do not ignore their sins as though you had erased them! ³⁶ 

Let them be brought down in defeat before you!

Deal with them while you are still angry! ³⁷ 

Yeremia 23:5

23:5 “I, the Lord, promise ³⁸  that a new time will certainly come ³⁹ 

when I will raise up for them a righteous branch, ⁴⁰  a descendant of David.

He will rule over them with wisdom and understanding ⁴¹ 

and will do what is just and right in the land. ⁴² 

Yeremia 49:7

Judgment Against Edom

49:7 The Lord who rules over all ⁴³  spoke about Edom. ⁴⁴ 

“Is wisdom no longer to be found in Teman? ⁴⁵ 

Can Edom’s counselors not give her any good advice? ⁴⁶ 

Has all of their wisdom turned bad? ⁴⁷ 

[3:15]  ¹ tn Heb “shepherds.”

[3:15]  ² tn Heb “after/according to my [own] heart.”

[8:8]  ³ tn Heb “Surely, behold!”

[8:8]  ⁴ tn Heb “the scribes.”

[8:8]  ⁵ tn Heb “The lying pen of the scribes have made [it] into a lie.” The translation is an attempt to make the most common interpretation of this passage understandable for the average reader. This is, however, a difficult passage whose interpretation is greatly debated and whose syntax is capable of other interpretations. The interpretation of the NJPS, “Assuredly, for naught has the pen labored, for naught the scribes,” surely deserves consideration within the context; i.e. it hasn’t done any good for the scribes to produce a reliable copy of the law, which the people have refused to follow. That interpretation has the advantage of explaining the absence of an object for the verb “make” or “labored” but creates a very unbalanced poetic couplet.

[8:9]  ⁶ tn Heb “be trapped.” However, the word “trapped” generally carries with it the connotation of divine judgment. See BDB 540 s.v. לָכַד Niph.2, and compare usage in Jer 6:11 for support. The verbs in the first two lines are again the form of the Hebrew verb that emphasizes that the action is as good as done (Hebrew prophetic perfects).

[9:12]  ⁷ tn The words, “I said” are not in the text. It is not clear that a shift in speaker has taken place. However, the words of the verse are very unlikely to be a continuation of the Lord’s threat. It is generally assumed that these are the words of Jeremiah and that a dialogue is going on between him and the Lord in vv. 9-14. That assumption is accepted here.

[9:12]  ⁸ tn Heb “Who is the wise man that he may understand this?”

[9:12]  ⁹ tn Heb “And [who is the man] to whom the mouth of the Lord has spoken that he may explain it?”

[9:17]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “Yahweh of armies.”

[9:17]  sn For the significance of this title see the notes at 2:19 and 7:3.

[9:17]  ¹¹ tn Heb “Thus says Yahweh of armies.” However, without some addition it is not clear to whom the command is addressed. The words are supplied in the translation for clarity and to help resolve a rather confusing issue of who is speaking throughout vv. 16-21. As has been evident throughout the translation, the speaker is not always indicated. Sometimes it is not even clear who the speaker is. In general the translation and the notes have reflected the general consensus in identifying who it is. Here, however, there is a good deal of confusion about who is speaking in vv. 18, 20-21. The Greek translation has the Lord speaking throughout with second plural pronouns in vv. 18, 21 and the absence of the first line in v. 22. It would be hard to explain how the MT arose if it were the original text. Critical commentators such as J. Bright, W. Holladay, and W. McKane resolve the issue by dropping out the introductory formula in v. 17 and the first line of v. 22 and assigning the whole lament to Jeremiah. It seems obvious from the first plural pronouns and the content of v. 18 (and probably v. 21 as well) and the fact that the Lord is referred to in other than the first person in v. 20 that he is not the speaker of those verses. I have attempted to resolve the issue by having Jeremiah report the Lord’s command in v. 17 and have the rest of the speech be essentially that of Jeremiah. It should be admitted, however, that the issue is far from resolved. Most English versions simply ignore the problem. The GNB (= TEV) is a rare exception.

[9:17]  ¹² tn Heb “Consider!”

[9:17]  ¹³ tn Heb “Call for the mourning women that they may come and send for the wise/skilled women that they may come.” The verbs here are masculine plural, addressed to the people.

[9:23]  ¹⁴ sn It is not always clear why verses were placed in their present position in the editorial process of collecting Jeremiah’s sermons and the words the Lord spoke to him (see Jer 36:4, 32 for reference to two of these collections). Here it is probable that vv. 23-26 were added as a further answer to the question raised in v. 12.

[9:23]  ¹⁵ tn Or “Strong people should not brag that they are strong.”

[9:23]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “…in their wisdom…in their power…in their riches.”

[10:7]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “Who should not revere you…?” The question is rhetorical and expects a negative answer.

[10:7]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “For it is fitting to you.”

[10:7]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “their royalty/dominion.” This is a case of substitution of the abstract for the concrete “royalty, royal power” for “kings” who exercise it.

[10:8]  ²⁰ tn Or “Those wise people and kings are…” It is unclear whether the subject is the “they” of the nations in the preceding verse, or the wise people and kings referred to. The text merely has “they.”

[10:8]  ²¹ tn Heb “The instruction of vanities [worthless idols] is wood.” The meaning of this line is a little uncertain. Various proposals have been made to make sense, most of which involve radical emendation of the text. For some examples see J. A. Thompson, Jeremiah (NICOT), 323-24, fn 6. However, this is probably a case of the bold predication that discussed in GKC 452 §141.d, some examples of which may be seen in Ps 109:4 “I am prayer,” and Ps 120:7 “I am peace.”

[10:9]  ²² tc Two Qumran scrolls of Jeremiah (4QJer^a and 4QJer^b) reflect a Hebrew text that is very different than the traditional MT from which modern Bibles have been translated. The Hebrew text in these two manuscripts is similar to that from which LXX was translated. This is true both in small details and in major aspects where the LXX differs from MT. Most notably, 4QJer^a, 4QJer^b and LXX present a version of Jeremiah about 13% shorter than the longer version found in MT. One example of this shorter text is Jer 10:3-11 in which MT and 4QJer^a both have all nine verses, while LXX and 4QJer^b both lack vv. 6-8 and 10, which extol the greatness of God. In addition, the latter part of v. 9 is arranged differently in LXX and 4QJer^b. The translation here follows MT which is supported by 4QJer^a.

[10:9]  ²³ tn This is a place of unknown location. It is mentioned again in Dan 10:5. Many emend the word to “Ophir” following the Syriac version and the Aramaic Targum. Ophir was famous for its gold (cf. 1 Kgs 9:28; Job 28:16).

[10:9]  ²⁴ tn The words “to cover those idols” are not in the text but are implicit from the context. They are supplied in the translation for clarity.

[10:9]  ²⁵ tn The words “They are” are not in the text. The text reads merely, “the work of the carpenter and of the hands of the goldsmith.” The words are supplied in the translation for clarity.

[10:9]  ²⁶ tn Heb “Blue and purple their clothing.”

[10:9]  ²⁷ sn There is an ironic pun in this last line. The Hebrew word translated “skillful workers” is the same word that is translated “wise people” in v. 7. The artisans do their work skillfully but they are not “wise.”

[14:7]  ²⁸ tn The words “Then I said” are not in the text. However, it cannot be a continuation of the Lord’s speech and the people have consistently refused to acknowledge their sin. The fact that the prayer here and in vv. 19-22 are followed by an address from God to Jeremiah regarding prayer (cf. 4:11 and the interchanges there between God and Jeremiah and 15:1) also argues that the speaker is Jeremiah. He is again identifying with his people (cf. 8:18-9:2). Here he takes up the petition part of the lament which often contains elements of confession of sin and statements of trust. In 14:1-6 God portrays to Jeremiah the people’s lamentable plight instead of their describing it to him. Here Jeremiah prays what they should pray. The people are strangely silent throughout.

[14:7]  ²⁹ tn Heb “Act for the sake of your name.” The usage of “act” in this absolute, unqualified sense cf. BDB 794 s.v. עָוֹשָׂה Qal.I.r and compare the usage, e.g., in 1 Kgs 8:32 and 39. For the nuance of “for the sake of your name” compare the usage in Isa 48:9 and Ezek 20:9, 14.

[14:7]  ³⁰ tn Or “bear witness against us,” or “can be used as evidence against us,” to keep the legal metaphor. Heb “testify against.”

[14:7]  ³¹ tn The Hebrew particle כִּי (ki) can scarcely be causal here; it is either intensive (BDB 472 s.v. כִּי 1.e) or concessive (BDB 473 s.v. כִּי 2.c). The parallel usage in Gen 18:20 argues for the intensive force as does the fact that the concessive has already been expressed by אִם (’im).

[18:18]  ³² tn Heb “They.” The referent is unidentified; “some people” has been used in the translation.

[18:18]  ³³ tn Heb “Let us make plans against Jeremiah.” See 18:18 where this has sinister overtones as it does here.

[18:18]  ³⁴ tn Heb “Instruction will not perish from priest, counsel from the wise, word from the prophet.”

[18:18]  sn These are the three channels through whom God spoke to his people in the OT. See Jer 8:8-10 and Ezek 7:26.

[18:18]  ³⁵ tn Heb “Let us smite him with our tongues.” It is clear from the context that this involved plots to kill him.

[18:23]  ³⁶ sn Heb “Do not blot out their sins from before you.” For this anthropomorphic figure which looks at God’s actions as though connected with record books, i.e., a book of wrongdoings to be punished, and a book of life for those who are to live, see e.g., Exod 32:32, 33, Ps 51:1 (51:3 HT); 69:28 (69:29 HT).

[18:23]  ³⁷ tn Heb “in the time of your anger.”

[23:5]  ³⁸ tn Heb “Oracle of the Lord.”

[23:5]  ³⁹ tn Heb “Behold the days are coming.”

[23:5]  ⁴⁰ tn Heb “a righteous sprig to David” or “a righteous shoot” (NAB).

[23:5]  sn This passage and the parallel in Jer 33:15 are part of a growing number of prayers and prophecies regarding an ideal ruler to come forth from the Davidic line who will bring the justice, security, and well-being that the continuing line of Davidic rulers did not. Though there were periodic kings like Josiah who did fulfill the ideals set forth in Jer 22:3 (see Jer 22:15), by and large they were more like Jehoiakim who did not (see Jer 22:13). Hence the Lord brought to an end the Davidic rule. The potential for the ideal, however, remained because of God’s promise to David (2 Sam 7:16). The Davidic line became like a tree which was cut down, leaving only a stump. But from that stump God would bring forth a “shoot,” a “sprig” which would fulfill the ideals of kingship. See Isa 11:1-6 and Zech 3:8, 6:12 for this metaphor and compare Dan 4:14-15, 23, 26 for a different but related use of the metaphor.

[23:5]  ⁴¹ tn Heb “he will reign as king and act wisely.” This is another example of the use of two verbs joined by “and” where one becomes the adverbial modifier of the other (hendiadys). For the nuance of the verb “act wisely” rather than “prosper” see Amos 5:13; Ps 2:10 (cf. BDB 968 s.v. שָׂכַל Hiph.5).

[23:5]  ⁴² sn This has been the constant emphasis in this section. See 22:3 for the demand, 22:15 for its fulfillment, and 22:13 for its abuse. The ideal king would follow in the footsteps of his illustrious ancestor David (2 Sam 8:15) who set this forth as an ideal for his dynasty (2 Sam 23:3) and prayed for it to be true of his son Solomon (Ps 72:1-2).

[49:7]  ⁴³ tn Heb “Yahweh of armies.” See the study note on 2:19 for this title.

[49:7]  ⁴⁴ sn Edom was a kingdom to the south and east of Judah. Its borders varied over time but basically Edom lay in the hundred mile strip between the Gulf of Aqaba on the south and the Zered River on the north. It straddled the Arabah leading down from the Dead Sea to the Gulf of Aqaba, having as its northern neighbors both Judah and Moab. A long history of hostility existed between Israel and Edom, making Edom one of the favorite objects of the prophets’ oracles of judgment (cf., e.g., Isa 21:11-12; 34:5-15; 63:1-6; Amos 1:11-12; Ezek 25:12-14; 35:1-15; Obad 1-16). Not much is known about Edom at this time other than the fact that they participated in the discussions regarding rebellion against Nebuchadnezzar in 594 b.c. According to Obadiah 10-16 they not only gloated over Judah’s downfall in 586 b.c. but participated in its plunder and killed some of those who were fleeing the country.

[49:7]  ⁴⁵ sn Teman was the name of one of Esau’s descendants, the name of an Edomite clan and the name of the district where they lived (Gen 36:11, 15, 34). Like the name Bozrah, it is used poetically for all of Edom (Jer 49:20; Ezek 25:13).

[49:7]  ⁴⁶ tn Heb “Has counsel perished from men of understanding?”

[49:7]  ⁴⁷ tn The meaning of this last word is based on the definition given in KBL 668 s.v. II סָרַח Nif and HALOT 726 s.v. II סָרַח Nif, which give the nuance “to be [or become] corrupt” rather than that of BDB 710 s.v. סָרַח Niph who give the nuance “let loose (i.e., to be dismissed; to be gone)” from a verb that is elsewhere used of the overhanging of a curtains or a cliff.