49:10 Surely 1 one sees 2 that even wise people die; 3
fools and spiritually insensitive people all pass away 4
and leave their wealth to others. 5
92:6 The spiritually insensitive do not recognize this;
the fool does not understand this. 6
94:8 Take notice of this, 7 you ignorant people! 8
You fools, when will you ever understand?
4:22 The Lord answered, 9
“This will happen 10 because my people are foolish.
They do not know me.
They are like children who have no sense. 11
They have no understanding.
They are skilled at doing evil.
They do not know how to do good.”
5:4 I thought, “Surely it is only the ignorant poor who act this way. 12
They act like fools because they do not know what the Lord demands. 13
They do not know what their God requires of them. 14
10:8 The people of those nations 15 are both stupid and foolish.
Instruction from a wooden idol is worthless! 16
10:21 For our leaders 17 are stupid.
They have not sought the Lord’s advice. 18
So they do not act wisely,
and the people they are responsible for 19 have all been scattered.
12:3 But you, Lord, know all about me.
You watch me and test my devotion to you. 20
Drag these wicked men away like sheep to be slaughtered!
Appoint a time when they will be killed! 21
21:31 I will pour out my anger on you;
the fire of my fury I will blow on you.
I will hand you over to brutal men,
who are skilled in destruction.
1 tn The particle כִּי (ki) is understood here as asseverative (emphatic).
2 tn The subject of the verb is probably the typical “man” mentioned in v. 7. The imperfect can be taken here as generalizing or as indicating potential (“surely he/one can see”).
3 tn The imperfect verbal forms here and in the next line draw attention to what is characteristically true. The vav (ו) consecutive with perfect in the third line carries the same force.
4 tn Heb “together a fool and a brutish [man] perish.” The adjective בַּעַר (ba’ar, “brutish”) refers to spiritual insensitivity, not mere lack of intelligence or reasoning ability (see Pss 73:22; 92:6; Prov 12:1; 30:2, as well as the use of the related verb in Ps 94:8).
5 sn Death shows no respect for anyone. No matter how wise or foolish an individual happens to be, all pass away.
6 tn Heb “the brutish man does not know, and the fool does not understand this.” The adjective בַּעַר (ba’ar, “brutish”) refers to spiritual insensitivity, not mere lack of intelligence or reasoning ability (see Pss 49:10; 73:22; Prov 12:1; 30:2, as well as the use of the related verb in Ps 94:8).
7 tn Heb “understand.” The verb used in v. 7 is repeated here for rhetorical effect. The people referred to here claim God is ignorant of their actions, but the psalmist corrects their faulty viewpoint.
8 tn Heb “[you] brutish among the people.”
9 tn These words are not in the text but are supplied in the translation to show clearly the shift in speaker. Jeremiah has been speaking; now the
10 tn Heb “For….” This gives the explanation for the destruction envisaged in 4:20 to which Jeremiah responds in 4:19, 21.
11 tn Heb “They are senseless children.”
12 tn Heb “Surely they are poor.” The translation is intended to make clear the explicit contrasts and qualifications drawn in this verse and the next.
13 tn Heb “the way of the
14 tn Heb “the judgment [or ordinance] of their God.”
15 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.”
16 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.”
17 tn Heb “the shepherds.”
18 tn Heb “They have not sought the
sn The idiom translated sought the
19 tn Heb “all their flock (or “pasturage”).”
sn This verse uses the figure of rulers as shepherds and the people they ruled as sheep. It is a common figure in the Bible. See Ezek 34 for an extended development of this metaphor.
20 tn Heb “You,
sn Jeremiah appears to be complaining like Job that God cares nothing about the prosperity of the wicked, but watches his every move. The reverse ought to be true. Jeremiah shouldn’t be suffering the onslaughts of his fellow countrymen as he is. The wicked who are prospering should be experiencing punishment.
21 tn Heb “set aside for them a day of killing.”
22 tn Or “they should naturally comprehend.” The present tense in this context may have a conative force.
sn They instinctively comprehend. Like irrational animals, these false teachers do grasp one thing – the instinctive behavior of animals in heat. R. Bauckham (Jude, 2 Peter [WBC], 63) notes that “Though they claim to be guided by special spiritual insight gained in heavenly revelations, they are in fact following the sexual instincts which they share with the animals.” Jude’s focus is somewhat different from Peter’s: Peter argued that, like irrational animals who are born to be caught and killed, these men will be destroyed when destroying others (2 Pet 2:12). Jude, however, does not mention the destruction of animals, just that these false teachers will be destroyed for mimicking them.