Yehezkiel 16:16-22

16:16 You took some of your clothing and made for yourself decorated high places; you engaged in prostitution on them. You went to him to become his. ¹  16:17 You also took your beautiful jewelry, made of my gold and my silver I had given to you, and made for yourself male images and engaged in prostitution ²  with them. 16:18 You took your embroidered clothing and used it to cover them; you offered my olive oil and my incense to them. 16:19 As for my food that I gave you – the fine flour, olive oil, and honey I fed you – you placed it before them as a soothing aroma. That is exactly what happened, declares the sovereign Lord.

16:20 “‘You took your sons and your daughters whom you bore to me and you sacrificed them ³  as food for the idols to eat. As if your prostitution not enough, 16:21 you slaughtered my children and sacrificed them to the idols. ⁴  16:22 And with all your abominable practices and prostitution you did not remember the days of your youth when you were naked and bare, kicking around in your blood.

Yehezkiel 22:3-12

22:3 Then say, ‘This is what the sovereign Lord says: O city, who spills blood within herself (which brings on her doom), ⁵  and who makes herself idols (which results in impurity), 22:4 you are guilty because of the blood you shed and defiled by the idols you made. You have hastened the day of your doom; ⁶  the end of your years has come. ⁷  Therefore I will make ⁸  you an object of scorn to the nations, an object to be mocked by all lands. 22:5 Those both near and far from you will mock you, you with your bad reputation, ⁹  full of turmoil.

22:6 “‘See how each of the princes of Israel living within you has used his authority to shed blood. ¹⁰  22:7 They have treated father and mother with contempt ¹¹  within you; they have oppressed the foreigner among you; they have wronged the orphan and the widow ¹²  within you. 22:8 You have despised my holy things and desecrated my Sabbaths! 22:9 Slanderous men shed blood within you. ¹³  Those who live within you eat pagan sacrifices on the mountains; ¹⁴  they commit obscene acts among you. ¹⁵  22:10 They have sex with their father’s wife within you; ¹⁶  they violate women during their menstrual period within you. ¹⁷  22:11 One ¹⁸  commits an abominable act with his neighbor’s wife; another obscenely defiles his daughter-in-law; another violates ¹⁹  his sister – his father’s daughter ²⁰  – within you. 22:12 They take bribes within you to shed blood. You engage in usury and charge interest; ²¹  you extort money from your neighbors. You have forgotten me, ²²  declares the sovereign Lord. ²³ 

Yehezkiel 22:24-31

22:24 “Son of man, say to her: ‘You are a land that receives no rain ²⁴  or showers in the day of my anger.’ ²⁵  22:25 Her princes ²⁶  within her are like a roaring lion tearing its prey; they have devoured lives. They take away riches and valuable things; they have made many women widows ²⁷  within it. 22:26 Her priests abuse my law and have desecrated my holy things. They do not distinguish between the holy and the profane, ²⁸  or recognize any distinction between the unclean and the clean. They ignore ²⁹  my Sabbaths and I am profaned in their midst. 22:27 Her officials are like wolves in her midst rending their prey – shedding blood and destroying lives – so they can get dishonest profit. 22:28 Her prophets coat their messages with whitewash. ³⁰  They see false visions and announce lying omens for them, saying, ‘This is what the sovereign Lord says,’ when the Lord has not spoken. 22:29 The people of the land have practiced extortion and committed robbery. They have wronged the poor and needy; they have oppressed the foreigner who lives among them and denied them justice. ³¹ 

22:30 “I looked for a man from among them who would repair the wall and stand in the gap before me on behalf of the land, so that I would not destroy it, but I found no one. ³²  22:31 So I have poured my anger on them, and destroyed them with the fire of my fury. I hereby repay them for what they have done, ³³  declares the sovereign Lord.”

Yehezkiel 23:5-21

23:5 “Oholah engaged in prostitution while she was mine. ³⁴  She lusted after her lovers, the Assyrians ³⁵  – warriors ³⁶  23:6 clothed in blue, governors and officials, all of them desirable young men, horsemen riding on horses. 23:7 She bestowed her sexual favors on them; all of them were the choicest young men of Assyria. She defiled herself with all whom she desired ³⁷  – with all their idols. 23:8 She did not abandon the prostitution she had practiced in Egypt; for in her youth men had sex with her, fondled her virgin breasts, and ravished her. ³⁸  23:9 Therefore I handed her over to her lovers, the Assyrians ³⁹  for whom she lusted. 23:10 They exposed her nakedness, seized her sons and daughters, and killed her with the sword. She became notorious ⁴⁰  among women, and they executed judgments against her.

23:11 “Her sister Oholibah watched this, ⁴¹  but she became more corrupt in her lust than her sister had been, and her acts of prostitution were more numerous than those of her sister. 23:12 She lusted after the Assyrians – governors and officials, warriors in full armor, horsemen riding on horses, all of them desirable young men. 23:13 I saw that she was defiled; both of them followed the same path. 23:14 But she increased her prostitution. She saw men carved on the wall, images of the Chaldeans carved in bright red, ⁴²  23:15 wearing belts on their waists and flowing turbans on their heads, all of them looking like officers, the image of Babylonians ⁴³  whose native land is Chaldea. 23:16 When she saw them, ⁴⁴  she lusted after them and sent messengers to them in Chaldea. ⁴⁵  23:17 The Babylonians crawled into bed with her. ⁴⁶  They defiled her with their lust; after she was defiled by them, she ⁴⁷  became disgusted with them. 23:18 When she lustfully exposed her nakedness, ⁴⁸  I ⁴⁹  was disgusted with her, just as I ⁵⁰  had been disgusted with her sister. 23:19 Yet she increased her prostitution, remembering the days of her youth when she engaged in prostitution in the land of Egypt. 23:20 She lusted after their genitals – as large as those of donkeys, ⁵¹  and their seminal emission was as strong as that of stallions. 23:21 This is how you assessed ⁵²  the obscene conduct of your youth, when the Egyptians fondled ⁵³  your nipples and squeezed ⁵⁴  your young breasts.

Yehezkiel 24:7

24:7 For her blood was in it;

she poured it on an exposed rock;

she did not pour it on the ground to cover it up with dust.

Yesaya 3:9

3:9 The look on their faces ⁵⁵  testifies to their guilt; ⁵⁶ 

like the people of Sodom they openly boast of their sin. ⁵⁷ 

Too bad for them! ⁵⁸ 

For they bring disaster on themselves.

Yeremia 2:34

2:34 Even your clothes are stained with

the lifeblood of the poor who had not done anything wrong;

you did not catch them breaking into your homes. ⁵⁹ 

Yet, in spite of all these things you have done, ⁶⁰ 

Yeremia 3:2

3:2 “Look up at the hilltops and consider this. ⁶¹ 

You have had sex with other gods on every one of them. ⁶² 

You waited for those gods like a thief lying in wait in the desert. ⁶³ 

You defiled the land by your wicked prostitution to other gods. ⁶⁴ 

Yeremia 5:27-28

5:27 Like a cage filled with the birds that have been caught, ⁶⁵ 

their houses are filled with the gains of their fraud and deceit. ⁶⁶ 

That is how they have gotten so rich and powerful. ⁶⁷ 

5:28 That is how ⁶⁸  they have grown fat and sleek. ⁶⁹ 

There is no limit to the evil things they do. ⁷⁰ 

They do not plead the cause of the fatherless in such a way as to win it.

They do not defend the rights of the poor.

Yeremia 6:15

6:15 Are they ashamed because they have done such shameful things?

No, they are not at all ashamed.

They do not even know how to blush!

So they will die, just like others have died. ⁷¹ 

They will be brought to ruin when I punish them,”

says the Lord.

Yeremia 8:12

8:12 Are they ashamed because they have done such disgusting things?

No, they are not at all ashamed!

They do not even know how to blush!

So they will die just like others have died. ⁷² 

They will be brought to ruin when I punish them,

says the Lord.

Yeremia 9:2-7

9:2 (9:1) I wish I had a lodging place in the desert

where I could spend some time like a weary traveler. ⁷³ 

Then I would desert my people

and walk away from them

because they are all unfaithful to God,

a congregation ⁷⁴  of people that has been disloyal to him. ⁷⁵ 

The Lord Laments That He Has No Choice But to Judge Them

9:3 The Lord says, ⁷⁶ 

“These people are like soldiers who have readied their bows.

Their tongues are always ready to shoot out lies. ⁷⁷ 

They have become powerful in the land,

but they have not done so by honest means. ⁷⁸ 

Indeed, they do one evil thing after another ⁷⁹ 

and do not pay attention to me. ⁸⁰ 

9:4 Everyone must be on his guard around his friends.

He must not even trust any of his relatives. ⁸¹ 

For every one of them will find some way to cheat him. ⁸² 

And all of his friends will tell lies about him.

9:5 One friend deceives another

and no one tells the truth.

These people have trained themselves ⁸³  to tell lies.

They do wrong and are unable to repent.

9:6 They do one act of violence after another,

and one deceitful thing after another. ⁸⁴ 

They refuse to pay attention to me,” ⁸⁵ 

says the Lord.

9:7 Therefore the Lord who rules over all says, ⁸⁶ 

“I will now purify them in the fires of affliction ⁸⁷  and test them.

The wickedness of my dear people ⁸⁸  has left me no choice.

What else can I do? ⁸⁹ 

Hosea 4:2

4:2 There is only cursing, lying, murder, stealing, and adultery.

They resort to violence and bloodshed. ⁹⁰ 

Mikha 3:10-12

3:10 You ⁹¹  build Zion through bloody crimes, ⁹² 

Jerusalem ⁹³  through unjust violence.

3:11 Her ⁹⁴  leaders take bribes when they decide legal cases, ⁹⁵ 

her priests proclaim rulings for profit,

and her prophets read omens for pay.

Yet they claim to trust ⁹⁶  the Lord and say,

“The Lord is among us. ⁹⁷ 

Disaster will not overtake ⁹⁸  us!”

3:12 Therefore, because of you, ⁹⁹  Zion will be plowed up like ¹⁰⁰  a field,

Jerusalem will become a heap of ruins,

and the Temple Mount ¹⁰¹  will become a hill overgrown with brush! ¹⁰² 

[16:16]  ¹ tc The text as written in the MT is incomprehensible (“not coming [plural] and he will not”). Driver has suggested a copying error of similar-sounding words, specifically לֹא (lo’) for לוֹ (lo). The feminine participle בָאוֹת (va’ot) has also been read as the feminine perfect בָאת (va’t). See L. C. Allen, Ezekiel (WBC), 1:228, n. 15.b, and D. I. Block, Ezekiel (NICOT), 1:486, n. 137.

[16:17]  ² tn Or perhaps “and worshiped them,” if the word “prostitution” is understood in a figurative rather than a literal sense (cf. CEV, NLT).

[16:20]  ³ sn The sacrifice of children was prohibited in Lev 18:21; 20:2; Deut 12:31; 18:10.

[16:21]  ⁴ tn Heb “and you gave them, by passing them through to them.” Some believe this alludes to the pagan practice of making children pass through the fire.

[22:3]  ⁵ tn Heb “her time”; this refers to the time of impending judgment (see the note on “doom” in v. 4).

[22:4]  ⁶ tn Heb “you have brought near your days.” The expression “bring near your days” appears to be an adaptation of the idiom “days draw near,” which is used to indicate that an event, such as death, is imminent (see Gen 27:41; 47:29; Deut 31:14; 1 Kgs 2:1; Ezek 12:23). Here “your days” probably refers to the days of the personified city’s life, which was about to come to an end through God’s judgment.

[22:4]  ⁷ tn Heb “and you have come to your years.” This appears to mean that she has arrived at the time when her years (i.e., life) would end, though it may mean that her years of punishment will begin. Because “day” and “time” are so closely associated in the immediate context (see 21:25, 29) some prefer to emend the text and read “you have brought near your time.” See L. C. Allen, Ezekiel (WBC), 2:31, as well as the translator’s note on verse 3.

[22:4]  ⁸ tn The Hebrew verb is a prophetic perfect, emphasizing that the action is as good as done from the speaker’s perspective.

[22:5]  ⁹ tn Heb “unclean of name.”

[22:6]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “Look! The princes of Israel, each according to his arm, were in you in order to shed blood.”

[22:7]  ¹¹ tn Heb “treated lightly, cursed.”

[22:7]  ¹² tn Widows and orphans are often coupled together in the OT (Deut 14:29; 16:11, 14; 24:19-21; 26:12-13; Jer 7:6; 22:3). They represented all who were poor and vulnerable to economic exploitation.

[22:9]  ¹³ tn Heb “men of slander are in you in order to shed blood.”

[22:9]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “and on the mountains they eat within you.” The mountains mentioned here were the site of pagan sacrifices. See 18:6.

[22:9]  ¹⁵ sn This statement introduces vv. 10-11 and refers in general terms to the sexual sins described there. For the legal background of vv. 10-11, see Lev 18:7-20; 20:10-21; Deut 22:22-23, 30; 27:22.

[22:10]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “the nakedness of a father one uncovers within you.” The ancient versions read the verb as plural (“they uncover”). If the singular is retained, it must be taken as indefinite and representative of the entire group. The idiomatic expression “uncover the nakedness” refers here to sexual intercourse (cf. Lev 18:6). To uncover a father’s nakedness could include sexual relations with one’s own mother (Lev 18:7), but more likely it refers to having intercourse with another wife of one’s father, such as a stepmother (Lev 18:8; cf. Gen 35:22; 49:4).

[22:10]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “(one who is) unclean due to the impurity they humble within you.” The use of the verb “to humble” suggests that these men forced themselves upon women during menstruation. Having sexual relations with a woman during her period was forbidden by the Law (Lev 18:19; 20:18).

[22:11]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “a man.”

[22:11]  ¹⁹ tn The verb is the same one used in verse 10b and suggests forcible sexual violation of the woman.

[22:11]  ²⁰ sn Sexual relations with one’s half-sister may be primarily in view here. See Lev 18:9; 20:17.

[22:12]  ²¹ tn Heb “usury and interest you take.” See 18:13, 17. This kind of economic exploitation violated the law given in Lev 25:36.

[22:12]  ²² sn Forgetting the Lord is also addressed in Deut 6:12; 8:11, 14; Jer 3:21; 13:25; Ezek 23:35; Hos 2:15; 8:14; 13:6.

[22:12]  ²³ tn The second person verb forms are feminine singular in Hebrew, indicating that the personified city is addressed here as representing its citizens.

[22:24]  ²⁴ tc The MT reads “that is not cleansed”; the LXX reads “that is not drenched,” which assumes a different vowel pointing as well as the loss of a מ (mem) due to haplography. In light of the following reference to showers, the reading of the LXX certainly fits the context well. For a defense of the emendation, see L. C. Allen, Ezekiel (WBC), 2:32. Yet the MT is not an unreasonable reading since uncleanness in the land also fits the context, and a poetic connection between rain and the land being uncleansed may be feasible since washing with water is elsewhere associated with cleansing (Num 8:7; 31:23; Ps 51:7).

[22:24]  ²⁵ tn Heb “in a day of anger.”

[22:25]  ²⁶ tn Heb “a conspiracy of her prophets is in her midst.” The LXX reads “whose princes” rather than “a conspiracy of prophets.” The prophets are mentioned later in the paragraph (v. 28). If one follows the LXX in verse 25, then five distinct groups are mentioned in vv. 25-29: princes, priests, officials, prophets, and the people of the land. For a defense of the Septuagintal reading, see L. C. Allen, Ezekiel (WBC), 2:32, and D. I. Block, Ezekiel (NICOT), 1:720, n. 4.

[22:25]  ²⁷ tn Heb “her widows they have multiplied.” The statement alludes to their murderous acts.

[22:26]  ²⁸ tn Or “between the consecrated and the common.”

[22:26]  ²⁹ tn Heb “hide their eyes from.” The idiom means to disregard or ignore something or someone (see Lev 20:4; 1 Sam 12:3; Prov 28:27; Isa 1:15).

[22:28]  ³⁰ tn Heb “her prophets coat for themselves with whitewash.” The expression may be based on Ezek 13:10-15.

[22:29]  ³¹ tn Heb “and the foreigner they have oppressed without justice.”

[22:30]  ³² tn Heb “I did not find.”

[22:31]  ³³ tn Heb “their way on their head I have placed.”

[23:5]  ³⁴ tn Heb “while she was under me.” The expression indicates that Oholah is viewed as the Lord’s wife. See Num 5:19-20, 29.

[23:5]  sn Played the harlot refers to alliances with pagan nations in this context. In Ezek 16 harlotry described the sin of idolatry.

[23:5]  ³⁵ tn Heb “Assyria.”

[23:5]  ³⁶ tn The term apparently refers to Assyrian military officers; it is better construed with the description that follows. See D. I. Block, Ezekiel (NICOT), 1:738.

[23:7]  ³⁷ tn Heb “lusted after.”

[23:8]  ³⁸ tn Heb “and poured out their harlotry on her.”

[23:9]  ³⁹ tn Heb “I gave her into the hand of her lovers, into the hand of the sons of Assyria.”

[23:10]  ⁴⁰ tn Heb “name.”

[23:11]  ⁴¹ tn The word “this” is not in the original text.

[23:14]  ⁴² tn The only other occurrence of the Hebrew term is in Jer 22:14.

[23:15]  ⁴³ tn Heb “the sons of Babel.”

[23:16]  ⁴⁴ tn Heb “at the appearance of her eyes.”

[23:16]  ⁴⁵ sn The Chaldeans were prominent tribal groups of Babylonia. The imagery is reminiscent of events in the reigns of Hezekiah (2 Kgs 20:12-15) and Jehoiakim (2 Kgs 23:34-24:1).

[23:17]  ⁴⁶ tn Heb “The sons of Babel came to her on a bed of love.”

[23:17]  ⁴⁷ tn Heb “her soul.”

[23:18]  ⁴⁸ tn Heb “She exposed her harlotry and she exposed her nakedness.”

[23:18]  ⁴⁹ tn Heb “my soul.”

[23:18]  ⁵⁰ tn Heb “my soul.”

[23:20]  ⁵¹ tn Heb “She lusted after their concubines (?) whose flesh was the flesh of donkeys.” The phrase “their concubines” is extremely problematic here. The pronoun is masculine plural, suggesting that the Egyptian men are in view, but how concubines would fit into the picture envisioned here is not clear. Some suggest that Ezekiel uses the term in an idiomatic sense of “paramour,” but this still fails to explain how the pronoun relates to the noun. It is more likely that the term refers here to the Egyptians’ genitals. The relative pronoun that follows introduces a more specific description of their genitals.

[23:21]  ⁵² tn Or “you took note of.” The Hebrew verb פָּקַד (paqad) in the Qal implies evaluating something and then acting in light of that judgment; here the prophet depicts Judah as approving of her youthful unfaithfulness and then magnifying it at the present time. Some translations assume the verb should be repointed as a Niphal, rendering “you missed” or by extension “you longed for,” but such an extension of the Niphal “to be missing” is otherwise unattested.

[23:21]  ⁵³ tn Heb “when (they) did,” but the verb makes no sense here and is better emended to “when (they) fondled,” a verb used in vv. 3 and 8. See L. C. Allen, Ezekiel (WBC), 2:43.

[23:21]  ⁵⁴ tn Heb “for the sake of,” but the expression is awkward and is better emended to read “to squeeze.” See L. C. Allen, Ezekiel (WBC), 2:43.

[3:9]  ⁵⁵ sn This refers to their proud, arrogant demeanor.

[3:9]  ⁵⁶ tn Heb “answers against them”; NRSV “bears witness against them.”

[3:9]  ⁵⁷ tn Heb “their sin, like Sodom, they declare, they do not conceal [it].”

[3:9]  ⁵⁸ tn Heb “woe to their soul.”

[2:34]  ⁵⁹ tn The words “for example” are implicit and are supplied in the translation for clarification. This is only one example of why their death was not legitimate.

[2:34]  sn Killing a thief caught in the act of breaking and entering into a person’s home was pardonable under the law of Moses, cf. Exod 22:2.

[2:34]  ⁶⁰ tn KJV and ASV read this line with 2:34. The ASV makes little sense and the KJV again erroneously reads the archaic second person feminine singular perfect as first person common singular. All the modern English versions and commentaries take this line with 2:35.

[3:2]  ⁶¹ tn Heb “and see.”

[3:2]  ⁶² tn Heb “Where have you not been ravished?” The rhetorical question expects the answer “nowhere,” which suggests she has engaged in the worship of pagan gods on every one of the hilltops.

[3:2]  ⁶³ tn Heb “You sat for them [the lovers, i.e., the foreign gods] beside the road like an Arab in the desert.”

[3:2]  ⁶⁴ tn Heb “by your prostitution and your wickedness.” This is probably an example of hendiadys where, when two nouns are joined by “and,” one expresses the main idea and the other qualifies it.

[5:27]  ⁶⁵ tn The words, “that have been caught” are not in the text but are implicit in the comparison.

[5:27]  ⁶⁶ tn Heb “are filled with deceit.” The translation assumes a figure of speech of cause for effect (metonymy). Compare the same word in the same figure in Zeph 1:9.

[5:27]  ⁶⁷ tn Heb “therefore they have gotten great and rich.”

[5:28]  ⁶⁸ tn These words are not in the text but are supplied in the translation to show that this line is parallel with the preceding.

[5:28]  ⁶⁹ tn The meaning of this word is uncertain. This verb occurs only here. The lexicons generally relate it to the word translated “plate” in Song 5:14 and understand it to mean “smooth, shiny” (so BDB 799 s.v. I עֶשֶׁת) or “fat” (so HALOT 850 s.v. II עֶשֶׁת). The word in Song 5:14 more likely means “smooth” than “plate” (so TEV). So “sleek” is most likely here.

[5:28]  ⁷⁰ tn Heb “they cross over/transgress with respect to matters of evil.”

[5:28]  sn There is a wordplay in the use of this word which has twice been applied in v. 22 to the sea not crossing the boundary set for it by God.

[6:15]  ⁷¹ tn Heb “They will fall among the fallen.”

[8:12]  ⁷² tn Heb “They will fall among the fallen.”

[9:2]  ⁷³ tn Heb “I wish I had in the desert a lodging place [inn, or place to spend the night] for travelers.”

[9:2]  ⁷⁴ tn Or “bunch,” but this loses the irony; the word is used for the solemn assemblies at the religious feasts.

[9:2]  ⁷⁵ tn Heb “they are all adulterers, a congregation of unfaithful people.” However, spiritual adultery is, of course, meant, not literal adultery. So the literal translation would be misleading.

[9:3]  ⁷⁶ tn The words “The Lord says” have been moved up from the end of the verse to make clear that a change in speaker has occurred.

[9:3]  ⁷⁷ tn Heb “They have readied [or strung] their tongue as their bow for lies.”

[9:3]  ⁷⁸ tn Heb “but not through honesty.”

[9:3]  ⁷⁹ tn Heb “they go from evil to evil.”

[9:3]  ⁸⁰ tn Or “do not acknowledge me”; Heb “do not know me.” But “knowing” in Hebrew thought often involves more than intellectual knowledge; it involves emotional and volitional commitment as well. For יָדַע meaning “acknowledge” see 1 Chr 28:9; Isa 29:21; Hos 2:20; Prov 3:6. This word is also found in ancient Near Eastern treaty contexts where it has the idea of a vassal king acknowledging the sovereignty of a greater king (cf. H. Huffmon, “The Treaty Background of Hebrew yada,” BASOR 181 [1966]: 31-37).

[9:4]  ⁸¹ tn Heb “Be on your guard…Do not trust.” The verbs are second masculine plural of direct address and there seems no way to translate literally and not give the mistaken impression that Jeremiah is being addressed. This is another example of the tendency in Hebrew style to turn from description to direct address (a figure of speech called apostrophe).

[9:4]  ⁸² tn Heb “cheating, each of them will cheat.”

[9:4]  sn There is perhaps an intentional pun and allusion here to Gen 27:36 and the wordplay on the name Jacob there. The text here reads עָקוֹב יַעְקֹב (’aqob ya’qob).

[9:5]  ⁸³ tn Heb “their tongues.” However, this is probably not a natural idiom in contemporary English and the tongue may stand as a part for the whole anyway.

[9:6]  ⁸⁴ tc An alternate reading for vv. 5d-6b is: “They wear themselves out doing wrong. Jeremiah, you live in the midst of deceitful people. They deceitfully refuse to take any thought of/acknowledge me.” The translation which has been adopted is based on a redivision of the lines, a redivision of some of the words, and a revocalization of some of the consonants. The MT reads literally “doing wrong they weary themselves. Your sitting in the midst of deceit; in deceit they refuse to know me” (הַעֲוֵה נִלְאוּ׃ שִׁבְתְּךָ בְּתוֹךְ מִרְמָה בְּמִרְמָה מֵאֲנוּ דַעַת־אוֹתִי). The Greek version reads literally “they do wrong and they do not cease to turn themselves around. Usury upon usury and deceit upon deceit. They do not want to know me.” This suggests that one should read the Hebrew text as שֻׁב׃ תֹּךְ בְּתוֹךְ מִרְ־מָה בְּמִרְ־מָה מֵאֲנוּ דַעַת אוֹתִי הַעֲוֵה נִלְאוּ, which translated literally yields “doing evil [= “they do evil” using the Hiphil infinitive absolute as a finite verb (cf. GKC 346 §113.ff)] they are not able [cf. KBL 468 s.v. לָאָה Niph.3 and see Exod 7:18 for parallel use] to repent. Oppression on oppression [cf. BDB 1067 s.v. תֹּךְ, II תּוֹךְ]; deceit on deceit. They refuse to know me.” This reading has ancient support and avoids the introduction of an unexpected second masculine suffix into the context. It has been adopted here along with a number of modern commentaries (cf., e.g., W. McKane, Jeremiah [ICC], 1:201) and English versions as the more likely reading.

[9:6]  ⁸⁵ tn Or “do not acknowledge me”; Heb “do not know me.” See the note on the phrase “do not take any thought of me” in 9:3.

[9:7]  ⁸⁶ tn Heb “Yahweh of armies.”

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

[9:7]  ⁸⁷ tn Heb “I will refine/purify them.” The words “in the fires of affliction” are supplied in the translation to give clarity to the metaphor.

[9:7]  ⁸⁸ tn Heb “daughter of my people.” For the translation given here see 4:11 and the note on the phrase “dear people” there.

[9:7]  ⁸⁹ tc Heb “For how else shall I deal because of the wickedness of the daughter of my people.” The MT does not have the word “wickedness.” The word, however, is read in the Greek version. This is probably a case of a word dropping out because of its similarities to the consonants preceding or following it (i.e., haplography). The word “wickedness” (רַעַת, ra’at) has dropped out before the words “my dear people” (בַּת־עַמִּי, bat-’ammi). The causal nuance which is normal for מִפְּנֵי (mippÿne) does not make sense without some word like this, and the combination of רַעַת מִפְּנֵי (mippÿne ra’at) does occur in Jer 7:12 and one very like it occurs in Jer 26:3.

[4:2]  ⁹⁰ tn Heb “they break out and bloodshed touches bloodshed.” The Hebrew term פָּרַץ (parats, “to break out”) refers to violent and wicked actions (BDB 829 s.v. פָּרַץ 7; HALOT 972 s.v. פרץ 6.c). It is used elsewhere in a concrete sense to describe breaking through physical barriers. Here it is used figuratively to describe breaking moral barriers and restraints (cf. TEV “Crimes increase, and there is one murder after another”).

[3:10]  ⁹¹ tn Heb “who.”

[3:10]  ⁹² tn Heb “bloodshed” (so NAB, NASB, NIV); NLT “murder.”

[3:10]  ⁹³ map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.

[3:11]  ⁹⁴ sn The pronoun Her refers to Jerusalem (note the previous line).

[3:11]  ⁹⁵ tn Heb “judge for a bribe.”

[3:11]  ⁹⁶ tn Heb “they lean upon” (so KJV, NIV, NRSV); NAB “rely on.”

[3:11]  ⁹⁷ tn Heb “Is not the Lord in our midst?” The rhetorical question expects the answer, “Of course he is!”

[3:11]  ⁹⁸ tn Or “come upon” (so many English versions); NCV “happen to us”; CEV “come to us.”

[3:12]  ⁹⁹ tn The plural pronoun refers to the leaders, priests, and prophets mentioned in the preceding verse.

[3:12]  ¹⁰⁰ tn Or “into” (an adverbial accusative of result).

[3:12]  ¹⁰¹ tn Heb “the mountain of the house” (so KJV, ASV, NRSV).

[3:12]  ¹⁰² tn Heb “a high place of overgrowth.”