Yeremia 10:3

10:3 For the religion ¹  of these people is worthless.

They cut down a tree in the forest,

and a craftsman makes it into an idol with his tools. ² 

Yeremia 40:16

40:16 But Gedaliah son of Ahikam said to Johanan son of Kareah, “Do not do that ³  because what you are saying about Ishmael is not true.” ⁴ 

Yeremia 51:55

51:55 For the Lord is ready to destroy Babylon,

and put an end to her loud noise.

Their waves ⁵  will roar like turbulent ⁶  waters.

They will make a deafening noise. ⁷ 

[10:3]  ¹ tn Heb “statutes.” According to BDB 350 s.v. חֻקָּה 2.b it refers to the firmly established customs or practices of the pagan nations. Compare the usage in Lev 20:23; 2 Kgs 17:8. Here it is essentially equivalent to דֶּרֶךְ (derekh) in v. 1, which has already been translated “religious practices.”

[10:3]  ² sn This passage is dripping with sarcasm. It begins by talking about the “statutes” of the pagan peoples as a “vapor” using a singular copula and singular predicate. Then it suppresses the subject, the idol, as though it were too horrible to mention, using only the predications about it. The last two lines read literally: “[it is] a tree which one cuts down from the forest; the work of the hands of a craftsman with his chisel.”

[40:16]  ³ tn Heb “this thing.”

[40:16]  ⁴ tn Heb “is false” or “is a lie.”

[51:55]  ⁵ tn The antecedent of the third masculine plural pronominal suffix is not entirely clear. It probably refers back to the “destroyers” mentioned in v. 53 as the agents of God’s judgment on Babylon.

[51:55]  ⁶ tn Or “mighty waters.”

[51:55]  ⁷ tn Heb “and the noise of their sound will be given,”