Yeremia 2:17-19
Konteks2:17 You have brought all this on yourself, Israel, 1
by deserting the Lord your God when he was leading you along the right path. 2
2:18 What good will it do you 3 then 4 to go down to Egypt
to seek help from the Egyptians? 5
What good will it do you 6 to go over to Assyria
to seek help from the Assyrians? 7
2:19 Your own wickedness will bring about your punishment.
Your unfaithful acts will bring down discipline on you. 8
Know, then, and realize how utterly harmful 9
it was for you to reject me, the Lord your God, 10
to show no respect for me,” 11
says the Lord God who rules over all. 12
Yeremia 40:2-3
Konteks40:2 The captain of the royal guard took Jeremiah aside and said to him, “The Lord your God threatened this place with this disaster. 40:3 Now he has brought it about. The Lord has done just as he threatened to do. This disaster has happened because you people sinned against the Lord and did not obey him. 13
Yeremia 50:7
Konteks50:7 All who encountered them devoured them.
Their enemies who did this said, ‘We are not liable for punishment!
For those people have sinned against the Lord, their true pasture. 14
They have sinned against the Lord in whom their ancestors 15 trusted.’ 16
[2:17] 1 tn Heb “Are you not bringing this on yourself.” The question is rhetorical and expects a positive answer.
[2:17] 2 tn Heb “at the time of leading you in the way.”
[2:18] 3 tn Heb “What to you to the way.”
[2:18] 4 tn The introductory particle וְעַתָּה (vÿ’attah, “and now”) carries a logical, not temporal, connotation here (cf. BDB 274 s.v. עַתָּה 2.b).
[2:18] 5 tn Heb “to drink water from the Shihor [a branch of the Nile].” The reference is to seeking help through political alliance with Egypt as opposed to trusting in God for help. This is an extension of the figure in 2:13.
[2:18] 6 tn Heb “What to you to the way.”
[2:18] 7 tn Heb “to drink water from the River [a common designation in biblical Hebrew for the Euphrates River].” This refers to seeking help through political alliance. See the preceding note.
[2:19] 8 tn Or “teach you a lesson”; Heb “rebuke/chide you.”
[2:19] 9 tn Heb “how evil and bitter.” The reference is to the consequences of their acts. This is a figure of speech (hendiadys) where two nouns or adjectives joined by “and” introduce a main concept modified by the other noun or adjective.
[2:19] 10 tn Heb “to leave the
[2:19] 11 tn Heb “and no fear of me was on you.”
[2:19] 12 tn Heb “the Lord Yahweh, [the God of] hosts.” For the title Lord
[40:3] 13 tn Heb “Because you [masc. pl.] sinned against the
[50:7] 14 tn This same Hebrew phrase “the habitation of righteousness” is found in Jer 31:23 in relation to Jerusalem in the future as “the place where righteousness dwells.” Here, however, it refers to the same entity as “their resting place” in v. 6 and means “true pasture.” For the meaning of “pasture” for the word נָוֶה (naveh) see 2 Sam 7:8 and especially Isa 65:10 where it is parallel with “resting place” for the flocks. For the meaning of “true” for צֶדֶק (tsedeq) see BDB 841 s.v. צֶדֶק 1. For the interpretation adopted here see G. L. Keown, P. J. Scalise, T. G. Smothers, Jeremiah 26-52 (WBC), 365. The same basic interpretation is reflected in NRSV, NJPS, and God’s Word.
[50:7] 16 sn These two verses appear to be a poetical summary of the argument of Jer 2 where the nation is accused of abandoning its loyalty to God and worshiping idols. Whereas those who tried to devour Israel were liable for punishment when Israel was loyal to God (2:3), the enemies of Israel who destroyed them (i.e., the Babylonians [but also the Assyrians], 50:17) argue that they are not liable for punishment because the Israelites have sinned against the