Yeremia 2:2

2:2 “Go and declare in the hearing of the people of Jerusalem: ¹  ‘This is what the Lord says: “I have fond memories of you, ²  how devoted you were to me in your early years. ³  I remember how you loved me like a new bride; you followed me through the wilderness, through a land that had never been planted.

Yeremia 5:7

5:7 The Lord asked, ⁴ 

“How can I leave you unpunished, Jerusalem? ⁵ 

Your people ⁶  have rejected me

and have worshiped gods that are not gods at all. ⁷ 

Even though I supplied all their needs, ⁸  they were like an unfaithful wife to me. ⁹ 

They went flocking ¹⁰  to the houses of prostitutes. ¹¹ 

Yeremia 6:11

6:11 I am as full of anger as you are, Lord, ¹² 

I am tired of trying to hold it in.”

The Lord answered, ¹³ 

“Vent it, then, ¹⁴  on the children who play in the street

and on the young men who are gathered together.

Husbands and wives are to be included, ¹⁵ 

as well as the old and those who are advanced in years.

Yeremia 34:22

34:22 For I, the Lord, affirm that ¹⁶  I will soon give the order and bring them back to this city. They will fight against it and capture it and burn it down. I will also make the towns of Judah desolate so that there will be no one living in them.”’”

[2:2]  ¹ map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.

[2:2]  ² tn Heb “I remember to/for you.”

[2:2]  ³ tn Heb “the loyal love of your youth.”

[2:2]  sn The Hebrew word translated “how devoted you were” (חֶסֶד, khesed) refers metaphorically to the devotion of a new bride to her husband. In typical Hebraic fashion, contemporary Israel is identified with early Israel after she first entered into covenant with (= married) the Lord. The reference to her earlier devotion is not absolute but relative. Compared to her unfaithfulness in worshiping other gods after she got into the land, the murmuring and complaining in the wilderness are ignored.

[5:7]  ⁴ tn These words are not in the text, but are supplied in the translation to make clear who is speaking.

[5:7]  ⁵ tn Heb “How can I forgive [or pardon] you.” The pronoun “you” is second feminine singular, referring to the city. See v. 1.

[5:7]  ⁶ tn Heb “your children.”

[5:7]  ⁷ tn Heb “and they have sworn [oaths] by not-gods.”

[5:7]  ⁸ tn Heb “I satisfied them to the full.”

[5:7]  ⁹ tn Heb “they committed adultery.” It is difficult to decide whether literal adultery with other women or spiritual adultery with other gods is meant. The word for adultery is used for both in the book of Jeremiah. For examples of its use for spiritual adultery see 3:8, 9; 9:2. For examples of its use for literal adultery see 7:9; 23:14. The context here could argue for either. The swearing by other gods and the implicit contradiction in their actions in contrast to the expected gratitude for supplying their needs argues for spiritual adultery. However, the reference to prostitution in the next line and the reference to chasing after their neighbor’s wives argues for literal adultery. The translation opts for spiritual adultery because of the contrast implicit in the concessive clause.

[5:7]  ¹⁰ tn There is a great deal of debate about the meaning of this word. Most of the modern English versions follow the lead of lexicographers who relate this word to a noun meaning “troop” and understand it to mean “they trooped together” (cf. BDB 151 s.v. גָּדַד Hithpo.2 and compare the usage in Mic 5:1 [4:14 HT]). A few of the modern English versions and commentaries follow the reading of the Greek and read a word meaning “they lodged” (reading ִיתְגּוֹרְרוּ [yitggorÿru] from I גּוּר [gur; cf. HALOT 177 s.v. Hithpo. and compare the usage in 1 Kgs 17:20] instead of יִתְגֹּדָדוּ [yitggodadu]). W. L. Holladay (Jeremiah [Hermeneia], 1:180) sees a reference here to the cultic practice of cutting oneself in supplication to pagan gods (cf. BDB 151 s.v. גָּדַד Hithpo.1 and compare the usage in 1 Kgs 18:28). The houses of prostitutes would then be a reference to ritual prostitutes at the pagan shrines. The translation follows BDB and the majority of modern English versions.

[5:7]  ¹¹ tn Heb “to a house of a prostitute.”

[5:7]  sn This could be a reference to cultic temple prostitution connected with the pagan shrines. For allusion to this in the OT, see, e.g., Deut 23:17 and 2 Kgs 23:7.

[6:11]  ¹² tn Heb “I am full of the wrath of the Lord.”

[6:11]  ¹³ tn These words are not in the text but are implicit from the words that follow. They are supplied in the translation for clarity.

[6:11]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “Pour it out.”

[6:11]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “are to be captured.”

[34:22]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “Oracle of the Lord.”