Yeremia 2:21

2:21 I planted you in the land

like a special vine of the very best stock.

Why in the world have you turned into something like a wild vine

that produces rotten, foul-smelling grapes? ¹ 

Yeremia 6:6

6:6 All of this is because ²  the Lord who rules over all ³  has said:

‘Cut down the trees around Jerusalem

and build up a siege ramp against its walls. ⁴ 

This is the city which is to be punished. ⁵ 

Nothing but oppression happens in it. ⁶ 

Yeremia 10:2

10:2 The Lord says,

“Do not start following pagan religious practices. ⁷ 

Do not be in awe of signs that occur ⁸  in the sky

even though the nations hold them in awe.

Yeremia 13:19

13:19 The gates of the towns in southern Judah will be shut tight. ⁹ 

No one will be able to go in or out of them. ¹⁰ 

All Judah will be carried off into exile.

They will be completely carried off into exile.’” ¹¹ 

Yeremia 42:15

42:15 If you people who remain in Judah do that, then listen to what the Lord says. The Lord God of Israel who rules over all ¹²  says, ‘If you are so determined ¹³  to go to Egypt that you go and settle there,

Yeremia 50:13

50:13 After I vent my wrath on it Babylon will be uninhabited. ¹⁴ 

It will be totally desolate.

All who pass by will be filled with horror and will hiss out their scorn

because of all the disasters that have happened to it. ¹⁵ 

Yeremia 52:19

52:19 The captain of the royal guard took the gold and silver bowls, censers, ¹⁶  basins, pots, lampstands, pans, and vessels. ¹⁷ 

[2:21]  ¹ tc Heb “I planted you as a choice vine, all of it true seed. How then have you turned into a putrid thing to me, a strange [or wild] vine.” The question expresses surprise and consternation. The translation is based on a redivision of the Hebrew words סוּרֵי הַגֶּפֶן (sure haggefen) into סוֹרִיָּה גֶּפֶן (soriyyah gefen) and the recognition of a hapax legomenon סוֹרִיָּה (soriyyah) meaning “putrid, stinking thing.” See HALOT 707 s.v. סוֹרִי.

[6:6]  ² tn Heb “For.” The translation attempts to make the connection clearer.

[6:6]  ³ tn Heb “Yahweh of armies.”

[6:6]  sn For an explanation of the significance of this title see the study note on 2:19.

[6:6]  ⁴ tn Heb “Cut down its trees and build up a siege ramp against Jerusalem.” The referent has been moved forward from the second line for clarity.

[6:6]  ⁵ tn Or “must be punished.” The meaning of this line is uncertain. The LXX reads, “Woe, city of falsehood!” The MT presents two anomalies: a masculine singular verb with a feminine singular subject in a verbal stem (Hophal) that elsewhere does not have the meaning “is to be punished.” Hence many follow the Greek which presupposes הוֹי עִיר הַשֶּׁקֶר (hoy ’ir hasheqer) instead of הִיא הָעִיר הָפְקַד (hi’ ha’ir hofqad). The Greek is the easier reading in light of the parallelism, and it would be hard to explain how the MT arose from it. KBL suggests reading a noun meaning “licentiousness” which occurs elsewhere only in Mishnaic Hebrew, hence “this is the city, the licentious one” (attributive apposition; cf. KBL 775 s.v. פֶּקֶר). Perhaps the Hophal perfect (הָפְקַד, hofÿqad) should be revocalized as a Niphal infinitive absolute (הִפָּקֹד, hippaqod); this would solve both anomalies in the MT since the Niphal is used in this nuance and the infinitive absolute can function in place of a finite verb (cf. GKC 346 §113.ee and ff). This, however, is mere speculation and is supported by no Hebrew ms.

[6:6]  ⁶ tn Heb “All of it oppression in its midst.”

[10:2]  ⁷ tn Heb “Do not learn the way of the nations.” For this use of the word “ways” (דֶּרֶךְ, derekh) compare for example Jer 12:16 and Isa 2:6.

[10:2]  ⁸ tn Heb “signs.” The words “that occur” are supplied in the translation for clarity.

[10:2]  sn The Hebrew word translated here “things that go on in the sky” (אֹתוֹת, ’otot) refers both to unusual disturbances such as eclipses, comets, meteors, etc., but also to such things as the changes in the position of the sun, moon, and stars in conjunction with the changes in seasons (cf. Gen 1:14). The people of Assyria and Babylonia worshiped the sun, moon, and stars, thinking that these heavenly bodies had some hold over them.

[13:19]  ⁹ tn Heb “The towns of the Negev will be shut.”

[13:19]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “There is no one to open them.” The translation is based on the parallel in Josh 6:1 where the very expression in the translation is used. Opening the city would have permitted entrance (of relief forces) as well as exit (of fugitives).

[13:19]  ¹¹ sn The statements are poetic exaggerations (hyperbole), as most commentaries note. Even in the exile of 587 b.c. not “all” of the people of Jerusalem or of Judah were exiled. Cf. the context of 2 Kgs 24:14-16 again.

[42:15]  ¹² tn Heb “Yahweh of armies, the God of Israel.” See the study note on 2:19 for the translation and significance of this title.

[42:15]  ¹³ tn Heb “set your face to.” See Jer 42:17; 44:11; Dan 11:17; 2 Kgs 12:17 (12:18 HT) for parallel usage.

[50:13]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “From [or Because of] the wrath of the Lord it will be uninhabited.” The causal connection is spelled out more clearly and actively and the first person has been used because the speaker is the Lord. The referent “it” has been spelled out clearly from the later occurrence in the verse, “all who pass by Babylon.”

[50:13]  ¹⁵ sn Compare Jer 49:17 and the study note there and see also the study notes on 18:16 and 19:8.

[52:19]  ¹⁶ sn The censers held the embers used for the incense offerings.

[52:19]  ¹⁷ sn These vessels were used for drink offerings.