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 11:17

11:17 For though I, the Lord who rules over all, ²  planted you in the land, ³ 

I now decree that disaster will come on you ⁴ 

because the nations of Israel and Judah have done evil

and have made me angry by offering sacrifices to the god Baal.” ⁵ 

Yeremia 24:6

24:6 I will look after their welfare ⁶  and will restore them to this land. There I will build them up and will not tear them down. I will plant them firmly in the land ⁷  and will not uproot them. ⁸ 

[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.

[11:17]  ² tn Heb “Yahweh of armies.”

[11:17]  sn For the significance of the term see the notes at 2:19 and 7:3.

[11:17]  ³ tn The words “in the land” are not in the text but are supplied in the translation to clarify the meaning of the metaphor.

[11:17]  ⁴ tn Heb “For Yahweh of armies who planted you speaks disaster upon you.” Because of the way the term Lord of armies has been rendered this sentence has been restructured to avoid confusion in English style.

[11:17]  ⁵ tn Heb “pronounced disaster…on account of the evil of the house of Israel and the house of Judah which they have done to make me angry [or thus making me angry] by sacrificing to Baal.” The lines have been broken up in conformity with contemporary English style.

[24:6]  ⁶ tn Heb “I will set my eyes upon them for good.” For the nuance of “good” see Jer 21:10; Amos 9:4 (in these cases the opposite of harm; see BDB 375 s.v. טוֹבָה 1).

[24:6]  ⁷ tn The words “There” and “firmly in the land” are not in the text but are implicit from the connection and the metaphor. They are supplied in the translation for clarity.

[24:6]  ⁸ sn For these terms see Jer 1:10.