Yeremia 2:6

2:6 They did not ask:

‘Where is the Lord who delivered us out of Egypt,

who brought us through the wilderness,

through a land of desert sands and rift valleys,

through a land of drought and deep darkness, ¹ 

through a land in which no one travels,

and where no one lives?’ ² 

Yeremia 2:17

2:17 You have brought all this on yourself, Israel, ³ 

by deserting the Lord your God when he was leading you along the right path. ⁴ 

Yeremia 7:22

7:22 Consider this: ⁵  When I spoke to your ancestors after I brought them out of Egypt, I did not merely give them commands about burnt offerings and sacrifices.

Yeremia 11:7

11:7 For I solemnly warned your ancestors to obey me. ⁶  I warned them again and again, ⁷  ever since I delivered them out of Egypt until this very day.

Yeremia 16:14-15

16:14 Yet ⁸  I, the Lord, say: ⁹  “A new time will certainly come. ¹⁰  People now affirm their oaths with ‘I swear as surely as the Lord lives who delivered the people of Israel out of Egypt.’ 16:15 But in that time they will affirm them with ‘I swear as surely as the Lord lives who delivered the people of Israel from the land of the north and from all the other lands where he had banished them.’ At that time I will bring them back to the land I gave their ancestors.” ¹¹ 

Yeremia 23:7-8

23:7 “So I, the Lord, say: ¹²  ‘A new time will certainly come. ¹³  People now affirm their oaths with “I swear as surely as the Lord lives who delivered the people of Israel out of Egypt.” 23:8 But at that time they will affirm them with “I swear as surely as the Lord lives who delivered the descendants of the former nation of Israel ¹⁴  from the land of the north and from all the other lands where he had banished ¹⁵  them.” ¹⁶  At that time they will live in their own land.’”

Yeremia 31:9

31:9 They will come back shedding tears of contrition.

I will bring them back praying prayers of repentance. ¹⁷ 

I will lead them besides streams of water,

along smooth paths where they will never stumble. ¹⁸ 

I will do this because I am Israel’s father;

Ephraim ¹⁹  is my firstborn son.’”

Yeremia 31:32

31:32 It will not be like the old ²⁰  covenant that I made with their ancestors ²¹  when I delivered them ²²  from Egypt. For they violated that covenant, even though I was like a faithful husband to them,” ²³  says the Lord. ²⁴ 

Yeremia 50:8

50:8 “People of Judah, ²⁵  get out of Babylon quickly!

Leave the land of Babylonia! ²⁶ 

Be the first to depart! ²⁷ 

Be like the male goats that lead the herd.

[2:6]  ¹ tn This word is erroneously rendered “shadow of death” in most older English versions; that translation is based on a faulty etymology. Contextual studies and comparative Semitic linguistics have demonstrated that the word is merely another word for darkness. It is confined to poetic texts and often carries connotations of danger and distress. It is associated in poetic texts with the darkness of a prison (Ps 107:10, 14), a mine (Job 28:3), and a ravine (Ps 23:4). Here it is associated with the darkness of the wasteland and ravines of the Sinai desert.

[2:6]  ² sn The context suggests that the question is related to a lament where the people turn to God in their troubles, asking him for help and reminding him of his past benefactions. See for example Isa 63:11-19 and Ps 44. It is an implicit prayer for his intervention, cf. 2 Kgs 2:14.

[2:17]  ³ tn Heb “Are you not bringing this on yourself.” The question is rhetorical and expects a positive answer.

[2:17]  ⁴ tn Heb “at the time of leading you in the way.”

[7:22]  ⁵ tn Heb “For” but this introduces a long explanation about the relative importance of sacrifice and obedience.

[11:7]  ⁶ tn Heb “warned them…saying, ‘Obey me.’” However, it allows the long sentence to be broken up easier if the indirect quote is used.

[11:7]  ⁷ tn For the explanation for this rendering see the note on 7:13.

[16:14]  ⁸ tn The particle translated here “Yet” (לָכֵן, lakhen) is regularly translated “So” or “Therefore” and introduces a consequence. However, in a few cases it introduces a contrasting set of conditions. Compare its use in Judg 11:8; Jer 48:12; 49:2; 51:52; and Hos 2:14 (2:16 HT).

[16:14]  ⁹ tn Heb “Oracle of the Lord.” The Lord has been speaking; the first person has been utilized in translation to avoid a shift which might create confusion.

[16:14]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “Behold the days are coming.”

[16:15]  ¹¹ tn These two verses which constitute one long sentence with compound, complex subordinations has been broken up for sake of English style. It reads, “Therefore, behold the days are coming, says the Lord [Heb ‘oracle of the Lord’] and it will not be said any longer, ‘By the life of the Lord who…Egypt’ but ‘by the life of the Lord who…’ and I will bring them back….”

[23:7]  ¹² tn Heb “Oracle of the Lord.”

[23:7]  ¹³ tn Heb “Behold the days are coming.”

[23:8]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “descendants of the house of Israel.”

[23:8]  ¹⁵ tc It is probably preferable to read the third masculine singular plus suffix (הִדִּיחָם, hiddikham) here with the Greek version and the parallel passage in 16:15 rather than the first singular plus suffix in the MT (הִדַּחְתִּים, hiddakhtim). If this is not a case of mere graphic confusion, the MT could have arisen under the influence of the first person in v. 3. Though sudden shifts in person have been common in the book of Jeremiah, that is unlikely in a context reporting an oath.

[23:8]  ¹⁶ tn This passage is the same as 16:14-15 with a few minor variations in Hebrew wording. The notes on that passage should be consulted for the rendering here. This passage has the Niphal of the verb “to say” rather than the impersonal use of the Qal. It adds the idea of “bringing out” to the idea of “bringing up out” and (Heb “who brought up and who brought out,” probably a case of hendiadys) before “the people [here “seed” rather than “children”] of Israel [here “house of Israel”] from the land of the north.” These are minor variations and do not affect the sense in any way. So the passage is rendered in much the same way.

[23:8]  sn This passage looks forward to a new and greater Exodus, one that so outstrips the earlier one that the earlier will not serve as the model of deliverance any longer. This same ideal was the subject of Isaiah’s earlier prophecies in Isa 11:11-12, 15-16; 43:16-21; 49:8-13; 51: 1-11.

[31:9]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “They will come with weeping; I will bring them with supplication.” The ideas of contrition and repentance are implicit from the context (cf. vv. 18-19) and are supplied for clarity.

[31:9]  ¹⁸ sn Jer 31:8-9 are reminiscent of the “New Exodus” motif of Isa 40-66 which has already been referred to in Jer 16:14-15; 23:7-8. See especially Isa 35:3-10; 40:3-5, 11; 41:17-20; 42:14-17; 43:16-21; 49:9-13. As there, the New Exodus will so outstrip the old that the old will pale in comparison and be almost forgotten (see Jer 23:7-8).

[31:9]  ¹⁹ sn Ephraim was the second son of Joseph who was elevated to a place of prominence in the family of Jacob by the patriarch’s special blessing. It was the strongest tribe in northern Israel and Samaria lay in its territory. It is often used as a poetic parallel for Israel as here. The poetry is not speaking of two separate entities here; it is a way of repeating an idea for emphasis. Moreover, there is no intent to show special preference for northern Israel over Judah. All Israel is metaphorically God’s son and the object of his special care and concern (Exod 4:22; Deut 32:6).

[31:32]  ²⁰ tn The word “old” is not in the text but is implicit in the use of the word “new.” It is supplied in the translation for greater clarity.

[31:32]  ²¹ tn Heb “fathers.”

[31:32]  sn This refers to the Mosaic covenant which the nation entered into with God at Sinai and renewed on the plains of Moab. The primary biblical passages explicating this covenant are Exod 19–24 and the book of Deuteronomy; see as well the study note on Jer 11:2 for the form this covenant took and its relation to the warnings of the prophets. The renewed document of Deuteronomy was written down and provisions made for periodic public reading and renewal of commitment to it (Deut 31:9-13). Josiah had done this after the discovery of the book of the law (which was either Deuteronomy or a synopsis of it) early in the ministry of Jeremiah (2 Kgs 23:1-4; the date would be near 622 b.c. shortly after Jeremiah began prophesying in 627 [see the note on Jer 1:2]). But it is apparent from Jeremiah’s confrontation with Judah after that time that the commitment of the people was only superficial (cf. Jer 3:10). The prior history of the nations of Israel and Judah and Judah’s current practice had been one of persistent violation of this covenant despite repeated warnings of the prophets that God would punish them for that (see especially Jer 7, 11). Because of that, Israel had been exiled (cf., e.g., Jer 3:8), and now Judah was threatened with the same (cf., e.g., Jer 7:15). Jer 30–31 look forward to a time when both Israel and Judah will be regathered, reunited, and under a new covenant which includes the same stipulations but with a different relationship (v. 32).

[31:32]  ²² tn Heb “when I took them by the hand and led them out.”

[31:32]  ²³ tn Or “I was their master.” See the study note on 3:14.

[31:32]  sn The metaphor of Yahweh as husband and Israel as wife has been used already in Jer 3 and is implicit in the repeated allusions to idolatry as spiritual adultery or prostitution. The best commentary on the faithfulness of God to his “husband-like” relation is seen in the book of Hosea, especially in Hos 1-3.

[31:32]  ²⁴ tn Heb “Oracle of the Lord.”

[50:8]  ²⁵ tn The words “People of Judah” are not in the Hebrew text but are implicit from the context. They have been supplied in the translation to clarify the subject of the address.

[50:8]  ²⁶ tn Heb “the land of the Chaldeans.” See the study note on 21:4 for explanation.

[50:8]  ²⁷ tn The words “Be the first to leave” are not in the text but spell out the significance of the simile that follows. They have been supplied in the translation for clarity.