Yeremia 3:8

3:8 She also saw ¹  that I gave wayward Israel her divorce papers and sent her away because of her adulterous worship of other gods. ²  Even after her unfaithful sister Judah had seen this, ³  she still was not afraid, and she too went and gave herself like a prostitute to other gods. ⁴ 

Yeremia 5:12

5:12 “These people have denied what the Lord says. ⁵ 

They have said, ‘That is not so! ⁶ 

No harm will come to us.

We will not experience war and famine. ⁷ 

Yeremia 9:21

9:21 ‘Death has climbed in ⁸  through our windows.

It has entered into our fortified houses.

It has taken away our children who play in the streets.

It has taken away our young men who gather in the city squares.’

Yeremia 22:11

22:11 “‘For the Lord has spoken about Shallum son of Josiah, who succeeded his father as king of Judah but was carried off into exile. He has said, “He will never return to this land. ⁹ 

Yeremia 37:14

37:14 Jeremiah answered, “That’s a lie! I am not deserting to the Babylonians.” ¹⁰  But Irijah would not listen to him. Irijah put Jeremiah under arrest and took him to the officials.

Yeremia 50:12

50:12 But Babylonia will be put to great shame.

The land where you were born ¹¹  will be disgraced.

Indeed, ¹²  Babylonia will become the least important of all nations.

It will become a dry and barren desert.

Yeremia 51:19

51:19 The Lord, who is the portion of the descendants of Jacob, is not like them.

For he is the one who created everything,

including the people of Israel whom he claims as his own. ¹³ 

He is known as the Lord who rules over all. ¹⁴ 

Yeremia 52:11

52:11 He had Zedekiah’s eyes put out and had him bound in chains. ¹⁵  Then the king of Babylon had him led off to Babylon and he was imprisoned there until the day he died.

[3:8]  ¹ tc Heb “she [‘her sister, unfaithful Judah’ from the preceding verse] saw” with one Hebrew ms, some Greek mss, and the Syriac version. The MT reads “I saw” which may be a case of attraction to the verb at the beginning of the previous verse.

[3:8]  ² tn Heb “because she committed adultery.” The translation is intended to spell out the significance of the metaphor.

[3:8]  ³ tn The words “Even after her unfaithful sister, Judah, had seen this” are not in the Hebrew text but are implicit in the connection and are supplied for clarification.

[3:8]  ⁴ tn Heb “she played the prostitute there.” This is a metaphor for Israel’s worship; she gave herself to the worship of other gods like a prostitute gives herself to her lovers. There seems no clear way to completely spell out the metaphor in the translation.

[5:12]  ⁵ tn Heb “have denied the Lord.” The words “What…says” are implicit in what follows.

[5:12]  ⁶ tn Or “he will do nothing”; Heb “Not he [or it]!”

[5:12]  ⁷ tn Heb “we will not see the sword and famine.”

[9:21]  ⁸ sn Here Death is personified (treated as though it were a person). Some have seen as possible background to this lament an allusion to Mesopotamian mythology where the demon Lamastu climbs in through the windows of houses and over their walls to kill children and babies.

[22:11]  ⁹ tn Heb “For thus said the Lord concerning Shallum son of Josiah, king of Judah, who reigned instead of his father who went away from this place: He will not return there again.”

[37:14]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “the Chaldeans.” See the study note on 21:4 for explanation.

[50:12]  ¹¹ tn Heb “Your mother will be utterly shamed, the one who gave you birth…” The word “mother” and the parallel term “the one who gave you birth” are used metaphorically for the land of Babylonia. For the figure compare the usage in Isa 50:1 (Judah) and Hos 2:2, 5 (2:4, 7 HT) and see BDB 52 s.v. אֵם 2 and 408 s.v. יָלַד Qal.2.c.

[50:12]  ¹² tn Heb “Behold.” For the use of this particle see the translator’s note on 1:6.

[51:19]  ¹³ tn Heb “For he is the former of all [things] and the tribe of his inheritance.” This is the major exception to the verbatim repetition of 10:12-16 in 51:15-19. The word “Israel” appears before “the tribe of his inheritance” in 10:16. It is also found in a number of Hebrew mss, in the Lucianic recension of the LXX (the Greek version), the Aramaic Targums, and the Latin Vulgate. Most English versions and many commentaries assume it here. However, it is easier to explain why the word is added in a few of the versions and some Hebrew than to explain why it was left out. It is probable that the word is not original here because the addressees are different and the function of this hymnic piece is slightly different (see the study note on the next line for details). Here it makes good sense to understand that the Lord is being called the creator of the special tribe of people he claims as his own property (see the study note on the first line of 10:16).

[51:19]  ¹⁴ sn With the major exception discussed in the translator’s note on the preceding line vv. 15-19 are a verbatim repetition of 10:12-16 with a few minor variations in spelling. There the passage was at the end of a section in which the Lord was addressing the Judeans and trying to convince them that the worship of idols was vain – the idols were impotent but he is all powerful. Here the passage follows a solemn oath by the Lord who rules over all and is apparently directed to the Babylonians, emphasizing the power of the Lord to carry out his oath.

[52:11]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “fetters of bronze.” The more generic “chains” is used in the translation because “fetters” is a word unfamiliar to most modern readers.