Yeremia 11:18--12:6

A Plot Against Jeremiah is Revealed and He Complains of Injustice

11:18 The Lord gave me knowledge, that I might have understanding. ¹ 

Then he showed me what the people were doing. ² 

11:19 Before this I had been like a docile lamb ready to be led to the slaughter.

I did not know they were making plans to kill me. ³ 

I did not know they were saying, ⁴ 

“Let’s destroy the tree along with its fruit! ⁵ 

Let’s remove Jeremiah ⁶  from the world of the living

so people will not even be reminded of him any more.” ⁷ 

11:20 So I said to the Lord, ⁸ 

“O Lord who rules over all, ⁹  you are a just judge!

You examine people’s hearts and minds. ¹⁰ 

I want to see you pay them back for what they have done

because I trust you to vindicate my cause.” ¹¹ 

11:21 Then the Lord told me about ¹²  some men from Anathoth ¹³  who were threatening to kill me. ¹⁴  They had threatened, ¹⁵  “Stop prophesying in the name of the Lord or we will kill you!” ¹⁶  11:22 So the Lord who rules over all ¹⁷  said, “I will surely ¹⁸  punish them! Their young men will be killed in battle. ¹⁹  Their sons and daughters will die of starvation. 11:23 Not one of them will survive. ²⁰  I will bring disaster on those men from Anathoth who threatened you. ²¹  A day of reckoning is coming for them.” ²² 

12:1 Lord, you have always been fair

whenever I have complained to you. ²³ 

However, I would like to speak with you about the disposition of justice. ²⁴ 

Why are wicked people successful? ²⁵ 

Why do all dishonest people have such easy lives?

12:2 You plant them like trees and they put down their roots. ²⁶ 

They grow prosperous and are very fruitful. ²⁷ 

They always talk about you,

but they really care nothing about you. ²⁸ 

12:3 But you, Lord, know all about me.

You watch me and test my devotion to you. ²⁹ 

Drag these wicked men away like sheep to be slaughtered!

Appoint a time when they will be killed! ³⁰ 

12:4 How long must the land be parched ³¹ 

and the grass in every field be withered?

How long ³²  must the animals and the birds die

because of the wickedness of the people who live in this land? ³³ 

For these people boast,

“God ³⁴  will not see what happens to us.” ³⁵ 

12:5 The Lord answered, ³⁶ 

“If you have raced on foot against men and they have worn you out,

how will you be able to compete with horses?

And if you feel secure only ³⁷  in safe and open country, ³⁸ 

how will you manage in the thick undergrowth along the Jordan River? ³⁹ 

12:6 As a matter of fact, ⁴⁰  even your own brothers

and the members of your own family have betrayed you too.

Even they have plotted to do away with you. ⁴¹ 

So do not trust them even when they say kind things ⁴²  to you.

[11:18]  ¹ tn Heb “caused me to know that I might know.” Many English versions supply an unstated object “their plots” which is referred to later in the context (cf. v. 19). The presupposition of this kind of absolute ellipsis is difficult to justify and would create the need for understanding an ellipsis of “it” also after “I knew.” It is better to see a bipolar use of the verb “know” here. For the second use of the verb “know” meaning “have understanding” see BDB 394 s.v. ָידַע Qal.5.

[11:18]  ² tn Heb “Then you showed me their deeds.” This is another example of the rapid shift in person which is common in Jeremiah. As elsewhere, it has been resolved for the sake of avoiding confusion for the English reader by leveling the referent to the same person throughout. The text again involves an apostrophe, talking about the Lord to addressing him.

[11:19]  ³ tn Heb “against me.” The words “to kill me” are implicit from the context and are supplied in the translation for clarity.

[11:19]  ⁴ tn The words “I did not know that they were saying” are not in the text. The quote is without formal introduction in the original. These words are supplied in the translation for clarity.

[11:19]  ⁵ tn This word and its pronoun (לַחְמוֹ, lakhmo, “its bread”) is often emended to read “in/with its sap” = “in its prime” (either לֵחוֹ [lekho] or לֵחְמוֹ [lekhÿmo]); the latter would be more likely and the מוֹ (mo) could be explained as a rare use of the old poetic third plural suffix for the third singular; cf. GKC 258 §91.l for general use and Ps 11:7 and Job 27:23 for third singular use. Though this fits the context nicely the emendation is probably unnecessary since the word “bread” is sometimes used of other foodstuff than grain or its products (cf. BDB 537 s.v. לֶחֶם 2.a).

[11:19]  sn The word fruit refers contextually here to the prophecies that Jeremiah was giving, not (as some suppose) his progeny. Jeremiah was not married and had no children.

[11:19]  ⁶ tn Heb “cut it [or him] off.” The metaphor of the tree may be continued, though the verb “cut off” is used also of killing people. The rendering clarifies the meaning of the metaphor.

[11:19]  ⁷ tn Heb “so that his name will not be remembered any more.”

[11:20]  ⁸ tn The words “So I said to the Lord” are not in the text but are implicit from the context. They are supplied in the translation for clarity to show the shift in address.

[11:20]  ⁹ tn Heb “Yahweh of armies.”

[11:20]  sn For the significance of the term see the notes at 2:19 and 7:3.

[11:20]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “Lord of armies, just judge, tester of kidneys and heart.” The sentence has been broken up to avoid a long and complex English sentence. The translation is more in keeping with contemporary English style. In Hebrew thought the “kidneys” were thought of as the seat of the emotions and passions and the “heart” was viewed as the seat of intellect, conscience, and will. The “heart” and the “kidneys” are often used figuratively for the thoughts, emotions, motives, and drives that are thought to be seated in them.

[11:20]  ¹¹ tn Heb “Let me see your retribution [i.e., see you exact retribution] from them because I reveal my cause [i.e., plea for justice] to you.”

[11:21]  ¹² tn Heb “Therefore thus says the Lord.” This phrase is anticipatory of the same phrase at the beginning of v. 22 and is introductory to what the Lord says about them. The translation seeks to show the connection of the “therefore” which is sometimes rather loose (cf. BDB 487 s.v. כֵּן 3.d[b]) with the actual response which is not given until v. 22.

[11:21]  ¹³ tn Heb “the men of Anathoth.” However, this does not involve all of the people, only the conspirators. The literal might lead to confusion later since v. 21 mentions that there will not be any of them left alive. However, it is known from Ezra 2:23 that there were survivors.

[11:21]  ¹⁴ tc The MT reads the 2nd person masculine singular suffix “your life,” but LXX reflects an alternative reading of the 1st person common singular suffix “my life.”

[11:21]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “who were seeking my life, saying…” The sentence is broken up in conformity with contemporary English style.

[11:21]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “or you will die by our hand.”

[11:22]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “Yahweh of armies.”

[11:22]  sn For the significance of the term see the notes at 2:19 and 7:3.

[11:22]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “Behold I will.” For the function of this particle see the translator’s note on 1:6.

[11:22]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “will die by the sword.” Here “sword” stands contextually for “battle” while “starvation” stands for death by starvation during siege.

[11:23]  ²⁰ tn Heb “There will be no survivors for/among them.”

[11:23]  ²¹ tn Heb “the men of Anathoth.” For the rationale for adding the qualification see the notes on v. 21.

[11:23]  ²² tn Heb “I will bring disaster on…, the year of their punishment.”

[12:1]  ²³ tn Or “Lord, you are fair when I present my case before you.”

[12:1]  ²⁴ tn Heb “judgments” or “matters of justice.” For the nuance of “complain to,” “fair,” “disposition of justice” assumed here, see BDB 936 s.v. רִיב Qal.4 (cf. Judg 21:22); BDB 843 s.v. צַדִּיק 1.d (cf. Ps 7:12; 11:7); BDB 1049 s.v. מִשְׁפָּט 1.f (cf. Isa 26:8; Ps 10:5; Ezek 7:27).

[12:1]  ²⁵ tn Heb “Why does the way [= course of life] of the wicked prosper?”

[12:2]  ²⁶ tn Heb “You planted them and they took root.”

[12:2]  ²⁷ tn Heb “they grow and produce fruit.” For the nuance “grow” for the verb which normally means “go, walk,” see BDB 232 s.v. חָלַךְ Qal.I.3 and compare Hos 14:7.

[12:2]  ²⁸ tn Heb “You are near in their mouths, but far from their kidneys.” The figure of substitution is being used here, “mouth” for “words” and “kidneys” for passions and affections. A contemporary equivalent might be, “your name is always on their lips, but their hearts are far from you.”

[12:3]  ²⁹ tn Heb “You, Lord, know me. You watch me and you test my heart toward you.”

[12:3]  sn Jeremiah appears to be complaining like Job that God cares nothing about the prosperity of the wicked, but watches his every move. The reverse ought to be true. Jeremiah shouldn’t be suffering the onslaughts of his fellow countrymen as he is. The wicked who are prospering should be experiencing punishment.

[12:3]  ³⁰ tn Heb “set aside for them a day of killing.”

[12:4]  ³¹ tn The verb here is often translated “mourn.” However, this verb is from a homonymic root meaning “to be dry” (cf. HALOT 7 s.v. II אָבַל and compare Hos 4:3 for usage).

[12:4]  ³² tn The words “How long” are not in the text. They are carried over from the first line.

[12:4]  ³³ tn Heb “because of the wickedness of those who live in it.”

[12:4]  ³⁴ tn Heb “he.” The referent is usually identified as God and is supplied here for clarity. Some identify the referent with Jeremiah. If that is the case, then he returns to his complaint about the conspirators. It is more likely, however, that it refers to God and Jeremiah’s complaint that the people live their lives apart from concern about God.

[12:4]  ³⁵ tc Or reading with the Greek version, “God does not see what we are doing.” In place of “what will happen to us (אַחֲרִיתֵנוּ, ’akharitenu, “our end”) the Greek version understands a Hebrew text which reads “our ways” (אָרְחוֹתֵנו, ’orkhotenu), which is graphically very close to the MT. The Masoretic is supported by the Latin and is retained here on the basis of external evidence. Either text makes good sense in the context. Some identify the “he” with Jeremiah and understand the text to be saying that the conspirators are certain that they will succeed and he will not live to see his prophecies fulfilled.

[12:4]  sn The words here may be an outright rejection of the Lord’s words in Deut 32:20, which is part of a song that was to be taught to Israel in the light of their predicted rejection of the Lord.

[12:5]  ³⁶ tn The words “The Lord answered” are not in the text but are implicit from the context. They are supplied in the translation for clarity.

[12:5]  ³⁷ tn Some commentaries and English versions follow the suggestion given in HALOT 116 s.v. II בָּטַח that a homonym meaning “to stumble, fall down” is involved here and in Prov 14:16. The evidence for this homonym is questionable because both passages can be explained on other grounds with the usual root.

[12:5]  ³⁸ tn Heb “a land of tranquility.” The expression involves a figure of substitution where the feeling engendered is substituted for the conditions that engender it. For the idea see Isa 32:18. The translation both here and in the following line is intended to bring out the contrast implicit in the emotive connotations connected with “peaceful country” and “thicket along the Jordan.”

[12:5]  ³⁹ tn Heb “the thicket along the Jordan.” The word “River” is not in the Hebrew text, but has been supplied in the translation for clarity.

[12:5]  sn The thick undergrowth along the Jordan River refers to the thick woods and underbrush alongside the Jordan where lions were known to have lived, and hence the area was considered dangerous. See Jer 49:14; 50:44. The Lord here seems to be telling Jeremiah that the situation will only get worse. If he has trouble contending with the plot from his fellow townsmen, what will he do when the whole country sets up a cry against him?

[12:6]  ⁴⁰ tn This is an attempt to give some contextual sense to the particle “for, indeed” (כִּי, ki).

[12:6]  sn If the truth be known, Jeremiah wasn’t safe even in the context of his own family. They were apparently part of the plot by the people of Anathoth to kill him.

[12:6]  ⁴¹ tn Heb “they have called after you fully”; or “have lifted up loud voices against you.” The word “against” does not seem quite adequate for the preposition “after.” The preposition “against” would be Hebrew עַל (’al). The idea appears to be that they are chasing after him, raising their voices along with those of the conspirators to have him killed.

[12:6]  ⁴² tn Heb “good things.” See BDB 373 s.v. II טוֹב 2 for this nuance and compare Prov 12:25 for usage.