Yeremia 14:14

14:14 Then the Lord said to me, “Those prophets are prophesying lies while claiming my authority! ¹  I did not send them. I did not commission them. ²  I did not speak to them. They are prophesying to these people false visions, worthless predictions, ³  and the delusions of their own mind.

Yeremia 19:5

19:5 They have built places here ⁴  for worship of the god Baal so that they could sacrifice their children as burnt offerings to him in the fire. Such sacrifices ⁵  are something I never commanded them to make! They are something I never told them to do! Indeed, such a thing never even entered my mind!

Yeremia 19:15

19:15 “The Lord God of Israel who rules over all ⁶  says, ‘I will soon bring on this city and all the towns surrounding it ⁷  all the disaster I threatened to do to it. I will do so because they have stubbornly refused ⁸  to pay any attention to what I have said!’”

Yeremia 25:13

25:13 I will bring on that land everything that I said I would. I will bring on it everything that is written in this book. I will bring on it everything that Jeremiah has prophesied against all the nations. ⁹ 

Yeremia 27:12

27:12 I told King Zedekiah of Judah the same thing. I said, ¹⁰  “Submit ¹¹  to the yoke of servitude to ¹²  the king of Babylon. Be subject to him and his people. Then you will continue to live.

Yeremia 34:5

34:5 You will die a peaceful death. They will burn incense at your burial just as they did at the burial of your ancestors, the former kings who preceded you. ¹³  They will mourn for you, saying, “Poor, poor master!” ¹⁴  Indeed, you have my own word on this. ¹⁵  I, the Lord, affirm it!’” ¹⁶ 

Yeremia 36:31

36:31 I will punish him and his descendants and the officials who serve him for the wicked things they have done. ¹⁷  I will bring on them, the citizens of Jerusalem, ¹⁸  and the people of Judah all the disaster that I threatened to do to them. I will punish them because I threatened them but they still paid no heed.”’” ¹⁹ 

Yeremia 38:25

38:25 The officials may hear that I have talked with you. They may come to you and say, ‘Tell us what you said to the king and what the king said to you. ²⁰  Do not hide anything from us. If you do, we will kill you.’ ²¹ 

[14:14]  ¹ tn Heb “Falsehood those prophets are prophesying in my name.” In the OT, the “name” reflected the person’s character (cf. Gen 27:36; 1 Sam 25:25) or his reputation (Gen 11:4; 2 Sam 8:13). To speak in someone’s name was to act as his representative or carry his authority (1 Sam 25:9; 1 Kgs 21:8).

[14:14]  ² tn Heb “I did not command them.” Compare 1 Chr 22:12 for usage.

[14:14]  ³ tn Heb “divination and worthlessness.” The noun “worthlessness” stands as a qualifying “of” phrase (= to an adjective; an attributive genitive in Hebrew) after a noun in Zech 11:17; Job 13:4. This is an example of hendiadys where two nouns are joined by “and” with one serving as the qualifier of the other.

[14:14]  sn The word translated “predictions” here is really the word “divination.” Divination was prohibited in Israel (cf. Deut 18:10, 14). The practice of divination involved various mechanical means to try to predict the future. The word was used here for its negative connotations in a statement that is rhetorically structured to emphasize the falseness of the promises of the false prophets. It would be unnatural to contemporary English style to try to capture this emphasis in English. In the Hebrew text the last sentence reads: “False vision, divination, and worthlessness and the deceitfulness of their heart they are prophesying to them.” For the emphasis in the preceding sentence see the note there.

[19:5]  ⁴ tn The word “here” is not in the text. However, it is implicit from the rest of the context. It is supplied in the translation for clarity.

[19:5]  ⁵ tn The words “such sacrifices” are not in the text. The text merely says “to burn their children in the fire as burnt offerings to Baal which I did not command.” The command obviously refers not to the qualification “to Baal” but to burning the children in the fire as burnt offerings. The words are supplied in the translation to avoid a possible confusion that the reference is to sacrifices to Baal. Likewise the words should not be translated so literally that they leave the impression that God never said anything about sacrificing their children to other gods. The fact is he did. See Lev 18:21; Deut 12:30; 18:10.

[19:15]  ⁶ tn Heb “Yahweh of armies, the God of Israel.”

[19:15]  sn See the study notes on 2:19 and 7:3 for explanation of this title.

[19:15]  ⁷ tn Heb “all its towns.”

[19:15]  ⁸ tn Heb “They hardened [or made stiff] their neck so as not to.”

[25:13]  ⁹ tn Or “I will bring upon it everything that is to be written in this book. I will bring upon it everything that Jeremiah is going to prophesy concerning all the nations.” The reference to “this book” and “what Jeremiah has prophesied against the nations” raises issues about the editorial process underlying the current form of the book of Jeremiah. As the book now stands there is no earlier reference to any judgments against Babylon or any book (really “scroll”; books were a development of the first or second century a.d.) containing them. A common assumption is that this “book” of judgment refers to the judgments against Babylon and the other nations contained at the end of the book of Jeremiah (46:1–51:58). The Greek version actually inserts the prophecies of 46:1–51:58 here (but in a different order) and interprets “Which (= What) Jeremiah prophesied concerning all the nations” as a title. It is possible that the Greek version may represent an earlier form of the book. At least two earlier forms of the book are known that date roughly to the period dealt with here (Compare 36:1 with 25:1 and see 36:2, 4 and 36:28, 32). Whether reference here is made to the first or second of these scrolls and whether the Greek version represents either is impossible to determine. It is not inconceivable that the referent here is the prophecies which Jeremiah has already uttered in vv. 8-12 and is about to utter in conjunction with the symbolical act that the Lord commands him to perform (vv. 15-26, 30-38) and that these are proleptic of the latter prophecies which will be given later and will be incorporated in a future book. That is the tenor of the alternate translation. The verb forms involved are capable of either a past/perfect translation or a proleptic/future translation. For the use of the participle (in the alternate translation = Heb “that is to be written”; הַכָּתוּב, hakkatuv) to refer to what is proleptic see GKC 356-57 §116.d, e, and compare usage in Jonah 1:3; 2 Kgs 11:2. For the use of the perfect to refer to a future act (in the alternate translation “is going to prophesy,” נִבָּא, nibba’) see GKC 312 §106.m and compare usage in Judg 1:2. In support of this interpretation is the fact that the first verb in the next verse (Heb “they will be subjected,” עָבְדוּ, ’ovdu) is undoubtedly prophetic [it is followed by a vav consecutive perfect; cf. Isa 5:14]). Reading the text this way has the advantage of situating it within the context of the passage itself which involves prophecies against the nations and against Babylon. Babylon is both the agent of wrath (the cup from which the nations drink, cf. 51:7) and the recipient of it (cf. v. 26). However, this interpretation admittedly does not explain the reference to “this book,” except as a proleptic reference to some future form of the book and there would be clearer ways of expressing this view if that were what was definitely intended.

[27:12]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “I spoke to Zedekiah…according to all these words, saying.”

[27:12]  ¹¹ sn The verbs in this verse are all plural. They are addressed to Zedekiah and his royal advisers (compare 22:2).

[27:12]  ¹² tn Heb “put their necks in the yoke of.” See the study note on v. 2 for the figure.

[34:5]  ¹³ tn Heb “And like the burning [of incense] for your fathers, the former kings who were before you, so will they burn [incense] for you.” The sentence has been reversed for easier style and the technical use of the terms interpreted.

[34:5]  sn For the custom referred to compare 2 Chr 16:14; 21:19.

[34:5]  ¹⁴ sn The intent of this oracle may have been to contrast the fate of Zedekiah with that of Jehoiakim who was apparently executed, went unmourned, and was left unburied (contrast Jer 22:18-19).

[34:5]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “For [or Indeed] I myself have spoken [this] word.”

[34:5]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “Oracle of the Lord.”

[36:31]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “for their iniquity.”

[36:31]  ¹⁸ map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.

[36:31]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “all the disaster which I spoke against them and they did not listen [or obey].”

[38:25]  ²⁰ tn The phrase “and what the king said to you” is actually at the end of the verse, but most commentators see it as also under the governance of “tell us” and many commentaries and English versions move the clause forward for the sake of English style as has been done here.

[38:25]  ²¹ tn Or “lest we kill you”; Heb “and we will not kill you,” which as stated in the translator’s note on 37:20 introduces a negative purpose (or result) clause. See 37:20, 38:24 for parallel usage.