Yeremia 2:36

2:36 Why do you constantly go about

changing your political allegiances? ¹ 

You will get no help from Egypt

just as you got no help from Assyria. ² 

Yeremia 7:16

7:16 Then the Lord said, ³  “As for you, Jeremiah, ⁴  do not pray for these people! Do not cry out to me or petition me on their behalf! Do not plead with me to save them, ⁵  because I will not listen to you.

Yeremia 11:12

11:12 Then those living in the towns of Judah and in Jerusalem will ⁶  go and cry out for help to the gods to whom they have been sacrificing. However, those gods will by no means ⁷  be able to save them when disaster strikes them.

Yeremia 14:8

14:8 You have been the object of Israel’s hopes.

You have saved them when they were in trouble.

Why have you become like a resident foreigner ⁸  in the land?

Why have you become like a traveler who only stops in to spend the night?

[2:36]  ¹ tn Heb “changing your way.” The translation follows the identification of the Hebrew verb here as a defective writing of a form (תֵּזְלִי [tezÿli] instead of תֵּאזְלִי [te’zÿli]) from a verb meaning “go/go about” (אָזַל [’azal]; cf. BDB 23 s.v. אָזַל). Most modern English versions, commentaries, and lexicons read it from a root meaning “to treat cheaply [or lightly]” (תָּזֵלִּי [tazelli] from the root זָלַל (zalal); cf. HALOT 261 s.v. זָלַל); hence, “Why do you consider it such a small matter to…”

[2:36]  ² tn Heb “You will be ashamed/disappointed by Egypt, just as you were ashamed/ disappointed by Assyria.”

[7:16]  ³ tn The words “Then the Lord said” are not in the text but are supplied in the translation for clarity.

[7:16]  ⁴ tn Heb “As for you.” The personal name Jeremiah is supplied in the translation for clarity.

[7:16]  ⁵ tn The words “to save them” are not in the text but are implicit from the context. They are supplied in the translation for clarity.

[11:12]  ⁶ tn Heb “Then the towns of Judah and those living in Jerusalem will…”

[11:12]  ⁷ tn The Hebrew construction is emphatic involving the use of an infinitive of the verb before the verb itself (Heb “saving they will not save”). For this construction to give emphasis to an antithesis, cf. GKC 343 §113.p.

[14:8]  ⁸ tn It would be a mistake to translate this word as “stranger.” This word (גֵּר, ger) refers to a resident alien or resident foreigner who stays in a country not his own. He is accorded the privilege of protection through the common rights of hospitality but he does not have the rights of the native born or citizen. The simile here is particularly effective. The land was the Lord’s land; they were but resident foreigners and tenants on it (Lev 25:23). Jeremiah’s complaint here is particularly bold. For further information on the status of “resident foreigners” see IDB 4:397-99 s.v. “Sojourner.”