Yeremia 2:8

2:8 Your priests ¹  did not ask, ‘Where is the Lord?’ ² 

Those responsible for teaching my law ³  did not really know me. ⁴ 

Your rulers rebelled against me.

Your prophets prophesied in the name of the god Baal. ⁵ 

They all worshiped idols that could not help them. ⁶ 

Yeremia 3:2

3:2 “Look up at the hilltops and consider this. ⁷ 

You have had sex with other gods on every one of them. ⁸ 

You waited for those gods like a thief lying in wait in the desert. ⁹ 

You defiled the land by your wicked prostitution to other gods. ¹⁰ 

Yeremia 6:16

6:16 The Lord said to his people: ¹¹ 

“You are standing at the crossroads. So consider your path. ¹² 

Ask where the old, reliable paths ¹³  are.

Ask where the path is that leads to blessing ¹⁴  and follow it.

If you do, you will find rest for your souls.”

But they said, “We will not follow it!”

Yeremia 45:5

45:5 Are you looking for great things for yourself? Do not look for such things. For I, the Lord, affirm ¹⁵  that I am about to bring disaster on all humanity. ¹⁶  But I will allow you to escape with your life ¹⁷  wherever you go.”’”

[2:8]  ¹ tn Heb “The priests…the ones who grasp my law…the shepherds…the prophets…they…”

[2:8]  ² sn See the study note on 2:6.

[2:8]  ³ tn Heb “those who handle my law.”

[2:8]  sn The reference is likely to the priests and Levites who were responsible for teaching the law (so Jer 18:18; cf. Deut 33:10). According to Jer 8:8 it could possibly refer to the scribes who copied the law.

[2:8]  ⁴ tn Or “were not committed to me.” The Hebrew verb rendered “know” refers to more than mere intellectual knowledge. It carries also the ideas of emotional and volitional commitment as well intimacy. See for example its use in contexts like Hos 4:1; 6:6.

[2:8]  ⁵ tn Heb “by Baal.”

[2:8]  ⁶ tn Heb “and they followed after those things [the word is plural] which do not profit.” The poetic structure of the verse, four lines in which a distinct subject appears at the beginning followed by a fifth line beginning with a prepositional phrase and no distinct subject, argues that this line is climactic and refers to all four classes enumerated in the preceding lines. See W. L. Holladay, Jeremiah (Hermeneia), 1:88-89. There may be a play or pun in the Hebrew text on the name for the god Baal (בַּעַל, ba’al) and the verb “cannot help you” (Heb “do not profit”) which is spelled יַעַל (ya’al).

[3:2]  ⁷ tn Heb “and see.”

[3:2]  ⁸ tn Heb “Where have you not been ravished?” The rhetorical question expects the answer “nowhere,” which suggests she has engaged in the worship of pagan gods on every one of the hilltops.

[3:2]  ⁹ tn Heb “You sat for them [the lovers, i.e., the foreign gods] beside the road like an Arab in the desert.”

[3:2]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “by your prostitution and your wickedness.” This is probably an example of hendiadys where, when two nouns are joined by “and,” one expresses the main idea and the other qualifies it.

[6:16]  ¹¹ tn The words, “to his people” are not in the text but are implicit in the interchange of pronouns in the Hebrew of vv. 16-17. They are supplied in the translation here for clarity.

[6:16]  ¹² tn Heb “Stand at the crossroads and look.”

[6:16]  ¹³ tn Heb “the ancient path,” i.e., the path the Lord set out in ancient times (cf. Deut 32:7).

[6:16]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “the way of/to the good.”

[45:5]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “oracle of the Lord.”

[45:5]  ¹⁶ sn Compare Jer 25:31, 33. The reference here to universal judgment also forms a nice transition to the judgments on the nations that follow in Jer 46-51 which may be another reason for the placement of this chapter here, out of its normal chronological order (see also the study note on v. 1).

[45:5]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “I will give you your life for a spoil.” For this idiom see the translator’s note on 21:9 and compare the usage in 21:9; 38:2; 39:18.