Yeremia 3:1

3:1 “If a man divorces his wife

and she leaves him and becomes another man’s wife,

he may not take her back again. ¹ 

Doing that would utterly defile the land. ² 

But you, Israel, have given yourself as a prostitute to many gods. ³ 

So what makes you think you can return to me?” ⁴ 

says the Lord.

Yehezkiel 23:14-17

23:14 But she increased her prostitution. She saw men carved on the wall, images of the Chaldeans carved in bright red, ⁵  23:15 wearing belts on their waists and flowing turbans on their heads, all of them looking like officers, the image of Babylonians ⁶  whose native land is Chaldea. 23:16 When she saw them, ⁷  she lusted after them and sent messengers to them in Chaldea. ⁸  23:17 The Babylonians crawled into bed with her. ⁹  They defiled her with their lust; after she was defiled by them, she ¹⁰  became disgusted with them.

[3:1]  ¹ tn Heb “May he go back to her again?” The question is rhetorical and expects a negative answer.

[3:1]  sn For the legal background for the illustration that is used here see Deut 24:1-4.

[3:1]  ² tn Heb “Would the land not be utterly defiled?” The stative is here rendered actively to connect better with the preceding. The question is rhetorical and expects a positive answer.

[3:1]  ³ tn Heb “But you have played the prostitute with many lovers.”

[3:1]  ⁴ tn Heb “Returning to me.” The form is the bare infinitive which the KJV and ASV have interpreted as an imperative “Yet, return to me!” However, it is more likely that a question is intended, expressing surprise in the light of the law alluded to and the facts cited. For the use of the infinitive absolute in the place of a finite verb, cf. GKC 346 §113.ee. For the introduction of a question without a question marker, cf. GKC 473 §150.a.

[23:14]  ⁵ tn The only other occurrence of the Hebrew term is in Jer 22:14.

[23:15]  ⁶ tn Heb “the sons of Babel.”

[23:16]  ⁷ tn Heb “at the appearance of her eyes.”

[23:16]  ⁸ sn The Chaldeans were prominent tribal groups of Babylonia. The imagery is reminiscent of events in the reigns of Hezekiah (2 Kgs 20:12-15) and Jehoiakim (2 Kgs 23:34-24:1).

[23:17]  ⁹ tn Heb “The sons of Babel came to her on a bed of love.”

[23:17]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “her soul.”