12:14 “I, the Lord, also have something to say concerning 1 the wicked nations who surround my land 2 and have attacked and plundered 3 the land that I gave to my people as a permanent possession. 4 I say: ‘I will uproot the people of those nations from their lands and I will free the people of Judah who have been taken there. 5
22:6 “‘For the Lord says concerning the palace of the king of Judah,
“This place looks like a veritable forest of Gilead to me.
It is like the wooded heights of Lebanon in my eyes.
But I swear that I will make it like a wilderness
whose towns have all been deserted. 6
23:9 Here is what the Lord says concerning the false prophets: 8
My heart and my mind are deeply disturbed.
I tremble all over. 9
I am like a drunk person,
like a person who has had too much wine, 10
because of the way the Lord
and his holy word are being mistreated. 11
23:15 So then I, the Lord who rules over all, 12
have something to say concerning the prophets of Jerusalem: 13
‘I will make these prophets eat the bitter food of suffering
and drink the poison water of judgment. 14
For the prophets of Jerusalem are the reason 15
that ungodliness 16 has spread throughout the land.’”
1 tn Heb “Thus says the
2 tn Heb “my wicked neighbors.”
3 tn Heb “touched.” For the nuance of this verb here see BDB 619 s.v. נָגַע Qal.3 and compare the usage in 1 Chr 16:22 where it is parallel to “do harm to” and Zech 2:8 where it is parallel to “plundered.”
4 tn Heb “the inheritance which I caused my people Israel to inherit.” Compare 3:18.
5 tn Heb “I will uproot the house of Judah from their midst.”
sn There appears to be an interesting play on the Hebrew word translated “uproot” in this verse. In the first instance it refers to “uprooting the nations from upon their lands,” i.e., to exiling them. In the second instance it refers to “uprooting the Judeans from the midst of them,” i.e., to rescue them.
6 tn Heb “Gilead you are to me, the height of Lebanon, but I will surely make you a wilderness [with] cities uninhabited.” The points of comparison are made explicit in the translation for the sake of clarity. See the study note for further explanation. For the use of the preposition לְ (lamed) = “in my eyes/in my opinion” see BDB 513 s.v. לְ 5.a(d) and compare Jonah 3:3; Esth 10:3. For the use of the particles אִם לֹא (’im lo’) to introduce an emphatic oath see BDB 50 s.v. אִם 1.b(2).
sn Lebanon was well known for its cedars and the palace (and the temple) had used a good deal of such timber in its construction (see 1 Kgs 5:6, 8-10; 7:2-3). In this section several references are made to cedar (see vv. 7, 14, 15, 23) and allusion has also been made to the paneled and colonnade armory of the Forest of Lebanon (2:14). It appears to have been a source of pride and luxury, perhaps at the expense of justice. Gilead was also noted in antiquity for its forests as well as for its fertile pastures.
7 sn Jeremiah has already had a good deal to say about the false prophets and their fate. See 2:8, 26; 5:13, 31; 14:13-15. Here he parallels the condemnation of the wicked prophets and their fate (23:9-40) with that of the wicked kings (21:11-22:30).
8 tn The word “false” is not in the text, but it is clear from the context that these are whom the sayings are directed against. The words “Here is what the
9 tn Heb “My heart is crushed within me. My bones tremble.” It has already been noted several times that the “heart” in ancient Hebrew psychology was the intellectual and volitional center of the person, the kidneys were the emotional center, and the bones the locus of strength and also the subject of joy, distress, and sorrow. Here Jeremiah is speaking of his distress of heart and mind in modern psychology, a distress that leads him to trembling of body which he compares to that of a drunken person staggering around under the influence of wine.
10 tn Heb “wine has passed over him.”
11 tn Heb “wine because of the
sn The way the
12 tn Heb “Yahweh of armies.”
sn See the study note on 2:19 for explanation of this title.
13 tn Heb “Therefore, thus says the
14 tn Heb “I will feed this people wormwood and make them drink poison water.” For these same words of judgment on another group see 9:15 (9:14 HT). “Wormwood” and “poison water” are not to be understood literally here but are symbolic of judgment and suffering. See, e.g., BDB 542 s.v. לַעֲנָה.
15 tn The compound preposition מֵאֵת (me’et) expresses source or origin (see BDB 86 s.v. אֵת 4.c). Context shows that the origin is in their false prophesying which encourages people in their evil behavior.
16 sn A word that derives from this same Hebrew word is used in v. 11 at the beginning of the