Jeremiah 12:15

12:15 But after I have uprooted the people of those nations, I will relent ¹  and have pity on them. I will restore the people of each of those nations to their own lands ²  and to their own country.

Jeremiah 13:14

13:14 And I will smash them like wine bottles against one another, children and parents alike. ³  I will not show any pity, mercy, or compassion. Nothing will keep me from destroying them,’ ⁴  says the Lord.”

Jeremiah 15:1

15:1 Then the Lord said to me, “Even if Moses and Samuel stood before me pleading for ⁵  these people, I would not feel pity for them! ⁶  Get them away from me! Tell them to go away! ⁷ 

Jeremiah 15:5

15:5 The Lord cried out, ⁸ 

“Who in the world ⁹  will have pity on you, Jerusalem?

Who will grieve over you?

Who will stop long enough ¹⁰ 

to inquire about how you are doing? ¹¹ 

---

¹ tn For the use of the verb “turn” (שׁוּב, shuv) in this sense, see BDB s.v. שׁוּב Qal.6.g and compare the usage in Pss 90:13; 6:4; Joel 2:14. It does not simply mean “again” as several of the English versions render it.

² sn The Lord is sovereign over the nations and has allotted each of them their lands. See Deut 2:5 (Edom), Deut 2:9 (Moab), Deut 2:19 (Ammon). He promised to restore not only his own people Israel to their land (Jer 32:37) but also Moab (Jer 48:47) and Ammon (Jer 49:6).

³ tn Or “children along with their parents”; Heb “fathers and children together.”

⁴ tn Heb “I will not show…so as not to destroy them.”

⁵ tn The words “pleading for” have been supplied in the translation to explain the idiom (a metonymy). For parallel usage see BDB 763 s.v. עָמַד Qal.1.a and compare usage in Gen 19:27, Deut 4:10.

sn Moses and Samuel were well-known for their successful intercession on behalf of Israel. See Ps 99:6-8 and see, e.g., Exod 32:11-14, 30-34; 1 Sam 7:5-9. The Lord is here rejecting Jeremiah’s intercession on behalf of the people (14:19-22).

⁶ tn Heb “my soul would not be toward them.” For the usage of “soul” presupposed here see BDB 660 s.v. נֶפֶשׁ 6 in the light of the complaints and petitions in Jeremiah’s prayer in 14:19, 21.

⁷ tn Heb “Send them away from my presence and let them go away.”

⁸ tn The words “The Lord cried out” are not in the text. However, they are necessary to show the shift in address between speaking to Jeremiah in vv. 1-4 about the people and addressing Jerusalem in vv. 5-6 and the shift back to the address to Jeremiah in vv. 7-9. The words “oracle of the Lord” are, moreover, found at the beginning of v. 6.

⁹ tn The words, “in the world” are not in the text but are the translator’s way of trying to indicate that this rhetorical question expects a negative answer.

¹⁰ tn Heb “turn aside.”

¹¹ tn Or “about your well-being”; Heb “about your welfare” (שָׁלוֹם, shalom).