Jeremiah 2:22

2:22 You can try to wash away your guilt with a strong detergent.

You can use as much soap as you want.

But the stain of your guilt is still there for me to see,” 1 

says the Lord God. 2 

Jeremiah 12:12

12:12 A destructive army 3  will come marching

over the hilltops in the desert.

For the Lord will use them as his destructive weapon 4 

against 5  everyone from one end of the land to the other.

No one will be safe. 6 

Jeremiah 27:3

27:3 Use it to send messages to the kings of Edom, Moab, Ammon, Tyre, 7  and Sidon. 8  Send them through 9  the envoys who have come to Jerusalem 10  to King Zedekiah of Judah.

Jeremiah 46:11

46:11 Go up to Gilead and get medicinal ointment, 11 

you dear poor people of Egypt. 12 

But it will prove useless no matter how much medicine you use; 13 

there will be no healing for you.

1 tn Heb “Even if you wash with natron/lye, and use much soap, your sin is a stain before me.”

2 tn Heb “Lord Yahweh.” For an explanation of this title see the study notes on 1:6.

3 tn Heb “destroyers.”

4 tn Heb “It is the Lord’s consuming sword.”

5 tn Heb “For a sword of the Lord will devour.” The sword is often symbolic for destructive forces of all kinds. Here and in Isa 34:6; Jer 47:6 it is symbolic of the enemy armies that the Lord uses to carry out destructive punishment against his enemies, hence the translation “his destructive weapon.” A similar figure is use in Isa 10:5 where the figure is more clearly identified; Assyria is the rod/club that the Lord will use to discipline unfaithful Israel.

6 tn Heb “There is no peace to all flesh.”

7 map For location see Map1-A2; Map2-G2; Map4-A1; JP3-F3; JP4-F3.

8 sn The nations of Edom, Moab, and Ammon were east of Judah. They were sometimes allies and sometimes enemies. The nations of Tyre and Sidon were on the sea coast north and west of Judah. They are best known for their maritime trade during the reign of Solomon. They were more commonly allies of Israel and Judah than enemies.

map For the location of Sidon see Map1-A1; JP3-F3; JP4-F3.

9 tn Heb “send by means of them” [i.e., the straps and crossbars made into a yoke] to…through.” The text is broken up in conformity with contemporary English style. Many English versions ignore the suffix on the end of “send” and find some support for this on the basis of its absence in the Lucianic Greek text. However, it is probably functioning metonymically here for the message which they see symbolized before them and is now explained clearly to them.

10 map For location see Map5-B1; Map6-F3; Map7-E2; Map8-F2; Map10-B3; JP1-F4; JP2-F4; JP3-F4; JP4-F4.

11 tn Heb “balm.” See 8:22 and the notes on this phrase there.

12 sn Heb “Virgin Daughter of Egypt.” See the study note on Jer 14:17 for the significance of the use of this figure. The use of the figure here perhaps refers to the fact that Egypt’s geographical isolation allowed her safety and protection that a virgin living at home would enjoy under her father’s protection (so F. B. Huey, Jeremiah, Lamentations [NAC], 379). By her involvement in the politics of Palestine she had forfeited that safety and protection and was now suffering for it.

13 tn Heb “In vain you multiply [= make use of many] medicines.”