Jeremiah 2:27

2:27 They say to a wooden idol, ¹  ‘You are my father.’

They say to a stone image, ‘You gave birth to me.’ ² 

Yes, they have turned away from me instead of turning to me. ³ 

Yet when they are in trouble, they say, ‘Come and save us!’

Jeremiah 4:3

4:3 Yes, ⁴  the Lord has this to say

to the people of Judah and Jerusalem:

“Like a farmer breaking up hard unplowed ground,

you must break your rebellious will and make a new beginning;

just as a farmer must clear away thorns lest the seed is wasted,

you must get rid of the sin that is ruining your lives. ⁵ 

Jeremiah 37:17

37:17 Then King Zedekiah had him brought to the palace. There he questioned him privately and asked him, ⁶  “Is there any message from the Lord?” Jeremiah answered, “Yes, there is.” Then he announced, ⁷  “You will be handed over to the king of Babylon.” ⁸ 

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¹ tn Heb “wood…stone…”

² sn The reference to wood and stone is, of course, a pejorative reference to idols made by human hands. See the next verse where reference is made to “the gods you have made.”

³ tn Heb “they have turned [their] backs to me, not [their] faces.”

⁴ tn The Hebrew particle is obviously asseverative here since a causal connection appears to make little sense.

⁵ tn Heb “Plow up your unplowed ground and do not sow among the thorns.” The translation is an attempt to bring out the force of a metaphor. The idea seems to be that they are to plow over the thorns and make the ground ready for the seeds which will produce a new crop where none had been produced before.

⁶ tn Heb “Then King Zedekiah sent and brought him and the king asked him privately [or more literally, in secret] and said.”

⁷ tn Heb “Then he said.”

⁸ sn Jeremiah’s answer even under duress was the same that he had given Zedekiah earlier. (See Jer 34:3 and see the study note on 34:1 for the relative timing of these two incidents.)