3:24 From earliest times our worship of that shameful god, Baal,
has taken away 1 all that our ancestors 2 worked for.
It has taken away our flocks and our herds,
and even our sons and daughters.
9:20 I said, 3
“So now, 4 you wailing women, hear what the Lord says. 5
Open your ears to the words from his mouth.
Teach your daughters this mournful song,
and each of you teach your neighbor 6 this lament.
1 tn Heb “From our youth the shameful thing has eaten up…” The shameful thing is specifically identified as Baal in Jer 11:13. Compare also the shift in certain names such as Ishbaal (“man of Baal”) to Ishbosheth (“man of shame”).
2 tn Heb “fathers” (also in v. 25).
3 tn The words “I said” are not in the text. The text merely has “Indeed, yes.” The words are supplied in the translation to indicate that the speaker is still Jeremiah though he now is not talking about the mourning woman but is talking to them. See the notes on 9:17-18 for further explanation.
4 tn It is a little difficult to explain how the Hebrew particle כִּי (ki) is functioning here. W. L. Holladay (Jeremiah [Hermeneia], 1:311) may be correct in seeing it as introducing the contents of what those who call for the mourning women are to say. In this case, Jeremiah picks up the task as representative of the people.
5 tn Heb “Listen to the word of the
sn In this context the “word of the
6 tn Heb “Teach…mournful song, and each woman her neighbor lady…”
7 tn Heb “Yahweh of armies.”
sn For the significance of the term see the notes at 2:19 and 7:3.
8 tn Heb “Behold I will.” For the function of this particle see the translator’s note on 1:6.
9 tn Heb “will die by the sword.” Here “sword” stands contextually for “battle” while “starvation” stands for death by starvation during siege.