4:22 The Lord answered, 1
“This will happen 2 because my people are foolish.
They do not know me.
They are like children who have no sense. 3
They have no understanding.
They are skilled at doing evil.
They do not know how to do good.”
6:11 I am as full of anger as you are, Lord, 4
I am tired of trying to hold it in.”
The Lord answered, 5
“Vent it, then, 6 on the children who play in the street
and on the young men who are gathered together.
Husbands and wives are to be included, 7
as well as the old and those who are advanced in years.
12:5 The Lord answered, 8
“If you have raced on foot against men and they have worn you out,
how will you be able to compete with horses?
And if you feel secure only 9 in safe and open country, 10
how will you manage in the thick undergrowth along the Jordan River? 11
1 tn These words are not in the text but are supplied in the translation to show clearly the shift in speaker. Jeremiah has been speaking; now the
2 tn Heb “For….” This gives the explanation for the destruction envisaged in 4:20 to which Jeremiah responds in 4:19, 21.
3 tn Heb “They are senseless children.”
4 tn Heb “I am full of the wrath of the
5 tn These words are not in the text but are implicit from the words that follow. They are supplied in the translation for clarity.
6 tn Heb “Pour it out.”
7 tn Heb “are to be captured.”
8 tn The words “The
9 tn Some commentaries and English versions follow the suggestion given in HALOT 116 s.v. II בָּטַח that a homonym meaning “to stumble, fall down” is involved here and in Prov 14:16. The evidence for this homonym is questionable because both passages can be explained on other grounds with the usual root.
10 tn Heb “a land of tranquility.” The expression involves a figure of substitution where the feeling engendered is substituted for the conditions that engender it. For the idea see Isa 32:18. The translation both here and in the following line is intended to bring out the contrast implicit in the emotive connotations connected with “peaceful country” and “thicket along the Jordan.”
11 tn Heb “the thicket along the Jordan.” The word “River” is not in the Hebrew text, but has been supplied in the translation for clarity.
sn The thick undergrowth along the Jordan River refers to the thick woods and underbrush alongside the Jordan where lions were known to have lived, and hence the area was considered dangerous. See Jer 49:14; 50:44. The
12 tn Heb “Then King Zedekiah sent and brought him and the king asked him privately [or more literally, in secret] and said.”
13 tn Heb “Then he said.”
14 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.)