Jeremiah 4:28

4:28 Because of this the land will mourn

and the sky above will grow black. ¹ 

For I have made my purpose known ² 

and I will not relent or turn back from carrying it out.” ³ 

Jeremiah 6:26

6:26 So I said, ⁴  “Oh, my dear people, ⁵  put on sackcloth

and roll in ashes.

Mourn with painful sobs

as though you had lost your only child.

For any moment now ⁶  that destructive army ⁷ 

will come against us.”

Jeremiah 7:29

7:29 So, mourn, ⁸  you people of this nation. ⁹  Cut off your hair and throw it away. Sing a song of mourning on the hilltops. For the Lord has decided to reject ¹⁰  and forsake this generation that has provoked his wrath!’” ¹¹ 

Jeremiah 9:17

9:17 The Lord who rules over all ¹²  told me to say to this people, ¹³ 

“Take note of what I say. ¹⁴ 

Call for the women who mourn for the dead!

Summon those who are the most skilled at it!” ¹⁵ 

Jeremiah 16:7

16:7 No one will take any food to those who mourn for the dead to comfort them. No one will give them any wine to drink to console them for the loss of their father or mother.

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¹ sn The earth and the heavens are personified here and depicted in the act of mourning and wearing black clothes because of the destruction of the land of Israel.

² tn Heb “has spoken and purposed.” This is an example of hendiadys where two verbs are joined by “and” but one is meant to serve as a modifier of the other.

³ tn Heb “will not turn back from it.”

⁴ tn These words are not in the text but are implicit from the context.

⁵ tn Heb “daughter of my people.” For the translation given here see 4:11 and the translator’s note there.

⁶ tn Heb “suddenly.”

⁷ tn Heb “the destroyer.”

⁸ tn The word “mourn” is not in the text. It is supplied in the translation for clarity to explain the significance of the words “Cut your hair and throw it away.”

sn Cf. Mic 1:16; Job 1:20 for other examples of this practice which was involved in mourning.

⁹ tn The words, “you people of this nation” are not in the text. Many English versions supply, “Jerusalem.” The address shifts from second masculine singular addressing Jeremiah (vv. 27-28a) to second feminine singular. It causes less disruption in the flow of the context to see the nation as a whole addressed here as a feminine singular entity (as, e.g., in 2:19, 23; 3:2, 3; 6:26) than to introduce a new entity, Jerusalem.

¹⁰ tn The verbs here are the Hebrew scheduling perfects. For this use of the perfect see GKC 312 §106.m.

¹¹ tn Heb “the generation of his wrath.”

¹² tn Heb “Yahweh of armies.”

sn For the significance of this title see the notes at 2:19 and 7:3.

¹³ tn Heb “Thus says Yahweh of armies.” However, without some addition it is not clear to whom the command is addressed. The words are supplied in the translation for clarity and to help resolve a rather confusing issue of who is speaking throughout vv. 16-21. As has been evident throughout the translation, the speaker is not always indicated. Sometimes it is not even clear who the speaker is. In general the translation and the notes have reflected the general consensus in identifying who it is. Here, however, there is a good deal of confusion about who is speaking in vv. 18, 20-21. The Greek translation has the Lord speaking throughout with second plural pronouns in vv. 18, 21 and the absence of the first line in v. 22. It would be hard to explain how the MT arose if it were the original text. Critical commentators such as J. Bright, W. Holladay, and W. McKane resolve the issue by dropping out the introductory formula in v. 17 and the first line of v. 22 and assigning the whole lament to Jeremiah. It seems obvious from the first plural pronouns and the content of v. 18 (and probably v. 21 as well) and the fact that the Lord is referred to in other than the first person in v. 20 that he is not the speaker of those verses. I have attempted to resolve the issue by having Jeremiah report the Lord’s command in v. 17 and have the rest of the speech be essentially that of Jeremiah. It should be admitted, however, that the issue is far from resolved. Most English versions simply ignore the problem. The GNB (= TEV) is a rare exception.

¹⁴ tn Heb “Consider!”

¹⁵ tn Heb “Call for the mourning women that they may come and send for the wise/skilled women that they may come.” The verbs here are masculine plural, addressed to the people.