Jeremiah 40:4

40:4 But now, Jeremiah, today I will set you free 1  from the chains on your wrists. If you would like to come to Babylon with me, come along and I will take care of you. 2  But if you prefer not to come to Babylon with me, you are not required to do so. 3  You are free to go anywhere in the land you want to go. 4  Go wherever you choose.” 5 

Jeremiah 44:17

44:17 Instead we will do everything we vowed we would do. 6  We will sacrifice and pour out drink offerings to the goddess called the Queen of Heaven 7  just as we and our ancestors, our kings, and our leaders previously did in the towns of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem. For then we had plenty of food, were well-off, and had no troubles. 8 

1 tn The verb here is an example of the perfect of resolve where the speaker announces his intention to do something according to IBHS 488-89 §30.5.1d. The word “Jeremiah” is supplied in the translation to avoid the possible misunderstanding that the you is still plural.

2 tn Or “look out for you.” See 39:12 and the translator’s note there.

3 tn Or “Stay here”; Heb “Forbear.” The imperative is used in a permissive sense; “you may forbear.” See GKC 324 §110.b and compare usage in Gen 50:6.

4 tn Heb “See all the land [or the whole land] is before you.” For this idiom see BDB 817 s.v. פָּנֶה II.4.a(f) and compare the usage in Gen 20:15; 47:6.

5 tn Heb “Unto the good and the right in your eyes to go, go there.”

6 tn Heb “that went out of our mouth.” I.e., everything we said, promised, or vowed.

7 tn Heb “sacrifice to the Queen of Heaven and pour out drink offerings to her.” The expressions have been combined to simplify and shorten the sentence. The same combination also occurs in vv. 18, 19.

sn See the translator’s note and the study note on 7:18 for the problem of translation and identification of the term translated here “the goddess called the Queen of Heaven.”

8 tn Heb “saw [or experienced] no disaster/trouble/harm.”