Jeremiah 5:18

5:18 Yet even then ¹  I will not completely destroy you,” says the Lord.

Jeremiah 14:5

14:5 Even the doe abandons her newborn fawn ²  in the field

because there is no grass.

Jeremiah 23:31

23:31 I, the Lord, affirm ³  that I am opposed to those prophets who are using their own tongues to declare, ‘The Lord declares….’ ⁴ 

Jeremiah 27:17

27:17 Do not listen to them. Be subject to the king of Babylon. Then you ⁵  will continue to live. Why should this city be made a pile of rubble?’” ⁶ 

Jeremiah 33:7

33:7 I will restore Judah and Israel ⁷  and will rebuild them as they were in days of old. ⁸ 

Jeremiah 36:25

36:25 The king did not even listen to Elnathan, Delaiah, and Gemariah, who had urged him not to burn the scroll. ⁹ 

Jeremiah 42:3

42:3 Pray that the Lord your God will tell us where we should go and what we should do.”

Jeremiah 49:39

49:39 “Yet in days to come

I will reverse Elam’s ill fortune.” ¹⁰ 

says the Lord. ¹¹ 

Jeremiah 51:4

51:4 Let them fall ¹²  slain in the land of Babylonia, ¹³ 

mortally wounded in the streets of her cities. ¹⁴ 

Jeremiah 52:16

52:16 But he ¹⁵  left behind some of the poor ¹⁶  and gave them fields and vineyards.

---

¹ tn Heb “in those days.”

² tn Heb “she gives birth and abandons.”

³ tn Heb “Oracle of the Lord.”

⁴ tn The word “The Lord” is not actually in the text but is implicit in the idiom. It is generally supplied in all the English versions.

sn Jer 23:30-33 are filled with biting sarcasm. The verses all begin with “Behold I am against the prophets who…” and go on to describe their reprehensible behavior. They “steal” one another’s messages which the Lord sarcastically calls “my words” (The passage shows that they are not; compare Marc Anthony’s use of “noble” to describe the ignoble men who killed Caesar). Here the use of the idiom translated “to use their own tongue” is really the idiom that refers to taking something in preparation for action, i.e., “they take their tongue” and “declare.” The verb “declare” is only used here and is derived from the idiom “oracle of “ which is almost universally used in the idiom “oracle of the Lord” which occurs 176 times in Jeremiah. I.e., it is their tongue that is “declaring not his mouth (v. 16). Moreover in the report of what they “declare” the Lord has left out the qualifying “of the Lord” to suggest the delusive nature of their message, i.e. they mislead people into believing that their message is from the Lord. Elsewhere in the discussion of the issue of false prophecy the Lord will use the full formula (Ezek 13:6-7). How ironic that their “Oracle of…” is punctuated by the triple “Oracle of the Lord” (vv. 30, 31, 32; translated here “I, the Lord, affirm that…).

⁵ tn The imperative with vav (ו) here and in v. 12 after another imperative are a good example of the use of the imperative to introduce a consequence. (See GKC 324-25 §110.f and see Gen 42:18. This is a common verb in this idiom.)

⁶ tn According to E. W. Bullinger (Figures of Speech, 954) both this question and the one in v. 13 are examples of rhetorical questions of prohibition / “don’t let this city be made a pile of rubble.”

⁷ tn Heb “I will reverse [or restore] the fortunes of Judah and the fortunes of Israel.” For this idiom see the translator’s note on Jer 29:14 and see the usage in 30:3, 18; 31:23; 32:44.

⁸ tn This phrase simply means “as formerly” (BDB 911 s.v. רִאשׁוֹן 3.a). The reference to the “as formerly” must be established from the context. See the usage in Judg 20:32; 1 Kgs 13:6; Isa 1:26.

sn Reference is to the reunification of Israel and Judah to the state that they were before the division after Solomon. Compare Jer 3:18; 30:3; 31:27 and see the study note on 30:3.

⁹ tn Heb “And also Elnathan, Delaiah, and Gemariah urged [or had urged] the king not to burn the scroll, but he did not listen to them.” The translation attempts to lessen the clash in chronological sequencing with the preceding. This sentence is essentially a flash back to a time before the scroll was totally burned (v. 23).

¹⁰ tn See Jer 29:14; 30:3 and the translator’s note on 29:14 for the idiom used here.

sn See a similar note on the reversal of Moab’s fortunes in Jer 48:47 and compare also 46:26 for a future restoration of Egypt.

¹¹ tn Heb “Oracle of the Lord.”

¹² tn The majority of English versions and the commentaries understand the vav (ו) consecutive + perfect as a future here “They will fall.” However, it makes better sense in the light of the commands in the previous verse to understand this as an indirect third person command (= a jussive; see GKC 333 §112.q, r) as REB and NJPS do.

¹³ tn Heb “the land of the Chaldeans.” See the study note on 21:4 for explanation.

¹⁴ tn The words “cities” is not in the text. The text merely says “in her streets” but the antecedent is “land” and must then refer to the streets of the cities in the land.

¹⁵ tn Heb “Nebuzaradan, the captain of the royal guard.” However, the subject is clear from the preceding and modern English style would normally avoid repeating the proper name and title.

¹⁶ tn Heb “poor of the land.”