9:12 I said, 5
“Who is wise enough to understand why this has happened? 6
Who has a word from the Lord that can explain it? 7
Why does the land lie in ruins?
Why is it as scorched as a desert through which no one travels?”
14:22 Do any of the worthless idols 8 of the nations cause rain to fall?
Do the skies themselves send showers?
Is it not you, O Lord our God, who does this? 9
So we put our hopes in you 10
because you alone do all this.”
17:8 They will be like a tree planted near a stream
whose roots spread out toward the water.
It has nothing to fear when the heat comes.
Its leaves are always green.
It has no need to be concerned in a year of drought.
It does not stop bearing fruit.
17:11 The person who gathers wealth by unjust means
is like the partridge that broods over eggs but does not hatch them. 11
Before his life is half over he will lose his ill-gotten gains. 12
At the end of his life it will be clear he was a fool.” 13
22:15 Does it make you any more of a king
that you outstrip everyone else in 14 building with cedar?
Just think about your father.
He was content that he had food and drink. 15
He did what was just and right. 16
So things went well with him.
50:9 For I will rouse into action and bring against Babylon
a host of mighty nations 18 from the land of the north.
They will set up their battle lines against her.
They will come from the north and capture her. 19
Their arrows will be like a skilled soldier 20
who does not return from the battle empty-handed. 21
51:58 This is what the Lord who rules over all 22 says,
“Babylon’s thick wall 23 will be completely demolished. 24
Her high gates will be set on fire.
The peoples strive for what does not satisfy. 25
The nations grow weary trying to get what will be destroyed.” 26
1 tn The word, “Jeremiah,” is not in the text but the second person address in the second half of the verse is obviously to him. The word is supplied in the translation here for clarity.
2 tn The MT reads the second masculine plural; this is probably a case of attraction to the second masculine plural pronoun in the preceding line. An alternative would be to understand a shift from speaking first to the people in the first half of the verse and then speaking to Jeremiah in the second half where the verb is second masculine singular. E.g., “When you [people] say, “Why…?” then you, Jeremiah, tell them…”
3 tn Heb “As you left me and…, so you will….” The translation was chosen so as to break up a rather long and complex sentence.
4 sn This is probably a case of deliberate ambiguity (double entendre). The adjective “foreigners” is used for both foreign people (so Jer 30:8; 51:51) and foreign gods (so Jer 2:25; 3:13). See also Jer 16:13 for the idea of having to serve other gods in the lands of exile.
5 tn The words, “I said” are not in the text. It is not clear that a shift in speaker has taken place. However, the words of the verse are very unlikely to be a continuation of the
6 tn Heb “Who is the wise man that he may understand this?”
7 tn Heb “And [who is the man] to whom the mouth of the
8 tn The word הֶבֶל (hevel), often translated “vanities”, is a common pejorative epithet for idols or false gods. See already in 8:19 and 10:8.
9 tn Heb “Is it not you, O
10 tn The rhetorical negatives are balanced by a rhetorical positive.
11 tn The meaning of this line is somewhat uncertain. The word translated “broods over” occurs only here and Isa 34:15. It is often defined on the basis of an Aramaic cognate which means “to gather” with an extended meaning of “to gather together under her to hatch.” Many commentators go back to a Rabbinic explanation that the partridge steals the eggs of other birds and hatches them out only to see the birds depart when they recognize that she is not the mother. Modern studies question the validity of this zoologically. Moreover, W. L. Holladay contests the validity on the basis of the wording “and she does hatch them” (Heb “bring them to birth”). See W. L. Holladay, Jeremiah (Hermeneia), 1:498, and see also P. C. Craigie, P. H. Kelley, J. F. Drinkard, Jeremiah 1-25 (WBC), 229. The point of the comparison is that the rich gather their wealth but they do not get to see the fruits of it.
12 tn The Hebrew text merely says “it.” But the antecedent might be ambiguous in English so the reference to wealth gained by unjust means is here reiterated for clarity.
13 tn Heb “he will be [= prove to be] a fool.”
14 tn For the use of this verb see Jer 12:5 where it is used of Jeremiah “competing” with horses. The form is a rare Tiphel (see GKC 153 §55.h).
15 tn Heb “Your father, did he not eat and drink and do justice and right.” The copulative vav in front of the verbs here (all Hebrew perfects) shows that these actions are all coordinate not sequential. The contrast drawn here between the actions of Jehoiakim and Josiah show that the phrase eating and drinking should be read in the light of the same contrasts in Eccl 2 which ends with the note of contentment in Eccl 2:24 (see also Eccl 3:13; 5:18 [5:17 HT]; 8:15). The question is, of course, rhetorical setting forth the positive role model against which Jehoiakim’s actions are to be condemned. The key terms here are “then things went well with him” which is repeated in the next verse after the reiteration of Josiah’s practice of justice.
16 sn The father referred to here is the godly king Josiah. He followed the requirements for kings set forth in 22:3 in contrast to his son who did not (22:13).
17 tn Heb “Whether good or whether evil we will hearken to the voice of the
18 sn Some of these are named in Jer 51:27-28.
19 tn Heb “She will be captured from there (i.e., from the north).”
20 tc Read Heb ַָמשְׂכִּיל (moskil) with a number of Hebrew
21 tn Or more freely, “Their arrows will be as successful at hitting their mark // as a skilled soldier always returns from battle with plunder.”
sn I.e., none of the arrows misses its mark.
22 sn See the note at Jer 2:19.
23 tn The text has the plural “walls,” but many Hebrew
24 tn The infinitive absolute emphasizes the following finite verb. Another option is to translate, “will certainly be demolished.”
25 tn Heb “for what is empty.”
26 tn Heb “and the nations for fire, and they grow weary.”