1 tn Verses 22-23a read in Hebrew, “I did not speak with your ancestors and I did not command them when I brought them out of Egypt about words/matters concerning burnt offering and sacrifice, but I commanded them this word:” Some modern commentators have explained this passage as an evidence for the lateness of the Pentateuchal instruction regarding sacrifice or a denial that sacrifice was practiced during the period of the wilderness wandering. However, it is better explained as an example of what R. de Vaux calls a dialectical negative, i.e., “not so much this as that” or “not this without that” (Ancient Israel, 454-56). For other examples of this same argument see Isa 1:10-17; Hos 6:4-6; Amos 5:21-25.
2 tn Heb “Obey me and I will be.” The translation is equivalent syntactically but brings out the emphasis in the command.
3 tn Heb “Walk in all the way that I command you.”
4 tn 26:4-6 are all one long sentence containing a long condition with subordinate clauses (vv. 4-5) and a compound consequence in v. 6: Heb “If you will not obey me by walking in my law…by paying attention to the words of the prophets which…and you did not pay heed, then I will make…and I will make…” The sentence has been broken down in conformity to contemporary English style but an attempt has been made to reflect all the subordinations in the English translation.
5 sn See the study note on Jer 7:13.
6 tn Heb “Make good your ways and your actions.” For the same expression see 7:3, 5; 18:11.
7 tn For the idiom and translation of terms involved here see 18:8 and the translator’s note there.
sn The
8 tn Heb “Please listen to the voice of the
9 tn Heb “your life [or you yourself] will live.” Compare v. 17 and the translator’s note there for the idiom.
10 tn Heb “Because you [masc. pl.] sinned against the