Jeremiah 8:19

8:19 I hear my dear people 1  crying out 2 

throughout the length and breadth of the land. 3 

They are crying, ‘Is the Lord no longer in Zion?

Is her divine King 4  no longer there?’”

The Lord answers, 5 

“Why then do they provoke me to anger with their images,

with their worthless foreign idols?” 6 

Jeremiah 31:34

31:34 “People will no longer need to teach their neighbors and relatives to know me. 7  For all of them, from the least important to the most important, will know me,” 8  says the Lord. “For 9  I will forgive their sin and will no longer call to mind the wrong they have done.”

1 tn Heb “daughter of my people.” For the translation given here see 4:11 and the note on the phrase “dear people” there.

2 tn Heb “Behold the voice of the crying of the daughter of my people.”

3 tn Heb “Land of distances, i.e., of wide extent.” For parallel usage cf. Isa 33:17.

4 tn Heb “her King” but this might be misunderstood by some to refer to the Davidic ruler even with the capitalization.

5 tn The words, “The Lord would answer” are not in the text but are implicit from the words that follow. They are supplied in the translation for clarity. Another option would be to add “And I can just hear the Lord reply.”

6 sn The people’s cry and the Lord’s interruption reflect the same argument that was set forth in the preceding chapter. They have misguided confidence that the Lord is with them regardless of their actions and he responds that their actions have provoked him to the point of judging them. See especially 7:4 and 7:30.

7 tn Heb “teach…, saying, ‘Know the Lord.’” The indirect quote has been chosen for stylistic reasons, i.e., to better parallel the following line.

sn As mentioned in the translator’s note on 9:3 (9:2 HT) “knowing” God in covenant contexts like this involves more than just an awareness of who he is (9:23 [9:22 HT]). It involves an acknowledgment of his sovereignty and whole hearted commitment to obedience to him. This is perhaps best seen in the parallelisms in Hos 4:1; 6:6 where “the knowledge of God” is parallel with faithfulness and steadfast love and in the context of Hos 4 refers to obedience to the Lord’s commands.

8 sn This statement should be understood against the background of Jer 8:8-9 where class distinctions were drawn and certain people were considered to have more awareness and responsibility for knowing the law and also Jer 5:1-5 and 9:3-9 where the sinfulness of Israel was seen to be universal across these class distinctions and no trust was to be placed in friends, neighbors, or relatives because all without distinction had cast off God’s yoke (i.e., refused to submit themselves to his authority).

9 tn The Hebrew particle כִּי (ki) that introduces this clause refers to more than just the preceding clause (i.e., that all will know the Lord) but to all of vv. 31-34a (See BDB 474 s.v. כִּי 3.c).