Jeremiah 9:20

9:20 I said, ¹ 

“So now, ²  you wailing women, hear what the Lord says. ³ 

Open your ears to the words from his mouth.

Teach your daughters this mournful song,

and each of you teach your neighbor ⁴  this lament.

Jeremiah 12:15

12:15 But after I have uprooted the people of those nations, I will relent ⁵  and have pity on them. I will restore the people of each of those nations to their own lands ⁶  and to their own country.

Jeremiah 17:10

17:10 I, the Lord, probe into people’s minds.

I examine people’s hearts. ⁷ 

I deal with each person according to how he has behaved.

I give them what they deserve based on what they have done.

Jeremiah 32:19

32:19 You plan great things and you do mighty deeds. ⁸  You see everything people do. ⁹  You reward each of them for the way they live and for the things they do. ¹⁰ 

Jeremiah 34:16

34:16 But then you turned right around ¹¹  and showed that you did not honor me. ¹²  Each of you took back your male and female slaves whom you had freed as they desired, and you forced them to be your slaves again. ¹³ 

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¹ tn The words “I said” are not in the text. The text merely has “Indeed, yes.” The words are supplied in the translation to indicate that the speaker is still Jeremiah though he now is not talking about the mourning woman but is talking to them. See the notes on 9:17-18 for further explanation.

² tn It is a little difficult to explain how the Hebrew particle כִּי (ki) is functioning here. W. L. Holladay (Jeremiah [Hermeneia], 1:311) may be correct in seeing it as introducing the contents of what those who call for the mourning women are to say. In this case, Jeremiah picks up the task as representative of the people.

³ tn Heb “Listen to the word of the Lord.”

sn In this context the “word of the Lord” that they are to listen for is the word of the lament that they are to teach their daughters and neighbors.

⁴ tn Heb “Teach…mournful song, and each woman her neighbor lady…”

⁵ tn For the use of the verb “turn” (שׁוּב, shuv) in this sense, see BDB s.v. שׁוּב Qal.6.g and compare the usage in Pss 90:13; 6:4; Joel 2:14. It does not simply mean “again” as several of the English versions render it.

⁶ sn The Lord is sovereign over the nations and has allotted each of them their lands. See Deut 2:5 (Edom), Deut 2:9 (Moab), Deut 2:19 (Ammon). He promised to restore not only his own people Israel to their land (Jer 32:37) but also Moab (Jer 48:47) and Ammon (Jer 49:6).

⁷ tn The term rendered “mind” here and in the previous verse is actually the Hebrew word for “heart.” However, in combination with the word rendered “heart” in the next line, which is the Hebrew for “kidneys,” it is best rendered “mind” because the “heart” was considered the center of intellect, conscience, and will and the “kidneys” the center of emotions.

sn For an earlier reference to this motif see Jer 11:20. For a later reference see Jer 20:12. See also Ps 17:2-3.

⁸ tn Heb “[you are] great in counsel and mighty in deed.”

⁹ tn Heb “your eyes are open to the ways of the sons of men.”

¹⁰ tn Heb “giving to each according to his way [= behavior/conduct] and according to the fruit of his deeds.”

¹¹ sn The verb at the beginning of v. 15 and v. 16 are the same in the Hebrew. They had two changes of heart (Heb “you turned”), one that was pleasing to him (Heb “right in his eyes”) and one that showed they did not honor him (Heb “profaned [or belittled] his name”).

¹² sn Heb “you profaned my name.” His name had been invoked in the oath confirming the covenant. Breaking the covenant involved taking his name in vain (cf. Exod 20:7; Deut 5:11; Jer 5:2). Hence the one who bore the name was not treated with the special honor and reverence due him (see the study note on 23:27 for the significance of “name” in the OT).

¹³ tn Heb “and you brought them into subjection to be to you for male and female slaves.” See the translator’s note on v. 11 for the same redundant repetition which is not carried over into the contemporary English sentence.