Jeremiah 9:4

9:4 Everyone must be on his guard around his friends.

He must not even trust any of his relatives. 1 

For every one of them will find some way to cheat him. 2 

And all of his friends will tell lies about him.

Jeremiah 10:7

10:7 Everyone should revere you, O King of all nations, 3 

because you deserve to be revered. 4 

For there is no one like you

among any of the wise people of the nations nor among any of their kings. 5 

Jeremiah 15:17

15:17 I did not spend my time in the company of other people,

laughing and having a good time.

I stayed to myself because I felt obligated to you 6 

and because I was filled with anger at what they had done.

Jeremiah 22:7

22:7 I will send men against it to destroy it 7 

with their axes and hatchets.

They will hack up its fine cedar panels and columns

and throw them into the fire.

Jeremiah 22:25-26

22:25 I will hand you over to those who want to take your life and of whom you are afraid. I will hand you over to King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon and his Babylonian 8  soldiers. 22:26 I will force you and your mother who gave you birth into exile. You will be exiled to 9  a country where neither of you were born, and you will both die there.

1 tn Heb “Be on your guard…Do not trust.” The verbs are second masculine plural of direct address and there seems no way to translate literally and not give the mistaken impression that Jeremiah is being addressed. This is another example of the tendency in Hebrew style to turn from description to direct address (a figure of speech called apostrophe).

2 tn Heb “cheating, each of them will cheat.”

sn There is perhaps an intentional pun and allusion here to Gen 27:36 and the wordplay on the name Jacob there. The text here reads עָקוֹב יַעְקֹב (’aqob ya’qob).

3 tn Heb “Who should not revere you…?” The question is rhetorical and expects a negative answer.

4 tn Heb “For it is fitting to you.”

5 tn Heb “their royalty/dominion.” This is a case of substitution of the abstract for the concrete “royalty, royal power” for “kings” who exercise it.

6 tn Heb “because of your hand.”

7 sn Heb “I will sanctify destroyers against it.” If this is not an attenuated use of the term “sanctify” the traditions of Israel’s holy wars are being turned against her. See also 6:4. In Israel’s early wars in the wilderness and in the conquest, the Lord fought for her against the enemies (cf., e.g., Josh 10:11, 14, 42; 24:7; Judg 5:20; 1 Sam 7:10). Now he is going to fight against them (21:5, 13) and use the enemy as his instruments of destruction. For a similar picture of destruction in the temple see the lament in Ps 74:3-7.

8 tn Heb “the Chaldeans.” See the study note on 21:4.

9 tn Heb “I will hurl you and your mother…into another land where…” The verb used here is very forceful. It is the verb used for Saul throwing a spear at David (1 Sam 18:11) and for the Lord unleashing a violent storm on the sea (Jonah 1:4). It is used both here and in v. 28 for the forceful exile of Jeconiah and his mother.