Discovery BoxJeremiah 1:6 
Context1:6 I answered, “Oh, Lord God, 1 I really 2 do not know how to speak well enough for that, 3 for I am too young.” 4
Jeremiah 4:14
Context4:14 “Oh people of Jerusalem, purify your hearts from evil 5
so that you may yet be delivered.
How long will you continue to harbor up
wicked schemes within you?
Jeremiah 32:17
Context32:17 ‘Oh, Lord God, 6 you did indeed 7 make heaven and earth by your mighty power and great strength. 8 Nothing is too hard for you!
Jeremiah 4:19
Context“Oh, the feeling in the pit of my stomach! 10
I writhe in anguish.
Oh, the pain in my heart! 11
My heart pounds within me.
I cannot keep silent.
For I hear the sound of the trumpet; 12
the sound of the battle cry pierces my soul! 13
1 tn Heb “Lord Yahweh.”
sn The translation follows the ancient Jewish tradition of substituting the Hebrew word for “God” for the proper name Yahweh in this compound name. See the study note on v. 2 for the substitution of “Lord” in a similar kind of situation.
2 tn Heb “Behold, I do not know how to speak.” The particle הִנֵּה (hinneh, commonly rendered “behold”) often introduces a speech and calls special attention to a specific word or the statement as a whole (see IBHS 675-78 §40.2.1).
3 tn The words “well enough for that” are implicit and are supplied in the translation for clarity. Jeremiah is not claiming an absolute inability to speak.
4 tn Heb “I am a boy/youth.” The Hebrew word can refer to an infant (Exod 2:6), a young boy (1 Sam 2:11), a teenager (Gen 21:12), or a young man (2 Sam 18:5). The translation is deliberately ambiguous since it is unclear how old Jeremiah was when he was called to begin prophesying.
5 tn Heb “Oh, Jerusalem, wash your heart from evil.”
6 tn Heb “Lord Yahweh.” For an explanation of the rendering here see the study note on 1:6.
sn The parallel usage of this introduction in Jer 1:6; 4:10; 14:13 shows that though this prayer has a lengthy introductory section of praise vv. 17-22, this prayer is really one of complaint or lament.
7 tn This is an attempt to render the Hebrew particle normally translated “behold.” See the translator’s note on 1:6 for the usage of this particle.
8 tn Heb “by your great power and your outstretched arm.” See 21:5; 27:5 and the marginal note on 27:5 for this idiom.
9 tn The words “I said” are not in the text. They are used to mark the shift from the
10 tn Heb “My bowels! My bowels!”
11 tn Heb “the walls of my heart!”
12 tn Heb “ram’s horn,” but the modern equivalent is “trumpet” and is more readily understandable.
13 tc The translation reflects a different division of the last two lines than that suggested by the Masoretes. The written text (the Kethib) reads “for the sound of the ram’s horn I have heard [or “you have heard,” if the form is understood as the old second feminine singular perfect] my soul” followed by “the battle cry” in the last line. The translation is based on taking “my soul” with the last line and understanding an elliptical expression “the battle cry [to] my soul.” Such an elliptical expression is in keeping with the elliptical nature of the exclamations at the beginning of the verse (cf. the literal translations of the first two lines of the verse in the notes on the words “stomach” and “heart”).
