Discovery BoxJeremiah 12:1 
Context12:1 Lord, you have always been fair
whenever I have complained to you. 1
However, I would like to speak with you about the disposition of justice. 2
Why are wicked people successful? 3
Why do all dishonest people have such easy lives?
Jeremiah 21:12
Context21:12 O royal family descended from David. 4
The Lord says:
‘See to it that people each day 5 are judged fairly. 6
Deliver those who have been robbed from those 7 who oppress them.
Otherwise, my wrath will blaze out against you.
It will burn like a fire that cannot be put out
because of the evil that you have done. 8
Jeremiah 30:11
Context30:11 For I, the Lord, affirm 9 that
I will be with you and will rescue you.
I will completely destroy all the nations where I scattered you.
But I will not completely destroy you.
I will indeed discipline you, but only in due measure.
I will not allow you to go entirely unpunished.” 10
Jeremiah 46:28
Context46:28 I, the Lord, tell 11 you not to be afraid,
you descendants of Jacob, my servant,
for I am with you.
Though I completely destroy all the nations where I scatter you,
I will not completely destroy you.
I will indeed discipline you but only in due measure.
I will not allow you to go entirely unpunished.” 12
1 tn Or “
2 tn Heb “judgments” or “matters of justice.” For the nuance of “complain to,” “fair,” “disposition of justice” assumed here, see BDB 936 s.v. רִיב Qal.4 (cf. Judg 21:22); BDB 843 s.v. צַדִּיק 1.d (cf. Ps 7:12; 11:7); BDB 1049 s.v. מִשְׁפָּט 1.f (cf. Isa 26:8; Ps 10:5; Ezek 7:27).
3 tn Heb “Why does the way [= course of life] of the wicked prosper?”
4 tn Heb “house of David.” This is essentially equivalent to the royal court in v. 11.
5 tn Heb “to the morning” = “morning by morning” or “each morning.” See Isa 33:2 and Amos 4:4 for parallel usage.
6 sn The kings of Israel and Judah were responsible for justice. See Pss 122:5. The king himself was the final court of appeals judging from the incident of David with the wise woman of Tekoa (2 Sam 14), Solomon and the two prostitutes (1 Kgs 3:16-28), and Absalom’s attempts to win the hearts of the people of Israel by interfering with due process (2 Sam 15:2-4). How the system was designed to operate may be seen from 2 Chr 19:4-11.
7 tn Heb “from the hand [or power] of.”
8 tn Heb “Lest my wrath go out like fire and burn with no one to put it out because of the evil of your deeds.”
9 tn Heb “Oracle of the
10 tn The translation “entirely unpunished” is intended to reflect the emphatic construction of the infinitive absolute before the finite verb.
11 tn Heb “Oracle of the
12 tn The translation “entirely unpunished” is intended to reflect the emphatic construction of the infinitive absolute before the finite verb.
