Discovery BoxJeremiah 18:18 
Context18:18 Then some people 1 said, “Come on! Let us consider how to deal with Jeremiah! 2 There will still be priests to instruct us, wise men to give us advice, and prophets to declare God’s word. 3 Come on! Let’s bring charges against him and get rid of him! 4 Then we will not need to pay attention to anything he says.”
Jeremiah 18:20
Context18:20 Should good be paid back with evil?
Yet they are virtually digging a pit to kill me. 5
Just remember how I stood before you
pleading on their behalf 6
to keep you from venting your anger on them. 7
Jeremiah 18:22
Context18:22 Let cries of terror be heard in their houses
when you send bands of raiders unexpectedly to plunder them. 8
For they have virtually dug a pit to capture me
and have hidden traps for me to step into.
1 tn Heb “They.” The referent is unidentified; “some people” has been used in the translation.
2 tn Heb “Let us make plans against Jeremiah.” See 18:18 where this has sinister overtones as it does here.
3 tn Heb “Instruction will not perish from priest, counsel from the wise, word from the prophet.”
sn These are the three channels through whom God spoke to his people in the OT. See Jer 8:8-10 and Ezek 7:26.
4 tn Heb “Let us smite him with our tongues.” It is clear from the context that this involved plots to kill him.
5 tn Or “They are plotting to kill me”; Heb “They have dug a pit for my soul.” This is a common metaphor for plotting against someone. See BDB 500 s.v. כָּרָה Qal and for an example see Pss 7:16 (7:15 HT) in its context.
6 tn Heb “to speak good concerning them” going back to the concept of “good” being paid back with evil.
7 tn Heb “to turn back your anger from them.”
sn See Jer 14:7-9, 19-21 and 15:1-4 for the idea.
8 tn Heb “when you bring marauders in against them.” For the use of the noun translated here “bands of raiders to plunder them” see 1 Sam 30:3, 15, 23 and BDB 151 s.v. גְּדוּד 1.
