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 18:23
Context18:23 But you, Lord, know
all their plots to kill me.
Do not pardon their crimes!
Do not ignore their sins as though you had erased them! 5
Let them be brought down in defeat before you!
Deal with them while you are still angry! 6
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 sn Heb “Do not blot out their sins from before you.” For this anthropomorphic figure which looks at God’s actions as though connected with record books, i.e., a book of wrongdoings to be punished, and a book of life for those who are to live, see e.g., Exod 32:32, 33, Ps 51:1 (51:3 HT); 69:28 (69:29 HT).
6 tn Heb “in the time of your anger.”
