Jeremiah 2:13
Context2:13 “Do so because my people have committed a double wrong:
they have rejected me,
the fountain of life-giving water, 1
and they have dug cisterns for themselves,
cracked cisterns which cannot even hold water.”
Jeremiah 10:2
Context10:2 The Lord says,
“Do not start following pagan religious practices. 2
Do not be in awe of signs that occur 3 in the sky
even though the nations hold them in awe.
Jeremiah 50:14
Context50:14 “Take up your battle positions all around Babylon,
all you soldiers who are armed with bows. 4
Shoot 5 all your arrows at her! Do not hold any back! 6
For she has sinned against the Lord.
1 tn It is difficult to decide whether to translate “fresh, running water” which the Hebrew term for “living water” often refers to (e.g., Gen 26:19; Lev 14:5), or “life-giving water” which the idiom “fountain of life” as source of life and vitality often refers to (e.g., Ps 36:9; Prov 13:14; 14:27). The contrast with cisterns, which collected and held rain water, suggests “fresh, running water,” but the reality underlying the metaphor contrasts the
2 tn Heb “Do not learn the way of the nations.” For this use of the word “ways” (דֶּרֶךְ, derekh) compare for example Jer 12:16 and Isa 2:6.
3 tn Heb “signs.” The words “that occur” are supplied in the translation for clarity.
sn The Hebrew word translated here “things that go on in the sky” (אֹתוֹת, ’otot) refers both to unusual disturbances such as eclipses, comets, meteors, etc., but also to such things as the changes in the position of the sun, moon, and stars in conjunction with the changes in seasons (cf. Gen 1:14). The people of Assyria and Babylonia worshiped the sun, moon, and stars, thinking that these heavenly bodies had some hold over them.
4 tn Heb “all you who draw the bow.”
5 tc The verb here should probably be read as a Qal imperative יְרוּ (yÿru) from יָרָה (yarah) with a few Hebrew
6 tn Heb “Shoot at her! Don’t save any arrows!”