Discovery BoxJeremiah 2:20 
Context2:20 “Indeed, 1 long ago you threw off my authority
and refused to be subject to me. 2
You said, ‘I will not serve you.’ 3
Instead, you gave yourself to other gods on every high hill
and under every green tree,
like a prostitute sprawls out before her lovers. 4
Jeremiah 3:1
Context3:1 “If a man divorces his wife
and she leaves him and becomes another man’s wife,
he may not take her back again. 5
Doing that would utterly defile the land. 6
But you, Israel, have given yourself as a prostitute to many gods. 7
So what makes you think you can return to me?” 8
says the Lord.
Jeremiah 3:6
Context3:6 When Josiah was king of Judah, the Lord said to me, “Jeremiah, you have no doubt seen what wayward Israel has done. 9 You have seen how she went up to every high hill and under every green tree to give herself like a prostitute to other gods. 10
Jeremiah 3:8
Context3:8 She also saw 11 that I gave wayward Israel her divorce papers and sent her away because of her adulterous worship of other gods. 12 Even after her unfaithful sister Judah had seen this, 13 she still was not afraid, and she too went and gave herself like a prostitute to other gods. 14
1 tn Or “For.” The Hebrew particle (כִּי, ki) here introduces the evidence that they had no respect for him.
2 tn Heb “you broke your yoke…tore off your yoke ropes.” The metaphor is that of a recalcitrant ox or heifer which has broken free from its master.
3 tc The MT of this verse has two examples of the old second feminine singular perfect, שָׁבַרְתִּי (shavarti) and נִתַּקְתִּי (nittaqti), which the Masoretes mistook for first singulars leading to the proposal to read אֶעֱבוֹר (’e’evor, “I will not transgress”) for אֶעֱבֹד (’e’evod, “I will not serve”). The latter understanding of the forms is accepted in KJV but rejected by almost all modern English versions as being less appropriate to the context than the reading accepted in the translation given here.
4 tn Heb “you sprawled as a prostitute on….” The translation reflects the meaning of the metaphor.
5 tn Heb “May he go back to her again?” The question is rhetorical and expects a negative answer.
sn For the legal background for the illustration that is used here see Deut 24:1-4.
6 tn Heb “Would the land not be utterly defiled?” The stative is here rendered actively to connect better with the preceding. The question is rhetorical and expects a positive answer.
7 tn Heb “But you have played the prostitute with many lovers.”
8 tn Heb “Returning to me.” The form is the bare infinitive which the KJV and ASV have interpreted as an imperative “Yet, return to me!” However, it is more likely that a question is intended, expressing surprise in the light of the law alluded to and the facts cited. For the use of the infinitive absolute in the place of a finite verb, cf. GKC 346 §113.ee. For the introduction of a question without a question marker, cf. GKC 473 §150.a.
9 tn “Have you seen…” The question is rhetorical and expects a positive answer.
10 tn Heb “she played the prostitute there.” This is a metaphor for Israel’s worship; she gave herself to the worship of other gods like a prostitute gives herself to her lovers. There seems no clear way to completely spell out the metaphor in the translation.
11 tc Heb “she [‘her sister, unfaithful Judah’ from the preceding verse] saw” with one Hebrew
12 tn Heb “because she committed adultery.” The translation is intended to spell out the significance of the metaphor.
13 tn The words “Even after her unfaithful sister, Judah, had seen this” are not in the Hebrew text but are implicit in the connection and are supplied for clarification.
14 tn Heb “she played the prostitute there.” This is a metaphor for Israel’s worship; she gave herself to the worship of other gods like a prostitute gives herself to her lovers. There seems no clear way to completely spell out the metaphor in the translation.
