Discovery BoxJeremiah 2:23 
Context2:23 “How can you say, ‘I have not made myself unclean.
I have not paid allegiance to 1 the gods called Baal.’
Just look at the way you have behaved in the Valley of Hinnom! 2
Think about the things you have done there!
You are like a flighty, young female camel
that rushes here and there, crisscrossing its path. 3
Jeremiah 3:2
Context3:2 “Look up at the hilltops and consider this. 4
You have had sex with other gods on every one of them. 5
You waited for those gods like a thief lying in wait in the desert. 6
You defiled the land by your wicked prostitution to other gods. 7
Jeremiah 3:12
Context3:12 “Go and shout this message to my people in the countries in the north. 8 Tell them,
‘Come back to me, wayward Israel,’ says the Lord.
‘I will not continue to look on you with displeasure. 9
For I am merciful,’ says the Lord.
‘I will not be angry with you forever.
Jeremiah 5:1
Context“Go up and down 11 through the streets of Jerusalem. 12
Look around and see for yourselves.
Search through its public squares.
See if any of you can find a single person
who deals honestly and tries to be truthful. 13
If you can, 14 then I will not punish this city. 15
Jeremiah 5:3
Context5:3 Lord, I know you look for faithfulness. 16
But even when you punish these people, they feel no remorse. 17
Even when you nearly destroy them, they refuse to be corrected.
They have become as hardheaded as a rock. 18
They refuse to change their ways. 19
Jeremiah 45:5
Context45:5 Are you looking for great things for yourself? Do not look for such things. For I, the Lord, affirm 20 that I am about to bring disaster on all humanity. 21 But I will allow you to escape with your life 22 wherever you go.”’”
Jeremiah 47:2
Context47:2 “Look! Enemies are gathering in the north like water rising in a river. 23
They will be like an overflowing stream.
They will overwhelm the whole country and everything in it like a flood.
They will overwhelm the cities and their inhabitants.
People will cry out in alarm.
Everyone living in the country will cry out in pain.
1 tn Heb “I have not gone/followed after.” See the translator’s note on 2:5 for the meaning and usage of this idiom.
2 tn Heb “Look at your way in the valley.” The valley is an obvious reference to the Valley of Hinnom where Baal and Molech were worshiped and child sacrifice was practiced.
3 sn The metaphor is intended to depict Israel’s lack of clear direction and purpose without the
4 tn Heb “and see.”
5 tn Heb “Where have you not been ravished?” The rhetorical question expects the answer “nowhere,” which suggests she has engaged in the worship of pagan gods on every one of the hilltops.
6 tn Heb “You sat for them [the lovers, i.e., the foreign gods] beside the road like an Arab in the desert.”
7 tn Heb “by your prostitution and your wickedness.” This is probably an example of hendiadys where, when two nouns are joined by “and,” one expresses the main idea and the other qualifies it.
8 tn Heb “Go and proclaim these words to the north.” The translation assumes that the message is directed toward the exiles of northern Israel who have been scattered in the provinces of Assyria to the north.
9 tn Heb “I will not cause my face to fall on you.”
10 tn These words are not in the text, but since the words at the end are obviously those of the
11 tn It is not clear who is being addressed here. The verbs are plural so they are not addressed to Jeremiah per se. Since the passage is talking about the people of Jerusalem, it is unlikely they are addressed here except perhaps rhetorically. Some have suggested that the heavenly court is being addressed here as in Job 1:6-8; 2:1-3. It is clear from Jer 23:18, 22; Amos 3:7 that the prophets had access to this heavenly counsel through visions (cf. 1 Kgs 22:19-23), so Jeremiah could have been privy to this speech through that means. Though these are the most likely addressee, it is too presumptuous to supply such an explicit addressee without clearer indication in the text. The translation will just have to run the risk of the probable erroneous assumption by most English readers that the addressee is Jeremiah.
12 map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.
13 tn Heb “who does justice and seeks faithfulness.”
14 tn Heb “squares. If you can find…if there is one person…then I will…”
15 tn Heb “forgive [or pardon] it.”
16 tn Heb “O
17 tn Commentaries and lexicons debate the meaning of the verb here. The MT is pointed as though from a verb meaning “to writhe in anguish or contrition” (חוּל [khul]; see, e.g., BDB 297 s.v. חוּל 2.c), but some commentaries and lexicons repoint the text as though from a verb meaning “to be sick,” thus “to feel pain” (חָלָה [khalah]; see, e.g., HALOT 304 s.v. חָלָה 3). The former appears more appropriate to the context.
18 tn Heb “They made their faces as hard as a rock.”
19 tn Or “to repent”; Heb “to turn back.”
20 tn Heb “oracle of the
21 sn Compare Jer 25:31, 33. The reference here to universal judgment also forms a nice transition to the judgments on the nations that follow in Jer 46-51 which may be another reason for the placement of this chapter here, out of its normal chronological order (see also the study note on v. 1).
22 tn Heb “I will give you your life for a spoil.” For this idiom see the translator’s note on 21:9 and compare the usage in 21:9; 38:2; 39:18.
23 tn Heb “Behold! Waters are rising from the north.” The metaphor of enemy armies compared to overflowing water is seen also in Isa 8:8-9 (Assyria) and 46:7-8 (Egypt). Here it refers to the foe from the north (Jer 1:14; 4:6; etc) which is specifically identified with Babylon in Jer 25. The metaphor has been turned into a simile in the translation to help the average reader identify that a figure is involved and to hint at the referent.
