Discovery BoxJeremiah 2:28 
Context2:28 But where are the gods you made for yourselves?
Let them save you when you are in trouble.
The sad fact is that 1 you have as many gods
as you have towns, Judah.
Jeremiah 2:36-37
Context2:36 Why do you constantly go about
changing your political allegiances? 2
You will get no help from Egypt
just as you got no help from Assyria. 3
2:37 Moreover, you will come away from Egypt
with your hands covering your faces in sorrow and shame 4
because the Lord will not allow your reliance on them to be successful
and you will not gain any help from them. 5
1 tn This is an attempt to render the Hebrew particle כִּי (ki, “for, indeed”) contextually.
2 tn Heb “changing your way.” The translation follows the identification of the Hebrew verb here as a defective writing of a form (תֵּזְלִי [tezÿli] instead of תֵּאזְלִי [te’zÿli]) from a verb meaning “go/go about” (אָזַל [’azal]; cf. BDB 23 s.v. אָזַל). Most modern English versions, commentaries, and lexicons read it from a root meaning “to treat cheaply [or lightly]” (תָּזֵלִּי [tazelli] from the root זָלַל (zalal); cf. HALOT 261 s.v. זָלַל); hence, “Why do you consider it such a small matter to…”
3 tn Heb “You will be ashamed/disappointed by Egypt, just as you were ashamed/ disappointed by Assyria.”
4 tn Heb “with your hands on your head.” For the picture here see 2 Sam 13:19.
5 tn Heb “The
