Discovery BoxJeremiah 2:30 
Context2:30 “It did no good for me to punish your people.
They did not respond to such correction.
You slaughtered your prophets
like a voracious lion.” 1
Jeremiah 5:9
Context5:9 I will surely punish them for doing such things!” says the Lord.
“I will surely bring retribution on such a nation as this!” 2
Jeremiah 5:29
Context5:29 I will certainly punish them for doing such things!” says the Lord.
“I will certainly bring retribution on such a nation as this! 3
Jeremiah 9:9
Context9:9 I will certainly punish them for doing such things!” says the Lord.
“I will certainly bring retribution on such a nation as this!” 4
Jeremiah 9:25
Context9:25 The Lord says, “Watch out! 5 The time is soon coming when I will punish all those who are circumcised only in the flesh. 6
Jeremiah 10:24
Context10:24 Correct us, Lord, but only in due measure. 7
Do not punish us in anger or you will reduce us to nothing. 8
Jeremiah 21:14
Context21:14 But I will punish you as your deeds deserve,’
says the Lord. 9
‘I will set fire to your palace;
it will burn up everything around it.’” 10
Jeremiah 30:20
Context30:20 The descendants of Jacob will enjoy their former privileges.
Their community will be reestablished in my favor 11
and I will punish all who try to oppress them.
Jeremiah 44:13
Context44:13 I will punish those who live in the land of Egypt with war, starvation, and disease just as I punished Jerusalem.
Jeremiah 51:52
Context51:52 Yes, but the time will certainly come,” 12 says the Lord, 13
“when I will punish her idols.
Throughout her land the mortally wounded will groan.
1 tn Heb “Your sword devoured your prophets like a destroying lion.” However, the reference to the sword in this and many similar idioms is merely idiomatic for death by violent means.
2 tn Heb “Should I not punish them…? Should I not bring retribution…?” The rhetorical questions have the force of strong declarations.
3 tn Heb “Should I not punish…? Should I not bring retribution…?” The rhetorical questions function as emphatic declarations.
sn These words are repeated from 5:9 to give a kind of refrain justifying again the necessity of punishment in the light of such sins.
4 tn Heb “Should I not punish them…? Should I not bring retribution…?” The rhetorical questions function as emphatic declarations.
sn See 5:9, 29. This is somewhat of a refrain at the end of a catalog of Judah’s sins.
5 tn Heb “Behold!”
6 tn Heb “punish all who are circumcised in the flesh.” The translation is contextually motivated to better bring out the contrast that follows.
7 tn Heb “with justice.”
8 tn The words, “to almost nothing” are not in the text. They are implicit from the general context and are supplied by almost all English versions.
9 tn Heb “oracle of the
10 tn Heb “I will set fire in its forest and it will devour its surroundings.” The pronouns are actually third feminine singular going back to the participle “you who sit enthroned above the valley.” However, this is another example of those rapid shifts in pronouns typical of the biblical Hebrew style which are uncommon in English. They have regularly been leveled to the same person throughout in the translation to avoid possible confusion for the English reader.
11 tn Heb “his children will be as in former times and his congregation/community will be established before me.” “His children” refers to “Jacob” who has been referred to in v. 18 in the phrase “I will restore the fortunes of the tents of Jacob.” “His children” are thus the restored exiles. Some commentaries see the reference here to the restoration of numbers in accordance with the previous verse. However, the last line of this verse and the reference to the ruler in the following verse suggests rather restoration of the religious and political institutions to their former state. For the use of the word translated “community” (עֵדָה, ’edah) to refer to a political congregation as well as its normal use to refer to a religious one see 1 Kgs 12:20. For the idea of “in my favor” (i.e., under the eye and regard of) for the Hebrew phrase used here (לְפָנַי, lÿfanay) see BDB 817 s.v. פָּנֶה II.4.a(b).
12 tn Heb “that being so, look, days are approaching.” Here לָכֵן (lakhen) introduces the Lord’s response to the people’s lament (v. 51). It has the force of “yes, but” or “that may be true.” See Judg 11:8 and BDB 486-87 s.v. כֵּן 3.d.
13 tn Heb “Oracle of the
