Discovery BoxJeremiah 2:36-37 
Context2:36 Why do you constantly go about
changing your political allegiances? 1
You will get no help from Egypt
just as you got no help from Assyria. 2
2:37 Moreover, you will come away from Egypt
with your hands covering your faces in sorrow and shame 3
because the Lord will not allow your reliance on them to be successful
and you will not gain any help from them. 4
1 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…”
2 tn Heb “You will be ashamed/disappointed by Egypt, just as you were ashamed/ disappointed by Assyria.”
3 tn Heb “with your hands on your head.” For the picture here see 2 Sam 13:19.
4 tn Heb “The
