Discovery BoxJeremiah 2:36 
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
Jeremiah 7:8
Context7:8 “‘But just look at you! 3 You are putting your confidence in a false belief 4 that will not deliver you. 5
Jeremiah 25:6
Context25:6 Do not pay allegiance to 6 other gods and worship and serve them. Do not make me angry by the things that you do. 7 Then I will not cause you any harm.’
Jeremiah 27:12
Context27:12 I told King Zedekiah of Judah the same thing. I said, 8 “Submit 9 to the yoke of servitude to 10 the king of Babylon. Be subject to him and his people. Then you will continue to live.
Jeremiah 29:13
Context29:13 When you seek me in prayer and worship, you will find me available to you. If you seek me with all your heart and soul, 11
Jeremiah 31:4
Context31:4 I will rebuild you, my dear children Israel, 12
so that you will once again be built up.
Once again you will take up the tambourine
and join in the happy throng of dancers. 13
Jeremiah 37:18
Context37:18 Then Jeremiah asked King Zedekiah, “What crime have I committed against you, or the officials who serve you, or the people of Judah? What have I done to make you people throw me into prison? 14
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 “Behold!”
4 tn Heb “You are trusting in lying words.” See the similar phrase in v. 4 and the note there.
5 tn Heb “not profit [you].”
6 tn Heb “follow after.” See the translator’s note on 2:5 for this idiom.
7 tn Heb “make me angry with the work of your hands.” The term “work of your own hands” is often interpreted as a reference to idolatry as is clearly the case in Isa 2:8; 37:19. However, the parallelism in 25:14 and the context in 32:30 show that it is more general and refers to what they have done. That is likely the meaning here as well.
8 tn Heb “I spoke to Zedekiah…according to all these words, saying.”
9 sn The verbs in this verse are all plural. They are addressed to Zedekiah and his royal advisers (compare 22:2).
10 tn Heb “put their necks in the yoke of.” See the study note on v. 2 for the figure.
11 tn Or “If you wholeheartedly seek me”; Heb “You will seek me and find [me] because you will seek me with all your heart.” The translation attempts to reflect the theological nuances of “seeking” and “finding” and the psychological significance of “heart” which refers more to intellectual and volitional concerns in the OT than to emotional ones.
12 tn Heb “Virgin Israel.”
sn For the significance of this metaphor see the note on Jer 14:17. Here the emphasis appears on his special love and care for his people and the hint (further developed in vv. 21-22) that, though guilty of sin, he considers them like an innocent young virgin.
13 sn Contrast Jer 7:34 and 25:10.
14 tn Heb “What crime have I committed against you, or your servants, or this people that you [masc. pl.] have put me in prison?” Some of the terms have been expanded for clarification and the sentence has been broken in two to better conform with contemporary English style.
The masculine plural is used here because Zedekiah is being addressed as representative of the whole group previously named.
