Discovery BoxJeremiah 2:8 
Context2:8 Your priests 1 did not ask, ‘Where is the Lord?’ 2
Those responsible for teaching my law 3 did not really know me. 4
Your rulers rebelled against me.
Your prophets prophesied in the name of the god Baal. 5
They all worshiped idols that could not help them. 6
Jeremiah 5:7
Context“How can I leave you unpunished, Jerusalem? 8
Your people 9 have rejected me
and have worshiped gods that are not gods at all. 10
Even though I supplied all their needs, 11 they were like an unfaithful wife to me. 12
They went flocking 13 to the houses of prostitutes. 14
Jeremiah 8:2
Context8:2 They will be spread out and exposed to the sun, the moon and the stars. 15 These are things they 16 adored and served, things to which they paid allegiance, 17 from which they sought guidance, and worshiped. The bones of these people 18 will never be regathered and reburied. They will be like manure used to fertilize the ground. 19
Jeremiah 11:10
Context11:10 They have gone back to the evil ways 20 of their ancestors of old who refused to obey what I told them. They, too, have paid allegiance to 21 other gods and worshiped them. Both the nation of Israel and the nation of Judah 22 have violated the covenant I made with their ancestors.
1 tn Heb “The priests…the ones who grasp my law…the shepherds…the prophets…they…”
2 sn See the study note on 2:6.
3 tn Heb “those who handle my law.”
sn The reference is likely to the priests and Levites who were responsible for teaching the law (so Jer 18:18; cf. Deut 33:10). According to Jer 8:8 it could possibly refer to the scribes who copied the law.
4 tn Or “were not committed to me.” The Hebrew verb rendered “know” refers to more than mere intellectual knowledge. It carries also the ideas of emotional and volitional commitment as well intimacy. See for example its use in contexts like Hos 4:1; 6:6.
5 tn Heb “by Baal.”
6 tn Heb “and they followed after those things [the word is plural] which do not profit.” The poetic structure of the verse, four lines in which a distinct subject appears at the beginning followed by a fifth line beginning with a prepositional phrase and no distinct subject, argues that this line is climactic and refers to all four classes enumerated in the preceding lines. See W. L. Holladay, Jeremiah (Hermeneia), 1:88-89. There may be a play or pun in the Hebrew text on the name for the god Baal (בַּעַל, ba’al) and the verb “cannot help you” (Heb “do not profit”) which is spelled יַעַל (ya’al).
7 tn These words are not in the text, but are supplied in the translation to make clear who is speaking.
8 tn Heb “How can I forgive [or pardon] you.” The pronoun “you” is second feminine singular, referring to the city. See v. 1.
9 tn Heb “your children.”
10 tn Heb “and they have sworn [oaths] by not-gods.”
11 tn Heb “I satisfied them to the full.”
12 tn Heb “they committed adultery.” It is difficult to decide whether literal adultery with other women or spiritual adultery with other gods is meant. The word for adultery is used for both in the book of Jeremiah. For examples of its use for spiritual adultery see 3:8, 9; 9:2. For examples of its use for literal adultery see 7:9; 23:14. The context here could argue for either. The swearing by other gods and the implicit contradiction in their actions in contrast to the expected gratitude for supplying their needs argues for spiritual adultery. However, the reference to prostitution in the next line and the reference to chasing after their neighbor’s wives argues for literal adultery. The translation opts for spiritual adultery because of the contrast implicit in the concessive clause.
13 tn There is a great deal of debate about the meaning of this word. Most of the modern English versions follow the lead of lexicographers who relate this word to a noun meaning “troop” and understand it to mean “they trooped together” (cf. BDB 151 s.v. גָּדַד Hithpo.2 and compare the usage in Mic 5:1 [4:14 HT]). A few of the modern English versions and commentaries follow the reading of the Greek and read a word meaning “they lodged” (reading ִיתְגּוֹרְרוּ [yitggorÿru] from I גּוּר [gur; cf. HALOT 177 s.v. Hithpo. and compare the usage in 1 Kgs 17:20] instead of יִתְגֹּדָדוּ [yitggodadu]). W. L. Holladay (Jeremiah [Hermeneia], 1:180) sees a reference here to the cultic practice of cutting oneself in supplication to pagan gods (cf. BDB 151 s.v. גָּדַד Hithpo.1 and compare the usage in 1 Kgs 18:28). The houses of prostitutes would then be a reference to ritual prostitutes at the pagan shrines. The translation follows BDB and the majority of modern English versions.
14 tn Heb “to a house of a prostitute.”
sn This could be a reference to cultic temple prostitution connected with the pagan shrines. For allusion to this in the OT, see, e.g., Deut 23:17 and 2 Kgs 23:7.
15 tc MT, 4QJera and LXX read “the sun and the moon and all the host of heaven,” but 4QJerc reads “the sun and all the stars.”
tn Heb “the host of heaven.”
16 tn Heb “the sun, moon, and host of heaven which they…”
17 tn Heb “followed after.” See the translator’s note at 2:5 for the idiom.
18 tn Heb “they will not” but the referent is far enough removed that it might be ambiguous.
19 tn Heb “like dung/manure on the surface of the ground.”
20 tn Or “They have repeated the evil actions of….”
21 tn Heb “have walked/followed after.” See the translator’s note at 2:5 for the idiom.
22 tn Heb “house of Israel and house of Judah.”
