Discovery BoxJeremiah 20:9 
Context20:9 Sometimes I think, “I will make no mention of his message.
I will not speak as his messenger 1 any more.”
But then 2 his message becomes like a fire
locked up inside of me, burning in my heart and soul. 3
I grow weary of trying to hold it in;
I cannot contain it.
Jeremiah 31:12
Context31:12 They will come and shout for joy on Mount Zion.
They will be radiant with joy 4 over the good things the Lord provides,
the grain, the fresh wine, the olive oil,
the young sheep and calves he has given to them.
They will be like a well-watered garden
and will not grow faint or weary any more.
Jeremiah 51:58
Context51:58 This is what the Lord who rules over all 5 says,
“Babylon’s thick wall 6 will be completely demolished. 7
Her high gates will be set on fire.
The peoples strive for what does not satisfy. 8
The nations grow weary trying to get what will be destroyed.” 9
1 tn Heb “speak in his name.” This idiom occurs in passages where someone functions as the messenger under the authority of another. See Exod 5:23; Deut 18:19, 29:20; Jer 14:14. The antecedent in the first line is quite commonly misidentified as being “him,” i.e., the
2 tn The English sentence has again been restructured for the sake of English style. The Hebrew construction involves two vav consecutive perfects in a condition and consequence relation, “If I say to myself…then it [his word] becomes.” See GKC 337 §112.kk for the construction.
3 sn Heb “It is in my heart like a burning fire, shut up in my bones.” In addition to standing as part for the whole, the “bones” for the person (e.g., Ps 35:10), the bones were associated with fear (e.g., Job 4:14) and with pain (e.g., Job 33:19, Ps 102:3 [102:4 HT]) and joy or sorrow (e.g., Ps 51:8 [51:10 HT]). As has been mentioned several times, the heart was connected with intellectual and volitional concerns.
4 tn Reading a Qal perfect from the root II נָהַר (nahar; so KBL 509 s.v. and HALOT 639 s.v.) rather than I נָהַר (so BDB 625 s.v.).
5 sn See the note at Jer 2:19.
6 tn The text has the plural “walls,” but many Hebrew
7 tn The infinitive absolute emphasizes the following finite verb. Another option is to translate, “will certainly be demolished.”
8 tn Heb “for what is empty.”
9 tn Heb “and the nations for fire, and they grow weary.”
