Discovery BoxJeremiah 3:1 
Context3:1 “If a man divorces his wife
and she leaves him and becomes another man’s wife,
he may not take her back again. 1
Doing that would utterly defile the land. 2
But you, Israel, have given yourself as a prostitute to many gods. 3
So what makes you think you can return to me?” 4
says the Lord.
Jeremiah 3:20
Context3:20 But, you have been unfaithful to me, nation of Israel, 5
like an unfaithful wife who has left her husband,” 6
says the Lord.
1 tn Heb “May he go back to her again?” The question is rhetorical and expects a negative answer.
sn For the legal background for the illustration that is used here see Deut 24:1-4.
2 tn Heb “Would the land not be utterly defiled?” The stative is here rendered actively to connect better with the preceding. The question is rhetorical and expects a positive answer.
3 tn Heb “But you have played the prostitute with many lovers.”
4 tn Heb “Returning to me.” The form is the bare infinitive which the KJV and ASV have interpreted as an imperative “Yet, return to me!” However, it is more likely that a question is intended, expressing surprise in the light of the law alluded to and the facts cited. For the use of the infinitive absolute in the place of a finite verb, cf. GKC 346 §113.ee. For the introduction of a question without a question marker, cf. GKC 473 §150.a.
5 tn Heb “house of Israel.”
6 tn Heb “a wife unfaithful from her husband.”
