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 3:13
Context3:13 However, you must confess that you have done wrong, 5
and that you have rebelled against the Lord your God.
You must confess 6 that you have given yourself to 7 foreign gods under every green tree,
and have not obeyed my commands,’ says the Lord.
Jeremiah 23:16
Context23:16 The Lord who rules over all 8 says to the people of Jerusalem: 9
“Do not listen to what
those prophets are saying to you.
They are filling you with false hopes.
They are reporting visions of their own imaginations,
not something the Lord has given them to say. 10
Jeremiah 28:14
Context28:14 For the Lord God of Israel who rules over all 11 says, “I have put an irresistible yoke of servitude on all these nations 12 so they will serve King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon. And they will indeed serve him. I have even given him control over the wild animals.”’” 13
Jeremiah 31:12
Context31:12 They will come and shout for joy on Mount Zion.
They will be radiant with joy 14 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 37:21
Context37:21 Then King Zedekiah ordered that Jeremiah be committed to the courtyard of the guardhouse. He also ordered that a loaf of bread 15 be given to him every day from the baker’s street until all the bread in the city was gone. So Jeremiah was kept 16 in the courtyard of the guardhouse.
Jeremiah 38:16
Context38:16 So King Zedekiah made a secret promise to Jeremiah and sealed it with an oath. He promised, 17 “As surely as the Lord lives who has given us life and breath, 18 I promise you this: I will not kill you or hand you over to those men who want to kill you.” 19
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 “Only acknowledge your iniquity.”
6 tn The words “You must confess” are repeated to convey the connection. The Hebrew text has an introductory “that” in front of the second line and a coordinative “and” in front of the next two lines.
7 tc MT reads דְּרָכַיִךְ (dÿrakhayikh, “your ways”), but the BHS editors suggest דּוֹדַיִךְ (dodayikh, “your breasts”) as an example of orthographic confusion. While the proposal makes sense, it remains a conjectural emendation since it is not supported by any actual manuscripts or ancient versions.
tn Heb “scattered your ways with foreign [gods]” or “spread out your breasts to strangers.”
8 tn Heb “Yahweh of armies.”
sn See the study note on 2:19 for explanation of this title.
9 tn The words “to the people of Jerusalem” are not in the Hebrew text but are supplied in the translation to reflect the masculine plural form of the imperative and the second masculine plural form of the pronoun. These words have been supplied in the translation for clarity.
10 tn Heb “They tell of a vision of their own heart [= mind] not from the mouth of the
11 tn Heb “Yahweh of armies, the God of Israel.” See the study notes on 2:19 and 7:3 for this title.
12 tn Heb “An iron yoke I have put on the necks of all these nations.”
13 sn The emphasis is on the absoluteness of Nebuchadnezzar’s control. The statement is once again rhetorical and not to be taken literally. See the study note on 27:6.
14 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.).
15 tn Heb “And/Then King Zedekiah ordered and they committed Jeremiah to [or deposited…in] the courtyard of the guardhouse and they gave to him a loaf of bread.” The translation has been structured the way it has to avoid the ambiguous “they” which is the impersonal subject which is sometimes rendered passive in English (cf. GKC 460 §144.d). This text also has another example of the vav (ו) + infinitive absolute continuing a finite verbal form (וְנָתֹן [vÿnaton] = “and they gave”; cf. GKC 345 §113.y and see Jer 32:44; 36:23).
16 tn Heb “Stayed/Remained/ Lived.”
17 tn Heb “So King Zedekiah secretly swore an oath to Jeremiah, saying.”
18 tn Heb “who has made this life/soul/ breath [נֶפֶשׁ, nefesh] for us.” The Hebrew term נֶפֶשׁ refers to the living, breathing substance of a person which constitutes his very life (cf. BDB 659 s.v. נֶפֶשׁ 1; 3).
19 tn Heb “who are seeking your life.”
