Discovery BoxJeremiah 3:8-9 
Context3:8 She also saw 1 that I gave wayward Israel her divorce papers and sent her away because of her adulterous worship of other gods. 2 Even after her unfaithful sister Judah had seen this, 3 she still was not afraid, and she too went and gave herself like a prostitute to other gods. 4 3:9 Because she took her prostitution so lightly, she defiled the land 5 through her adulterous worship of gods made of wood and stone. 6
1 tc Heb “she [‘her sister, unfaithful Judah’ from the preceding verse] saw” with one Hebrew
2 tn Heb “because she committed adultery.” The translation is intended to spell out the significance of the metaphor.
3 tn The words “Even after her unfaithful sister, Judah, had seen this” are not in the Hebrew text but are implicit in the connection and are supplied for clarification.
4 tn Heb “she played the prostitute there.” This is a metaphor for Israel’s worship; she gave herself to the worship of other gods like a prostitute gives herself to her lovers. There seems no clear way to completely spell out the metaphor in the translation.
5 tc The translation reads the form as a causative (Hiphil, תַּהֲנֵף, tahanef) with some of the versions in place of the simple stative (Qal, תֶּחֱנַף, tekhenaf) in the MT.
6 tn Heb “because of the lightness of her prostitution, she defiled the land and committed adultery with stone and wood.”
