Discovery BoxJeremiah 5:27-29 
Context5:27 Like a cage filled with the birds that have been caught, 1
their houses are filled with the gains of their fraud and deceit. 2
That is how they have gotten so rich and powerful. 3
5:28 That is how 4 they have grown fat and sleek. 5
There is no limit to the evil things they do. 6
They do not plead the cause of the fatherless in such a way as to win it.
They do not defend the rights of the poor.
5:29 I will certainly punish them for doing such things!” says the Lord.
“I will certainly bring retribution on such a nation as this! 7
1 tn The words, “that have been caught” are not in the text but are implicit in the comparison.
2 tn Heb “are filled with deceit.” The translation assumes a figure of speech of cause for effect (metonymy). Compare the same word in the same figure in Zeph 1:9.
3 tn Heb “therefore they have gotten great and rich.”
4 tn These words are not in the text but are supplied in the translation to show that this line is parallel with the preceding.
5 tn The meaning of this word is uncertain. This verb occurs only here. The lexicons generally relate it to the word translated “plate” in Song 5:14 and understand it to mean “smooth, shiny” (so BDB 799 s.v. I עֶשֶׁת) or “fat” (so HALOT 850 s.v. II עֶשֶׁת). The word in Song 5:14 more likely means “smooth” than “plate” (so TEV). So “sleek” is most likely here.
6 tn Heb “they cross over/transgress with respect to matters of evil.”
sn There is a wordplay in the use of this word which has twice been applied in v. 22 to the sea not crossing the boundary set for it by God.
7 tn Heb “Should I not punish…? Should I not bring retribution…?” The rhetorical questions function as emphatic declarations.
sn These words are repeated from 5:9 to give a kind of refrain justifying again the necessity of punishment in the light of such sins.
