Jeremiah 5:7
Context“How can I leave you unpunished, Jerusalem? 2
Your people 3 have rejected me
and have worshiped gods that are not gods at all. 4
Even though I supplied all their needs, 5 they were like an unfaithful wife to me. 6
They went flocking 7 to the houses of prostitutes. 8
Jeremiah 25:10
Context25:10 I will put an end to the sounds of joy and gladness, to the glad celebration of brides and grooms in these lands. 9 I will put an end to the sound of people grinding meal. I will put an end to lamps shining in their houses. 10
Jeremiah 32:29
Context32:29 The Babylonian soldiers 11 that are attacking this city will break into it and set it on fire. They will burn it down along with the houses where people have made me angry by offering sacrifices to the god Baal and by pouring out drink offerings to other gods on their rooftops. 12
Jeremiah 33:5
Context33:5 ‘The defenders of the city will go out and fight with the Babylonians. 13 But they will only fill those houses and buildings with the dead bodies of the people that I will kill in my anger and my wrath. 14 That will happen because I have decided to turn my back on 15 this city on account of the wicked things they have done. 16
Jeremiah 35:7
Context35:7 Do not build houses. Do not plant crops. Do not plant a vineyard or own one. 17 Live in tents all your lives. If you do these things you will 18 live a long time in the land that you wander about on.’ 19
Jeremiah 51:30
Context51:30 The soldiers of Babylonia will stop fighting.
They will remain in their fortified cities.
They will lose their strength to do battle. 20
They will be as frightened as women. 21
The houses in her cities will be set on fire.
The gates of her cities will be broken down. 22
1 tn These words are not in the text, but are supplied in the translation to make clear who is speaking.
2 tn Heb “How can I forgive [or pardon] you.” The pronoun “you” is second feminine singular, referring to the city. See v. 1.
3 tn Heb “your children.”
4 tn Heb “and they have sworn [oaths] by not-gods.”
5 tn Heb “I satisfied them to the full.”
6 tn Heb “they committed adultery.” It is difficult to decide whether literal adultery with other women or spiritual adultery with other gods is meant. The word for adultery is used for both in the book of Jeremiah. For examples of its use for spiritual adultery see 3:8, 9; 9:2. For examples of its use for literal adultery see 7:9; 23:14. The context here could argue for either. The swearing by other gods and the implicit contradiction in their actions in contrast to the expected gratitude for supplying their needs argues for spiritual adultery. However, the reference to prostitution in the next line and the reference to chasing after their neighbor’s wives argues for literal adultery. The translation opts for spiritual adultery because of the contrast implicit in the concessive clause.
7 tn There is a great deal of debate about the meaning of this word. Most of the modern English versions follow the lead of lexicographers who relate this word to a noun meaning “troop” and understand it to mean “they trooped together” (cf. BDB 151 s.v. גָּדַד Hithpo.2 and compare the usage in Mic 5:1 [4:14 HT]). A few of the modern English versions and commentaries follow the reading of the Greek and read a word meaning “they lodged” (reading ִיתְגּוֹרְרוּ [yitggorÿru] from I גּוּר [gur; cf. HALOT 177 s.v. Hithpo. and compare the usage in 1 Kgs 17:20] instead of יִתְגֹּדָדוּ [yitggodadu]). W. L. Holladay (Jeremiah [Hermeneia], 1:180) sees a reference here to the cultic practice of cutting oneself in supplication to pagan gods (cf. BDB 151 s.v. גָּדַד Hithpo.1 and compare the usage in 1 Kgs 18:28). The houses of prostitutes would then be a reference to ritual prostitutes at the pagan shrines. The translation follows BDB and the majority of modern English versions.
8 tn Heb “to a house of a prostitute.”
sn This could be a reference to cultic temple prostitution connected with the pagan shrines. For allusion to this in the OT, see, e.g., Deut 23:17 and 2 Kgs 23:7.
9 sn Compare Jer 7:24 and 16:9 for this same dire prediction limited to Judah and Jerusalem.
10 sn The sound of people grinding meal and the presence of lamps shining in their houses were signs of everyday life. The
11 tn Heb “The Chaldeans.” See the study note on 21:4 for further explanation.
13 tn Heb “The Chaldeans.” See the study note on 21:4 for further explanation.
14 sn This refers to the tearing down of buildings within the city to strengthen the wall or to fill gaps in it which had been broken down by the Babylonian battering rams. For a parallel to this during the siege of Sennacherib in the time of Hezekiah see Isa 22:10; 2 Chr 32:5. These torn-down buildings were also used as burial mounds for those who died in the fighting or through starvation and disease during the siege. The siege prohibited them from taking the bodies outside the city for burial and leaving them in their houses or in the streets would have defiled them.
15 tn Heb “Because I have hidden my face from.” The modern equivalent for this gesture of rejection is “to turn the back on.” See Ps 13:1 for comparable usage. The perfect is to be interpreted as a perfect of resolve (cf. IBHS 488-89 §30.5.1d and compare the usage in Ruth 4:3).
16 tn The translation and meaning of vv. 4-5 are somewhat uncertain. The translation and precise meaning of vv. 4-5 are uncertain at a number of points due to some difficult syntactical constructions and some debate about the text and meaning of several words. The text reads more literally, “33:4 For thus says the
17 tn Heb “Don’t plant a vineyard and it shall not be to you [= and you shall/must not have one].”
18 tn Heb “Don’t…and don’t…but live…in order that you might….”
19 sn Heb “where you are sojourning.” The terms “sojourn” and “sojourner” referred to a person who resided in a country not his own, without the rights and privileges of citizenship as a member of a nation, state, or principality. In the ancient Near East such people were dependent on the laws of hospitality rather than the laws of state for protection and provision of legal rights. Perhaps the best illustration of this is Abraham who “sojourned” among the Philistines and the Hittites in Canaan and was dependent upon them for grazing and water rights and for a place to bury his wife (cf. Gen 20-24). What is described here is the typical lifestyle of a nomadic tribe.
20 tn Heb “Their strength is dry.” This is a figurative nuance of the word “dry” which BDB 677 s.v. נָשַׁת Qal.1 explain as meaning “fails.” The idea of “strength to do battle” is implicit from the context and is supplied in the translation here for clarity.
21 tn Heb “They have become women.” The metaphor has been turned into a simile and the significance of the comparison drawn out for the sake of clarity. See 50:37 for the same figure.
22 tn Heb “Her dwelling places have been set on fire. Her bars [i.e., the bars on the gates of her cities] have been broken.” The present translation has substituted the word “gates” for “bars” because the intent of the figure is to show that the bars of the gates have been broken giving access to the city. “Gates” makes it easier for the modern reader to understand the figure.