Discovery BoxJeremiah 6:7 
Context6:7 As a well continually pours out fresh water
so it continually pours out wicked deeds. 1
Sounds of violence and destruction echo throughout it. 2
All I see are sick and wounded people.’ 3
Jeremiah 9:1
Context9:1 (8:23) 4 I wish that my head were a well full of water 5
and my eyes were a fountain full of tears!
If they were, I could cry day and night
for those of my dear people 6 who have been killed.
Jeremiah 9:15
Context9:15 So then, listen to what I, the Lord God of Israel who rules over all, 7 say. 8 ‘I will make these people eat the bitter food of suffering and drink the poison water of judgment. 9
Jeremiah 9:18
Context9:18 I said, “Indeed, 10 let them come quickly and sing a song of mourning for us.
Let them wail loudly until tears stream from our own eyes
and our eyelids overflow with water.
1 tc Heb “As a well makes cool/fresh its water, she makes cool/fresh her wickedness.” The translation follows the reading proposed by the Masoretes (Qere) which reads a rare form of the word “well” (בַּיִר [bayir] for בְּאֵר [bÿ’er]) in place of the form written in the text (Kethib, בּוֹר [bor]), which means “cistern.” The latter noun is masculine and the pronoun “its” is feminine. If indeed בַּיִר (bayir) is a byform of בְּאֵר (be’er), which is feminine, it would agree in gender with the pronoun. It also forms a more appropriate comparison since cisterns do not hold fresh water.
2 tn Heb “Violence and destruction are heard in it.”
3 tn Heb “Sickness and wound are continually before my face.”
4 sn Beginning with 9:1, the verse numbers through 9:26 in the English Bible differ from the verse numbers in the Hebrew text (BHS), with 9:1 ET = 8:23 HT, 9:2 ET = 9:1 HT, 9:3 ET = 9:2 HT, etc., through 9:26 ET = 9:25 HT. Beginning with 10:1 the verse numbers in the ET and HT are again the same.
5 tn Heb “I wish that my head were water.”
6 tn Heb “daughter of my people.” For the translation given here see 4:11 and the note on the phrase “dear people” there.
7 tn Heb “Yahweh of armies, the God of Israel.”
sn See the study notes on 2:9 and 7:3.
8 tn Heb “Therefore, thus says the
9 tn Heb “I will feed this people wormwood and make them drink poison water.” “Wormwood” and “poison water” are not to be understood literally here but are symbolic of judgment and suffering. See, e.g., BDB 542 s.v. לַעֲנָה.
10 tn The words “And I said, ‘Indeed” are not in the text. They have been supplied in the translation to try and help clarify who the speaker is who identifies with the lament of the people.
