Discovery BoxJeremiah 9:2 
Context9:2 (9:1) I wish I had a lodging place in the desert
where I could spend some time like a weary traveler. 1
Then I would desert my people
and walk away from them
because they are all unfaithful to God,
a congregation 2 of people that has been disloyal to him. 3
Jeremiah 20:9
Context20:9 Sometimes I think, “I will make no mention of his message.
I will not speak as his messenger 4 any more.”
But then 5 his message becomes like a fire
locked up inside of me, burning in my heart and soul. 6
I grow weary of trying to hold it in;
I cannot contain it.
Jeremiah 31:12
Context31:12 They will come and shout for joy on Mount Zion.
They will be radiant with joy 7 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 51:58
Context51:58 This is what the Lord who rules over all 8 says,
“Babylon’s thick wall 9 will be completely demolished. 10
Her high gates will be set on fire.
The peoples strive for what does not satisfy. 11
The nations grow weary trying to get what will be destroyed.” 12
1 tn Heb “I wish I had in the desert a lodging place [inn, or place to spend the night] for travelers.”
2 tn Or “bunch,” but this loses the irony; the word is used for the solemn assemblies at the religious feasts.
3 tn Heb “they are all adulterers, a congregation of unfaithful people.” However, spiritual adultery is, of course, meant, not literal adultery. So the literal translation would be misleading.
4 tn Heb “speak in his name.” This idiom occurs in passages where someone functions as the messenger under the authority of another. See Exod 5:23; Deut 18:19, 29:20; Jer 14:14. The antecedent in the first line is quite commonly misidentified as being “him,” i.e., the
5 tn The English sentence has again been restructured for the sake of English style. The Hebrew construction involves two vav consecutive perfects in a condition and consequence relation, “If I say to myself…then it [his word] becomes.” See GKC 337 §112.kk for the construction.
6 sn Heb “It is in my heart like a burning fire, shut up in my bones.” In addition to standing as part for the whole, the “bones” for the person (e.g., Ps 35:10), the bones were associated with fear (e.g., Job 4:14) and with pain (e.g., Job 33:19, Ps 102:3 [102:4 HT]) and joy or sorrow (e.g., Ps 51:8 [51:10 HT]). As has been mentioned several times, the heart was connected with intellectual and volitional concerns.
7 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.).
8 sn See the note at Jer 2:19.
9 tn The text has the plural “walls,” but many Hebrew
10 tn The infinitive absolute emphasizes the following finite verb. Another option is to translate, “will certainly be demolished.”
11 tn Heb “for what is empty.”
12 tn Heb “and the nations for fire, and they grow weary.”
