Discovery BoxJeremiah 9:3 
Context“These people are like soldiers who have readied their bows.
Their tongues are always ready to shoot out lies. 2
They have become powerful in the land,
but they have not done so by honest means. 3
Indeed, they do one evil thing after another 4
and do not pay attention to me. 5
Jeremiah 9:8
Context9:8 Their tongues are like deadly arrows. 6
They are always telling lies. 7
Friendly words for their neighbors come from their mouths.
But their minds are thinking up ways to trap them. 8
1 tn The words “The
2 tn Heb “They have readied [or strung] their tongue as their bow for lies.”
3 tn Heb “but not through honesty.”
4 tn Heb “they go from evil to evil.”
5 tn Or “do not acknowledge me”; Heb “do not know me.” But “knowing” in Hebrew thought often involves more than intellectual knowledge; it involves emotional and volitional commitment as well. For יָדַע meaning “acknowledge” see 1 Chr 28:9; Isa 29:21; Hos 2:20; Prov 3:6. This word is also found in ancient Near Eastern treaty contexts where it has the idea of a vassal king acknowledging the sovereignty of a greater king (cf. H. Huffmon, “The Treaty Background of Hebrew yada,” BASOR 181 [1966]: 31-37).
6 tc This reading follows the Masoretic consonants (the Kethib, a Qal active participle from שָׁחַט, shakhat). The Masoretes preferred to read “a sharpened arrow” (the Qere, a Qal passive participle from the same root or a homonym, meaning “hammered, beaten”). See HALOT 1354 s.v. II שָׁחַט for discussion. The exact meaning of the word makes little difference to the meaning of the metaphor itself.
7 tn Heb “They speak deceit.”
8 tn Heb “With his mouth a person speaks peace to his neighbor, but in his heart he sets an ambush for him.”
