Discovery BoxJeremiah 9:1-3 
Context9:1 (8:23) 1 I wish that my head were a well full of water 2
and my eyes were a fountain full of tears!
If they were, I could cry day and night
for those of my dear people 3 who have been killed.
9:2 (9:1) I wish I had a lodging place in the desert
where I could spend some time like a weary traveler. 4
Then I would desert my people
and walk away from them
because they are all unfaithful to God,
a congregation 5 of people that has been disloyal to him. 6
“These people are like soldiers who have readied their bows.
Their tongues are always ready to shoot out lies. 8
They have become powerful in the land,
but they have not done so by honest means. 9
Indeed, they do one evil thing after another 10
and do not pay attention to me. 11
1 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.
2 tn Heb “I wish that my head were water.”
3 tn Heb “daughter of my people.” For the translation given here see 4:11 and the note on the phrase “dear people” there.
4 tn Heb “I wish I had in the desert a lodging place [inn, or place to spend the night] for travelers.”
5 tn Or “bunch,” but this loses the irony; the word is used for the solemn assemblies at the religious feasts.
6 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.
7 tn The words “The
8 tn Heb “They have readied [or strung] their tongue as their bow for lies.”
9 tn Heb “but not through honesty.”
10 tn Heb “they go from evil to evil.”
11 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).
