Discovery Box| (0.20) | (Jer 23:27) | 4 tn Heb “through Baal.” This is an elliptical expression for the worship of Baal. See 11:17; 12:16; and 19:5 for other references to the people’s relation to Baal. There is a deliberate paralleling in the syntax here between “through their dreams” and “through Baal.” |
| (0.20) | (Jer 23:20) | 2 sn Sometimes the phrase “in future days” may have a remote, even eschatological, reference. At other times it has more immediate reference as it does here and in the nearly identical 30:24, where it refers to the coming days of Babylonian conquest and exile. See also the note at Gen 49:1. |
| (0.20) | (Jer 23:15) | 3 tn Heb “I will feed this people wormwood and make them drink poison water.” For these same words of judgment on another group see 9:15 (9:14 HT). “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. |
| (0.20) | (Jer 23:9) | 1 sn Jeremiah has already had a good deal to say about the false prophets and their fate. See 2:8, 26; 5:13, 31; 14:13-15. Here he parallels the condemnation of the wicked prophets and their fate (23:9-40) with that of the wicked kings (21:11-22:30). |
| (0.20) | (Jer 23:1) | 3 tn Heb “Woe to the shepherds who are killing and scattering the sheep of my pasture.” See the study note on 22:13 for the significance of “sure to be judged” (Heb “woe”). See the study note for the significance of the metaphor introduced here. |
| (0.20) | (Jer 22:23) | 2 tn The verb here should be identified as a Niphal perfect of the verb אָנַח (ʾanakh) with the א (aleph) left out (so BDB 336 s.v. חָנַן Niph and GKC 80 §23.f, n. 1). The form is already translated that way by the Greek, Latin, and Syriac versions. |
| (0.20) | (Jer 22:14) | 2 tn The word translated “red” only occurs here and in Ezek 23:14, where it refers to the pictures of the Babylonians on the wall of the temple. Evidently this was a favorite color for decoration. It is usually identified as vermilion, a mineral product from red ocher (cf. C. L. Wickwire, “Vermilion,” IDB 4:748). |
| (0.20) | (Jer 22:4) | 2 tn Heb “There will come through the gates of this city the kings…riding in chariots and on horses, they and their officials…” The structure of the original text is broken up here because of the long compound subject, which would make the English sentence too long. Cf. 17:25 for the structure and wording of this sentence. |
| (0.20) | (Jer 20:10) | 4 tn Heb “the men of my peace [who are concerned about my welfare].” For this phrase compare Ps 41:9 (41:10 HT) and Jer 38:22. It is generally agreed that irony is being invoked here, hence “so-called” is supplied in the translation to bring it out. |
| (0.20) | (Jer 18:15) | 2 sn Heb “ways that are not built up.” This refers to the built-up highways. See Isa 40:4 for the figure. The terms “way,” “by-paths,” and “roads” are, of course, being used here in the sense of moral behavior or action. |
| (0.20) | (Jer 18:8) | 2 sn There is a wordplay here involving the word “evil” (רָעָה, raʿah), which refers to both the crime and the punishment. This same play is carried further in Jonah 3:10-4:1, where Jonah becomes very displeased (Heb “it was very evil to Jonah with great evil”) when God forgoes bringing disaster (evil) on Nineveh because they have repented of their wickedness (evil). |
| (0.20) | (Jer 18:4) | 1 tn The verbs here denote repeated action. They are the Hebrew perfect with the vav (ו) consecutive. The text then reads somewhat literally, “Whenever the vessel he was molding…was ruined, he would remold…” For this construction see Joüon 2:393-94 §118.n and 2:628-29 §167.b, and compare the usage in Amos 4:7-8. |
| (0.20) | (Jer 17:6) | 1 tn This word occurs only here and in Jer 48:6. It has been identified as a kind of juniper, which is a short shrub with minute leaves that look like scales. For a picture and more discussion see Fauna and Flora of the Bible, 131. |
| (0.20) | (Jer 17:10) | 1 tn The term rendered “mind” here and in the previous verse is actually the Hebrew word for “heart.” However, in combination with the word rendered “heart” in the next line, which is the Hebrew for “kidneys,” it is best rendered “mind” because the “heart” was considered the center of intellect, conscience, and will, and the “kidneys,” the center of emotions. |
| (0.20) | (Jer 17:2) | 1 sn There is possibly a sarcastic irony involved here as well. The Israelites were to remember the Lord and what he had done and were to commemorate certain days, e.g., the Passover and the Sabbath, that recalled their deliverance. Instead they resorted to the pagan altars and kept them in mind. |
| (0.20) | (Jer 16:19) | 1 sn The shift here is consistent with the interruptions that have taken place in chapters 14 and 15 and in Jeremiah’s response to God’s condemnation of the people of Judah’s idolatry in chapter 10 (note especially vv. 6-16). |
| (0.20) | (Jer 17:1) | 1 tn The chapter division, which was not a part of the original text but was added in the Middle Ages, obscures the fact that there is no new speech here. The division may have resulted from the faulty identification of “them” in the preceding verse. See the translator’s note on that verse. |
| (0.20) | (Jer 16:14) | 1 tn The particle translated here as “Yet” (לָכֵן, lakhen) is regularly translated “So” or “Therefore” and introduces a consequence. However, in a few cases it introduces a contrasting set of conditions. Cf. Judg 11:8; Jer 48:12; 49:2; 51:52; Hos 2:14 (2:16 HT). |
| (0.20) | (Jer 15:6) | 4 tn There is a difference of opinion on how the verbs here and in the following verses are to be rendered, whether past or future. KJV, NASB, and NIV, for example, render them as future. ASV, RSV, and TEV render them as past. NJPS has past here and future in vv. 7-9. This is perhaps the best solution. The imperfect + vav consecutive here responds to the perfect in the first line. The imperfects + vav consecutives followed by perfects in vv. 7-9 and concluded by an imperfect in v. 9 pick up the perfects + vav consecutives in vv. 3-4. Verses 7-9 are further development of the theme in vv. 1-4. Verses 5-6 have been an apostrophe or a turning aside to address Jerusalem directly. For a somewhat similar alternation of the tenses see Isa 5:14-17 and consult GKC 329-30 §111.w. One could of course argue that the imperfects + vav consecutive in vv. 7-9 continue the imperfect + vav consecutive here. In this case, vv. 7-9 are not a continuation of the oracle of doom but another lament by God (cf. 14:1-6, 17-18). |
| (0.20) | (Jer 15:1) | 1 sn Moses and Samuel were well-known for their successful intercession on behalf of Israel. See Ps 99:6-8 and see, e.g., Exod 32:11-14, 30-34 and 1 Sam 7:5-9. The Lord is here rejecting Jeremiah’s intercession on behalf of the people (14:19-22). |
