Jeremiah 5:10

The Lord commanded the enemy, ¹  “March through the vineyards of Israel and Judah and ruin them. ²  But do not destroy them completely. Strip off their branches for these people do not belong to the Lord. ³ 

"Go through her vineyards and ravage them, but do not destroy them completely. Strip off her branches, for these people do not belong to the LORD.

"Go up through her vine rows and destroy, But do not execute a complete destruction; Strip away her branches, For they are not the LORD’S.

"Go down the rows of the vineyards and destroy them, but leave a scattered few alive. Strip the branches from the vine, for they do not belong to the LORD.

"Go down the rows of vineyards and rip out the vines, but not all of them. Leave a few. Prune back those vines! [That] growth didn't come from GOD!

Go up against her vines and make waste; let the destruction be complete: take away her branches, for they are not the Lord’s.

Go up through her vine-rows and destroy, but do not make a full end; strip away her branches, for they are not the Lord’s.

"Go up on her walls and destroy, But do not make a complete end. Take away her branches, For they are not the LORD’S.

The Lord commanded the enemy, ¹  “March through the vineyards of Israel and Judah and ruin them. ²  But do not destroy them completely. Strip off their branches for these people do not belong to the Lord. ³ 

¹ tn These words to not appear in the Hebrew text but have been added in the translation for the sake of clarity to identify the implied addressee.

² tn Heb “through her vine rows and destroy.” No object is given but “vines” must be implicit. The word for “vineyards” (or “vine rows”) is a hapax legomenon and its derivation is debated. BDB 1004 s.v. שּׁוּרָה repoints שָׁרוֹתֶיהָ (sharoteha) to שֻׁרוֹתֶיהָ (shuroteha) and relates it to a Mishnaic Hebrew and Palestinian Aramaic word meaning “row.” HALOT 1348 s.v. שּׁוּרָה also repoints to שֻׁרוֹתֶיהָ and relates it to a noun meaning “wall,” preferring to see the reference here to the walled terraces on which the vineyards were planted. The difference in meaning is minimal.

³ tn Heb “for they do not belong to the Lord.” In the light of the context and Jeremiah’s identification of Israel as a vine (cf., e.g., 2:21) and a vineyard (cf., e.g., 12:10), it is likely that this verse has a totally metaphorical significance. The enemy is to go through the vineyard that is Israel and Judah and destroy all those who have been unfaithful to the Lord. It is not impossible, however, that the verse has a double meaning, a literal one and a figurative one: the enemy is not only to destroy Israel and Judah’s vines but to destroy Israel and Judah, lopping off the wicked Israelites who, because of their covenant unfaithfulness, the Lord has disowned. If the verse is totally metaphorical one might translate: “Pass through my vineyard, Israel and Judah, wreaking destruction. But do not destroy all of the people. Cut down like branches those unfaithful people because they no longer belong to the Lord.”