force of Heb. uncertain.
k Heb. Bosheth, a contemptuous substitute for Baal.
a-a I.e., profess the worship of the LORD.
b Heb. “him.”
c Lit. “circumcise”; cf. Deut. 10.16 and 30.6.
d-d Septuagint reads “And they shall say.”
e-e Lit. “the daughter that is My people”; so, frequently, in poetry.
f I.e., the invader of v. 7.
g Lit. “entrails.”
h-h Lit. “you, O my being, hear.” Change of vocalization yields “I hear the blare of horns, / My inner being, alarms of war.”
a-a Meaning of Heb. uncertain.
b Lit. “rows.”
c-c Or “Not He”; cf. Deut. 32.39; Isa. 43.13.
d Heb. “you.”
e-e Emendation yields “Whose mouths.”
f-f Some ancient versions read “have transgressed My words for evil.”
a-a Meaning of Heb. uncertain.
b-b Understanding yado as in Ps. 95.7.
c-c Lit. “Consecrate.”
d-d Emendation yields “She is the city of falseness.”
c-c Emendation yields “Glean” (singular).
f The prophet speaks.
g I.e., prophets.
h-h Lit. “Daughter that is My people”; so, frequently, in poetry. See 4.11 and note.
i-i See note at Lev. 19.16.
a-a Meaning of Heb. uncertain. Change of vocalization yields “dwell with you”; so Aquila and Vulgate.
b See note at Deut. 11.28.
c I.e., the mother goddess (Ishtar, Astarte) in whose honor these cakes were baked.
d Heb. “you.”
a-a Meaning of Heb. uncertain; change of vocalization yields “Their fruit harvest has been gathered in.”
b-b Meaning of Heb. uncertain.
c Here God is speaking.
a-a See note at Lev. 19.16.
b-b Meaning of Heb. uncertain.
c Lit. “They abandoned.”
d-d Force of Heb. uncertain.
e-e I.e., their minds are blocked to God’s commandments.
a-a Emendation yields “the objects that the nations fear.”
b Heb. “them.”
c-c Meaning of Heb. uncertain.
d This verse is in Aramaic.
e-e Lit. “At the sound of His making.”
f-f Emendation yields “have to leave.”
g I.e., rulers; cf. note at 2.8.
a I.e., the terms of the covenant.
b Lit. “at.”
c I.e., the punishments prescribed for violation.
d Lit. “towns.”
e See note at 3.24.
f-f Meaning of Heb. uncertain. Emendation yields “Who does such vile deeds? / Can your treacheries be canceled by sacral flesh / That you exult while performing your evil deeds?”
g Emendation yields “burned.”
h Or “sap.”
a Lit. “be in the right.”
b Septuagint reads “ways.”
c God here replies to Jeremiah’s plea in vv. 1–3.
d-d Some Septuagint mss. read “not secure.”
e Lit. “possession”; the land as well as the people, as is clear in v. 14.
f-f Meaning of Heb. uncertain.
g-g Heb. “He has.”
h-h Or “incorporated into.”
a Or “the Euphrates”; cf. “Parah,” Josh. 18.23.
b-b I.e., most of Judah has been annexed by an alien people.
c-c Meaning of Heb. uncertain.
d Heb. “them.”
a-a Meaning of Heb. uncertain.
b-b Lit. “the maiden daughter, My people.”
c-c Lit. “the sicknesses of.”
a-a Lit. “stand before Me,” as Jeremiah is doing now; cf. 18.20.
b Meaning of Heb. uncertain.
c-c Moved up from v. 12 for clarity.
d-d Emendation yields “He shall shatter iron—iron and bronze!”
e-e Lit. “Do not take me away.”
a Lit. “religious gathering.”
b So a few mss. Most mss. and editions read “to them.”
c Lit. “mourning.”
d See note to Isa. 65.7.
e I.e., their lifeless idols.
a-a Meaning of Heb. uncertain. Emendation yields “Surely the horns of their altars / Are as a memorial against them.”
b-b Meaning of Heb. uncertain.
c-c Meaning of Heb. uncertain. Emendation yields “Your hand must let go.”
d Or “tamarisk”; exact meaning of Heb. uncertain.
e Lit. “Me.”
f Lit. “inscribed”; meaning of line uncertain.
g-g Exact force of Heb. uncertain. Emendation yields “urged you to [bring] misfortune.”
h Or “merchandise.”
a-a So some mss. and one early edition. Most mss. and editions read “And if the vessel that he was making with clay in the potter’s hands was spoiled.”
b The same Hebrew word as is used above for “potter.”
c Meaning of verse uncertain; cf. 2.13, 17.13.
d These actions were performed at the sight of ruin to ward off a like fate from the observer; cf. Lam. 2.15.
e-e Change of vocalization yields “I will show them [My] back and not [My] face.”
f Cf. 20.10.
g-g Emendation yields “my case.”
a-a Others “by way of the Potsherd Gate”; meaning of Heb. uncertain.
b See note at Deut. 11.28.
c Lit. “empty,” Heb. u-baqqothi, a play on baqbuq, “jug” in v. 1.
d See note at 18.16.
a Meaning of Heb. uncertain.
b I.e., “Terror all around”; cf. v. 10.
c Emendation yields “day.”
a-a Lit. “he shall have his life as booty.”
b-b Force of Heb. uncertain.
c Perhaps a reference to the royal palace; cf. 1 Kings 7.2.
a I.e., Josiah; see 2 Kings 23.29–30.
b-b I.e., the king called by his throne name Jehoahaz in 2 Kings 23.31 ff., and by his private name Shallum here in v. 11 and in 1 Chron. 3.15.
c-c I.e., he was content with the simple necessities of life.
d-d Or “That is the reward for heeding Me.”
e-e They shall express neither sorrow at the loss of a relative nor grief at the death of a ruler.
f Israel is addressed.
g Change of vocalization yields “paramours.”
h-h Septuagint reads “How you will groan.”
i-i Heb. “If Coniah … were …”; Coniah (Jeconiah in 24.1) is identical with Jehoiachin, 2 Kings 24.8 ff.
a Meaning of Heb. uncertain.
b-b A few Heb. mss. and Septuagint read “these.”
c-c Lit. “Their running is wickedness, I Their straining is iniquity.”
d Change of vocalization yields “announce it”; cf. vv. 22, 28.
e-e This section constitutes the word of God to which Jeremiah refers.
f I.e., pronouncement; cf. Isa. 13.1, 15.1, etc., where the word rendered “pronouncement” can also mean “burden.”
g-g Septuagint and other versions read “You are the burden!”
h-h Some Heb. mss., Septuagint, and other versions read “lift you up,” a word from the same root as “burden.”
a I.e., a standard by which men curse; cf. Gen. 12.2 and note; Zech. 8.13.
a I.e., idols.
b Cf. note at 18.16.
c Cf. note at 24.9.
d-d Meaning of Heb. uncertain.
e A cipher for Babel, Babylon.
a Cf. note at 24.9.
b-b So many mss. and ancient versions; other mss. and the editions omit these words.
c Cf. Mic. 3.12.
a Emendation yields “Zedekiah”; so a few mss. and Syriac; cf. vv. 3 and 12.
b-b Emendation yields “And send,” i.e., a message.
c Lit. “dreams.”
d Lit. “sea”; cf. 1 Kings 7.23 ff.
a-a Septuagint reads “I will.”
a Heb. “you.”
b This verse is continued in vv. 20 ff.
c Cf. 24.1 ff.
d Cf. note at 18.16.
e I.e., Jeremiah.
f-f Lit. “that there might be officials.”
g Meaning of Heb. uncertain.
a-a Meaning of Heb. uncertain.
b I.e., on the mound of ruins left after its previous destruction.
c In some editions this verse is 30.25.
a Emendation yields “him.”
b Lit. “head.”
c-c Emendation yields “The LORD has saved His people.”
d For this meaning, cf. Zech. 12.10.
e-e Or “on a height.”
f I.e., as a gesture of self-reproach.
g Lit. “spoken.”
h Meaning of Heb. uncertain.
i-i Lit. “they shall travel.”
j I.e., the vision in the preceding verses.
k Others “set on edge.”
l Meaning of Heb. uncertain; compare 3.14.
a-a Lit. “and his mouth shall speak with his mouth, and his eyes shall see his eyes.”
b-b Lit. “for yours is the procedure of redemption by purchase.”
c-c Force of Heb. uncertain.
d-d With many mss. and ancient versions; so ancient Near Eastern practice. Other mss. and the editions read “who wrote” (i.e., signed their names).
e-e Lit. “to this day.”
a-a Meaning of Heb. uncertain.
b I.e., for Judah and Israel.
a-a For the idiom see note at 32.4.
b Lit. “burnings.”
c Others “liberty.”
d I.e., of servitude. Lit. “After a period of seven years”; cf. Deut. 14.28 and 15.1.
e-e Or “who sells himself.”
f Cf. Gen. 15.9–10, 17–21.
a Lit. “seed.”
a-a Change of vocalization yields “Read it again”; cf. Targum and Septuagint.
b-b Force of Heb. uncertain.
a-a Meaning of Heb. uncertain.
b-b Lit. “and let me not die there.”
a-a Lit. “he shall have his life as booty”; cf. 21.9.
b Lit. “weakens the hands of.”
c One ms. reads “three.”
d-d Emendation yields “the wardrobe of.”
e-e Meaning of Heb. uncertain.
f-f So Targum and Septuagint and some mss. Most mss. and the editions read “you will burn down this city by fire.”
g-g Lit. “that you may not die.”
h-h Lit. “that we may not kill you.”
i This clause would read well before 39.3.
a Titles of officers.
b Hoping to escape across the Jordan.
c Taking Heb. singular as collective, with Kimhi.
d-d Meaning of Heb. uncertain.
e-e See note at 38.2.
a-a Meaning of Heb. uncertain.
b Lit. “swore to.”
c Lit. “summer fruit.”
a-a Septuagint read; “was a large cistern, which….”
b-b Emendation yields “Ishmael son of Nethaniah had carried off.”
cAquila reads “the sheepfolds of.”
a-a Change of vocalization yields “let you dwell in.”
b-b I.e., a standard by which men execrate and curse; cf. note at 24.9.
a Septuagint reads “he.”
b Meaning of Heb. uncertain.
c I.e., the gods.
a See note at 24.9; 42.18.
b Heb. “his.”
c Heb. “They.”
d-d Lit. “everything that has gone forth from our mouth.”
e Cf. 7.18.
f-f Meaning of Heb. uncertain.
g-g Lit. “spoken with your mouth and fulfilled by your hands.”
a-a Meaning of Heb. uncertain.
b-b Cf. note at 21.9.
a-a Lit. “Let not the swift get away, / Let not the warrior escape.”
b Meaning of Heb. uncertain.
c Or “butcher”; meaning of Heb. uncertain.
d-d Many mss. read “will come upon her.”
c Tutelary deity of the city No (Thebes); cf. Nah. 3.8.
a-a Lit. “weakness of hands.”
b Shaving the head and gashing the body were expressions of mourning; cf. Deut. 14.1.
c-c Septuagint reads “the Anakites”; cf. Josh. 11.22.
d Heb. “you.”
a A number of parallels to this chapter occur in Isa. 15–16.
b-b Or “Misgab.”
c Heb. hashebu, play on Heshbon.
d Heb. tiddommi, play on Madmen, the name of a town.
e-e Emendation yields “They cry aloud as far as Zoar”; cf. Isa. 15.5.
f-f Meaning of Heb. uncertain.
g-g I.e., in mockery.
h Cf. note at Isa. 16.6.
i-i Heb. “they have.”
j Heb. “He.”
k-k See note at Isa. 24.17.
l Emendation yields “house.”
m Or “tumult.”
a The name of the Ammonite deity; vocalized Malcam here and in v. 3.
b Heb. “his.”
c-c Meaning of Heb. uncertain.
d-d Meaning of Heb. uncertain; for “strength” cf. Akkadian emuqu.
e-e Lit. “each man straight ahead.”
f-f Obad. 1.5 reads: “If thieves were to come to you, / Marauders by night, / They would steal no more than they needed. / If vintagers came to you, / They would