Jeremiah 14:20–21

Footnotes

1. 52 Heb “We acknowledge our wickedness [and] the iniquity of our [fore]fathers.” For the use of the word “know” to mean “confess,” “acknowledge” cf. 394 יָדַע, Qal.1.f and compare the usage in Jer 3:13. For a longer example of an individual identifying with the nation and confessing their sins and the sins of their forefathers see Ps 106.
2. 53 This is another example of the intensive use of כִּי (ki). See 472 כִּי 1.e.
3. 54 Heb “For the sake of your name.”
4. 55 For location see ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; .
5. 56 English versions quite commonly supply “us” as an object for the verb in the first line. This is probably wrong. The Hebrew text reads: “Do not treat with contempt for the sake of your name; do not treat with disdain your glorious throne.” This is case of poetic parallelism where the object is left hanging until the second line. For an example of this see Prov 13:1 in the original and consult E. W. Bullinger, Figures of Speech, . There has also been some disagreement whether “your glorious throne” refers to the temple (as in 17:12) or Jerusalem (as in 3:17). From the beginning of the prayer in v. 19 where a similar kind of verb has been used with respect to Zion/Jerusalem it would appear that the contextual referent is Jerusalem. The absence of an object from the first line makes it possible to retain part of the metaphor in the translation and still convey some meaning. The place of God’s glorious throne was first of all the ark of the covenant where God was said to be enthroned between the cherubim, then the temple that housed it, then the city itself. See 2 Kgs 19:14–15 in the context of Sennacherib’s attack on Jerusalem.
6. 57 Heb “Remember, do not break your covenant with us.”