Jeremiah 14:7

Footnotes

1. 12 The words “Then I said” are not in the text. However, it cannot be a continuation of the Lord’s speech and the people have consistently refused to acknowledge their sin. The fact that the prayer here and in vv. 19–22 are followed by an address from God to Jeremiah regarding prayer (cf. 4:11 and the interchanges there between God and Jeremiah and 15:1) also argues that the speaker is Jeremiah. He is again identifying with his people (cf. 8:18–9:2). Here he takes up the petition part of the lament which often contains elements of confession of sin and statements of trust. In 14:1–6 God portrays to Jeremiah the people’s lamentable plight instead of their describing it to him. Here Jeremiah prays what they should pray. The people are strangely silent throughout.
2. 13 Heb “Act for the sake of your name.” The usage of “act” in this absolute, unqualified sense cf. 794 עָוֹשָׂה Qal.I.r and compare the usage, e.g., in 1 Kgs 8:32 and 39. For the nuance of “for the sake of your name” compare the usage in Isa 48:9 and Ezek 20:9, 14.
3. 14 Or “bear witness against us,” or “can be used as evidence against us,” to keep the legal metaphor. Heb “testify against.”
4. 15 The Hebrew particle כִּי (ki) can scarcely be causal here; it is either intensive ( 472 כִּי 1.e) or concessive ( 473 כִּי 2.c). The parallel usage in Gen 18:20 argues for the intensive force as does the fact that the concessive has already been expressed by אִם (’im).