Jeremiah 17:3

Footnotes

1. 8 This reading follows some of the ancient versions. The reads, “hills. My mountain in the open field [alluding to Jerusalem] and your wealth … I will give.” The vocalization of the noun plus pronoun and the unusual form of the expression to allude to Jerusalem calls into question the originality of the . The reads הֲרָרִי (harari) which combines the suffix for a singular noun with a pointing of the noun in the plural, a form which would be without parallel (compare the forms in Ps 30:8 for the singular noun with suffix and Deut 8:9 for the plural noun with suffix). Likewise, Jerusalem was not “in the open field.” For a similar expression compare Jer 13:27.
2. 9 Or “I will give away your wealth, all your treasures, and your places of worship …” The translation follows the emendation suggested in the footnote in , reading בִּמְחִיר (bimkhir) in place of בָּמֹתֶיךָ (bamotekha). The forms are graphically very close and one could explain the origin of either from the other. The parallel in 15:13–14 reads לֹא בִּמְחִיר (lo’ bimkhir). The text here may be a deliberate play on that one. The emended text makes decidedly better sense contextually than the unless some sardonic reference to their idolatry is intended.