Jeremiah 9:2–9

Footnotes

1. 4 Heb “I wish I had in the desert a lodging place [inn, or place to spend the night] for travelers.”
2. 5 Or “bunch,” but this loses the irony; the word is used for the solemn assemblies at the religious feasts.
3. 6 Heb “they are all adulterers, a congregation of unfaithful people.” However, spiritual adultery is, of course, meant, not literal adultery. So the literal translation would be misleading.
4. 7 The words “The Lord says” have been moved up from the end of the verse to make clear that a change in speaker has occurred.
5. 8 Heb “They have readied [or strung] their tongue as their bow for lies.”
6. 9 Heb “but not through honesty.”
7. 10 Heb “they go from evil to evil.”
8. 11 Or “do not acknowledge me”; Heb “do not know me.” But “knowing” in Hebrew thought often involves more than intellectual knowledge; it involves emotional and volitional commitment as well. For יָדַע meaning “acknowledge” see 1 Chr 28:9; Isa 29:21; Hos 2:20; Prov 3:6. This word is also found in ancient Near Eastern treaty contexts where it has the idea of a vassal king acknowledging the sovereignty of a greater king (cf. H. Huffmon, “The Treaty Background of Hebrew yada,” 181 [1966]: 31–37).
9. 12 Heb “Be on your guard … Do not trust.” The verbs are second masculine plural of direct address and there seems no way to translate literally and not give the mistaken impression that Jeremiah is being addressed. This is another example of the tendency in Hebrew style to turn from description to direct address (a figure of speech called apostrophe).
10. 13 Heb “cheating, each of them will cheat.” There is perhaps an intentional pun and allusion here to Gen 27:36 and the wordplay on the name Jacob there. The text here reads עָקוֹב יַעְקֹב (’aqob ya’qob).
11. 14 Heb “their tongues.” However, this is probably not a natural idiom in contemporary English and the tongue may stand as a part for the whole anyway.
12. 15 An alternate reading for vv. 5d–6b is: “They wear themselves out doing wrong. Jeremiah, you live in the midst of deceitful people. They deceitfully refuse to take any thought of/acknowledge me.” The translation which has been adopted is based on a redivision of the lines, a redivision of some of the words, and a revocalization of some of the consonants. The reads literally “doing wrong they weary themselves. Your sitting in the midst of deceit; in deceit they refuse to know me” (הַעֲוֵה נִלְאוּ׃ שִׁבְתְּךָ בְּתוֹךְ מִרְמָה בְּמִרְמָה מֵאֲנוּ דַעַת־אוֹתִי). The Greek version reads literally “they do wrong and they do not cease to turn themselves around. Usury upon usury and deceit upon deceit. They do not want to know me.” This suggests that one should read the Hebrew text as שֻׁב׃ תֹּךְ בְּתוֹךְ מִרְ־מָה בְּמִרְ־מָה מֵאֲנוּ דַעַת אוֹתִי הַעֲוֵה נִלְאוּ, which translated literally yields “doing evil [= “they do evil” using the Hiphil infinitive absolute as a finite verb (cf. §113.ff)] they are not able [cf. 468 לָאָה Niph.3 and see Exod 7:18 for parallel use] to repent. Oppression on oppression [cf. 1067 תֹּךְ, II תּוֹךְ]; deceit on deceit. They refuse to know me.” This reading has ancient support and avoids the introduction of an unexpected second masculine suffix into the context. It has been adopted here along with a number of modern commentaries (cf., e.g., W. McKane, Jeremiah [], 1:) and English versions as the more likely reading.
13. 16 Or “do not acknowledge me”; Heb “do not know me.” See the note on the phrase “do not take any thought of me” in .
14. 17 Heb “Yahweh of armies.” For the significance of this title see the notes at and .
15. 18 Heb “I will refine/purify them.” The words “in the fires of affliction” are supplied in the translation to give clarity to the metaphor.
16. 19 Heb “daughter of my people.” For the translation given here see 4:11 and the note on the phrase “dear people” there.
17. 20 Heb “For how else shall I deal because of the wickedness of the daughter of my people.” The does not have the word “wickedness.” The word, however, is read in the Greek version. This is probably a case of a word dropping out because of its similarities to the consonants preceding or following it (i.e., haplography). The word “wickedness” (רַעַת, ra’at) has dropped out before the words “my dear people” (בַּת־עַמִּי, bat-’ammi). The causal nuance which is normal for מִפְּנֵי (mippéne) does not make sense without some word like this, and the combination of רַעַת מִפְּנֵי (mippéne ra’at) does occur in Jer 7:12 and one very like it occurs in Jer 26:3.
18. 21 This reading follows the Masoretic consonants (the Kethib, a Qal active participle from שָׁחַט, shakhat). The Masoretes preferred to read “a sharpened arrow” (the Qere, a Qal passive participle from the same root or a homonym, meaning “hammered, beaten”). See II שָׁחַט for discussion. The exact meaning of the word makes little difference to the meaning of the metaphor itself.
19. 22 Heb “They speak deceit.”
20. 23 Heb “With his mouth a person speaks peace to his neighbor, but in his heart he sets an ambush for him.”
21. 24 Heb “Should I not punish them …? Should I not bring retribution …?” The rhetorical questions function as emphatic declarations. See 5:9, 29. This is somewhat of a refrain at the end of a catalog of Judah’s sins.