Jeremiah 31

Jeremiah 31:3

1 tn Heb “all these.” The phrase refers to the heavens and earth, mentioned in the previous verse.

2 tn Heb “and all these were.” Some prefer to emend וַיִּהְיוּ (vayyihyu, “and they were”) to וְלִי הָיוּ (vÿli hayu, “and to me they were”), i.e., “and they belong to me.”

3 tn Heb “and to this one I look” (KJV and NASB both similar).

4 tn Heb “to the humble and the lowly in spirit and the one who trembles at my words.”

Jeremiah 31:4

5 tn Heb “one who slaughters a bull, one who strikes down a man.” Some understand a comparison here and in the following lines. In God’s sight the one who sacrifices is like (i.e., regarded as) a murderer or one whose worship is ritually defiled or idolatrous. The translation above assumes that the language is not metaphorical, but descriptive of the sinners’ hypocritical behavior. (Note the last two lines of the verse, which suggests they are guilty of abominable practices.) On the one hand, they act pious and offer sacrifices; but at the same time they commit violent crimes against men, defile their sacrifices, and worship other gods.

6 tn Heb “one who sacrifices a lamb, one who breaks a dog’s neck.” Some understand a comparison, but see the previous note.

sn The significance of breaking a dog’s neck is uncertain, though the structure of the statement when compared to the preceding and following lines suggests the action is viewed in a negative light. According to Exodus 13:13 and 34:20, one was to “redeem” a firstborn donkey by offering a lamb; if one did not “redeem” the firstborn donkey in this way, then its neck must be broken. According to Deuteronomy 21:1-9 a heifer’s neck was to be broken as part of the atonement ritual to purify the land from the guilt of bloodshed. It is not certain if these passages relate in any way to the action described in Isaiah 66:3.

7 tn Heb “one who offers an offering, pig’s blood.” Some understand a comparison, but see the note at the end of the first line.

8 tn Heb “one who offers incense as a memorial offering, one who blesses something false.” Some understand a comparison, but see the note at the end of the first line. אָוֶן (‘aven), which has a wide variety of attested nuances, here refers metonymically to an idol. See HALOT 22 s.v. and BDB 20 s.v. 2.

9 tn Heb “also they have chosen their ways.”

10 tn Heb “their being [or “soul”] takes delight in their disgusting [things].”

Jeremiah 31:5

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Jeremiah 31:6

13 The Bible.org ministry has provided the NET Bible® at no cost for inclusion in this Bible study software. You can learn about bible.org’s Ministry First model where we share the NET Bible and thousands of other copyrighted biblical materials at www.bible.org/ministryfirst . Ministry First means what it implies, that we’ve chosen to put ministry ahead of money. We believe that the Bible teaches the ministry first concept very clearly – and we think everyone in the world should have free access to trustworthy Bibles and study materials. Tell your friends to get their free NET Bible and free access to thousands of trustworthy Bible study materials online at www.bible.org . This free NET Bible® module includes all the translators’ notes for the first chapter of each book plus all the notes on verses 1-3 for the remaining 1,123 chapters in the Bible.

We encourage you to upgrade this free version to the premier full NET Bible® version containing all 60,932 notes. This is the most complete set of translators’ notes in any Bible translation and illuminates many important issues of translation and interpretation. You can upgrade by going to www.bible.org/upgrade where you can purchase the full NET Bible or even download basic versions with all 60,932 translators’ notes for free! Your purchases and donations help ensure the ongoing supply of new resources and tools from Bible.org, which is the world’s largest source of trustworthy – and free – Bible study materials.

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Jeremiah 31:9

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Jeremiah 31:10

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Jeremiah 31:12

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Jeremiah 31:13

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Jeremiah 31:14

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Jeremiah 31:15

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Jeremiah 31:16

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Jeremiah 31:17

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Jeremiah 31:18

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Jeremiah 31:19

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Jeremiah 31:20

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Jeremiah 31:21

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Jeremiah 31:24

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Jeremiah 31:25

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Jeremiah 31:28

1 tn Or “This is a record of what Jeremiah prophesied and did”; Heb “The words [or affairs] of Jeremiah.” The phrase could refer to either the messages of Jeremiah recorded in the book or to both his messages and the biographical (and autobiographical) narratives recorded about him in the book. Since the phrase is intended to serve as the title or superscription for the whole book and recurs again in 51:64 at the end of the book before the final appendix, it might refer to the latter. The expression “The words of [someone]” is a standard introductory formula (Deuteronomy 29:1[28:69]; 2 Samuel 23:1; Amos 1:1; Ecclesiastes 1:1; Nehemiah 1:1).

Jeremiah 31:29

2 sn The translation reflects the ancient Jewish tradition of substituting the word for “Lord” for the proper name for Israel’s God which is now generally agreed to have been Yahweh. Jewish scribes wrote the consonants YHWH but substituted the vowels for the word “Lord.” The practice of calling him “Lord” rather than using his proper name is also reflected in the Greek translation which is the oldest translation of the Hebrew Bible. The meaning of the name Yahweh occurs in Exodus 3:13-14 where God identifies himself as the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob and tells Moses that his name is “I am” (אֶהְיֶה, ’ehyeh). However, he instructs the Israelites to refer to him as YHWH (“Yahweh” = “He is”); see further Exodus 34:5-6.

3 tn Heb “to whom the word of the Lord came.” The present translation is more in keeping with contemporary English idiom. The idea of “began to speak” comes from the context where the conclusion of his speaking is signaled by the phrases “until the end of the eleventh year of Zedekiah” and “until the people of Jerusalem were taken into exile” in v. 3.

Jeremiah 31:30

4 sn This would have been August, 586 b.c. according to modern reckoning.

5 map For location see Map5-B1; Map6-F3; Map7-E2; Map8-F2; Map10-B3; JP1-F4; JP2-F4; JP3-F4; JP4-F4.

6 tn Heb “and it [the word of the Lord] came in the days of Jehoiakim…until the end of the eleventh year of Zedekiah…until the carrying away captive of Jerusalem in the fifth month.”

Jeremiah 31:32

7 tn Heb “the womb.” The words “your mother’s” are implicit and are supplied in the translation for clarity.

8 tn Heb “I knew you.” The parallelism here with “set you apart” and “appointed you” make clear that Jeremiah is speaking of his foreordination to be a prophet. For this same nuance of the Hebrew verb see Genesis 18:19; Amos 3:2.

Jeremiah 31:33

9 tn Heb “Lord Yahweh.”

sn The translation follows the ancient Jewish tradition of substituting the Hebrew word for “God” for the proper name Yahweh in this compound name. See the study note on v. 2 for the substitution of “Lord” in a similar kind of situation.

10 tn Heb “Behold, I do not know how to speak.” The particle הִנֵּה (hinneh, commonly rendered “behold”) often introduces a speech and calls special attention to a specific word or the statement as a whole (see IBHS 675-78 §40.2.1).

11 tn The words “well enough for that” are implicit and are supplied in the translation for clarity. Jeremiah is not claiming an absolute inability to speak.

12 tn Heb “I am a boy/youth.” The Hebrew word can refer to an infant (Exodus 2:6), a young boy (1 Samuel 2:11), a teenager (Genesis 21:12), or a young man (2 Samuel 18:5). The translation is deliberately ambiguous since it is unclear how old Jeremiah was when he was called to begin prophesying.

Jeremiah 31:34

13 tn Or “For you must go and say.” The Hebrew particle כִּי (ki) is likely adversative here after a negative statement (cf. BDB 474 s.v. כִּי 3.e). The Lord is probably not giving a rationale for the denial of Jeremiah’s objection but redirecting his focus, i.e., “do not say…but go…and say.”

Jeremiah 31:35

14 tn Heb “be afraid of them.” The antecedent is the “whomever” in v. 7.

15 tn Heb “rescue.”

Jeremiah 31:36

16 tn Heb “Behold, I have put my words in your mouth.” This is an example of the Hebrew “scheduling” perfect or the “prophetic” perfect where a future event is viewed as so certain it is spoken of as past. The Hebrew particle rendered here “assuredly” (Heb הִנֵּה, hinneh) underlines the certitude of the promise for the future. See the translator’s note on v. 6.

sn The passage is reminiscent of Deut 18:18 which refers to the Lord’s promise of future revelation through a line of prophets who, like Moses, would speak God’s word.

Jeremiah 31:37

17 tn Heb “See!” The Hebrew imperative of the verb used here (רָאָה, ra’ah) functions the same as the particle in v. 9. See the translator’s note there.

18 tn Heb “I appoint you today over nations and kingdoms to uproot….” The phrase refers to the Lord giving Jeremiah authority as a prophet to declare what he, the Lord, will do; it does not mean that Jeremiah himself will do these things. The expression involves a figure of speech where the subject of a declaration is stated instead of the declaration about it. Compare a similar use of the same figure in Genesis 41:13.

19 sn These three pairs represent the twofold nature of Jeremiah’s prophecies, prophecies of judgment and restoration. For the further programmatic use of these pairs for Jeremiah’s ministry see 18:7-10 and 31:27-28.

Jeremiah 31:39

20 tn This represents the Hebrew particle (כִּי, ki) that is normally rendered “for” or “because.” The particle here is meant to give the significance of the vision, not the rationale for the statement “you have observed correctly.”

21 tn Heb “watching over my word to do it.”

sn There is a play on the Hebrew word for “almond tree” (שָׁקֵד, shaqed), which blossoms in January/February and is the harbinger of spring, and the Hebrew word for “watching” (שֹׁקֵד, shoqed), which refers to someone watching over someone or something in preparation for action. The play on words announces the certainty and imminence of the Lord carrying out the covenant curses of Lev 26 and Deuteronomy 28 threatened by the earlier prophets.

Jeremiah 31:40

22 tn Heb “a blown upon [= heated; boiling] pot and its face from the face of the north [= it is facing away from the north].”