Hebrew-English Text

I. Summary

The people of Judah confess their guilt and petition Yahweh for rain. Yahweh promises to kill the false prophets with the rest of the land’s inhabitants.

II. Photo

The people accuse Yahweh of a fleeting relationship: “Why are you like a stranger in the land, like a traveler who stops only for the night?” (v. 8)

III. Select Verses

3: Their nobles sent their servants for water; They came to the cisterns, they found no water. They returned, their vessels empty. They are shamed and humiliated, They cover their heads.

7: Though our iniquities testify against us, Act, O LORD, for the sake of Your name; Though our rebellions are many And we have sinned against You.

8-9: O Hope of Israel, Its deliverer in time of trouble, Why are You like a stranger in the land, Like a traveler who stops only for the night? Why are You like a man who is stunned, Like a warrior who cannot give victory? Yet You are in our midst, O LORD, And Your name is attached to us — Do not forsake us!

14: The LORD replied: It is a lie that the prophets utter in My name. I have not sent them or commanded them. I have not spoken to them. A lying vision, an empty divination, the deceit of their own contriving — that is what they prophesy to you!

22: Can any of the false gods of the nations give rain? Can the skies of themselves give showers? Only You can, O LORD our God! So we hope in You, For only You made all these things.

IV. Outline

1. Introduction

2-9. Psalm-like petition

    2-6. Complaint: Judah’s drought

    7. Petition/confession

    8-9a. Complaint/accusation: Yahweh stands by idly

    9b. Petition

10-18. A conversation about false prophets

    10. Yahweh will punish for sin

    11-12. Prayer, sacrifice, and fasting do not help

    13. The prophets predict salvation

    14-16. The false prophets will be killed with the rest

    17-18. Future lament

19-22. Psalm-like petition

    19. Complaint: Yahweh stands by idly

    20. Confession

    21. Petition

    22. Affirmation of confidence

    

V. Comment

No comment today. Stay tuned.

VI. Works Used

(see “Commentaries” page)

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Hebrew-English Text

I. Summary

Israel is likened to a dirty loincloth worn by Jeremiah. Yahweh promises the king and queen mother that their people will be exiled. Yahweh berates the people for their inability to change.

II. Photo

Yahweh gives up hope on his people: “Can the Ethiopian change his skin, or the leopard his spots? If so you can do good.” (v. 23)

III. Select Verses

1-2: Thus the LORD said to me: “Go buy yourself a loincloth of linen, and put it around your loins, but do not dip it into water.”  So I bought the loincloth in accordance with the LORD’s command, and put it about my loins.

11: For as the loincloth clings close to the loins of a man, so I brought close to Me the whole House of Israel and the whole House of Judah — declares the LORD — that they might be My people, for fame, and praise, and splendor. But they would not obey.

18:  Say to the king and the queen mother, “Sit in a lowly spot; For your diadems are abased, Your glorious crowns.”

20: Where are the sheep entrusted to you, The flock you took pride in?

22: And when you ask yourself, “Why have these things befallen me?” It is because of your great iniquity That your skirts are lifted up, Your limbs exposed.

23-24: Can the Ethiopian change his skin, Or the leopard his spots? Just as much can you do good, Who are practiced in doing evil!  So I will scatter you like straw that flies Before the desert wind.

IV. Outline

1-11. Metaphoric action #1: Israel is like a sullied loincloth

12-14. Metaphoric action #2: the people will be filled with drunkenness

15-16. Call to repent

17. Jeremiah will lament wickedness

18-22. Future message for the king and queen mother (Jehoiachin and Nehusta?): all will be lost

23-27. Oracle

    23. The people cannot change

    24-25. Exile

    26. Future shame

    27. Condemnation and challenge

   

V. Comment

No comment today. Stay tuned.

VI. Works Used

(see “Commentaries” page)

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Hebrew-English Text

I. Summary

Jeremiah asks Yahweh to destroy his enemies. Yahweh vows to abandon the people but promises to return if they follow in his ways.

II. Photo

Yahweh gives up on the temple: “I have abandoned my house, I have deserted my possession” (v. 7)

III. Select Verses

4: How long must the land languish, And the grass of all the countryside dry up? Must beasts and birds perish, Because of the evil of its inhabitants, Who say, “He will not look upon our future”?

6: For even your kinsmen and your father’s house, Even they are treacherous toward you, They cry after you as a mob. Do not believe them When they speak cordially to you.

7: I have abandoned My House, I have deserted My possession, I have given over My dearly beloved Into the hands of her enemies.

13: Be shamed, then, by your harvest — By the blazing wrath of the LORD!

14-15: Thus said the LORD: As for My wicked neighbors who encroach on the heritage that I gave to My people Israel — I am going to uproot them from their soil, and I will uproot the House of Judah out of the midst of them.  Then, after I have uprooted them, I will take them back into favor, and restore them each to his own inheritance and his own land.

IV. Outline

1-6. Jeremiah’s psalm-like lament (continued)

    1-2. Complaint: Yahweh has allowed the evil to prosper

    3a. Affirmation of loyalty

    3b. Imprecation of enemies

    4. Complaint: the land is dry

    5-6. Complaint: Even family members are disloyal

7-13. Oracle #1

    7. Yahweh has abandoned the temple

    8-9. The people have rebelled

    10-12. The land has been destroyed

    13. The people should be ashamed

14-17. Oracle #2

    14-15. Israel and its conquerors will be returned home

    16. Allegiance will lead to greatness

    17. Disobedience leads to destruction

    

V. Comment

No comment today. Stay tuned.

VI. Works Used

(see “Commentaries” page)

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Hebrew-English Text

I. Summary

Yahweh condemns the people for committing idolatry, the sin of their ancestors. Jeremiah asks Yahweh to wipe out the people of Anathoth and he agrees.

II. Photo

Jeremiah was duped by the people of Anathoth: “I was like a gentle lamb led to the slaughter, I did not know it was against me that they devised schemes.” (v. 19)

III. Select Verses

3-5: Cursed be anyone who does not heed the words of this covenant,  which I commanded your ancestors when I brought them out of the land of Egypt, from the iron-smelter, saying, Listen to my voice, and do all that I command you. So shall you be my people, and I will be your God,  that I may perform the oath that I swore to your ancestors, to give them a land flowing with milk and honey, as at this day.

7-8: For I solemnly warned your ancestors when I brought them up out of the land of Egypt, warning them persistently, even to this day, saying, Obey my voice.  Yet they did not obey or incline their ear, but everyone walked in the stubbornness of an evil will. So I brought upon them all the words of this covenant, which I commanded them to do, but they did not.

12-13: Then the cities of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem will go and cry out to the gods to whom they make offerings, but they will never save them in the time of their trouble. For your gods have become as many as your towns, O Judah; and as many as the streets of Jerusalem are the altars you have set up to shame, altars to make offerings to Baal.

21-23: Therefore thus says the LORD concerning the people of Anathoth, who seek your life, and say, “You shall not prophesy in the name of the LORD, or you will die by our hand”— therefore thus says the LORD of hosts: I am going to punish them; the young men shall die by the sword; their sons and their daughters shall die by famine; and not even a remnant shall be left of them. For I will bring disaster upon the people of Anathoth, the year of their punishment.

IV. Outline

1-14. Oracle

    1-3a. Introduction and call to proclaim

    3b-5a. Curse for not keeping the ancient covenant

    5b. Jeremiah avers

    6-8. Warning: the ancestors were punished

    9-10. Israel and Judah have sinned like their ancestors

    11. Punishment is coming

    12-13. Jerusalem’s gods will not save

    14. Jeremiah must not pray on behalf of the people

15-17. Jeremiah’s message

    15. Sacrifice will not help

    16-17. Yahweh will burn the tree he planted

18-20. Jeremiah’s petition

    18-19. Yahweh revealed the enemy

    20a. Imprecation of enemies

    20b. Affirmation of confidence

    21-23. Oracle: Yahweh will wipe out the people of Anathoth

  

V. Comment

In verse 18 we encounter a new type of text, Jeremiah’s first psalm-like lament. Peter C. Craigie writes, “Beginning at 11:18, the Book of Jeremiah records a series of personal complaints. These complaints, which resemble the personal lament in form, have often been called Jeremiah’s confessions. Students of these laments have not reached complete agree ment about the extent of the laments, but six passages are normally included: 11:18–12:6; 15:10–21; 17:12–18; 18:18–23; 20:7–13; and 20:14–18. Some of the complaints have matching responses by Yahweh. The uniqueness of these laments has occasioned much debate about their nature and purpose. Agreement does not even exist about what they should be called since neutral terminology does not exist; calling them “confessions,” “complaints,” or “laments” presupposes a different understanding about their nature and purpose. Even though they will be designated confessions in the following discussion, this is only for convenience and is not intended to convey any particular understanding about these passages.” (172-173)

VI. Works Used

(see “Commentaries” page)

Peter C. Craigie, Jeremiah 1-25 (The Word Biblical Commentary vol. 26; Dallas: Wordbooks, 1991).

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Hebrew-English Text

I. Summary

Yahweh and Jeremiah call other gods a delusion. Yahweh warns of exile and Jeremiah speaks as if it has already come.

II. Photo

Jeremiah warns of destruction: “Hark, a noise! It is coming, a great commotion out of the north, that the towns of Judah may be made a desolation, a haunt of jackals. ” (v. 22)

III. Select Verses

3-5: For the laws of the nations are delusions: For it is the work of a craftsman’s hands. He cuts down a tree in the forest with an ax, He adorns it with silver and gold, He fastens it with nails and hammer, So that it does not totter.  They are like a scarecrow in a cucumber patch, They cannot speak. They have to be carried, For they cannot walk. Be not afraid of them, for they can do no harm; Nor is it in them to do any good.

11:  Thus shall you say to them: Let the gods, who did not make heaven and earth, perish from the earth and from under these heavens.

18: For thus said the LORD: I will fling away the inhabitants of the land this time: I will harass them so that they shall feel it.

IV. Outline

1-5. Oracle: other gods are non-gods

    1-2a. Introduction

    2b-5. Other gods are the work of man

6-16. Jeremiah concurs     

    6-10. Jeremiah concurs and praises Yahweh

    11. (Aramaic) Yahweh curses other gods

    12-13. Hymnic praise: Yahweh created the heavens and the weather

    14-15. Other gods are a delusion

    16. Yahweh is the only real god

17-18. Oracle: exile approaches

    17-18a. Introduction/call to prepare

    18b. Exile approaches

19-25. Jeremiah’s experience of exile

    19. Jeremiah’s pain

    20-22. Future quote reflecting an empty land

    23-25. Petition: Israel should not be wiped out

    

V. Comment

Verse 11 is the only verse in Jeremiah written in Aramaic (for other Aramaic verses in the Hebrew Bible see Ezra 4:8-6:18; 7:12-26; Dan 2:4-7:28; Gen 31:47). Peter C. Craigie writes in The Word Biblical Commentary vol. 26, Jeremiah 1-25: “The reason for the presence of this Aramaic verse in the midst of the Hebrew has puzzled commentators from the start. Both Rashi and Kimchi accepted the evidence of the Targum as an explanation of the sudden change from Hebrew to Aramaic. The Targum prefaces v 11 with these words: “This is the copy of the letter which the Prophet Jeremiah sent to the leaders of the exile in Babylon: ‘If the Chaldeans say to you, worship our idols, then answer them as follows.’” This suggests that v 11 was a shortened version of a letter sent by Jeremiah to Jehoiachin and the other exiles in Babylon between 598 and 587 BC (compare 29:1–32).” (160)

Also note that the petition in v. 25 is found nearly word for word in Ps. 79:6-7:

Jer 10:25: Pour out Your wrath on the nations who have not heeded You, Upon the clans that have not invoked Your name. For they have devoured Jacob, Have devoured and consumed him, And have laid desolate his homesteads.

Ps. 79:6-7: Pour out Your fury on the nations that do not know You, upon the kingdoms that do not invoke Your name,  for they have devoured Jacob and desolated his home.

VI. Works Used

(see “Commentaries” page)

Peter C. Craigie, Jeremiah 1-25 (The Word Biblical Commentary vol. 26; Dallas: Wordbooks, 1991).

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Hebrew-English Text

I. Summary

Yahweh hopes to abandon Judah and promises to bring destruction, exile, and death to the people.

II. Photo

Yahweh expresses a wish of abandonment: “Oh, to be in the desert, at an encampment for wayfarers! Oh, to leave my people, to go away from them!” (v. 1)

III. Select Verses

1: Oh, to be in the desert, At an encampment for wayfarers! Oh, to leave my people, To go away from them — For they are all adulterers, A band of rogues.

10: I will turn Jerusalem into rubble, Into dens for jackals; And I will make the towns of Judah A desolation without inhabitants.

11-13: What man is so wise That he understands this? To whom has the LORD’s mouth spoken, So that he can explain it: Why is the land in ruins, Laid waste like a wilderness, With none passing through? The LORD replied: Because they forsook the Teaching I had set before them. They did not obey Me and they did not follow it,  but followed their own willful heart and followed the Baalim, as their fathers had taught them.

15: I will scatter them among nations which they and their fathers never knew; and I will dispatch the sword after them until I have consumed them.

22-23: Thus said the LORD: Let not the wise man glory in his wisdom; Let not the strong man glory in his strength; Let not the rich man glory in his riches. But only in this should one glory: In his earnest devotion to Me. For I the LORD act with kindness, Justice, and equity in the world; For in these I delight — declares the LORD.

IV. Outline

1. Wish to abandon the people

2-5. The people deceit one another

6a. Future punishment

6b-8. Rationale: duplicity cannot go unpunished

9-10. Future destruction for Judah

11-13. Rationale: the people followed their own heart and the Baal gods

14-15. Future exile

16-20. Future calls to lament

21. Future death to the masses

22-23. Praise only comes from serving Yahweh

24-25. (Enigmatic statement:) Israel is uncircumcised of heart

   

V. Comment

No comment today. Stay tuned.

VI. Works Used

(see “Commentaries” page)

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Hebrew-English Text

I. Summary

Judah is doomed because its leaders and people do not change their ways.

II. Photo

Judah is lost: “No grapes left on the vine, no figs on the fig tree, the leaves all withered; Whatever I have given them is gone.” (v. 13)

III. Select Verses

7: Even the stork in the sky knows her seasons, And the turtledove, swift, and crane Keep the time of their coming; But My people pay no heed To the law of the LORD.

11: They offer healing offhand For the wounds of My poor people, Saying, “All is well, all is well,” When nothing is well.

13: I will make an end of them — declares the LORD: No grapes left on the vine, No figs on the fig tree, The leaves all withered; Whatever I have given them is gone.

14-16: Why are we sitting by? Let us gather into the fortified cities And meet our doom there. For the LORD our God has doomed us, He has made us drink a bitter draft, Because we sinned against the LORD.  We hoped for good fortune, but no happiness came; For a time of relief — instead there is terror!  The snorting of their horses was heard from Dan; At the loud neighing of their steeds The whole land quaked. They came and devoured the land and what was in it, The towns and those who dwelt in them.

23: Oh, that my head were water, My eyes a fount of tears! Then would I weep day and night For the slain of my poor people.

IV. Outline

1-2. The leaders of Judah will not be buried

3. Death is preferable to life

4a. Command to proclaim

4b-6. Persistent rebellion

7-9. The people lack wisdom

10a. Men’s wives and fields will be given to others

10b-12. Priests and prophets are guilty and will be punished

13. Total annihilation

14-16. Future quote: sin has caused the enemy (Babylon) to bring doom

17. The enemy will not be stopped

18-19a. Future quote: the people cannot believe

19b. It is their fault

19c-20. Future quote: the people will not be saved

21-23. Yahweh (or Jeremiah?) is brought to tears

V. Comment

No comment today. Stay tuned.

VI. Works Used

(see “Commentaries” page)

Photo my own.

Hebrew-English Text

I. Summary

Yahweh will destroy the temple, exile Judah, and kill the idolaters.

II. Photo

Yahweh silences Jeremiah: “As for you, do not pray for this people, do not raise a cry of prayer on their behalf, do not plead with me for I will not listen to you.” (v. 16)

III. Select Verses

2: Stand at the gate of the House of the LORD, and there proclaim this word: Hear the word of the LORD, all you of Judah who enter these gates to worship the LORD!

12, 14-15: Just go to My place at Shiloh, where I had established My name formerly, and see what I did to it because of the wickedness of My people Israel… therefore I will do to the House which bears My name, on which you rely, and to the place which I gave you and your fathers, just what I did to Shiloh.  And I will cast you out of My presence as I cast out your brothers, the whole brood of Ephraim.

16: As for you, do not pray for this people, do not raise a cry of prayer on their behalf, do not plead with Me; for I will not listen to you.

21-23: Add your burnt offerings to your other sacrifices and eat the meat!  For when I freed your fathers from the land of Egypt, I did not speak with them or command them concerning burnt offerings or sacrifice. But this is what I commanded them: Do My bidding, that I may be your God and you may be My people; walk only in the way that I enjoin upon you, that it may go well with you.

24-26: Yet they did not listen or give ear; they followed their own counsels, the willfulness of their evil hearts. They have gone backward, not forward,  from the day your fathers left the land of Egypt until today. And though I kept sending all My servants, the prophets, to them daily and persistently,  they would not listen to Me or give ear. They stiffened their necks, they acted worse than their fathers.

IV. Outline

1-20. Oracle #1

    1. Introduction

    2. Jeremiah must proclaim this message

    3a. Introduction

    3b. Repentance prevents exile

    4. The temple will not save you

    5-7. List of actions that must be stopped

    8-11. Yahweh is not fooled

    12. Example of punishment: Shiloh was destroyed

    13-15. The temple will be destroyed like Shiloh and Judah will be exiled like Ephraim

    16. Jeremiah must not pray for the people

    17-18. Rationale: young and old serve other gods

    19. The people harm themselves

    20. Yahweh’s anger will not be quenched

21-34. Oracle #2

    21a. Introduction

    21b-22. Yahweh did not command sacrifices

    23. Yahweh commanded to follow him

    24-26. Since the beginning the people have not followed

    27. The people will not listen

    28. Confront them on their obstinance

    29. Call to lament

    30-31. Rationale: the people have worshiped incorrectly

    32-33. Valleys of worship will become valleys of carcasses

    34. Judah will be silent

    

V. Comment

No comment today. Stay tuned.

VI. Works Used

(see “Commentaries” page)

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