Jeremiah 5:1-5

New English Translation

Footnotes

1. Jeremiah 5:1 tn These words are not in the text, but since the words at the end are obviously those of the Lord, they are supplied in the translation here to mark the shift in speaker from 4:29-31, where Jeremiah is the obvious speaker.
2. Jeremiah 5:1 tn It is not clear who is being addressed here. The verbs are plural so they are not addressed to Jeremiah per se. Since the passage is talking about the people of Jerusalem, it is unlikely they are addressed here except perhaps rhetorically. Some have suggested that the heavenly court is being addressed as in Job 1:6-8; 2:1-3. It is clear from Jer 23:18, 22; Amos 3:7 that the prophets had access to this heavenly council through visions (cf. 1 Kgs 22:19-23), so Jeremiah could have been privy to this speech through that means. Though these angels are the most likely addressees, it is too presumptuous to supply such an explicit addressee without clearer indication in the text.
3. Jeremiah 5:1 tn Heb “who does justice and seeks faithfulness.”
4. Jeremiah 5:1 tn Heb “squares. If you can find…if there is one person…then I will…”
5. Jeremiah 5:1 tn Heb “forgive [or pardon] it.”
6. Jeremiah 5:2 tn Heb “Though they say, ‘As surely as the Lord lives.’” The idea of “swear on oath” comes from the second line.
7. Jeremiah 5:2 tc The translation follows many Hebrew mss and the Syriac version in reading “surely” (אָכֵן, ʾakhen) instead of “therefore” (לָכֵן, lakhen) in the MT. tn Heb “Surely.”
8. Jeremiah 5:2 tn Heb “they swear falsely.”
9. Jeremiah 5:3 tn Heb “O Lord, are your eyes not to faithfulness?” The question is rhetorical and expects a positive answer.
10. Jeremiah 5:3 tn Commentaries and lexicons debate the meaning of the verb here. The MT is pointed as though from a verb meaning “to writhe in anguish or contrition” (חוּל [khul]; see, e.g., BDB 297 s.v. חוּל 2.c), but some commentaries and lexicons repoint the text as though from a verb meaning “to be sick,” thus “to feel pain” (חָלָה [khalah]; see, e.g., HALOT 304 s.v. חָלָה 3). The former appears more appropriate to the context.
11. Jeremiah 5:3 tn Heb “They made their faces as hard as a rock.”
12. Jeremiah 5:3 tn Or “to repent”; Heb “to turn back.”
13. Jeremiah 5:4 tn Heb “Surely they are poor.” The translation is intended to make clear the explicit contrasts and qualifications drawn in this verse and the next.
14. Jeremiah 5:4 tn Heb “the way of the Lord.”
15. Jeremiah 5:4 tn Heb “the judgment [or ordinance] of their God.”
16. Jeremiah 5:5 tn Or “people in power”; Heb “the great ones.”
17. Jeremiah 5:5 tn Heb “the way of the Lord.”
18. Jeremiah 5:5 tn Heb “the judgment [or ordinance] of their God.”
19. Jeremiah 5:5 tn Heb “have broken the yoke and torn off the yoke ropes.” Cf. Jer 2:20 and the note there.