Footnotes

1. Jeremiah 17:19 sn Observance of the Sabbath day (also the Sabbatical year) appears to have been a litmus test of the nation’s spirituality since it is mentioned in a number of passages besides this one (cf., e.g., Isa 56:2, 6; 58:13; Neh 13:15-18). Perhaps this is because the Sabbath day was the sign of the Mosaic covenant (Exod 31:13-17), just as the rainbow was the sign of the Noahic covenant (Gen 9:12, 13, 17) and circumcision the sign of the Abrahamic covenant (Gen 17:11). This was not the only command they failed to obey, nor was their failure to obey this one the sole determining factor in the Lord’s decision to destroy Judah (cf. 7:23-24; 11:7-8 in their contexts).
2. Jeremiah 17:19 sn The identity and location of the People’s Gate is uncertain since it is mentioned nowhere else in the Hebrew Bible. Some identify it with the Benjamin Gate mentioned in Jer 37:13 and 38:7 (cf. NAB), but there is no textual support for this in the Hebrew Bible or in any of the ancient versions.
3. Jeremiah 17:21 tn Heb “Be careful at the risk of your lives.” The expression with the preposition בּ (bet) is unique. Elsewhere the verb “be careful” is used with the preposition ל (lamed) in the sense of the reflexive. Hence the word “soul” cannot be simply reflexive here. BDB 1037 s.v. שָׁמַר Niph.1 understands this as a case where the preposition בּ introduces the cost or price (cf. BDB 90 s.v. בּ III.3.a).
4. Jeremiah 17:21 sn Comparison with Neh 13:15-18 suggests that these loads were merchandise or agricultural produce being brought in for sale. The loads carried out of the houses in the next verse were probably goods for barter.
5. Jeremiah 17:21 tn Heb “carry loads on the Sabbath and bring [them] in through.” The two verbs “carry” and “bring in” are an example of hendiadys (see the note on “Be careful…by carrying”). This is supported by the next line, where only “carry out” of the houses is mentioned.
6. Jeremiah 17:22 tn Heb “Do not carry any loads out of your houses on the Sabbath day and do not do any work.” Translating literally might give the wrong impression that they were not to work at all. The phrase “on the Sabbath day” is, of course, intended to qualify both prohibitions.
7. Jeremiah 17:22 tn Heb “But sanctify [or set apart as sacred] the Sabbath day.” The idea of setting it apart as something sacred to the Lord is implicit in the command. See the explicit statements of this in Exod 20:10; 31:5; 35:2; and Lev 24:8. For some readers the idea of treating the Sabbath day as something sacred will not mean much without spelling the qualification out specifically. Sabbath observance was not just a matter of not working.
8. Jeremiah 17:22 tn Heb “fathers.”
9. Jeremiah 17:23 tn Heb “They.” The antecedent is spelled out to avoid any possible confusion.
10. Jeremiah 17:23 tn Heb “They hardened [or made stiff] their neck so as not to.”
11. Jeremiah 17:24 tn Heb “Oracle of the Lord.”
12. Jeremiah 17:25 tn Heb “And it will be, if you carefully obey me, declares the LORD, by not bringing…and by sanctifying…by not doing…, then kings will….” The structure of prohibitions and commands followed by a brief “if” clause has been used to break up a long condition and consequence relationship in verses 24-25 that is contrary to contemporary English style.
13. Jeremiah 17:25 tn Heb “who sit [or are to sit] on David’s throne.”
14. Jeremiah 17:25 tn Heb “There will come through the gates of this city kings and princes…riding in chariots and on horses, they and their officials…” The structure of the original text is broken up here because of the long compound subject, which would make the English sentence too long. The term “princes” is often omitted as a supposed double writing, either of the word that follows it and looks somewhat like it (the Hebrew reads here וְשָׂרִים יֹשְׁבִים, v^esarim yosh^evim), or of the same word (שַׂר), which occurs later in the verse and is translated “officials” (שַׂר can refer to either). It is argued that “princes” are never said to sit on the throne of David (translated here, “follow in the succession of David”). However, the word is in all texts and versions, and the concept of sitting on the throne of someone is descriptive of both past, present, and future. It is even used with the participle in a proleptic sense of “the one who is to sit on the throne” (cf. Exod 11:5; 12:29).
15. Jeremiah 17:25 tn Heb “will be inhabited forever.”
16. Jeremiah 17:26 sn The foothills (שְׁפֵלָה, shephelah) are the region between the Judean hill country and the Mediterranean coastal plain.
17. Jeremiah 17:26 tn Heb “There will come from the cities of Judah and from the environs of Jerusalem and from…those bringing…incense and those bringing thank offerings.” This sentence has been restructured from a long complex original to conform to contemporary English style.
18. Jeremiah 17:27 tn Heb “carry loads on the Sabbath and bring [them] in through.” The translation treats the two verbs “carry” and “bring in” as an example of hendiadys (see the note on “through” in 17:21).