Jeremiah 7:12-15

New English Translation

Footnotes

1. Jeremiah 7:12 tn Heb “where I caused my name to dwell.” The translation does not adequately represent the theology of the Lord’s deliberate identification with a place where he chose to manifest his presence and desired to be worshiped (cf. Exod 20:25; Deut 16:2, 6, 11).
2. Jeremiah 7:12 sn The place in Shiloh…see what I did to it. This refers to the destruction of Shiloh by the Philistines circa 1050 b.c. (cf. Ps 78:60). The destruction of Shiloh is pertinent to the argument. The presence of the tabernacle and ark of the covenant did not prevent Shiloh from being destroyed when Israel sinned. The people of Israel used the ark as a magic charm, but it did not prevent them from being defeated or the ark from being captured (1 Sam 4:3, 11, 21-22).
3. Jeremiah 7:13 tn This reflects a Hebrew idiom (e.g., 7:25; 11:7; 25:3, 4), i.e., an infinitive of a verb meaning “to do something early [or eagerly]” followed by an infinitive of another verb of action (cf. HALOT 1384 s.v. שָׁכַם Hiph.2).
4. Jeremiah 7:13 tn Heb “I called to you, and you did not answer.” The words “to repent” are not in the text but are supplied in the translation for clarity.
5. Jeremiah 7:14 tn Heb “over which my name is called.” For this nuance of this idiom see BDB 896 s.v. קָרָא Niph.2.d(4) and compare the usage in 2 Sam 12:28.
6. Jeremiah 7:14 tn Heb “fathers” (also in vv. 22, 25, 26).
7. Jeremiah 7:14 tn Heb “I will do to the house that my name is called over it, that you are trusting in it, and to the place…, as I did to Shiloh.”
8. Jeremiah 7:15 tn Heb “the descendants of Ephraim.” However, Ephraim here stands (as it often does) for all the northern tribes of Israel.