The sentence begun in verse 23 continues. Translators may continue that way as well, but it will be better in many languages to begin a new sentence here: “You are like a wild ass….”
A wild ass used to the wilderness (New International Version “a wild donkey accustomed to the desert”) represents the text of the Hebrew as we have it. However, some scholars believe this expression is senseless in the context because it disturbs the figure and does not fit grammatically. Thus they conclude that a scribe unintentionally repeated two letters of the Hebrew text when copying it. If these two letters are removed and another slight alteration is made in the Hebrew, it may then be made to say “rushing into the desert” (Good News Translation). Both Jerusalem Bible and New American Bible accept this modification of the Hebrew, though without a footnote; Revised English Bible also takes this approach, but it provides a footnote, as does Good News Translation. Hebrew Old Testament Text Project prefers that the Hebrew text be followed, as is the case with Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch, Luther 1984, and An American Translation.
A wild ass is an animal that is related to the horse, although it is smaller than a horse. If the animal is unknown, then translators can have simply “wild animal.”
For wilderness see verse 2.
Heat is literally “longing” or “desire” (compare the use of the noun in Deut 12.15); the related verb is translated “desire” by Revised Standard Version in 17.16. But here the noun is used in parallel with lust, which refers to that period when an animal is sexually excited and reproductively active.
Sniffing the wind describes the activity of the female animal in heat, as it goes about seeking the scent of a male animal.
It may make the line more natural to restructure, as in “sniffing the wind as she is in heat [or, is filled with desire.]” Or the first two lines could be dealt with together: “[You are like] a wild donkey in heat rushing into the desert sniffing the wind.”
Who can restrain her lust? may be expressed as “Who can restrain her in her heat [or, lust]?” or as a statement, “No one can hold her back when she is full of lust [or, in heat].”
None who seek refers to the male animal. Good News Translation makes this clear: “No male that wants her.”
The verb translated weary is found again in 51.58, 64. The weariness referred to here is that which results from running, which is similar to the usage of the verb in Isa 40.30-31, where Revised Standard Version renders it “faint.” In some cases a slight expansion has been necessary for this line: “No male that wants her needs wear himself out chasing her.”
In her month is used in parallel to in her heat and her lust. Some translators will use an expression from their language that refers to the time when a female animal is in heat, or a phrase such as “at that time when she is in heat.” Good News Translation translates in her heat sniffing the wind … her lust … in her month as “When she is in heat … she is always available in mating season.”
They will find refers back to the subject of None who seek.
Quoted with permission from Newman, Barclay M. and Stine, Philip C. A Handbook on Jeremiah. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 2003. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .