The passage is now seen by most translators to shift from poetry to prose, as Jeremiah reports on what the LORD tells him about Israel and Judah. As elsewhere, translators will have to render the section in direct or indirect speech according to what is most natural in their language.

Josiah is first mentioned in 1.2. Within the book of Jeremiah he is mentioned by name almost twenty times, and always favorably. In the days of King Josiah means “When Josiah was king” (Good News Translation) or “During the time when King Josiah reigned” (Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch). Many translators will find the Good News Translation restructuring more natural for them as well, that is, putting “At the time when Josiah was king” at the beginning of the sentence.

Have you seen what she did, that faithless one, Israel…?: Israel is here compared to a woman: “Israel, that unfaithful woman” (Good News Translation). Whereas in 2.1–3.5 the name Israel is used in the comprehensive sense of the people as a whole, here the name is restricted to the northern kingdom.

For some translators using she and referring to Israel as a woman will be a problem, either because the language does not make a difference in masculine and feminine pronouns or because the pronoun for a country or kingdom would be quite different from the one used with a woman. Perhaps a comparison at the beginning would help, as in “Israel, who is like an unfaithful woman” or “Israel, who is unfaithful to me like an adulterous woman.”

Faithless (so also verse 8) derives from the same stem as the verb translated “return” in verses 7 and 10, and generally is translated as “not faithful” or “unfaithful.” It does not mean in this context that someone has no faith. It is evident that the Hebrew author intended a play on words, which is the basis for the Good News Translation restructuring: “that unfaithful woman … has turned away from me … (7) … return to me … did not return … (8) … turned from me … (10) … return to me.” Moffatt carries through the play on words by translating: “Have you seen what turncoat Israel has done … (7) turn back … turn back … (10) has not turned back.” Such a play on words may not be possible in every language, but if it can be done naturally, then it may make for effective communication.

There are various ways in which translators might render the question naturally; for example, “Have you seen what Israel has done? Like an unfaithful woman she has gone to every high hill and acted like a prostitute under every green tree” or “Surely you have seen what Israel has done. That unfaithful woman! She has acted like a whore on every green hill and under every green tree.”

How she went up on every high hill and under every green tree, and there played the harlot: See the comment at 2.20.

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 .