In Hebrew the pronoun you is emphatic, and thus contrasts with “your father.”

Compete in cedar refers to Jehoiakim’s attempt to outdo others in the use of this expensive building material. Good News Translation translates “… build houses of cedar, finer than those of others?” For the first two lines translators can also say “Does it make you king because you build a finer house of cedar wood than other people?” This rhetorical question could also be expressed as a statement: “Building a house out of cedar finer than other people’s does not make you a king.”

Did not your father eat and drink…?: The meaning may be either that Josiah enjoyed the material benefits of being king (Good News Translation “Your father enjoyed a full life”; Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch “Did not your father eat and drink well…?”) or else that he enjoyed the simple pleasures of life. New Jerusalem Bible (“Did your father go hungry or thirsty?”) and Bible en français courant (“Your father ate and drank as all the world”) would seem to emphasize Josiah’s humanity.

And do justice and righteousness indicates that Josiah’s lifestyle as king included doing those things that he was supposed to do. For do justice and righteousness, see verse 3.

The idea that the second rhetorical question conveys, then, is that Josiah accepted his responsibilities in both his daily habits and in fulfilling his covenant obligation as king. One way to express this is “Your father ate and drank like everyone else, but he also treated people justly and fairly.”

Then it was well with him: This is the interpretation of the text as represented in most translations. However, the meaning may be “He found pleasure in these things” (Bright “And enjoy himself”). Perhaps both ideas are intended. Translators can say “It [or, Things] went well with him because of this.”

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 .