The word of the LORD came is a Hebrew way of saying “the LORD spoke” (Good News Translation and Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch). The form of the construction reflects the Hebrew thinking that the word of the LORD possessed life itself and was almost to be looked upon as an entity in itself apart from the LORD. Similar constructions are found in 14.1; 46.1; 47.1; 49.34. In some languages the most natural way to express this is “The LORD gave him a message.”
The LORD: In this Handbook we will follow Revised Standard Version and use LORD.
Josiah the son of Amon was king of Judah from 640 to 609 B.C.; the thirteenth year of his reign would then be 627-626 B.C. He came to the throne at the age of eight, and in his eighteenth year as king he initiated a religious reform for which he is famous. In 22.15-16 Jeremiah contrasts him with his evil son Jehoiakim. Elsewhere in the book he is mentioned in 3.6; 25.3; 36.2. Son of Amon may have to be handled like “son of Hilkiah” in verse 1. Whether in the thirteenth year of his reign means he had been king for twelve years or thirteen is not clear, but most scholars understand it to mean twelve. Thus translators can have either “in the thirteenth year” or “after Josiah was king for twelve years.”
Judah can be referred to as “the country of Judah,” but since it is such a common term in the Bible, most readers will be familiar enough with it that this may not be necessary.
Translators should express this verse as naturally as possible. For example, in some languages a good expression is “The LORD spoke to Jeremiah in the thirteenth year of the reign of King Josiah, son of Amon, in Judah” or “The LORD spoke to Jeremiah at a time when the son of Amon named Josiah had been king of Judah for twelve years.” Since in verse 3 we learn that the LORD spoke to Jeremiah again at later times, the New American Bible (New American Bible) has here “The word of the LORD first came to him….”
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 .