You shall not take a wife is rendered “Do not marry” by Good News Translation and “You must not marry” by Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch. Note that shall in Revised Standard Version expresses a command, not a simple future.

Hebrew does not have a word that means “children,” which is the reason for saying nor shall you have sons or daughters. Both Good News Translation and Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch have “Do not … have children.” It is also possible to render this verse “Do not marry or have a family….”

In this place means “in this land.” Some translations have “here.” Perhaps to show that Jeremiah is not to have a family because the land is polluted or doomed, Good News Translation has “in a place like this.” This does not seem necessary, however.

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 .