Beginning with this verse the LORD defines in precise terms what it is that has caused “the stain of Israel’s guilt” (verse 22). And in so doing, he rejects every argument by which Israel claims to be innocent.

How can you say? has been translated by Traduction œcuménique de la Bible as “How dare you say?” This conveys the thrust of the rhetorical question quite well. We may also say “There is no way you can say.”

Defiled translates the same verb used in 2.7.

Gone after is here used in the sense of “worship” (Good News Translation) or “be devoted to” (Luther 1984). Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch translates the negative form of this verb as “I had nothing to do with the Baals!” Like Good News Translation, translators can render the plural Baals by the singular form. Baal is first mentioned in 2.8 (see there).

The valley is identified by most scholars as the Valley of Hinnom, which flanked Jerusalem on the south. In this valley the people of Israel practiced child sacrifice and other rituals that were disgusting to the LORD (7.31-32; 19.2-6; 32.35). 2Kgs 23.10 says, “King Josiah also desecrated Topheth, the pagan place of worship in Hinnom Valley, so that no one could sacrifice his son or daughter as a burnt offering to the god Molech” (Good News Translation). But evidently at the time of Jeremiah these heathen practices had been revived. Translators will not, of course, put the identification in the text. The noun construction at your way means “what you have done” (Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch), which is made clear in Good News Translation with “how you sinned.”

Know translates the same verb used in 1.5. Luther 1984 has “consider” and Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch “let it become clear to you.”

The adjective restive (so also An American Translation) is more literally “quick” or “swift” (Moffatt, Bright, Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch). But since the picture is obviously that of a “she-camel” (New American Bible, Revised English Bible, Bright) in heat, the context suggests the meaning of “frantic” (Jerusalem Bible) or “frenzied” (New American Bible).

Interlacing her tracks is best taken in the sense of “running in all directions” (Jerusalem Bible). Revised English Bible effectively translates the entire line as “you have been like a she-camel, twisting and turning as she runs.”

In many parts of the world camels are not known. Translators have sometimes rendered young camel as “young animal,” but this is too general. “Young domestic animal” is slightly better, and translators could also have “young domestic animal called camel,” borrowing the name and transliterating it. Another possibility is to use some animal that is known, as in “young donkey” or “young horse,” or to try “young animal like a horse.” (But keep in mind that a wild ass or donkey is in the next verse.) But the rendering here should not get so awkward that it obscures the rather sharp image of the biblical text.

It will be helpful in many cases to make the comparison clear from the beginning, as in “Be aware of what you have done. You are like a frantic young female camel running around in all directions” or “Look at what you’re doing! You are running around in all directions like a wild camel in heat.”

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 .