Verses 20-23 form a kind of parenthetical statement (compare Good News Translation), and it may be best to place a section heading before verse 20, as with Bible en français courant (“Jehoiakim Executes the Prophet Uriah”) and Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch (“The fate that threatened Jeremiah”). If translators do not do this, it may seem to readers that this story is a continuation of what the elders were saying. Translators can also begin the verse with a clause such as “At about the time Jeremiah was speaking God’s word against the city, there was another man….”

Nothing further is known of the prophet Uriah except what is mentioned in this passage. The story is told to indicate the fate that could have awaited Jeremiah, and at the same time to contrast his courage with Uriah’s fear, which led him to run for safety to Egypt.

For prophesied in the name of the LORD, see verse 9.

Prophesied against: Good News Translation has “spoke … against” (see verse 11).

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 .