Showers (so also 14.22) are the mild rains that fall between October and December; the spring rain comes in the months of March and April. These may also be referred to as “the early rains” and “the late rains” (compare 5.24), and both are necessary for a successful crop. Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch translates “Therefore no rains have fallen, neither in the fall nor in the spring of the year.” With the LORD as the expressed subject, we may translate “That is why, I, the LORD, withheld the showers in the fall and the rain in the spring.”

A harlot’s brow lends itself to two different interpretations: (1) it may refer to some distinguishing mark by which a woman was identified as a prostitute; or (2) it may symbolize stubbornness (see Isa 48.4). Good News Translation seems to follow the first interpretation, Jerusalem Bible (see below) the second.

You refuse to be ashamed may support either of these interpretations, though it tends to favor the second. Both Moffatt (“and yet you were as brazen as a harlot, you would not blush for it”), followed closely by New International Version, and Jerusalem Bible (“And you maintained a prostitute’s bold front, never thinking to blush”) express this meaning. Following the first interpretation would give something such as “You have the look of a prostitute, and refuse to be ashamed.” For ashamed see 2.26.

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 .