To say It was the ninth month will not mean anything to most readers from different climates and parts of the world, hence the Good News Translation rendering “It was winter.” “It was the cold season” will be the most natural way to express this in some languages.

Winter house is rendered “winter apartments” by Revised English Bible. This was probably not a separate building, but a section of the palace exposed to the winter sun for warmth. We might translate “winter quarters.”

And there was a fire burning in the brazier before him is somewhat abbreviated in Good News Translation “[and the king was sitting] in front of the fire.” A brazier is a stove that could have been made of either metal or clay. The word is used only here in the Old Testament, and it is of Egyptian origin. Translators can render it as “stove.”

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 .