Though there is considerable doubt regarding the meaning of each of the two adjectives well-fed and lusty, this is the area of meaning represented by most translations. One scholar notes that the two adjectives taken together definitely mean “insane for mares,” which is also the interpretation of the Septuagint. Stallions are male horses.

In place of the equivalent statement (They were … stallions), it may be preferable to change the figure of speech to a simile and render it “They were like … stallions” (Good News Translation). Bassa in Liberia renders the first line “You are like very healthy male horses that are anxious for sex with female horses.”

It may not be possible to use neighing (the sound of a horse) of people in some languages; Good News Translation expresses the meaning as “lusting for.” Translators could also say “neighing with lust for his neighbor’s wife.”

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 .