In this verse the people speak again: “The people cry out” (Good News Translation); “The people lament” (Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch). In Bible en français courant the speaker is Jeremiah, as he identifies as one of the people. Although the speaker is not identified in Hebrew, it is a good principle to follow Good News Translation and Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch in identifying the speaker.

This verse probably represents a proverbial saying, describing persons whose last hopes have gone by. The grain harvest would have lasted from April to June, after which the summer (the time of harvest for grapes, figs, and olives) would have followed. Thus the proverb affirms that all chances for harvesting crops have gone by, leaving the people without hope. Most translations are rather slavish in the way that they render this verse, though Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch is more creative: “The harvest is over, autumn has gone by, but it has not helped us.” A similar translation is “The harvest season is over, summer has ended, and still no one has saved us.” It should be noted that in Hebrew the pronoun we is emphatic. Traduction œcuménique de la Bible expresses this with “and for us, still no salvation.”

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 .