Translation commentary on Jeremiah 16:3

For: In this verse and the next verse the LORD explains the reason that he commanded Jeremiah not to marry or to have children.

Thus says the LORD: See 2.2. In this verse translators can say “This is what I have to say.”

See verse 2 for sons and daughters and in this place.

New International Version renders the mothers who bore them and the fathers who begot them in more natural English: “the women who are their mothers and the men who are their fathers.”

As a comparison between Revised Standard Version and Good News Translation will immediately indicate, this verse may be significantly condensed. Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch is similar to Good News Translation, except for the way it expresses the equivalent of For thus says the LORD: “Since I, the Lord, tell you….”

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 .

Translation commentary on Jeremiah 17:14

Heal me … and I shall be healed: The sense is that if the LORD heals Jeremiah, he will be really healed. Good News Translation has “heal me and I will be completely well.”

Save me, and I shall be saved: The same is true of this construction as for the previous line. Good News Translation has “rescue me and I will be perfectly safe” and Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch “Help me, then I will really be helped!”

Thou art my praise means “You are the one I praise” (Good News Translation) or “You have always given me reason to praise you” (Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch). In Hebrew the pronoun thou (Good News Translation “You”) is emphatic.

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 .

Translation commentary on Jeremiah 18:19

Verses 19-23 contain another of Jeremiah’s prayers to God (see 11.18-20). Since Jeremiah is now the speaker, Good News Translation introduces verse 19 with “So I prayed….” This is especially helpful for persons who must depend upon the hearing of the Scripture.

Give heed to me is more naturally expressed as “hear what I am saying” (Good News Translation) or “Listen to me” (Jerusalem Bible).

Hearken to my plea represents the Septuagint; Hebrew has “listen to my enemies,” which is what Hebrew Old Testament Text Project recommends. This interpretation is followed by most modern translations, including New Revised Standard Version “listen to what my adversaries say!” Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch has “listen to what my enemies are saying!” Since the context clearly indicates that Jeremiah’s enemies are saying these things against him, Good News Translation has “listen to what my enemies are saying about me.” Revised English Bible is similar: “hear what my opponents are saying against me.”

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 .

Translation commentary on Jeremiah 20:14

Verses 14-18 are similar to Job 3.3-12. In fact, many Old Testament scholars believe the Job passage is dependent upon these verses.

For Cursed see 11.3.

For blessed see 17.7.

The ancient Hebrews thought of days as separate entities that came back each year. Thus a curse could be placed upon a day as much as upon an individual. Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch translates the verse:

• May that day be cursed on which I was born, may that day be blotted out on which my mother brought me into the world!

In Job 3.3 there is a progression of thought in the two parallel lines: the day I was born should be cursed (line 1); more, even the day I was conceived should be cursed (line 2). Here, however, Cursed be and let it not be blessed have essentially the same meaning, stated once positively and once negatively. In this case what is not clear is (1) whether Jeremiah is cursing the day of his birth, as Job clearly was, or (2) whether he is stating that the day he was born was cursed. By this second interpretation, the meaning would be “The day I was born was cursed. How could the day my mother gave birth to me have been blessed?” But most translations follow Good News Translation and Revised Standard Version here.

The verse also is an example of chiasmus (or X-structure). It begins the first line with Cursed be, and ends the second line with let it not be blessed. In the middle are the day on which I was born and The day when my mother bore me. The relationships may be seen more clearly in the diagram below:

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 .

Translation commentary on Jeremiah 22:16

In this verse judged the cause has the meaning of “defended” or “pleaded the cause of.” See 5.28.

Poor translates a noun used only here in Jeremiah. Needy occurs in 2.34 (Revised Standard Version “poor”); 5.28; 20.13. It may be equivalent in meaning to “poor” (Deut 15.4, 7, 9, 11), or else it may mean “oppressed” (Amos 4.1). Good News Translation has treated the two terms as meaning the same, and has combined them into “poor.” Other versions say “poor and oppressed” or “poor and lowly.”

Then it was well translates the Hebrew text. Luther 1984 “and it went well with him” depends on an adjustment to the Hebrew text. Some translations (Bright, New English Bible) omit this clause, assuming it to be a repetition of “Then it was well with him” in verse 15. However, Hebrew Old Testament Text Project believes the original text to have been “then it was well.” In fact, this fits fine in the context, suggesting that things went well for all because the king acted with justice. Translators should say something like “Then [or, Because of this] things were [or, went] well.”

Is this not to know me?: The negative rhetorical question of Revised Standard Version is changed into a strong statement in Good News Translation (“That is what it means to know the LORD”) and Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch (“Whoever acts in this way shows that he knows me”).

Says the LORD: See 1.8.

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 .

Translation commentary on Jeremiah 23:19

Verses 19-20 are substantially the same as 30.23-24. Some scholars believe the verses are out of place here, while others are convinced they do not fit in the context of chapter 30. But here verse 18 leads naturally into verses 19-20, which suggest that a prophet who had truly stood in the LORD’s council would know that his message at the present time was one of judgment rather than peace.

For Behold see 1.6.

Storm and tempest describe the LORD’s Wrath, referred to in verse 20 as his “anger.” This is the basis for Good News Translation “His anger is a storm, a furious wind…, 20 and it….” In Hebrew storm (so also in 30.23) and tempest (so also in 25.32; 30.23; Jonah 1.4, 12) both come from the same root and may be understood as having the same meaning.

Wrath (see 4.4) and “anger” in the next verse (see 2.35), though not from the same root, must also be considered as meaning the same thing.

Good News Translation is an excellent model for translators here. However, some have found that a simile is better than a metaphor; for example:

• The LORD’s anger is like a storm. It rushes forth like an uncontrolled tempest, blowing down on the heads of the wicked.

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 .

Translation commentary on Jeremiah 25:1

The word that came to Jeremiah: Compare 1.4; 24.4. Translators can say “Here is the message the LORD gave me” or, as in Good News Translation, “I received a message from the LORD.” Whether to state the year this happened first in the sentence, as Good News Translation does, or to begin with “Here is the message” would depend on the translator’s language. See also verse 2 below.

The fourth year of Jehoiakim was 605 B.C. (see also 36.1; 45.1; 46.2) and this was also the first year of Nebuchadnezzar. For Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, see 1.3.

As elsewhere (see 21.2), Good News Translation prefers “Nebuchadnezzar” to Nebuchadrezzar.

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 .

Translation commentary on Jeremiah 26:3

As elsewhere, listen has the meaning of “heed” or “pay attention.”

They … every one … his …: Good News Translation uses the plural throughout with “the people … their … they….”

The clause that I may repent of the evil could be understood as purpose; that is, the people will turn from their evil in order for the LORD to change his mind about destroying them. However, most translations render it as “then I will change my mind,” which seems the best way to understand this construction. Repent of the evil (see 18.8) is rendered by Good News Translation as “change my mind about the destruction.” Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch is similar. For evil with the meaning of “destruction,” see 4.6. For repent in the sense of “change your mind,” see 4.28, where Revised Standard Version has “relented.”

Their evil doings (Good News Translation “their wicked deeds”) may require restructuring; for example, “the evil things they have done.” See 4.4, where Revised Standard Version has “evil of your doings.”

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 .