Translation commentary on Jeremiah 1:9

By a symbolic action the LORD gives Jeremiah the message that he is to proclaim. This is a very significant moment in Jeremiah’s ministry, since elsewhere Jeremiah is spoken of as the LORD’s mouth (15.19). In the call of Isaiah one of the seraphim touches his mouth with a burning coal that had been taken from the altar (Isa 6.6-7). But the significance of the two actions is quite different: in Isaiah it is a sign of the purification of his lips from sin (Isa 6.7), while here it is the means by which the prophet is simultaneously dedicated to his task and given his message.

Put forth his hand is variously rendered as “stretched out his hand” (New English Bible) or simply “reached out” (Good News Translation). Whether it is natural to keep his hand or not will vary in different languages. Or hand can even be moved to the end of the second clause: “Then the LORD reached out and touched my mouth with his hand.” Although the Hebrew has touched my mouth … put my words in your mouth, it may be more natural in some languages to use “lips” (so Good News Translation and Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch). In many respects Jeremiah is portrayed as the successor to Moses, and so it is of some significance that what is said here is similar to the promise that the LORD gave to Moses in Deut 18.18: “I will raise up for them a prophet like you from among their brethren; and I will put my words in his mouth, and he shall speak to them all that I command him.”

And the LORD said to me: And is simply marking here that the narration is continuing. In some languages no such transition is necessary. Also, it is not always natural to repeat the LORD, so New American Bible has “… touched my mouth saying….”

For Behold see the discussion at verse 6.

In many languages the expression put my words in your mouth will be understood easily by readers. Others will find “giving you the words you must speak” (Good News Translation) more natural. See also Bible en français courant, “It is you who will pronounce [or, speak] my words.”

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 2:23

Beginning with this verse the LORD defines in precise terms what it is that has caused “the stain of Israel’s guilt” (verse 22). And in so doing, he rejects every argument by which Israel claims to be innocent.

How can you say? has been translated by Traduction œcuménique de la Bible as “How dare you say?” This conveys the thrust of the rhetorical question quite well. We may also say “There is no way you can say.”

Defiled translates the same verb used in 2.7.

Gone after is here used in the sense of “worship” (Good News Translation) or “be devoted to” (Luther 1984). Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch translates the negative form of this verb as “I had nothing to do with the Baals!” Like Good News Translation, translators can render the plural Baals by the singular form. Baal is first mentioned in 2.8 (see there).

The valley is identified by most scholars as the Valley of Hinnom, which flanked Jerusalem on the south. In this valley the people of Israel practiced child sacrifice and other rituals that were disgusting to the LORD (7.31-32; 19.2-6; 32.35). 2Kgs 23.10 says, “King Josiah also desecrated Topheth, the pagan place of worship in Hinnom Valley, so that no one could sacrifice his son or daughter as a burnt offering to the god Molech” (Good News Translation). But evidently at the time of Jeremiah these heathen practices had been revived. Translators will not, of course, put the identification in the text. The noun construction at your way means “what you have done” (Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch), which is made clear in Good News Translation with “how you sinned.”

Know translates the same verb used in 1.5. Luther 1984 has “consider” and Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch “let it become clear to you.”

The adjective restive (so also An American Translation) is more literally “quick” or “swift” (Moffatt, Bright, Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch). But since the picture is obviously that of a “she-camel” (New American Bible, Revised English Bible, Bright) in heat, the context suggests the meaning of “frantic” (Jerusalem Bible) or “frenzied” (New American Bible).

Interlacing her tracks is best taken in the sense of “running in all directions” (Jerusalem Bible). Revised English Bible effectively translates the entire line as “you have been like a she-camel, twisting and turning as she runs.”

In many parts of the world camels are not known. Translators have sometimes rendered young camel as “young animal,” but this is too general. “Young domestic animal” is slightly better, and translators could also have “young domestic animal called camel,” borrowing the name and transliterating it. Another possibility is to use some animal that is known, as in “young donkey” or “young horse,” or to try “young animal like a horse.” (But keep in mind that a wild ass or donkey is in the next verse.) But the rendering here should not get so awkward that it obscures the rather sharp image of the biblical text.

It will be helpful in many cases to make the comparison clear from the beginning, as in “Be aware of what you have done. You are like a frantic young female camel running around in all directions” or “Look at what you’re doing! You are running around in all directions like a wild camel in heat.”

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 3:18

In those days translates the same expression used in verse 16; it is equivalent to “At that time” in verse 17. It may not be natural to retain this phrase (so Good News Translation) if readers recognize readily that this is a continuation of the message from the previous verse.

The house of Judah is simply a way of saying “the people of Judah.” Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch effectively uses a second person noun of address: “You people of Judah will unite with the people of Israel….” Note that in this example they would have to be “you.” This would link well with your fathers at the end of the verse.

The land of the north here includes both Assyria and Babylonia, reflecting the fall of Samaria in 722 B.C. and the fall of Jerusalem in 586 B.C. These were the lands to which Israel and Judah were carried into exile, hence “come from exile” (Good News Translation). But other translators may choose to retain from the land of the north and put the information concerning exile into a footnote.

Gave … for a heritage translates one verb in Hebrew, which Good News Translation and Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch render “gave … as a permanent possession.” The verb is used in this same sense in 12.14.

Fathers here indicates “ancestors” (Good News Translation, Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch), as in 2.5.

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 4:25

There was no man: The absence of man (Good News Translation “people”) on the earth is a further indication of its chaotic state. It is significant that the word used here of man is the same as that found in the first chapter of Genesis. Good News Translation has rendered this first line “I saw that there were no people.”

Birds of the air is simply a Hebrew way of saying “birds.” Since it is slightly odd in many languages to say the birds … had fled, the Good News Translation expression “the birds had flown away” is often a useful model. According to Hos 4.3 and Zeph 1.3, birds and animals alike will disappear before God executes his judgment.

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 5:27

Basket is found in the Old Testament elsewhere only in Amos 8.1-2, where it is used of a container for fruit. Here it has the meaning of “cage” (New Jerusalem Bible, Revised English Bible, Good News Translation). A basket full of birds would then refer to the caged birds caught by the hunter: “Just as a hunter fills his cage with birds” (Good News Translation) and “As the cage of the bird hunter is full of captured birds” (Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch).

Full of treachery actually means “full of [things gotten by] treachery.” Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch renders “things that were gotten unjustly.” The restructuring of Good News Translation (“they have filled their houses with loot”) suggests that the possessions were gotten by wrong methods, though the meaning of treachery or “deceit” is lacking. It might be better to say “they have filled their houses with things they obtained by trickery [or, fraud].” Elsewhere in Jeremiah the noun treachery occurs only in 9.6 (Revised Standard Version “deceit upon deceit”) and 9.8 (Revised Standard Version “deceitfully”).

Great translates a Hebrew word that covers a wide range of meaning. Here it probably has the meaning of “powerful,” as several translations indicate: “rich and powerful” (New Jerusalem Bible, New International Version) and “powerful and rich” (Good News Translation, New American Bible).

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 6:29

This verse reflects the ancient method of refining silver. Lead was heated together with the silver ore, and in the process it would oxidize and carry off the other unwanted metals, leaving pure silver. Jeremiah is saying of the people that they are so impure that even lead cannot carry off the impurities, and so no “silver” emerges.

Some readers will find bellows difficult to understand, and it may be wise to shift to the picture of a furnace: “The furnace burns fiercely” (Good News Translation). Even if bellows are known, it may help readers to say “The bellows make the furnace fires burn fiercely.” It might also be necessary to say “the furnace for refining metal.”

The lead … goes on will quite possibly also be misunderstood by many readers. Perhaps here too the solution of Good News Translation is much clearer: “… but the waste metals do not melt and run off. It is useless to go on refining my people….”

Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch introduces the imagery of the furnace at the beginning of the verse, though without identifying the wicked as the people of Israel: “The bellows blew fiercely, but nothing came from the furnace. All effort was useless: the lead did not separate; no pure silver was produced.” It may be helpful to make the comparison quite clear, and render the whole verse as follows:

• My people are like an impure metal [or, silver] which, if you try to refine it, even if the bellows make the fire fiercely hot, the waste metals do not run off. The refining is in vain. So, too, my people are so wicked the evil among them can’t be separated out.

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 7:33

This verse is paralleled (with the exception of the last clause) in 16.4; 19.7. But see also 34.20 and Deut 28.26. Death without burial was considered a gruesome fate (see Isa 18.6). For birds of the air, see 4.25. Beasts of the earth is simply a Hebrew way of saying “wild animals.”

Frighten … away translates a verb that more literally means “startle” or “cause to tremble”; it is used again in 30.10; 46.27, where Revised Standard Version renders “make … afraid.”

The entire verse may be rendered in one of the following ways:

• Birds and wild animals will gorge themselves on the corpses, and there will be no one to scare them off.

• Their bodies will be food for the birds and wild animals; no one will be left to frighten them away.

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 9:12

Verses 12-16 are a commentary on verses 10-11, explaining the reason for the threatened destruction. In verse 12 Jeremiah asks why this destruction is coming. This is answered in verses 13-14. Then verses 15-16 restate the terrible destiny that the LORD has in store for his people.

In the translation of verse 12, both Good News Translation and Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch place the third question raised by Jeremiah first (Why is the land … so that no one passes through?). This restructuring has the advantage of making an immediate tie between verses 12-16 and verses 10-11. Translators who retain the order of the text should at least be sure that the translation makes it clear that this in the first question and it in the second refer to the question that follows, the third one about why the land is ruined. Whereas Good News Translation retains the question form, Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch shifts to a statement to begin: “The land is….” However, even if translators retain the questions, they may need to restructure them slightly, as in “Is there any person wise enough…?” or “Isn’t there anyone wise enough…?” for the first, and “Has the LORD explained this to anyone…?” or “Isn’t there someone the LORD has explained this to…?” for the second.

Who is the man so wise is translated “Who is wise enough” by Good News Translation, thus doing away with the masculine imagery.

To whom has the mouth of the LORD spoken retains the Hebrew form of the expression, which Good News Translation translates more naturally as “To whom have you [the LORD] explained it.” Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch identifies the person the LORD spoke to as a prophet: “Is there no wise person who can explain this, a prophet to whom the Lord has revealed it and who can tell us?”

In translation it may be necessary to indicate who the person tells what the LORD has told him. Both Good News Translation (“they can tell others”) and Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch (“who can tell us”) give this indication.

For laid waste and no one passes through, see verse 10.

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 .