Wickedness translates the same noun rendered “evil” in 1.14. In the second line of this verse, which is parallel to the first, the nature of the wickedness is defined as apostasy. The noun apostasy (see also 3.6, 8, 11-12, 22; 5.6; 8.5; 14.7, passages in which Revised Standard Version usually renders it “faithless” or “backsliding”) literally means “a turning away from,” and so Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch translates “you turned your backs to me.” Similarly Good News Translation has “your turning from me.” Luther 1984 translates “your disobedience.”

It is difficult to distinguish in meaning between the verbs translated chasten and reprove. Both verbs contain the notion of punishment or discipline which is intended to awaken the hearers to the error of their ways. It would in fact be possible to translate the first two lines of this verse as “You refuse to obey me, so I will punish you because of this evil thing that you have done.”

Since wickedness is more general than apostasy, which means turning from God, translators may want to make the progression of the parallel lines evident by using a slightly stronger word for reprove than chasten, or a word with a narrower sense. Revised English Bible, for example, has “punish” in the first line and “condemn” in the second.

There is no way to distinguish between the meanings of know and see in this context. The use of two verbs of similar meaning is a Hebrew way of making an emphatic statement. Both Good News Translation and Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch use only one verb in place of the two: “You will learn…” (Good News Translation).

Evil and wickedness come from the same root word, and there is no way to distinguish between the two meanings.

Bitter may be used literally of substances such as water (Exo 15.23) or figuratively of experiences such as death (1Sam 15.32). Good News Translation reverses the order of evil and bitter (“how bitter and wrong it is”), while Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch has “how much suffering and misfortune it brings.” A problem for some translators comes because their language requires that they state who it is bitter for. Is it for the people or for God, or just that in general it is a bad and bitter thing to forsake God? It seems obvious that the point is that the people will learn how bitter things can be for them if they abandon God. For some, the Good News Translation model “You will learn how bitter and wrong it is” solves this problem. Others have “You will learn that evil and bitter things will happen to you.”

Forsake translates the same verb used in 1.16.

For the LORD your God, see verse 17.

The fear of me is not in you, though acceptable Hebrew, is unacceptable English. The concept of fear, when used with God as object, is difficult to define. In Hebrew thought to “fear the LORD” is to acknowledge his absolute sovereignty and at the same time to rest assured of his covenant love. It is to worship and serve the LORD in awe and wonder, fully confident of his absolute power to bless or to punish. A number of translations have attempted to express this in a more meaningful way: “stand in awe of” (New Jerusalem Bible), “revere” (New English Bible), “have … awe of” (New International Version), “have … reverence for” (Moffatt), and “to take seriously” (Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch). “No longer to remain faithful to” in Good News Translation is quite far from this interpretation.

Says the Lord GOD of hosts is essentially the same as “says the LORD” discussed at 1.8, except that in this verse a different name is used. For Lord GOD, see 1.6. Of hosts is an expression frequently used in the Old Testament of God. It is generally assumed that the phrase originally referred to the multitude of forces that God had at his command. But there is no consensus among scholars concerning the origin of the phrase, whether the hosts referred to were Israel’s soldiers, the LORD’s angels, or the stars, all of which God might use to strike down his enemies. Some translations have had names such as “LORD of all the forces [or, powers]” or “LORD of all the armies.” But Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch is perhaps best: “the Lord of the entire world.”

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 .