Jeremiah 6:6-8

New English Translation

Footnotes

1. Jeremiah 6:6 tn Heb “For.” The translation attempts to make the connection clearer.
2. Jeremiah 6:6 tn Heb “Yahweh of Armies.”sn For an explanation of the significance of this title see the study note on 2:19.
3. Jeremiah 6:6 tn Heb “Cut down its trees and build up a siege ramp against Jerusalem.” The referent has been moved forward from the second line for clarity.
4. Jeremiah 6:6 tn Or “has been appointed.” The meaning of this line is uncertain. The LXX reads, “Woe, city of falsehood!” The MT presents a masculine singular verb with a feminine singular subject. The verb פָּקַד (paqad) in the Hophal verbal stem elsewhere means “to be appointed, designated.” It is used of officials who have been appointed to tasks or of leaving something deposited with someone. Hence many follow the Greek, which presupposes הוֹי עִיר הַשֶּׁקֶר (hoy ʿir hasheqer) instead of הִיא הָעִיר הָפְקַד (hiʾ haʿir hofqad). The Greek is the easier reading in light of the parallelism, and it would be hard to explain how the MT arose from it. KBL suggests reading a noun meaning “licentiousness” that occurs elsewhere only in Mishnaic Hebrew, hence “this is the city, the licentious one” (attributive apposition; cf. KBL 775 s.v. פֶּקֶר). Perhaps the Hophal perfect (הָפְקַד, hofqad) should be revocalized as a Niphal infinitive absolute (הִפָּקֹד, hippaqod), which would solve both anomalies in the MT since the Niphal is used in this nuance and the infinitive absolute can function in place of a finite verb (cf. GKC 346 §113.ee and ff). This change, however, is mere speculation and is supported by no Hebrew ms.
5. Jeremiah 6:6 tn Heb “All of it oppression in its midst.”
6. Jeremiah 6:7 tc Heb “As a well makes cool/fresh its water, she makes cool/fresh her wickedness.” The translation follows the reading proposed by the Masoretes (Qere) which reads a rare form of the word “well” (בַּיִר [bayir] for בְּאֵר [b^eʾer]) in place of the form written in the text (Kethib, בּוֹר [bor]), which means “cistern.” The latter noun is masculine and the pronoun “its” is feminine. If indeed בַּיִר (bayir) is a byform of בְּאֵר (b^eʾer), which is feminine, it would agree in gender with the pronoun. It also forms a more appropriate comparison since cisterns do not hold fresh water.
7. Jeremiah 6:7 tn Heb “Violence and destruction are heard in it.”
8. Jeremiah 6:7 tn Heb “Sickness and wound are continually before my face.”
9. Jeremiah 6:8 tn This word is not in the text but is supplied in the translation. Jeremiah uses a figure of speech (enallage) where the speaker turns from talking about someone to address him/her directly.
10. Jeremiah 6:8 tn Heb “lest my soul [= I] becomes disgusted with you.”sn The wordplay begun with “sound…in Tekoa” in v. 1 and continued with “encamp” (they will pitch [their tents]) in v. 3 is concluded here with “turn away in disgust” (תֵּקַע [teqaʿ]), which uses the same consonants although built now on the root יָקַע (yaqaʿ).