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Jeremiah 3:4-6
New English Translation
Jeremiah 3:4-6
New English Translation
4 Even now you say to me, ‘You are my father![a]
You have been my faithful companion ever since I was young.
5 You will not always be angry with me, will you?
You will not be mad at me forever, will you?’[b]
That is what you say,
but you continually do all the evil that you can.”[c]
6 When Josiah was king of Judah, the Lord said to me, “Jeremiah, you have no doubt seen what wayward Israel has done.[d] You have seen how she went up to every high hill and under every green tree to give herself like a prostitute to other gods.[e]
Read full chapterFootnotes
- Jeremiah 3:4 tn Heb “Have you not just now called out to me, ‘[You are] My father!’?” The rhetorical question expects a positive answer.
- Jeremiah 3:5 tn Heb “Will he keep angry forever? Will he maintain [it] to the end?” The questions are rhetorical and expect a negative answer. The change to direct address in the English translation is intended to ease the problem of the rapid transition, common in Hebrew style (but not in English), from second person direct address in the preceding lines to third person indirect address in these two lines. See GKC 462 §144.p.
- Jeremiah 3:5 tn Heb “You do the evil and you are able.” This is an example of hendiadys, meaning, “You do all the evil that you are able to do.”
- Jeremiah 3:6 tn “Have you seen…” The question is rhetorical and expects a positive answer.
- Jeremiah 3:6 tn Heb “she played the prostitute there.” This is a metaphor for Israel’s worship; she gave herself to the worship of other gods like a prostitute gives herself to her lovers. There seems no clear way to completely spell out the metaphor in the translation.
New English Translation (NET)
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