Jeremiah 17:10-12
New English Translation
10 I, the Lord, probe into people’s minds.
I examine people’s hearts.[a]
I deal with each person according to how he has behaved.
I give them what they deserve based on what they have done.
11 The person who gathers wealth by unjust means
is like the partridge that broods over eggs but does not hatch them.[b]
Before his life is half over he will lose his ill-gotten gains.[c]
At the end of his life it will be clear he was a fool.”[d]
Jeremiah Appeals to the Lord for Vindication
12 Then I said,[e]
“Lord, from the very beginning
you have been seated on your glorious throne on high.
You are the place where we can find refuge.
Footnotes
- Jeremiah 17:10 tn The term rendered “mind” here and in the previous verse is actually the Hebrew word for “heart.” However, in combination with the word rendered “heart” in the next line, which is the Hebrew for “kidneys,” it is best rendered “mind” because the “heart” was considered the center of intellect, conscience, and will, and the “kidneys,” the center of emotions.sn For an earlier reference to this motif see Jer 11:20. For a later reference see Jer 20:12. See also Ps 17:2-3.
- Jeremiah 17:11 tn The meaning of this line is somewhat uncertain. The word translated “broods over” occurs only here and Isa 34:15. It is often defined on the basis of an Aramaic cognate that means “to gather,” with an extended meaning of “to gather together under her to hatch.” Many commentators go back to a rabbinic explanation that the partridge steals the eggs of other birds and hatches them out only to see the birds depart when they recognize that she is not the mother. Modern studies question the validity of this zoologically. Moreover, W. L. Holladay contests the validity on the basis of the wording “and she does not hatch them” (Heb “bring them to birth”). See W. L. Holladay, Jeremiah (Hermeneia), 1:498, and see also P. C. Craigie, P. H. Kelley, J. F. Drinkard, Jeremiah 1-25 (WBC), 229. The point of the comparison is that the rich gather their wealth but they do not get to see the fruits of it.
- Jeremiah 17:11 tn The Hebrew text merely says “it.” But the antecedent might be ambiguous in English, so the reference to wealth gained by unjust means is here reiterated for clarity.
- Jeremiah 17:11 tn Heb “he will be [= prove to be] a fool.”
- Jeremiah 17:12 tn The words “Then I said” are not in the text. They are supplied in the translation for clarity to show the shift in speaker.sn The Lord is no longer threatening judgment but is being addressed. For a similar doxological interruption, compare Jer 16:19-20.
Jeremiah 17:10-12
New International Version
10 “I the Lord search the heart(A)
and examine the mind,(B)
to reward(C) each person according to their conduct,
according to what their deeds deserve.”(D)
11 Like a partridge that hatches eggs it did not lay
are those who gain riches by unjust means.
When their lives are half gone, their riches will desert them,
and in the end they will prove to be fools.(E)
12 A glorious throne,(F) exalted from the beginning,
is the place of our sanctuary.
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