518 TRANSLATION, NOTES, AND COMMENTS
for them to do this abomination. Hebrew la<asat hatto<eba hazzo>t, where
"for them" is added in translation to make it clear that the people, not Yahweh,
has been doing the abomination. On this phrase, see Note for 2:7. The desig-
nation of i<lolatry as an ";ihomination" (to<eba) is the common language of
Deuteronomy (Deut 7:25, 26; 13:15[Eng 13:14]; 17:4; 18:9; 20:18), appearing
here and elsewhere in Jeremiah (16:18; 44:2, 22). The first occurrence is in
Deut 32: 16 (Weinfeld l 972b: 323).
to make ... sin. Q: habaW; the Kt lost an >aleph by haplography (double
>aleph in succession).
- But now after this. Hebrew wi!'atta laken, where we<atta signals a dis-
course shift (see Note for 2:18), in this case from present to future. In this or-
acle and the one following, Yahweh announces his future plans for an eternal
covenant and a resumption of land purchases in Judah. For the translation of
laken as "after this" in oracles of salvation, see Note on 16: 14. The LXX and S
omit laken, but it is translated in Aq, T, and Vg.
to this city of which you are saying, 'It has been given into the hand of the
king of Babylon by sword and by famine and by pestilence.' The LXX omits the
demonstrative on "this city," has a singular "you say" ( su legeis ), and has "by
sword and by famine and by exile (kai en apostole)." Aquila and Symm both
have the demontrative pronoun (tauten) and "by pestilence" (en loimo), and
the other Yrs have the plural verb, hymeis legete (Field 187 5: 667). A singular
verb assumes that Yahweh is answering what Jeremiah stated in his prayer
(v 24), but a plural verb assumes that .others have joined Jeremiah in saying
that Lite city will be taken by the Babylonians. Compare the LXX's sing11 Lir
"you say" in v 43, which prece<les a quotation not in Jeremiah's prayer. In both
cases Yahweh is addressing a plaint made by the people of Jerusalem. Another
"you say," plural, occurs in 33:10.
3 7. Look I am going to gather them from all the lands where I dispersed them
in my anger and in my wrath and in great fury, and I will bring them back to this
place and settle them in security. On Yahweh's gathering the people that he
scattered and returning them to the land of Judah, see Note for 31:8.
in my anger and in my wrath and in great fury. On this triad, see Note for
21:5. Yahweh's "fury" (qe$ep) makes the earth quake, leaving it a desolate
wasteland ( 10: 10; 50: 13).
in security. Hebrew labetab. See 23:6 [= 33:16]; and Isa 32:17. Yahweh's
original promise to Israel of settlement in the land was so that the people would
live in security (Deut 12: 10).
- And they will be a people to me, and I, I will be God to them. The stan-
dard covenant formula (see Note for 7:23), included also in the "new cove-
nant" oracle ( 31:3 3). The repetition of the pronoun "I" puts the emphasis
here on Yahweh, as happens also in the formulas of 11:4; 24:7; and 30:22. But
in the formulas of 7:23; 31:1, and 33, a repeated "they" puts the emphasis on
the people.
- And I will give them one heart and one way to fear me all the days, for their
own good and for their children after them. Yahweh promises here to give the
