532 TRANSLATION, NOTES, AND COMMENTSand because I hid my face from this city on account of all their evil. The LXX
has "from them" for "from this city." The people of the city are meant. Yah-
weh in his wrath hides his face, and the people are then punished (I8:I7;
Deut 3I:I7).- Look I am going to bring to it new fiesh and healing, and I will heal them
and I will reveal to them the sweet smell of peace and security. This "new flesh"
('arilkii) and "healing" are precisely what the people did not experience earlier
(8:22; 30: I 3). But now, after judgment, it will come (see also 30:I 7). M. Green-
berg (I 997: 736) says that here Jeremiah is announcing healing and rebuilding
without the precondition of repentance, also without a prior statement about
divine forgiveness. But pardon is announced in v 8, and repentance too may
occur even though it is not stated.
to bring to it. I.e., the city of Jerusalem. Hebrew ma'aleh-lah. GA, T, and Vg
read "to them," but reference here is to the city (see Rhetoric and Composition).
sweet smell. Hebrew 'ateret is a hapax legomenon in the OT, about which
one gets no help from the Yrs. The term has traditionally been taken as an Ara-
maic loanword (BOB), cognate to Heb '8r ("wealth") meaning "abundance"
or the like (Kim}:ii; AV; RSV; JB; NAB; NJV; NIV; cf. Prov 27:6; Ezek 35:13).
But another noun construct in Ezek 8: I I, 'atar, is commonly translated "smell
(of incense)," which would be suitable here. Yahweh, with the sweet smell of
peace and security, will reverse the present stench that is emanating from the
corpses (Holladay). In the NT, see 2 Cor 2:I5-I6.
peace and security. Hebrew salom we'emet. A hendiadys meaning "true
peace" or "lasting peace" (Giesebrecht), occurring also in 2 Kgs 20:I9. See in
addition selom 'emet in Jer I4:13. - And I will surely restore the fortunes ofludah and the fortunes o{Israel. On
the expression "restore the fortunes," which occurs again as an intensive H-
stem in vv II and 26 (Q) as it does here, see Note for 29:I4. For its thematic
importance in the Book of Restoration, see Rhetoric and Composition for
3 3: I-3. Some LXX MSS have "Jerusalem" for "Israel," which makes sense in
that the present oracle is focused on Jerusalem. But the majority reading may
nevertheless be better, since the expression as used in the Book of Restoration
promises restoration to both Israel and Judah, not simply a Jerusalemite or
Judahite remnant.
and I will build them as at first. It is the people who will be built up (cf.
30: I 9; 3 I :27). - And I will cleanse them from all their iniquity by which they sinned against
me, and I will forgive all their iniquities by which they sinned against me and by
which they rebelled against me. This repeats the promise of the new covenant
(31:34). See also 50:20 and Ezek 36:25. Restoration to divine favor requires
cleansing. - And it shall be to me a joyful name, a praise, and a glorious decoration be-
fore all the nations of the earth. I.e., Jerusalem will be, not the covenant people,
as in 13: I I (cf. T: ''And they shall become before me ... ").The LXX has "and
it shall be for joy and praise," omitting the pronominal suffix "to me" and