O LORD, thou hast deceived me, and I was deceived: Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch has “You deceived me, Lord, and I let myself be deceived,” which is the best way to interpret the Hebrew text. In Exo 22.16 the verb deceived is used of “seducing” a virgin, and in 1Kgs 22.20-23 it is used of the lying spirit that deceives Ahab. An alternative translation for deceived in this context is “persuaded,” as in the New International Version footnote.

Thou art stronger than I, and thou hast prevailed: In place of the and construction, it is possible to reverse the order of the clauses and use a causative construction; for example, “You overpowered me, because you are stronger than I am.”

Laughingstock: The same word is found in 48.26, 27, 39, where it is rendered “derision” by Revised Standard Version. The word may be used of anything that people laugh at in a mocking way. Therefore for this line translators can say “I have become someone [or, something] for people to laugh at….”

Mocks: The basic meaning of this word, which occurs only here in Jeremiah, is “stammer in someone’s face,” with the derived meaning of “mock” or “ridicule,” which in some languages is simply expressed as “make fun of.” Note its occurrence in 2Kgs 19.21, where Revised Standard Version renders “scorns.”

One commentator points out that the expression in the Hebrew text which is translated every one in Revised Standard Version should really be translated “the whole of it,” referring to all the day in the previous line, and it should then be seen as the subject of the verb mocks. The meaning, then, is “I am a laughingstock all day long; even the day makes fun of me [or, the day itself makes fun of me].” The second part of the parallel structure goes beyond the first one.

Quoted with permission from Newman, Barclay M. and Stine, Philip C. A Handbook on Jeremiah. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 2003. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .