The best commentary on this verse is found in the restructuring of Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch: “The Lord says: ‘People of Judah, your sins are written in your heart and on the horns of your altars, as indelibly as an inscription carved on a stone tablet by a chisel with a diamond point.’ ” The translation does not use the word “iron,” but this element is clearly present in the word “chisel.” Moreover, the tablet of their heart (Revised Standard Version) is simply the equivalent of “their heart.” Finally, both Good News Translation and Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch have shifted from the third person reference (the sin of Judah) to a second person reference, equivalent to a noun of address.

It is quite possible, as some commentators point out, that in the last part of the verse the author is using the picture of a sin offering. Israel’s sin is so deeply engraved on the horns of their altars that even a sin offering cannot wash it away. The horns were projections on the corners of the altars.

In many languages the passive is written has to be translated with an active verb and an agent. Who wrote about the sin of Judah? There are problems with both “God” and with “the people” being the ones who wrote, and as a result translators need another type of comparison. See the suggested translation of the verse below.

Another problem is the word diamond. One commentator points out that diamonds probably were not known in that part of the world at that time. A very hard stone was probably being referred to in the Hebrew text, perhaps emery.

A further problem is deciding whether the meaning of the figure is that the sins of the people have been so great that they can’t be erased, or, as Revised English Bible has it, the sins have been engraved as a witness against the people. Most interpreters accept the first possibility.

Keeping all these points in mind, a possible translation is:

• People of Judah, your sins are a part of you. It is as if someone wrote them on your heart and on the horns [or, corners] of your altars like they would take a metal chisel with a hard point and engrave them on stone tablets.

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 .