The LORD of hosts: See 2.19; the expression last occurred in 6.6. For Thus says the LORD, see 2.2.

Glean thoroughly means to harvest the fruit or grain completely. As the Revised Standard Version footnote indicates, the imperative form Glean does not represent the Hebrew, which has “they shall glean.” Jerusalem Bible and Revised English Bible (with a footnote), along with New American Bible, Moffatt, and An American Translation (without a footnote), accept the understanding of the Hebrew as reflected in Revised Standard Version. However, there is no textual basis for this change, and Hebrew Old Testament Text Project prefers that the Hebrew be translated as it stands: “They shall glean thoroughly.” New International Version apparently attempts a middle-of-the-road position (“Let them glean”), while Good News Translation (“Israel will be stripped clean”) follows the Hebrew. For many readers “stripped clean” may suggest destruction rather than rescue. Thus Good News Translation interprets the imagery: “So you must rescue everyone you can while there is still time.” Another way to express the meaning is “They will examine Israel carefully to rescue what remains, just as a grape harvester gleans the vines to find the fruit that remains.” Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch accomplishes the same goal in a different way: “As one gleans a vineyard, so also those who remain of Israel must be gleaned. As the hand of the grape gatherer goes through all the vines one last time, so you must turn yourself to these people one last time!” Understood in this sense, verse 9 picks up the thought of 5.1. Jeremiah is told to continue his search for a righteous person; however, the search is in vain, as the following verses indicate. Translators who interpret the gleaning to refer to destruction rather than rescue could have something similar to Contemporary English Version: “I will tell your enemies to leave your nation bare like a vine stripped of grapes.” For vine see 2.21.

The remnant of Israel, as seen in the preceding paragraph, refers to those who remain of the people of Israel after the catastrophe of being defeated and carried into exile. In some cases in the Bible, the term relates to an insignificant group that is left, and in other texts these survivors are seen to be the basis for building a new community. In either case translators can have simply “those who remain of the people of Israel.”

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 .