Now the word of the LORD came to me saying: Revised Standard Version represents a literal rendering of the Hebrew text. Both Good News Translation and Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch shift to a construction that is more natural for their readers: “The LORD said to me.” In 1.1 a third person reference was used for Jeremiah, but here he is referred to in the first person.

A significant problem for some translators of Jeremiah will be the matter of direct and indirect (or reported) speech.

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 .

Before I formed you in the womb is similar to the words of the “servant of the LORD” (Isa 49.1, 5) and of Paul (Gal 1.15). The idea is expressed in Good News Translation by “before I gave you life” and in Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch by “Before I called you into life.” In thought the statement is parallel to before you were born. Both expressions affirm Jeremiah’s conviction that God had destined him to be a prophet, even before his conception and birth. In some languages it is quite natural and not too high a level of language to retain womb, often in a phrase such as “your mother’s womb.” It must be clear, of course, that this is not a case of God causing the prophet’s mother to conceive, as with Mary, the mother of Jesus. Rather, God’s hand is seen as active in all things.

Scholars agree that the Hebrew word translated knew covers a much larger area of meaning than that of intellectual knowledge. When used of human beings it refers to the closest relationship possible; and when God is subject it describes his complete understanding of the total person as a thinking, willing, and feeling being. In the present context it has the more restricted meaning of “choose,” as it does in Gen 18.19; Hos 13.5; Amos 3.2. New English Bible translates I knew you as “I knew you for my own,” while Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch has “I had a plan for you.” Notice that Good News Translation has reversed the order of the first part of the verse: “I chose you before I gave you life.” This may be more natural in other languages as well, although the order in the text is not unusual in English poetry.

Consecrated comes from a verb that is often translated “make holy.” However, in the biblical context the word is not used in an ethical sense (“make sinless”) but in a religious sense (“set apart to the service of God”). In the present context consecrated is parallel to knew, and so Good News Translation translates the two verbs as “I chose … I selected.” Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch uses an idiomatic expression of the same meaning for consecrated: “I had already laid my hand on you.” However, here is an example of parallel lines where the second part adds to the first. The meaning, stated fully, is: “Before I gave you life I knew you; in fact, before you were born I had selected you for my service.” In translation “in fact” might not be necessary, of course.

I appointed you a prophet to the nations: This line expands on the verb consecrated. The service for which Jeremiah was selected was to be a prophet. Again, there is the temptation to collapse the last two lines of this verse into “Before you were born I had selected you to serve me as my prophet.” But there is a progression of ideas in the lines of this verse which would be lost in this restructuring: I knew you, I set you aside, I gave you an appointment. Translators should try to retain this. More than “elect” or “choose,” appointed means to name someone to a post or position. Thus only someone in authority can appoint. If there is no one word for this, translators can use “made” or “gave you the task” or “assigned you to be.”

Great care must be taken in the translation of the word prophet. The primary role of the Old Testament prophet was to speak God’s message to the people of his own day. Too often translators have wanted to render this as “future teller” or “seer”; but even when the prophets did speak of the future (only a small part of the time), it was in the context of delivering the word that God had given them. “God’s spokesman” is therefore a better rendering. Most translators working on Jeremiah will have already struggled with prophet in the New Testament, and they should use the same term here (assuming they rendered it correctly in the New Testament!). It should be distinguished from “angel,” usually translated “messenger [from God],” and “apostle,” a term referring to someone sent with a particular commission.

To the nations: As one scholar notes, the meaning to be understood here is not merely that Jeremiah is to proclaim God’s word to the non-Jewish peoples (something he actually did in his own time), but also that his prophetic message will have a continuing value for the nations even after the fall of Judah. Moreover, in the context in which Jeremiah lived, it was impossible to deliver a message to his own nation that in some manner or another did not also have relevance for the international scene. The nations, therefore, can be rendered by “all nations.” If nations itself is a problem, then translators can use “all peoples,” “all countries,” or possibly “all kingdoms.” But since Judah is included, it would certainly be wrong to use the term for “gentiles.”

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 .

This verse records Jeremiah’s response to the divine call. It is a feeling of inadequacy, such as Moses experienced at the time of his call (Exo 4.10).

Ah represents a cry of alarm; it appears several times in the Old Testament when a person is in the presence of God or his angel (Josh 7.7; Jdg 6.22; Jer 4.10; 14.13; 32.17; Ezek 4.14; 9.8; 11.13; 20.49). Good News Translation does not represent this exclamation by a word in the text. Bible en français courant uses Hélas (“Alas”).

Lord GOD is translated “Sovereign LORD” by Good News Translation and “my Lord and God” by Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch.

Behold translates an attention-getter; it is represented by “see” in New Jerusalem Bible, but it has no verbal equivalent in Good News Translation, New International Version, New American Bible, or New English Bible. This word is best looked upon as a formal feature of the Hebrew text, and as such it should not be slavishly reproduced in translation, although “Look” is appropriate in many languages.

I do not know how to speak must not be taken to indicate that Jeremiah could not speak. Among the translations the meaning is perhaps best expressed by Luther 1984: “I am not fit to preach.” Another good way to express it is “I don’t know how to speak in public.”

Youth is used of the infant Moses (Exo 2.6) and of the young man Absalom (2 Sam 18.5). Thus it is impossible to determine Jeremiah’s age on the basis of its usage here. The Septuagint has “I am too young,” which is also the choice of several modern translations (Good News Translation, Traduction œcuménique de la Bible, Luther 1984, Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch). New Revised Standard Version has “for I am only a boy”; New International Version has “I am only a child,” but since we cannot know Jeremiah’s exact age at this time, only that he was less than thirty years old, this may be too restrictive. Bible en français courant has restructured the second part of the verse: “I am too young to speak in public.”

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 .

I am only a youth should be rendered in this verse as in the previous one.

For to all to whom I send you you shall go is an awkward construction in English. The Hebrew equivalent is that of an imperative: “but go to the people I send you to” (Good News Translation) or “Go wherever I send you” (Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch). “You must go to everyone I send you to” (New International Version) is also good. In some languages it is more natural to say “You must go to wherever I send you.” If go by itself would not be natural, “go see” (Bible en français courant) is possible.

And whatever I command you you shall speak is also somewhat awkward; Luther 1984 has “and preach everything that I command you.” “Say whatever I tell you to say” (New English Bible) is also good. However, the important point is that these two lines have parallel or similar structures, and translators, too, often try to render the lines with similar structures.

Command may require some object such as in “command you to say.” It is also necessary in some languages to indicate who Jeremiah is to speak to. Since it is the people the LORD will send him to, a rendering similar to Bible en français courant can be used: “You must go [and] see all those I send you to, and say to them all that I command you.”

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 .

This verse contains both a command (Be not afraid of them) and a statement in the form of a promise (for I am with you to deliver you). In other contexts the verb translated deliver may mean “recover” (Jdg 11.26) or “take away” (Gen 31.9); here it obviously has the meaning of “protect” (Good News Translation, Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch), “rescue” (New International Version, New Jerusalem Bible), or “keep … safe” (New English Bible). For Jeremiah this was a much needed word of encouragement, because he seems to have suffered more at the hands of his own people than did any other prophet.

Says the LORD translates a Hebrew noun construction that may more literally be rendered “pronouncement of the LORD.” The noun “pronouncement” occurs more than a hundred times in the book of Jeremiah, usually in this construction. The expression says the LORD is similar to “Thus says the LORD” (see the discussion at 2.2), and is rendered like it in some translations, although if translators can retain two different expressions, that is better. It affirms that a message comes from the LORD and is therefore an important element of the text. It should be understood as authoritative, something to which people should pay attention.

As a rule this expression comes at the end of a saying, though it may also occur either at the beginning or in the middle. For English readers it is sometimes awkward to handle translationally, because it occurs with such frequency and in contexts where it is unexpected. As a rule, Good News Translation renders it as a statement: “I, the LORD, have spoken!” Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch here translates “I, the Lord, say this.” New English Bible has “This was the very word of the LORD.”

Often at the beginning of a pronouncement from the LORD, an expression, such as “Thus says the LORD,” is used in translation; but “Listen to what the LORD says” would be much better, because it has an imperative force, calling the readers or listeners to do something, and it is more natural as well. At the end of a message, as in this verse, translators can follow the models in the above paragraph or use sentences such as “That is what the LORD says,” “This word is from the LORD,” or “It is I, the LORD, who says this.” Since these expressions will occur throughout Jeremiah, translators should be sure to treat them consistently.

One problem for translators is to decide whether says the LORD is part of the words of the LORD, and therefore something included within the quotation marks, as in Good News Translation, or a statement of the writer, as in New English Bible, New International Version and Bible en français courant (“That is what the Lord declared to me”). Although there is some reason to prefer the latter, either seems acceptable, and translators will probably do whatever seems most natural in their language.

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 .

By a symbolic action the LORD gives Jeremiah the message that he is to proclaim. This is a very significant moment in Jeremiah’s ministry, since elsewhere Jeremiah is spoken of as the LORD’s mouth (15.19). In the call of Isaiah one of the seraphim touches his mouth with a burning coal that had been taken from the altar (Isa 6.6-7). But the significance of the two actions is quite different: in Isaiah it is a sign of the purification of his lips from sin (Isa 6.7), while here it is the means by which the prophet is simultaneously dedicated to his task and given his message.

Put forth his hand is variously rendered as “stretched out his hand” (New English Bible) or simply “reached out” (Good News Translation). Whether it is natural to keep his hand or not will vary in different languages. Or hand can even be moved to the end of the second clause: “Then the LORD reached out and touched my mouth with his hand.” Although the Hebrew has touched my mouth … put my words in your mouth, it may be more natural in some languages to use “lips” (so Good News Translation and Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch). In many respects Jeremiah is portrayed as the successor to Moses, and so it is of some significance that what is said here is similar to the promise that the LORD gave to Moses in Deut 18.18: “I will raise up for them a prophet like you from among their brethren; and I will put my words in his mouth, and he shall speak to them all that I command him.”

And the LORD said to me: And is simply marking here that the narration is continuing. In some languages no such transition is necessary. Also, it is not always natural to repeat the LORD, so New American Bible has “… touched my mouth saying….”

For Behold see the discussion at verse 6.

In many languages the expression put my words in your mouth will be understood easily by readers. Others will find “giving you the words you must speak” (Good News Translation) more natural. See also Bible en français courant, “It is you who will pronounce [or, speak] my words.”

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 .

See (so also New International Version) is translated “Look” by New Jerusalem Bible; in function this word is an attention-getter, similar to “Behold” in verse 9, and it is left out as unnecessary by a number of translations (Good News Translation, Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch, New English Bible, An American Translation [An American Translation]).

The Hebrew verb translated set … over is translated “made … overseer” by Revised Standard Version in Gen 39.4. That is also the rendering given the text by Bright (Anchor Bible) here; both Good News Translation and New English Bible have “give … authority over.” In Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch the first part of verse 10 is rendered “From today on you have power over people and kingdoms.” New International Version and Bible en français courant interpret the word to mean “appoint” or “entrust” with similar meaning to the word in verse 5. So New International Version has “today I appoint you over nations…” and Bible en français courant “today I entrust [or, assign] you with a task that concerns nations….”

Kingdoms are, of course, themselves nations with kings. The usage of two or more words with essentially the same meaning is a typical feature of the Hebrew language. Therefore, it is not really necessary to attempt to distinguish between these two terms, particularly if that would result in an awkward sentence. “Countries and chiefdoms” might be tried, but the function of the combination is perhaps here intended to be inclusive: “all peoples,” “all nations,” or “all countries.”

The way in which Jeremiah’s authority over nations and kingdoms would reveal itself is defined by six verbs, four of which are negative (pluck up … break down … destroy … overthrow) and two of which are positive (build … plant). This reflects Jeremiah’s preaching, the major portion of which concerns God’s judgment upon the people because of their sin.

The portrayal of Jeremiah’s prophetic task in six verbs is not intended to describe events in sequence, as though Jeremiah’s message of judgment (the first four verbs) would then be followed by that of salvation (the last two verbs). Throughout the course of his ministry Jeremiah emphasized both aspects, though his proclamation was weighted in the direction of judgment. Some scholars assume that the phrase to destroy and to overthrow was not an original part of the text. They believe it was brought in from such passages as 18.7; 24.6; 31.28. If these two verbs were omitted, then a construction would result in which pluck up would balance with plant and break down would balance with build. Although this suggestion is attractive, it is without textual support, and so cannot be followed in translation.

The six verbs that Jeremiah uses are taken from everyday life in his part of the world. Pluck up (Good News Translation “uproot”) and plant come from agricultural life, and a play on words is probably intended between the words pluck up and break down, which sound very much alike in Hebrew. Break down is used of houses in 33.4 and of the walls of Jerusalem in 39.8 and 52.14. Israel and Judah, together with their people and animals, are the object of this verb in 31.28, while in 18.7 it has the same objects as it does here.

The verb destroy appears also in 18.7 and 31.28. In 46.8 it is used of cities and their inhabitants and in 49.38 of a king and his princes. In 25.10, where its objects are “voice,” “grinding,” and “light,” Revised Standard Version translates the verb as “banish.”

Overthrow also is used together with break down and destroy in 31.28, while in three other passages it is used in parallel to pluck up (24.6, where Revised Standard Version translates it “uproot”; 42.10; 45.4). Thus all four of these verbs convey essentially the same meaning, and they were perhaps used by Jeremiah with no real distinction between them.

Pluck up is often translated with a word that means to pull up by the roots. Generally it is not necessary to make this a complete simile, as in “pull them up by their roots as if they were a plant” or “pull them up like a plant by its roots”; but this can be done if translators feel that otherwise readers would not follow the meaning. Similarly, it is sometimes helpful to render break down with “tear them down like a building” or “destroy them like tearing down a building.” And likewise with the other verbs. The problem with such comparisons is that some of the impact of the sharp poetic imagery is lost. But in languages where some object of these verbs is needed, translators can say “I have given you authority today over all countries, so that you will uproot them or break them down, destroy them or demolish them, build them up or make them grow like plants.”

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 .

The first of the two visions (verses 11-12) has a double function:
(1) it offers encouragement to Jeremiah in the carrying out of his mission;
(2) it is a warning to Jeremiah’s audience that the prophetic word will come true.

As stated above, most translations either drop the word And at the beginning of this verse or render it as “Then.”

For the word of the LORD came to me, saying, see the discussion at verse 4.

The LORD addresses Jeremiah by his name. In many languages the most natural position for this is before the question, as in Revised Standard Version, but some find it more natural after the question, as in “What do you see, Jeremiah?” Some drop it altogether.

I said is frequently used in Hebrew with the meaning “I answered” (Good News Translation, New English Bible, New Jerusalem Bible).

A rod of almond is in all probability less than clear to most English readers. Good News Translation translates “A branch of an almond tree,” and New International Version has “the branch of an almond tree.” New English Bible has “An almond in early bloom,” which is based upon the assumption that the almond tree is the first to “wake” (that is, “bloom”) at the close of the winter season. However, some scholars object to this interpretation for two reasons: (1) the text says nothing of a “blooming” branch, and (2) the Hebrew is said not to refer to a twig or branch or any other portion of a living tree. Although it is true that the Hebrew noun translated rod may be used without reference to the living part of a tree (Gen 32.10; 1Sam 17.40), it is just as true that it may be used of a branch or twig (Gen 30.37-39), and this may very well be its meaning here.

The Revised Standard Version footnote points out there is a wordplay in Hebrew between almond (shaqed) here and “watching” (shoqed) in verse 12. A number of translations indicate this by means of a footnote, though several attempt to introduce the play on words into the text: “Watchful Tree … watching over” (New Jerusalem Bible), “wake-tree … wakeful” (Moffatt), and “watching-tree … watching” (New American Bible). Perhaps the most successful in this regard is Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch, which has Wacholderzweig (“juniper branch”) … wache (“watch”). Accompanying the translation is a note, indicating that Wacholder is literally Mandelbaum (“an almond tree”), which they point out is the first to bloom in the spring, giving the appearance not to have slept. Then they explain that just as Hebrew has a play on words between shaqed and shoqed, so in their translation they have made a play on words between Wacholder and wachen.

Not many languages will have the possibility of capturing this wordplay, however, and translators will usually render rod of almond as “branch of a tree called almond,” borrowing the word from the English or some other language that is familiar to them. Some will substitute a local tree that has fruit similar to the almond. In either case it will be helpful for readers to have a note on the similarity between the Hebrew name for this tree and the word meaning “watching.”

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 .