translation_id: net-engnet

book_id: JER

label: NET study note

text: The translation reflects the ancient Jewish tradition of substituting the word for “Lord” for the proper name for Israel’s God which is now generally agreed to have been Yahweh. Jewish scribes wrote the consonants YHWH but substituted the vowels for the word “Lord.” The practice of calling him “Lord” rather than using his proper name is also reflected in the Greek translation which is the oldest translation of the Hebrew Bible. The meaning of the name Yahweh occurs in Exod 3:13-14 where God identifies himself as the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob and tells Moses that his name is “I am” ( אֶהְיֶה , ’ ehyeh ). However, he instructs the Israelites to refer to him as YHWH (“Yahweh” = “He is”); see further Exod 34:5-6 .


text: This would have been August, 586 b.c. according to modern reckoning.


text: These three pairs represent the twofold nature of Jeremiah’s prophecies, prophecies of judgment and restoration. For the further programmatic use of these pairs for Jeremiah’s ministry see 18:7-10 and 31:27-28 .


text: The Hebrew idiom (literally “I will speak my judgments against”) is found three other times in Jeremiah ( 4:12; 39:5; 52:9 ), where it is followed by the carrying out of the sentence. Here the carrying out of the sentence precedes in v. 15 .