translation_id: net-engnet

book_id: JER

label: NET study note

text: A comparison of Ezek 8:3 and 9:2 in their contexts will show that this probably refers to the northern gate to the inner court of the temple. It is called Upper because it was on higher ground above the gate in the outer court. It is qualified by “in the Lord ’s temple” to distinguish it from the Benjamin Gate in the city wall (cf. 37:13; 38:7 ). Like the Benjamin Gate in the city wall it faced north toward the territory of the tribe of Benjamin.


text: As a member of the priesthood and the protector of order in the temple, Pashhur was undoubtedly one of those who promulgated the deceptive belief that the Lord ’s presence in the temple was a guarantee of Judah’s safety (cf. 7:4, 8 ). Judging from the fact that two other men held the same office after the leading men in the city were carried into exile in 597 b.c. (see Jer 29:25-26 and compare 29:1-2 for the date and 2 Kgs 24:12-16 for the facts), this prophecy was probably fulfilled in 597. For a similar kind of oracle of judgment see Amos 7:10-17 .


text: Heb “It is in my heart like a burning fire, shut up in my bones.” In addition to standing as part for the whole, the “bones” for the person (e.g., Ps 35:10 ), the bones were associated with fear (e.g., Job 4:14 ) and with pain (e.g., Job 33:19 , Ps 102:3 [ 102:4 HT]) and joy or sorrow (e.g., Ps 51:8 [ 51:10 HT]). As has been mentioned several times, the heart was connected with intellectual and volitional concerns.


text: This line has some interesting ties with Jer 15:20-21 where Jeremiah is assured by God that he is indeed with him as he promised him when he called him ( 1:8, 19 ) and will deliver him from the clutches of wicked and violent people. The word translated here “awe-inspiring” is the same as the word “violent people” there. Jeremiah is confident that his “awe-inspiring” warrior will overcome “violent people.” The statement of confidence here is, by the way, a common element in the psalms of petition in the Psalter. The common elements of that type of psalm are all here: invocation (v. 7 ), lament (vv. 7-10 ), confession of trust/confidence in being heard (v. 11 ), petition (v. 12 ), thanksgiving or praise (v. 13 ). For some examples of this type of psalm see Pss 3, 7, 26 .


text: While it may be a little confusing to modern readers to see the fluctuation in moods and the shifts in addressee in a prayer and complaint like this, it was not at all unusual for Israel where these were often offered in the temple in the conscious presence of God before fellow worshipers. For another example of these same shifts see which is a prayer of David in a time of deep distress.


text: From the heights of exaltation, Jeremiah returns to the depths of despair. For similar mood swings in the psalms of lament compare . Verses 14-18 are similar in tone and mood to Job 3:1-10 . They are very forceful rhetorical ways of Job and Jeremiah expressing the wish that they had never been born.


text: The cities alluded to are Sodom and Gomorrah and the cities of the Jordan plain which had become proverbial for their wickedness and for the destruction that the Lord brought on them because of it. See Isa 1:9-10; 13:19 ; Jer 23:14; 49:18 .