Jeremiah 18:15-17

New English Translation

Footnotes

1. Jeremiah 18:15 sn Heb “the ancient path.” This has already been referred to in Jer 6:16. There is another “old way,” but it is the path trod by the wicked (cf. Job 22:15).
2. Jeremiah 18:15 sn Heb “ways that are not built up.” This refers to the built-up highways. See Isa 40:4 for the figure. The terms “way,” “by-paths,” and “roads” are, of course, being used here in the sense of moral behavior or action.
3. Jeremiah 18:16 tn There may be a deliberate double meaning involved here. The word translated “an object of horror” refers both to destruction (cf. 2:15; 4:17) and the horror or dismay that accompanies it (cf. 5:30; 8:21). The fact that there is no conjunction or preposition in front of the noun “hissing” that follows this word suggests that the reaction is in view here, not its cause. So does “be filled with horror,” which translates an etymologically related verb.
4. Jeremiah 18:16 tn Heb “an object of lasting hissing. All who pass that way will be appalled and shake their head.”sn The actions of “shaking of the head” and “hissing” were obviously gestures of scorn and derision. See Lam 2:15-16.
5. Jeremiah 18:17 tc Heb “I will show them [my] back and not [my] face.” This reading follows the suggestion of some of the versions and some of the Masoretes. The MT reads, “I will look on their back and not on their faces.”sn To “turn the back” is universally recognized as a symbol of rejection. The turning of the face toward one is the subject of the beautiful Aaronic blessing in Num 6:24-26.