Some languages will express wickedness as an action: “the evil your ancestors did, the evil things the kings of Judah and their wives did, the evil you and your wives did.” Rather than repeating the word wickedness five times, as in Revised Standard Version, Good News Translation renders “Have you forgotten all the wicked things that have been done … by your ancestors, by the kings of Judah and their wives, and by you and your wives?” But note that in some languages, repeating “wickedness” in this way can have a powerful rhetorical impact, and can be very appropriate. Translators should do what is more natural in their language.

Their wives: As the Revised Standard Version note indicates, Hebrew has “his wives.” The phrase may be used either in a distributive sense (referring individually to the wife of each man) or to the many wives of Solomon.

In the land of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem: Many translators will find that the restructuring of Good News Translation is more natural, in which this phrase is moved to come immediately after the verb. See also Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch, which renders the entire verse as follows:

• Have you forgotten what all of you have done in Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem, you and your ancestors, your wives, your kings and their wives?

Of course the question in this verse is rhetorical, not expecting an answer. In some languages translators will have something such as “I know you have not forgotten….”

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 .