The house of the king of Judah does not refer to the royal family, but to “Judah’s royal palace” (Good News Translation).

You are as Gilead to me, as the summit of Lebanon: The second person pronoun You indicates that in Hebrew the LORD addresses the palace in direct speech. This may be difficult in some languages, and Good News Translation is one model of referring to the palace in the third person. In translation it may be advisable to make clear the nature of the comparison here; for example, “… as beautiful as the land of Gilead and as the Lebanon Mountains” (Good News Translation). Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch has “Even if I had as much joy in you as in the forest of Gilead and the peak of Lebanon….” The comparison is probably between the large cedar columns of the palace and the thick forests of Gilead and Lebanon. The note in Traduction œcuménique de la Bible states that these two places were symbolic of abundance and beauty. The forest image is often retained by translators, who see that the LORD is saying that although Judah is a forest to him, he will make it a desert: “You are to me the forests of Gilead and of the Lebanon Mountains.” For Gilead see 8.22, and for Lebanon see 18.14.

I will make you a desert, an uninhabited city: For desert refer to 2.2, where Revised Standard Version has “wilderness.” In place of city, the Hebrew has “cities” (Revised Standard Version note). The meaning of the Hebrew may well be “I will make you like a desert, the towns of which are deserted.” It is also possible to say “I will make you a desert, a region of empty cities.” If this understanding is followed, then we may translate as in Good News Translation, which has “I will make it a desolate place where no one lives”; Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch is similar. Compare 4.29 and 6.8.

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 .