1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 sn There is a wordplay here involving the word “evil” (רָעָה, ra’ah) which refers to both the crime and the punishment. This same play is carried further in Jonah 3:10-4:1 where Jonah becomes very displeased (Heb “it was very evil to Jonah with great evil”) when God forgoes bringing disaster (evil) on Nineveh because they have repented of their wickedness (evil). 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 sn This has been the consistent pattern of their behavior. See 7:24; 9:13; 13:10; 16:12. 25 sn Israel’s actions are contrary to nature. See the same kind of argumentation in Jer 2:11; 8:7. 26 27 28 29 sn The actions of “shaking of the head” and “hissing” were obviously gestures of scorn and derision. See Lam 2:15-16. 30 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. 31 32 33 sn These are the three channels through whom God spoke to his people in the OT. See Jer 8:8-10 and Ezek 7:26. 34 35 36 sn Jeremiah’s prayers against the unjust treatment of his enemies here and elsewhere (see 11:18-20; 12:1-4; 15:15-18; 17:14-18) have many of the elements of the prayers of the innocent in the book of Psalms: an invocation of the 37 38 39 sn See Jer 14:7-9, 19-21 and 15:1-4 for the idea. 40 41 42 43 44