Biblical Hebrew Forum

[skeptic dude <skepticdude AT hotmail.com>]

Is God admitting to making a false prediction in Jeremiah 3:7?

The more scholarly/formally dynamic translations render this verse as:

NAS Jeremiah 3:7 "And I thought, 'After she has done all these things, she 
will return to Me'; but she did not return, and her treacherous sister Judah 
saw it.

NAU Jeremiah 3:7 "I thought, 'After she has done all these things she will 
return to Me'; but she did not return, and her treacherous sister Judah saw 
it.

NRS Jeremiah 3:7 And I thought, "After she has done all this she will return 
to me"; but she did not return, and her false sister Judah saw it.

RSV Jeremiah 3:7 And I thought, `After she has done all this she will return 
to me'; but she did not return, and her false sister Judah saw it.

NJB Jeremiah 3:7 I thought, "After doing all this she will come back to me." 
But she did not come back. Her faithless sister Judah saw this.

However, other translations hide the sense of prediction/optimism about the 
future:

Jeremiah 3:7 7 And I said after she had done all these things, Turn thou unto 
me. But she returned not. And her treacherous sister Judah saw it. 

NKJ Jeremiah 3:7 "And I said, after she had done all these things, 'Return to 
Me.' But she did not return. And her treacherous sister Judah saw it.

LXE Jeremiah 3:7 And I said after she had committed all these acts of 
fornication, Turn again to me. Yet she returned not. And faithless Juda saw 
her faithlessness.

What is the correct sense of the Hebrew?  Did God make a prediction (i.e., 
she will return to me), or just a command (i.e, return to me)?


I don't read Hebrew, so I appreciate any comments from those that do,

Thanks.

dave
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