This idiom is used to introduce a special message from God. See how you translated this in [Jeremiah 1:4](../01/04.md). AT: "Yahweh gave me a message. He said," or "Yahweh spoke this message to me:" (See: [[rc://en/ta/man/translate/figs-idiom]])
The abstract nouns "faithfulness," "youthfulness" and "love" can be expressed with the adjectives "faithful" and "young," and the verb "love." AT: "how, when you were young, you were faithful to our covenant, and how you loved me" (See: [[rc://en/ta/man/translate/figs-abstractnouns]])
God speaks of his relationship with the people of Israel as though they had been engaged to be married. AT: "when we first agreed that we would marry each other" (See: [[rc://en/ta/man/translate/figs-metaphor]])
This can be expressed in active form. AT: "the land where no one had sown seed" or "the land where no food was growing" (See: [[rc://en/ta/man/translate/figs-activepassive]])
God speaks of Israel as if they were an offering dedicated to God. AT: "like the firstfruits of his harvest" (See: [[rc://en/ta/man/translate/figs-metaphor]])
# All who ate from the firstfruits were held guilty
God speaks of those who attacked Israel as if they were eating the offering that was set apart for God. AT: "All who attacked Israel were held guilty like people who ate from the first fruits of his harvest" (See: [[rc://en/ta/man/translate/figs-metaphor]])
# disaster came upon them
The phrase "came upon them" is a metaphor for happened to them. AT: "Disasters happened to them" or "I made terrible things happen to them" (See: [[rc://en/ta/man/translate/figs-metaphor]])
Yahweh speaks of himself by name to express the certainty of what he is declaring. See how you translated this in [Jeremiah 1:8](../01/07.md). AT: "this is what Yahweh has declared" or "this is what I, Yahweh, have declared" (See: [[rc://en/ta/man/translate/figs-123person]])
See in Reader
