10:11 This verse is the only example in the
Bible of a single Aramaic verse in an otherwise Hebrew passage. The other
Aramaic passages are Ezra 4:8–6:18; 7:12–26; Dan 2:4b–7:28. Scholars are not
agreed on an explanation for the use of Aramaic in v. 11. Many believe it was
added as a personal comment (gloss) in the margin of a scroll by a later
scribe. Then, as the scroll was recopied, the marginal comment found its way
into the text. Some believe it was a proverb that circulated in Aramaic rather
than in Hebrew. We also have sayings that we quote in another language (e.g.,
Que será, será!). Since Aramaic was well known in Jeremiah’s time, it is
entirely possible that Jeremiah employed it here for emphasis. Rather than
serving as an interruption between vv. 10 and 12, as is often supposed, it
appears to be a summary of vv. 12–16 or even vv. 1–16. (F. B. Huey, Jeremiah,
Lamentations [The New American Commentary 16; Nashville: Broadman &
Holman Publishers, 1993], 127)
