Jeremiah17
New American Standard
1The sin of Judah is written with an iron stylus; With a diamond point it is engraved on the tablet of their hearts And on the horns of their altars,
2As they remember their children, So they remember their altars and their Asherim By green trees on the high hills.
3Mountain of Mine in the countryside, I will turn over your wealth and all your treasures as plunder, Your high places for sin throughout your borders.
4And you will, even of yourself, let go of your inheritance That I gave you; And I will make you serve your enemies In the land which you do not know; For you have kindled a fire in My anger Which will burn forever.
5This is what the Lord says: “Cursed is the man who trusts in mankind And makes flesh his strength, And whose heart turns away from the Lord.
6For he will be like a bush in the desert, And will not see when prosperity comes, But will live in stony wastes in the wilderness, A land of salt that is not inhabited.
7Blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord, And whose trust is the Lord.
8For he will be like a tree planted by the water That extends its roots by a stream, And does not fear when the heat comes; But its leaves will be green, And it will not be anxious in a year of drought, Nor cease to yield fruit.
9“The heart is more deceitful than all else And is desperately sick; Who can understand it?
10I, the Lord, search the heart, I test the mind, To give to each person according to his ways, According to the results of his deeds.
11As a partridge that hatches eggs which it has not laid, So is a person who makes a fortune, but unjustly; In the middle of his days it will abandon him, And in the end he will be a fool.”
12A glorious throne on high from the beginning Is the place of our sanctuary.
13Lord, the hope of Israel, All who abandon You will be put to shame. Those who turn away on earth will be written down, Because they have forsaken the fountain of living water, that is the Lord.
14Heal me, Lord, and I will be healed; Save me and I will be saved, For You are my praise.
15Look, they keep saying to me, “Where is the word of the Lord? Let it come now!”
16But as for me, I have not hurried away from being a shepherd following after You, Nor have I longed for the disastrous day; You Yourself know that the utterance of my lips Was in Your presence.
17Do not be a terror to me; You are my refuge in a day of disaster.
18Let those who persecute me be put to shame, but as for me, let me not be put to shame; Let them be dismayed, but let me not be dismayed. Bring on them a day of disaster, And crush them with double destruction!
19This is what the Lord said to me: “Go and stand at the public gate, through which the kings of Judah come in and go out, as well as at all the gates of Jerusalem;
20and say to them, ‘Listen to the word of the Lord, you kings of Judah, and all Judah, and all inhabitants of Jerusalem who come in through these gates.
21This is what the Lord says: “Take care for yourselves, and do not carry any load on the Sabbath day or bring anything in through the gates of Jerusalem.
22You shall not bring a load out of your houses on the Sabbath day nor do any work, but keep the Sabbath day holy, just as I commanded your forefathers.
23Yet they did not listen or incline their ears, but stiffened their necks so as not to listen or accept discipline.
24“But it will come about, if you give your attention to Me,” declares the Lord, “to bring no load in through the gates of this city on the Sabbath day, but to keep the Sabbath day holy by doing no work on it,
25then there will come in through the gates of this city kings and officials sitting on the throne of David, riding in chariots and on horses, they and their officials, the men of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and this city will be inhabited forever.
26They will come in from the cities of Judah and from the areas surrounding Jerusalem, from the land of Benjamin, from the lowland, from the hill country, and from the Negev, bringing burnt offerings, sacrifices, grain offerings, and frankincense, and bringing sacrifices of thanksgiving to the house of the Lord.
27But if you do not listen to Me, to keep the Sabbath day holy by not carrying a load and coming in through the gates of Jerusalem on the Sabbath day, then I will set fire to its gates, and it will devour the palaces of Jerusalem and not go out.”’”
Study Guide
Public-domain commentary and original-language notes for Jeremiah 17.
Chapter Summary
In this chapter: The fatal consequences of the idolatry of the Jews. (1-4). The happiness of the man that trusts in God; the end of the opposite character. (5-11). The malice of the prophet's enemies. (12-18). The observance of the sabbath. (19-27).
vv1-4
The sins which men commit make little impression on their minds, yet every sin is marked in the book of God; they are all so graven upon the table of the heart, that they will all be remembered by the conscience. That which is graven in the heart will become plain in the life; men's actions show the desires and purposes of their hearts. What need we have to humble ourselves before God, who are so vile in his sight! How should we depend on his mercy and grace, begging of God to search and prove us; not to suffer us to be deceived by our own hearts, but to create in us a clean and holy nature by his Spirit!
vv5-11
He who puts confidence in man, shall be like the heath in a desert, a naked tree, a sorry shrub, the product of barren ground, useless and worthless. Those who trust to their own righteousness and strength, and think they can do without Christ, make flesh their arm, and their souls cannot prosper in graces or comforts. Those who make God their Hope, shall flourish like a tree always green, whose leaf does not wither. They shall be fixed in peace and satisfaction of mind; they shall not be anxious in a year of drought. Those who make God their Hope, have enough in him to make up the want of all creature-comforts. They shall not cease from yielding fruit in holiness and good works. The heart, the conscience of man, in his corrupt and fallen state, is deceitful above all things. It calls evil good, and good evil; and cries peace to those to whom it does not belong. Herein the heart is desperately wicked; it is deadly, it is desperate. The case is bad indeed, if the conscience, which should set right the errors of other faculties, is a leader in the delusion. We cannot know our own hearts, nor what they will do in an hour of temptation. Who can understand his errors? Much less can we know the hearts of others, or depend upon them. He that believes God's testimony in this matter, and learns to watch his own heart, will find this is a correct, though a sad picture, and learns many lessons to direct his conduct. But much in our own hearts and in the hearts of others, will remain unknown. Yet whatever wickedness there is in the heart, God sees it. Men may be imposed upon, but God cannot be deceived. He that gets riches, and not by right, though he may make them his hope, never shall have joy of them. This shows what vexation it is to a worldly man at death, that he must leave his riches behind; but though the wealth will not follow to another world, guilt will, and everlasting torment. The rich man takes pains to get an estate, and sits brooding upon it, but never has any satisfaction in it; by sinful courses it comes to nothing. Let us be wise in time; what we get, let us get it honestly; and what we have, use it charitably, that we may be wise for eternity.
vv12-18
The prophet acknowledges the favour of God in setting up religion. There is fulness of comfort in God, overflowing, ever-flowing fulness, like a fountain. It is always fresh and clear, like spring-water, while the pleasures of sin are puddle-waters. He prays to God for healing, saving mercy. He appeals to God concerning his faithful discharge of the office to which he was called. He humbly begs that God would own and protect him in the work to which he had plainly called him. Whatever wounds or diseases we find to be in our hearts and consciences, let us apply to the Lord to heal us, to save us, that our souls may praise his name. His hands can bind up the troubled conscience, and heal the broken heart; he can cure the worst diseases of our nature.
Key Words
חַטָּאָה: an offence (sometimes habitual sinfulness), and its penalty, occasion, sacrifice, or expiation; also (concretely) an offender
יְהוּדָה: Jehudah (or Judah), the name of five Israelites; also of the tribe descended from the first, and of its territory
כָּתַב: to grave, by implication, to write (describe, inscribe, prescribe, subscribe)
עֵט: a stylus or marking stick
בַּרְזֶל: iron (as cutting); by extension, an iron implement
צִפֹּרֶן: properly, a claw, i.e. (human) nail; also the point of astyle (or pen, tipped with adamant)
שָׁמִיר: a thorn; also (from its keenness for scratching) a gem, probably the diamond
חָרַשׁ: to scratch, i.e. (by implication) to engrave, plough; hence (from the use of tools) to fabricate (of any material); figuratively, to devise (in a bad sense); hence (from the idea of secrecy) to be silent, to let alone; hence (by implication) to be deaf (as an accompaniment of dumbness)
לוּחַ: probably meaning to glisten; a tablet (as polished), of stone, wood or metal
לֵב: the heart; also used (figuratively) very widely for the feelings, the will and even the intellect; likewise for the centre of anything
Cross References
Jeremiah 17Direct conceptual and verbal parallel describing the righteous man as a flourishing tree planted by water.
Supported by Matthew Henry, JFB
Identical metaphor of Yahweh as the 'fountain of living waters' whom Israel has foolishly forsaken.
Supported by Matthew Henry, JFB
Contrasts sin graven on the heart with writing God's law/mercy on the table of the heart.
Supported by JFB
Parallel imagery of indelible engraving using an iron pen or lead for permanent recording.
Supported by Matthew Poole, JFB
The Mosaic warning that the land must rest and keep its sabbaths during exile.
Supported by Matthew Poole
The historical context of Judah's cursed trust in Egypt (making flesh their arm) instead of Yahweh.
Supported by Matthew Poole, JFB
New Testament parallel of the rich fool who amasses wealth but leaves it mid-life.
Supported by Matthew Henry
The historical, practical enforcement of Jeremiah's warning against bearing sabbath burdens through Jerusalem's gates.
Supported by Matthew Henry
Verbal link showing children participating in and carrying on their parents' idolatrous practices.
Supported by JFB
Uses the same rare Hebrew word for 'heath' or naked desert shrub as a curse.
Supported by JFB
The covenant curse of the land turning into a barren, salt wasteland.
Supported by JFB
Christ's confirmation that God knows the deceitful hearts of men, exposing false appearances.
Supported by Matthew Henry
Parallel description of God searching the heart and testing the reins to execute justice.
Supported by John Calvin
The prayerful appeal to the Lord as the unique searcher of hearts.
Supported by Matthew Henry
Prophetic parallel on the absolute necessity of hallowing the Sabbath and restraining personal works.
Supported by Matthew Henry