Jeremiah6
New King James Version
1“O you children of Benjamin, Gather yourselves to flee from the midst of Jerusalem! Blow the trumpet in Tekoa, And set up a signal-fire in Beth Haccerem; For disaster appears out of the north, And great destruction.
2I have likened the daughter of Zion To a lovely and delicate woman.
3The shepherds with their flocks shall come to her. They shall pitch their tents against her all around. Each one shall pasture in his own place.”
4“Prepare war against her; Arise, and let us go up at noon. Woe to us, for the day goes away, For the shadows of the evening are lengthening.
5Arise, and let us go by night, And let us destroy her palaces.”
6For thus has the Lord of hosts said: “Cut down trees, And build a mound against Jerusalem. This is the city to be punished. She is full of oppression in her midst.
7As a fountain wells up with water, So she wells up with her wickedness. Violence and plundering are heard in her. Before Me continually are grief and wounds.
8Be instructed, O Jerusalem, Lest My soul depart from you; Lest I make you desolate, A land not inhabited.”
9Thus says the Lord of hosts: “They shall thoroughly glean as a vine the remnant of Israel; As a grape-gatherer, put your hand back into the branches.”
10To whom shall I speak and give warning, That they may hear? Indeed their ear is uncircumcised, And they cannot give heed. Behold, the word of the Lord is a reproach to them; They have no delight in it.
11Therefore I am full of the fury of the Lord. I am weary of holding it in. “I will pour it out on the children outside, And on the assembly of young men together; For even the husband shall be taken with the wife, The aged with him who is full of days.
12And their houses shall be turned over to others, Fields and wives together; For I will stretch out My hand Against the inhabitants of the land,” says the Lord.
13“Because from the least of them even to the greatest of them, Everyone is given to covetousness; And from the prophet even to the priest, Everyone deals falsely.
14They have also healed the hurt of My people slightly, Saying, ‘Peace, peace!’ When there is no peace.
15Were they ashamed when they had committed abomination? No! They were not at all ashamed; Nor did they know how to blush. Therefore they shall fall among those who fall; At the time I punish them, They shall be cast down,” says the Lord.
16Thus says the Lord: “Stand in the ways and see, And ask for the old paths, where the good way is, And walk in it; Then you will find rest for your souls. But they said, ‘We will not walk in it.’
17Also, I set watchmen over you, saying, ‘Listen to the sound of the trumpet!’ But they said, ‘We will not listen.’
18Therefore hear, you nations, And know, O congregation, what is among them.
19Hear, O earth! Behold, I will certainly bring calamity on this people— The fruit of their thoughts, Because they have not heeded My words Nor My law, but rejected it.
20For what purpose to Me Comes frankincense from Sheba, And sweet cane from a far country? Your burnt offerings are not acceptable, Nor your sacrifices sweet to Me.”
21Therefore thus says the Lord: “Behold, I will lay stumbling blocks before this people, And the fathers and the sons together shall fall on them. The neighbor and his friend shall perish.”
22Thus says the Lord: “Behold, a people comes from the north country, And a great nation will be raised from the farthest parts of the earth.
23They will lay hold on bow and spear; They are cruel and have no mercy; Their voice roars like the sea; And they ride on horses, As men of war set in array against you, O daughter of Zion.”
24We have heard the report of it; Our hands grow feeble. Anguish has taken hold of us, Pain as of a woman in labor.
25Do not go out into the field, Nor walk by the way. Because of the sword of the enemy, Fear is on every side.
26O daughter of my people, Dress in sackcloth And roll about in ashes! Make mourning as for an only son, most bitter lamentation; For the plunderer will suddenly come upon us.
27“I have set you as an assayer and a fortress among My people, That you may know and test their way.
28They are all stubborn rebels, walking as slanderers. They are bronze and iron, They are all corrupters;
29The bellows blow fiercely, The lead is consumed by the fire; The smelter refines in vain, For the wicked are not drawn off.
30People will call them rejected silver, Because the Lord has rejected them.”
Study Guide
Public-domain commentary and original-language notes for Jeremiah 6.
Chapter Summary
In this chapter: The invasion of Judea. (1-8). The justice of God's proceedings. (9-17). All methods used to amend them had been without success. (18-30).
vv1-8
Whatever methods are used, it is vain to contend with God's judgments. The more we indulge in the pleasures of this life, the more we unfit ourselves for the troubles of this life. The Chaldean army shall break in upon the land of Judah, and in a little time devour all. The day is coming, when those careless and secure in sinful ways will be visited. It is folly to trifle when we have eternal salvation to work out, and the enemies of that salvation to fight against. But they were thus eager, not that they might fulfil God's counsels, but that they might fill their own treasures; yet God thereby served his own purposes. The corrupt heart of man, in its natural state, casts out evil thoughts, just as a fountain casts out her waters. It is always flowing, yet always full. The God of mercy is loth to depart even from a provoking people, and is earnest with them, that by repentance and reformation, they may prevent things from coming to extremity.
vv9-17
When the Lord arises to take vengeance, no sinners of any age or rank, or of either sex escape. They were set upon the world, and wholly carried away by the love of it. If we judge of this sin by God's word, we find multitudes in every station and rank given up to it. Those are to be reckoned our worst and most dangerous enemies, who flatter us in a sinful way. Oh that men would be wise for their souls! Ask for the old paths; the way of godliness and righteousness has always been the way God has owned and blessed. Ask for the old paths set forth by the written word of God. When you have found the good way, go on in it, you will find abundant recompence at your journey's end. But if men will not obey the voice of God and flee to his appointed Refuge, it will plainly appear at the day of judgment, that they are ruined because they reject God's word.
vv18-30
God rejects their outward services, as worthless to atone for their sins. Sacrifice and incense were to direct them to a Mediator; but when offered to purchase a license to go on in sin, they provoke God. The sins of God's professing people make them an easy prey to their enemies. They dare not show themselves. Saints may rejoice in hope of God's mercies, though they see them only in the promise: sinners must mourn for fear of God's judgments, though they see them only in the threatenings. They are the worst of revolters, and are all corrupters. Sinners soon become tempters. They are compared to ore supposed to have good metal in it, but which proves all dross. Nothing will prevail to part between them and their sins. Reprobate silver shall they be called, useless and worthless. When warnings, corrections, rebukes, and all means of grace, leave men unrenewed, they will be left, as rejected of God, to everlasting misery. Let us pray, then, that we may be refined by the Lord, as silver is refined.
Key Words
עוּז: to be strong; causatively, to stregthen, i.e. (figuratively) to save (by flight)
בֵּן: a son (as a builder of the family name), in the widest sense (of literal and figurative relationship, including grandson, subject, nation, quality or condition, etc., (like father or brother), etc.)
בִּנְיָמִין: Binjamin, youngest son of Jacob; also the tribe descended from him, and its territory
מִן: properly, a part of; hence (prepositionally), from or out of in many senses
קֶרֶב: properly, the nearest part, i.e. the center, whether literal, figurative or adverbial (especially with preposition)
יְרוּשָׁלַ͏ִם: Jerushalaim or Jerushalem, the capital city of Palestine
תָּקַע: to clatter, i.e. slap (the hands together), clang (an instrument); by analogy, to drive (a nail or tent-pin, a dart, etc.); by implication, to become bondsman by handclasping)
שׁוֹפָר: a cornet (as giving a clear sound) or curved horn
תְּקוֹעַ: Tekoa, a place in Palestine
נָשָׂא: to lift, in a great variety of applications, literal and figurative, absolute and relative
Cross References
Jeremiah 6Jesus directly adapts the phrase 'find rest for your souls' from this verse.
Supported by Matthew Henry, JFB
Textual link: the Pentateuchal warning of an 'uncircumcised heart' (or ear).
Supported by JFB
Jeremiah repeats this exact verbal formula of false peace later in his own temple discourse.
Supported by JFB
Direct realization of the covenant curses warned of in Deuteronomy.
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Verbal echo: the identical description of a cruel nation coming from the north.
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Ezekiel employs the same metallurgical metaphor of dross, brass, and iron.
Supported by JFB
Connects the warning of evil from the north back to Jeremiah's call.
Supported by Matthew Poole
The tragic departure of God's soul from His people.
Supported by JFB
The historical fulfillment of the repeated 'gleaning' of Judean captives.
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The word of the Lord is made a 'reproach' in both texts.
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Stephen's speech echoes the indictment of 'uncircumcised ears'.
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Jeremiah expresses the same burning inability to hold in God's fury.
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Repeats Jeremiah's designation as a fortified tower and fortress.
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Parallels the metaphor of wickedness continuously casting up evil like waters.
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The loss of a 'whore's forehead' matches the inability to blush.
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