Jeremiah 17:1-7

The Deceitful Heart

1 The ¹sin of Judah is written down with an ²iron stylus; With a diamond point it is ³engraved upon the tablet of their heart And on the horns of their altars,

2 As they remember their ⁴children, So they remember their altars and their ⁵Asherim By ⁶green trees on the high hills.

3 O ⁷mountain of Mine in the countryside, I will ⁸give over your wealth and all your treasures for booty, Your high places for sin throughout your borders.

4 And you will, even of yourself, ⁹let go of your inheritance That I gave you; And I will make you serve your ¹⁰enemies In the ¹¹land which you do not know; For you have ¹²kindled a fire in My anger Which will burn forever *.

5 Thus says the LORD, "¹³Cursed is the man who trusts in mankind And makes ¹⁴flesh his strength, And whose heart turns away from the LORD.

6 "For he will be like a ¹⁵bush in the desert And will not see when prosperity comes, But will live in stony wastes in the wilderness, A ¹⁶land of salt without inhabitant.

7 "¹⁷Blessed is the man who trusts in the LORD And whose ¹⁸trust is the LORD.

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Jeremiah 17:1-7 Meaning and Commentary

INTRODUCTION TO JEREMIAH 17

This chapter is a further prophecy of the destruction of the Jews, with the causes of it, their sins, as their idolatry, which was notorious; of which their own consciences, their altars, and their children, were witnesses, Jer 17:1,2 for which they are threatened with the spoil of their substance and treasure, and discontinuance in their land, Jer 17:3,4 as also their confidence in an arm of flesh, which brought the curse of God upon them, when such are blessed that trust in him; and the difference between those that trust in men and those that trust in the Lord is illustrated by very apt similes, Jer 17:5-8, the source of which vain confidence is the wicked heart of man, known to none but God, Jer 17:9,10 and the vanity of it is exposed by a partridge sitting on eggs without hatching them, Jer 17:11, and their departure from God, by trusting in the creature, and in outward things, is aggravated by their temple being the throne and seat of the divine Majesty; by what God is to his people that trust in him; and by the shame and ruin that follow an apostasy from him, Jer 17:12,13, wherefore the prophet, sensible of his own backslidings, prays to be healed and saved by the Lord, who should have all the praise and glory, Jer 17:14 and then relates the scoffs of the people at the word of God by him, another cause of their ruin; declares his own innocence and integrity; prays for protection and security from fear in a time of trouble; and for confusion, terror, and destruction to his persecutors, Jer 17:15-18, then follows an order to him from the Lord, to go and stand in the gate of the city, and exhort all ranks of men to the observation of the sabbath, with directions how to keep it, which had not been observed by their fathers, and which was another cause of their ruin, Jer 17:19-23, and the chapter is closed with promises of blessings in city, court, and country, in church and state, should they religiously observe the sabbath day; but if they profaned it, the city of Jerusalem, and its palaces, should be burnt with fire, Jer 17:24-27.

Taken from John Gill's Exposition of the Bible

Cross References 18

1. Jeremiah 2:22; Jeremiah 4:14
2. Job 19:24
3. Proverbs 3:3; Proverbs 7:3; Isaiah 49:16; 2 Corinthians 3:3
4. Jeremiah 7:18
5. Exodus 34:13; 2 Chronicles 24:18; 2 Chronicles 33:3; Isaiah 17:8
6. Jeremiah 3:6
7. Jeremiah 26:18; Micah 3:12
8. 2 Kings 24:13; Isaiah 39:4-6; Jeremiah 15:13; Jeremiah 20:5
9. Jeremiah 12:7; Lamentations 5:2
10. Deuteronomy 28:48; Isaiah 14:3; Jeremiah 15:14; Jeremiah 27:12, 13
11. Jeremiah 16:13
12. Isaiah 5:25; Jeremiah 7:20; Jeremiah 15:14
13. Psalms 146:3; Isaiah 2:22; Isaiah 30:1; Ezekiel 29:7
14. 2 Chronicles 32:8; Isaiah 31:3
15. Jeremiah 48:6
16. Deuteronomy 29:23; Job 39:6
17. Psalms 2:12; Psalms 34:8; Psalms 84:12; Proverbs 16:20
18. Psalms 40:4

Footnotes 4

[a]. So ancient versions; M.T. "your"
[b]. I.e. wooden symbols of a female deity
[c]. Lit "arm"
[d]. Lit "and is not inhabited"