Jeremiah 5:12

12 They have told lies about the Lord. They said, "He won't do anything! No harm will come to us. We will never see war or be hungry.

Jeremiah 5:12 Meaning and Commentary

Jeremiah 5:12

They have belied the Lord, and said, it is not he
Or, "denied the Lord" ^F24, as some render the words, saying that there was no God; which, though they might not deliver in express words, yet inasmuch as they denied his providence, and disbelieved his word by his prophets, it was tacitly denying that there was a God, or that the Lord was God. The meaning of the phrase "not he" may be, he takes no notice of what is done by us; he does not concern himself with our affairs; nor has he given any such orders to our enemies, as above; nor said these things by the prophets which are pretended: neither shall evil come upon us;
they speak of: neither shall we see sword nor famine;
war and sieges, and famine, the consequence of them.

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FOOTNOTES:

F24 (hwhyb wvxkw) "egaverunt Dominum", V. L. Pagninus; "abnegant", Piscator; "abnegarunt Jehovam", Cocceius, Schmidt.

Jeremiah 5:12 In-Context

10 "Armies of Babylonia, go through their vineyards and destroy them. But do not destroy them completely. Strip off their branches. Those people do not belong to me.

11 The people of Israel and Judah have not been faithful to me at all," announces the Lord.

12 They have told lies about the Lord. They said, "He won't do anything! No harm will come to us. We will never see war or be hungry.

13 The prophets are nothing but wind. Their message doesn't come from the Lord. So let what they say will happen be done to them."

14 The LORD God rules over all. He says to me, "The people have spoken those words. So my words will be like fire in your mouth. I will make the people like wood. And the fire will burn them up."