Jeremiah 5:12

12 “They have lied about the LORD and said, ‘He won’t bother us! No disasters will come upon us. There will be no war or famine.

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 “Go down the rows of the vineyards and destroy the grapevines, leaving a scattered few alive. Strip the branches from the vines, for these people do not belong to the LORD .

11 The people of Israel and Judah are full of treachery against me,” says the LORD .

12 “They have lied about the LORD and said, ‘He won’t bother us! No disasters will come upon us. There will be no war or famine.

13 God’s prophets are all windbags who don’t really speak for him. Let their predictions of disaster fall on themselves!’”

14 Therefore, this is what the LORD God of Heaven’s Armies says: “Because the people are talking like this, my messages will flame out of your mouth and burn the people like kindling wood.