Jeremiah 12:6

6 For even your kinsfolk and your own family, even they have dealt treacherously with you; they are in full cry after you; do not believe them, though they speak friendly words to you.

Jeremiah 12:6 Meaning and Commentary

Jeremiah 12:6

For even thy brethren, and the house of thy father
The men of Anathoth; even they have dealt treacherously with thee;
by laying schemes, and consulting methods, to take away his life privately; his enemies were those of his own house; which is oftentimes the case of good men, and especially of such that are in public office: yea, they have called a multitude after thee;
a multitude of men, which they gathered together, and instigated to call after him in a clamorous and reproachful way: or, they called after thee with a full voice,
as the Vulgate Latin F26 version renders it; and which De Dieu approves of; they not only gathered a mob about him, and drew men after him, but they hooted him as he went along, and called aloud after him, giving him the most reproachful names they could think of: believe them not, though they speak fair words to thee;
this must be understood of some of them, who did not appear so openly against him, as to call after him, or gather a mob about him; but of such who pretended to be his friends, and to have respect for him, and yet had evil designs against him, and therefore were not to be trusted; their words were not to be believed; their company to be shunned; nor was he safe in their houses; nor was it safe for him to be with them, to eat with them, or converse with them.


FOOTNOTES:

F26 (alm Kyrxa warq hmh) "illi clamarunt post te plena voce", V. L. Tigurine version, Calvin; "pleno gutture", Piscator, Cosceius.

Jeremiah 12:6 In-Context

4 How long will the land mourn, and the grass of every field wither? For the wickedness of those who live in it the animals and the birds are swept away, and because people said, "He is blind to our ways."
5 If you have raced with foot-runners and they have wearied you, how will you compete with horses? And if in a safe land you fall down, how will you fare in the thickets of the Jordan?
6 For even your kinsfolk and your own family, even they have dealt treacherously with you; they are in full cry after you; do not believe them, though they speak friendly words to you.
7 I have forsaken my house, I have abandoned my heritage; I have given the beloved of my heart into the hands of her enemies.
8 My heritage has become to me like a lion in the forest; she has lifted up her voice against me— therefore I hate her.
New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyright 1989, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.