Jeremiah 5:22

22 Should you not fear me?” declares the LORD. “Should you not tremble in my presence? I made the sand a boundary for the sea, an everlasting barrier it cannot cross. The waves may roll, but they cannot prevail; they may roar, but they cannot cross it.

Jeremiah 5:22 in Other Translations

22 Fear ye not me? saith the LORD: will ye not tremble at my presence, which have placed the sand for the bound of the sea by a perpetual decree, that it cannot pass it: and though the waves thereof toss themselves, yet can they not prevail; though they roar, yet can they not pass over it?

22 Do you not fear me? declares the LORD. Do you not tremble before me? I placed the sand as the boundary for the sea, a perpetual barrier that it cannot pass; though the waves toss, they cannot prevail; though they roar, they cannot pass over it.

22 Have you no respect for me? Why don’t you tremble in my presence? I, the LORD, define the ocean’s sandy shoreline as an everlasting boundary that the waters cannot cross. The waves may toss and roar, but they can never pass the boundaries I set.

22 Why don't you honor me? Why aren't you in awe before me? Yes, me, who made the shorelines to contain the ocean waters. I drew a line in the sand that cannot be crossed. Waves roll in but cannot get through; breakers crash but that's the end of them.

22 Do you not fear Me? [This is]*The bracketed text has been added for clarity. the Lord's declaration. Do you not tremble before Me, the One who set the sand as the boundary of the sea, an enduring barrier that it cannot cross? The waves surge, but they cannot prevail. They roar but cannot pass over it.

Jeremiah 5:22 Meaning and Commentary

Jeremiah 5:22

Fear ye not me? saith the Lord
They did not fear the Lord, and this is a reproof to them for the want of it, which is a reproof of their ignorance and folly; for the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, ( Proverbs 9:10 ) , and where that is there is true wisdom; but, where it is not, there is nothing but ignorance and stupidity: will ye not tremble at my presence?
or "face"; his wrath and anger, justly resenting their carriage to him. The Targum is,

``from before my Word;''

the essential Word, his Son: or, "will ye not be in pain?" as a woman in travail; as Kimchi observes the word ^F2 signifies: which have placed the sand for the bound of the sea by a perpetual
decree, that it cannot pass it.
This is a very wonderful thing in nature, that the earth and sea, being spherical, and making one terraqueous globe, and the waters of the sea being higher than the earth, should be so bounded and restrained, by the power and providence of God, as not to overflow the earth, and that by means of the sand, which is penetrable, flexible, and movable; and yet this is set as a bound, and by the decree of God remains firm and stable, and that for ever, so that the sea cannot bear it down, go through it, or over it: and though the waves thereof toss themselves, yet can they not prevail;
though they roar, yet can they not pass over it;
even when the sea is the most tumultuous and raging. This is an instance of the mighty power of God, and carries in it an argument and reason why he should be feared; and yet such was the stupidity of this people, that though they saw this with their eyes, the sea and the tossings of it, and the sand set as a bound to it, and an effectual one, and heard the roarings and ragings of the waves of it in vain; yet they feared not the Lord that did all this; and so showed themselves more stupid and disobedient than the sea and its waves, which obeyed their Maker, though destitute of sense and reason; see ( Job 26:10 ) ( 38:8-11 ) ( Psalms 104:6 Psalms 104:9 ) ( Proverbs 8:29 ) .

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FOOTNOTES:

F2 "Significantissima impimis vox est" (wlyxt) , "quae significat ita angi ut parturiens", Schmidt.

Jeremiah 5:22 In-Context

20 “Announce this to the descendants of Jacob and proclaim it in Judah:

21 Hear this, you foolish and senseless people, who have eyes but do not see, who have ears but do not hear:

22 Should you not fear me?” declares the LORD. “Should you not tremble in my presence? I made the sand a boundary for the sea, an everlasting barrier it cannot cross. The waves may roll, but they cannot prevail; they may roar, but they cannot cross it.

23 But these people have stubborn and rebellious hearts; they have turned aside and gone away.

24 They do not say to themselves, ‘Let us fear the LORD our God, who gives autumn and spring rains in season, who assures us of the regular weeks of harvest.’

Cross References

• 1. S Deuteronomy 28:58
• 2. S Job 4:14; S Isaiah 64:2
• 3. S Genesis 1:9
• 4. S Psalms 46:3