Jeremiah 5:12

12 They have lied against Jehovah, And they say, `[It is] not He, Nor come in against us doth evil, Yea, sword and famine we do not see.

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.


FOOTNOTES:

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

Jeremiah 5:12 In-Context

10 Go ye up on her walls, and destroy, And a completion make not, Turn aside her branches, for they [are] not Jehovah's,
11 For dealt treacherously against Me have the house of Israel, And the house of Judah, an affirmation of Jehovah.
12 They have lied against Jehovah, And they say, `[It is] not He, Nor come in against us doth evil, Yea, sword and famine we do not see.
13 And the prophets become wind, And the word is not in them,' -- thus it is done by them.
14 Therefore, thus said Jehovah, God of Hosts, Because of your speaking this word, Lo, I am making My words in thy mouth become fire, And this people wood, and it hath devoured them.
Young's Literal Translation is in the public domain.