Jeremiah 6 Study Notes

6:17 God appointed watchmen or sentinels (metaphors for true prophets), who would sound the ram’s horn to warn of impending trouble (Ezk 3:16-21; 33:1-9).

6:18-19 The fruit of their own plotting represents destruction growing from the nation’s sin and iniquity; they will harvest what they have sown (Pr 1:31). My words is paralleled by my instruction. The nation had ignored God’s teaching through his prophet and disregarded the law Moses had delivered centuries earlier.

6:20 Frankincense came from southern Arabia. It was an aromatic resin from trees used in perfume and incense. Sheba was a country in southwestern Arabia, the center of incense and spices trade. Incense and burnt offerings were no substitute for obeying God (7:21-24; Is 1:11-15; Am 5:21; Mc 6:6-8).

6:21 The stumbling blocks in this verse are undefined. God will allow events such as the Babylonian invasion because of the failure of his people to heed his calls to repent.

6:22 This begins another oracle regarding a foe from the north. See 4:5-8.

6:23 The word javelin probably refers to a sword.

6:24 A woman in labor is a common image in the OT (4:31; 13:21; 22:23; 30:6; 49:24; 50:43; Ps 84:6; Is 13:8; 21:3; 42:14; Mc 4:9-10).

6:25 The phrase terror is on every side (Hb magor missabib) is a favorite saying of Jeremiah. He used it to warn Pashhur the evil priest (20:3,10). The people turned Jeremiah’s saying around and used it against him, saying that all he saw were terrors coming from every direction.

6:26 The death of an only son (Hb yachid) meant that hope for descendants was gone (Gn 22:2).

6:27 Jeremiah was to act as an assayer among the people (cp. 9:7). An assayer was a metallurgist who tested the quality of ore (in this case, the quality of the people).

6:28 The people are described as stubborn rebels (“rebel of rebels,” or “the most stubborn of rebels”), active in spreading slander.

6:29 To refine silver, lead and silver were heated together so that the oxidized lead would bind impurities (dross), leaving pure silver (Ps 66:10). However, here the ore (the people of Judah) was so impure that the alloys remained. The refining process failed. The evil ones were the dross that could not be separated from the pure silver.