Jeremiah 11:18-23

18 The Lord informed me, so I knew. Then You helped me to see their deeds,
19 for I was like a docile[a] lamb led to slaughter.[b] I didn't know that they had devised plots against me: "Let's destroy the tree with its fruit;[c] let's cut him off from the land of the living[d] so that his name will no longer be remembered."
20 But, Lord of Hosts, who judges righteously, who tests[e] heart[f] and mind,[g] let me see Your vengeance on them, for I have presented my case to You.[h]
21 Therefore, here is what the Lord says concerning the people of Anathoth[i] who want to take your life. They warn, "You must not prophesy in the name of the Lord, or you will certainly die at our hand."
22 Therefore, this is what the Lord of Hosts says: "I am about to punish them. The young men will die by the sword; their sons and daughters will die by famine.[j]
23 They will have no remnant, for I will bring disaster on the people of Anathoth [in] the year of their punishment."

Jeremiah 11:18-23 Meaning and Commentary

INTRODUCTION TO JEREMIAH 11

This chapter gives an account of the covenant God had made with the people of the Jews; their breach of it; and the evils threatened them on that account; and particularly against the men of Anathoth, for their ill treatment of the prophet. It begins with the order to Jeremiah to rehearse the words of the covenant in the ears of the men of Judah and Jerusalem, Jer 11:1-3, which covenant is described by the sanction of it; a curse in case of disobedience; and a promise of being their God, and bringing them into the good land, in case of obedience; and by the time when it was made, when the Israelites were brought out of Egypt, Jer 10:3-5, which order, the prophet agreeing to, is repeated, Jer 10:5,6 declaring the earnest protestation and exhortation of God to obey it, which they not observing, were threatened with the curses of it, Jer 11:7,8, the present Jews doing as their forefathers had done, breaking the covenant, particularly by their idolatry, are threatened also with punishment they should not escape, Jer 11:9-11 which is aggravated by a resolution to show no regard to their cries, Jer 11:11, by the impotence of their idols to save them, though so numerous, Jer 11:12,13, by forbidding the prophet to pray for them, Jer 11:14, by their having no longer a place and protection in the house of God, because of their wickedness, Jer 11:15, by comparing their former and present state together, having been as a beautiful and fruitful olive tree, but now burnt, and its branches broken, Jer 11:16, next follows an account of a design of the men of Anathoth against the prophet, to take away his life, which he was ignorant of, till the Lord gave him knowledge of it, Jer 11:17-19, when he imprecates vengeance on them, Jer 11:20, and, under a spirit of prophecy from the Lord, foretells their utter ruin and destruction, Jer 11:21,22.

Footnotes 10

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