Jeremiah 24:3

3 Then the LORD asked me, “What do you see, Jeremiah?” “Figs,” I answered. “The good ones are very good, but the bad ones are so bad they cannot be eaten.”

Jeremiah 24:3 in Other Translations

King James Version (KJV)
3 Then said the LORD unto me, What seest thou, Jeremiah? And I said, Figs; the good figs, very good; and the evil, very evil, that cannot be eaten, they are so evil.
English Standard Version (ESV)
3 And the LORD said to me, "What do you see, Jeremiah?" I said, "Figs, the good figs very good, and the bad figs very bad, so bad that they cannot be eaten."
New Living Translation (NLT)
3 Then the LORD said to me, “What do you see, Jeremiah?” I replied, “Figs, some very good and some very bad, too rotten to eat.”
The Message Bible (MSG)
3 God said to me, "Jeremiah, what do you see?" "Figs," I said. "Excellent figs of the finest quality, and also rotten figs, so rotten they can't be eaten."
American Standard Version (ASV)
3 Then said Jehovah unto me, What seest thou, Jeremiah? And I said, Figs; the good figs, very good; and the bad, very bad, that cannot be eaten, they are so bad.
GOD'S WORD Translation (GW)
3 Then the LORD asked me, "What do you see, Jeremiah?" I answered, "Figs. Figs that are very good. I also see figs that are very bad, so bad that they can't be eaten."
Holman Christian Standard Bible (CSB)
3 The Lord said to me, "What do you see, Jeremiah?" I said, "Figs! The good figs are very good, but the bad figs are extremely bad, so bad they are inedible."
New International Reader's Version (NIRV)
3 Then the LORD asked me, "What do you see, Jeremiah?" "Figs," I answered. "The good ones are very good. But the others are so bad they can't be eaten."

Jeremiah 24:3 Meaning and Commentary

Jeremiah 24:3

Then said the Lord unto me, what seest thou, Jeremiah?
&c.] This question is put, in order that, upon his answer to it, he might have an explication of the vision: and I said, figs; the good figs, very good; and the evil, very evil,
that cannot be eaten, they are so evil;
or "so bad", or "because of badness" F2; which may be applied to mankind in general; who may be distinguished into good and bad: those that are good, who are made so by the grace of God; for none are so by nature, or of themselves; they are very good: they have many good things in them; they have a good heart, a new and a clean heart, and a right spirit created in them; they have a good understanding of spiritual things; they have a good will to that which is good, and good affections for God and Christ, and divine things; they have the good Spirit of God and his graces in them, and Christ and his word dwelling in them: and they do good things, and are prepared for every good work; they are good to others; pleasantly and acceptably good to God through Christ; and profitably good to their fellow saints and fellow creatures. On the other hand, those that are bad are exceeding bad; as they are by nature children of wrath, unclean, corrupt, loathsome, and abominable in the sight of God; so they are from their youth upward, and continue so, and are never otherwise; all in them, and that comes from them, are evil; their hearts are desperately wicked, the thoughts and imaginations of their hearts are evil continually; their words are idle, corrupt, and filthy, and all their actions sinful; there is no good in them, nor any done by them; they are good for nothing; they are of no use to God, to themselves, or others; sin has made them like itself, exceeding sinful: and now between these two sorts there is no medium; though all sins are not alike; and some in a comparative sense may be called greater or lesser sinners; yet all are exceeding bad, even the least: they are all of the same nature, and have the same wicked hearts; though some may be outwardly righteous before men; and hypocrites and formal professors are worst of all. There never were but two sorts of persons in the world; the seed of the woman, and the seed of the serpent; the children of God, and the children of the devil; and so things will appear hereafter at the great day; the one will be placed at Christ's right hand as good and righteous men, the other at his left hand as wicked, and will have separate states to all eternity: and so those figs are explained in the Talmud F3; the good figs, they are the perfect righteous; the bad figs, they are the perfect wicked.


FOOTNOTES:

F2 (erm) "prae pravitate", Junius & Tremellius, Piscator, Cocceius; "prae malitia", Schmidt.
F3 T. Bab. Erubim, fol. 21. 2.

Jeremiah 24:3 In-Context

1 After Jehoiachin son of Jehoiakim king of Judah and the officials, the skilled workers and the artisans of Judah were carried into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon by Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, the LORD showed me two baskets of figs placed in front of the temple of the LORD.
2 One basket had very good figs, like those that ripen early; the other basket had very bad figs, so bad they could not be eaten.
3 Then the LORD asked me, “What do you see, Jeremiah?” “Figs,” I answered. “The good ones are very good, but the bad ones are so bad they cannot be eaten.”
4 Then the word of the LORD came to me:
5 “This is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says: ‘Like these good figs, I regard as good the exiles from Judah, whom I sent away from this place to the land of the Babylonians.

Cross References 1

  • 1. Jeremiah 1:11; Amos 8:2
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