Jeremiah 5:21

21 Listen to this, you scatterbrains, airheads, With eyes that see but don't really look, and ears that hear but don't really listen.

Jeremiah 5:21 Meaning and Commentary

Jeremiah 5:21

Hear now this, O foolish people, and without understanding,
&c.] or, "heart" F1; (See Gill on Jeremiah 4:22): which have eyes, and see not; which have ears, and hear not;
like the idols they served, ( Psalms 115:4-8 ) . this is an upbraiding of them with their folly and stupidity, their want of common sense, their blindness and ignorance; notwithstanding they had the means of light and knowledge, the law, and the prophets.


FOOTNOTES:

F1 (bl Nyaw) "et non cor", Pagninus, Montanus; "qui non habes cor", V. L. "excors", Junius & Tremellius, Piscator; "cui cor non est", Cocceius.

Jeremiah 5:21 In-Context

19 And when people ask, 'Why did our God do all this to us?' you must say to them, 'It's tit for tat. Just as you left me and served foreign gods in your own country, so now you must serve foreigners in their own country.'
20 "Tell the house of Jacob this, put out this bulletin in Judah:
21 Listen to this, you scatterbrains, airheads, With eyes that see but don't really look, and ears that hear but don't really listen.
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.
23 But this people - what a people! Uncontrollable, untameable runaways.
Published by permission. Originally published by NavPress in English as THE MESSAGE: The Bible in Contemporary Language copyright 2002 by Eugene Peterson. All rights reserved.