Jeremiah 17:21

21 Thus says the Lord: "Take heed to yourselves, and bear no burden on the Sabbath day, nor bring it in by the gates of Jerusalem;

Jeremiah 17:21 Meaning and Commentary

Jeremiah 17:21

Thus saith the Lord, take heed to yourselves
That ye sin not against the Lord, by breaking the sabbath, and so bring wrath and ruin upon yourselves: or "to your souls" ^F1; to the inward frame of them, that they be in disposition for the work of that day; and that they be wholly engaged therein, even all the powers and faculties of them; and that they be not taken up in thoughts and cares about other things: and bear no burden on the sabbath day;
as no worldly thoughts and cares should, cumber the mind, and lie heavy thereon, to the interruption of spiritual exercises of religion; so neither should any weight or burden be borne by the body, or carried from place to place; as not by themselves, so neither by their servants, nor by their cattle, nor in carts and wagons, nor by any instrument whatever; in short, all servile work was forbidden: nor bring [it] in by the gates of Jerusalem;
to be unloaded and sold there, as wine, grapes, figs, and fish, were, in the times of Nehemiah, ( Nehemiah 13:15 Nehemiah 13:16 Nehemiah 13:19 ) .

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FOOTNOTES:

F1 (Mkytwvpnb) "in animabus vestris", Calvin, Montanus, Schmidt.

Jeremiah 17:21 In-Context

19 Thus the Lord said to me: "Go and stand in the gate of the children of the people, by which the kings of Judah come in and by which they go out, and in all the gates of Jerusalem;

20 and say to them, 'Hear the word of the Lord, you kings of Judah, and all Judah, and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem, who enter by these gates.

21 Thus says the Lord: "Take heed to yourselves, and bear no burden on the Sabbath day, nor bring it in by the gates of Jerusalem;

22 nor carry a burden out of your houses on the Sabbath day, nor do any work, but hallow the Sabbath day, as I commanded your fathers.

23 But they did not obey nor incline their ear, but made their neck stiff, that they might not hear nor receive instruction.