Jeremiah 17:12

12 O glorious throne, exalted from the beginning, shrine of our sanctuary!

Jeremiah 17:12 Meaning and Commentary

Jeremiah 17:12

A glorious high throne from the beginning is the place of our
sanctuary.
] The temple, which was a sanctified place, where the holy God dwelt, his holy worship was observed, and his holy people met together. Here, from the beginning of its erection, from the time of its dedication, the Lord took up his residence; the glory of the Lord filled the house; he set up his throne in it, a high and glorious one; he dwelt between the cherubim, over the mercy seat, typical of the throne of grace. Kimchi and Ben Melech observe that R. Samuel Ben Tibbon is of opinion that the "caph" of similitude is here wanting; and that it should be interpreted thus, "as a glorious high throne": heaven is the high and glorious throne, where the Lord sits and reigns; and the temple or sanctuary bore some likeness and resemblance to it; it was a figure of it; and every place where God is worshipped, and grants his presence, is no other but "the house of God, and the gate of heaven"; and therefore it was great wickedness and ingratitude in the Jews, who were so highly favoured of God, to forsake him, his house, his worship, his word and ordinances, as the following verses show; and which suggest another reason of their destruction. The words in connection with the following verse may be read thus,

``and thou, whose glorious high throne the place of our sanctuary [is], O Lord, the Hope of Israel''

Jeremiah 17:12 In-Context

10 I the Lord test the mind and search the heart, to give to all according to their ways, according to the fruit of their doings.
11 Like the partridge hatching what it did not lay, so are all who amass wealth unjustly; in mid-life it will leave them, and at their end they will prove to be fools.
12 O glorious throne, exalted from the beginning, shrine of our sanctuary!
13 O hope of Israel! O Lord! All who forsake you shall be put to shame; those who turn away from you shall be recorded in the underworld, for they have forsaken the fountain of living water, the Lord.
14 Heal me, O Lord, and I shall be healed; save me, and I shall be saved; for you are my praise.
New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyright 1989, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.