Yirmeyah 17:5-9

5 Thus saith Hashem: Arur (cursed) be the gever that trusteth in adam, and maketh basar his zero’a, and whose lev turneth away from Hashem.

6 For he shall be like the shrub in the aravah (desert), and shall not see when tov cometh; but shall inhabit the parched places in the midbar, in an eretz melechah (salt land) and not inhabited.

7 Baruch hagever asher yivtach baHashem (Blessed is the man that trusteth in Hashem), and whose mivtach (confidence) Hashem is.

8 For he shall be as an etz planted by the mayim, and that spreadeth out her shorashim (roots) by the brook, and shall not fear when chom (heat) cometh, but its leaf shall be green; and shall not be anxious in the shenat batzoret (year of drought), neither shall cease from yielding p’ri (fruit).

9 The lev (heart, mind) akov (is deceitful) above all things, and anush (incurable [in wickedness]); who can know it?

Yirmeyah 17:5-9 Meaning and Commentary

INTRODUCTION TO JEREMIAH 17

This chapter is a further prophecy of the destruction of the Jews, with the causes of it, their sins, as their idolatry, which was notorious; of which their own consciences, their altars, and their children, were witnesses, Jer 17:1,2 for which they are threatened with the spoil of their substance and treasure, and discontinuance in their land, Jer 17:3,4 as also their confidence in an arm of flesh, which brought the curse of God upon them, when such are blessed that trust in him; and the difference between those that trust in men and those that trust in the Lord is illustrated by very apt similes, Jer 17:5-8, the source of which vain confidence is the wicked heart of man, known to none but God, Jer 17:9,10 and the vanity of it is exposed by a partridge sitting on eggs without hatching them, Jer 17:11, and their departure from God, by trusting in the creature, and in outward things, is aggravated by their temple being the throne and seat of the divine Majesty; by what God is to his people that trust in him; and by the shame and ruin that follow an apostasy from him, Jer 17:12,13, wherefore the prophet, sensible of his own backslidings, prays to be healed and saved by the Lord, who should have all the praise and glory, Jer 17:14 and then relates the scoffs of the people at the word of God by him, another cause of their ruin; declares his own innocence and integrity; prays for protection and security from fear in a time of trouble; and for confusion, terror, and destruction to his persecutors, Jer 17:15-18, then follows an order to him from the Lord, to go and stand in the gate of the city, and exhort all ranks of men to the observation of the sabbath, with directions how to keep it, which had not been observed by their fathers, and which was another cause of their ruin, Jer 17:19-23, and the chapter is closed with promises of blessings in city, court, and country, in church and state, should they religiously observe the sabbath day; but if they profaned it, the city of Jerusalem, and its palaces, should be burnt with fire, Jer 17:24-27.