Jeremia 17:1-7

1 De zonde van Juda is geschreven met een ijzeren griffie, met de punt eens diamants; gegraven in de tafel van hunlieder hart, en aan de hoornen uwer altaren;

2 Gelijk hun kinderen hunner altaren gedenken, en hunner bossen, bij het groen geboomte, op de hoge heuvelen.

3 Ik zal Mijn berg met het veld, uw vermogen en al uw schatten ten roof geven, mitsgaders uw hoogten, om de zonde in al uw landpalen.

4 Alzo zult gij aflaten (en dat om u zelven) van uw erfenis, die Ik u gegeven heb, en Ik zal u uw vijanden doen dienen in een land, dat gij niet kent; want gijlieden hebt een vuur aangestoken in Mijn toorn, tot in eeuwigheid zal het branden.

5 Zo zegt de HEERE: Vervloekt is de man, die op een mens vertrouwt, en vlees tot zijn arm stelt, en wiens hart van den HEERE afwijkt!

6 Want hij zal zijn als de heide in de wildernis, die het niet gevoelt, wanneer het goede komt; maar blijft in dorre plaatsen in de woestijn, in zout en onbewoond land.

7 Gezegend daarentegen is de man, die op den HEERE vertrouwt, en wiens vertrouwen de HEERE is!

Jeremia 17:1-7 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.