Jeremiah 17:2-12

2 whilst their children remember their altars and their Asherahs, by the green trees, upon the high hills.

3 My mountain in the field, thy substance, all thy treasures will I give for a spoil, -- thy high places, because of sin throughout thy borders.

4 And of thyself thou shalt let go thine inheritance which I gave thee; and I will cause thee to serve thine enemies in a land that thou knowest not; for ye have kindled a fire in mine anger, -- it shall burn for ever.

5 Thus saith Jehovah: Cursed is the man that confideth in man, and maketh flesh his arm, and whose heart departeth from Jehovah.

6 And he shall be like the heath in the desert, and shall not see when good cometh; but he shall inhabit the parched places in the wilderness, a salt land and not inhabited.

7 Blessed is the man that confideth in Jehovah, and whose confidence Jehovah is.

8 For he shall be like a tree planted by the waters, and that spreadeth out its roots by the stream, and he shall not see when heat cometh, but his leaf shall be green; and in the year of drought he shall not be careful, neither shall he cease to yield fruit.

9 The heart is deceitful above all things, and incurable; who can know it?

10 I Jehovah search the heart, I try the reins, even to give each one according to his ways, according to the fruit of his doings.

11 [As] the partridge sitteth on [eggs] it hath not laid, [so] is he that getteth riches and not by right: in the midst of his days shall he leave them, and at his end shall be a fool.

12 A throne of glory, [set] on high from the beginning, is the place of our sanctuary.

Jeremiah 17:2-12 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.

Footnotes

• [a]. Or 'on thine own account thou shalt leave.' Some suppose a reference to Deut. 15.2.
• [b]. Or 'a denuded (or, forlorn) [man];' as ch. 48.6.
• [c]. Geber: see Job 3.3.
• [d]. According to others, 'fear.'