Jeremiah 6:8

8 Be instructed, Jerusalem, lest my soul be alienated from you; lest I make you a desolation, a land not inhabited.

Jeremiah 6:8 Meaning and Commentary

Jeremiah 6:8

And be thou instructed, O Jerusalem
Or "corrected" ^F19; receive discipline or instructions by chastisements and corrections, return by repentance, that the evils threatened may not come: this shows the affection of the Lord to his people, notwithstanding all their sins; that their amendment, and not their destruction, were pleasing to him; that it was with reluctance he was about to visit them in the manner threatened; and that even now it was not too late, provided they were instructed and reformed; but, if not, they must expect what follows: lest my soul depart from thee;
his Shechinah, or divine Presence, and all the tokens of his love, favour, and good will. The Targum interprets it of the Word of the Lord,

``lest my Word cast thee off;''

see ( Romans 11:1 ) , or, "lest my soul pluck itself from thee"; or "be plucked" ^F20, and separated from thee: the phrase denotes an utter separation, a forcible one, joined with the utmost abhorrence and detestation. In ( Ezekiel 23:18 ) , it is rendered, "my mind was alienated"; it denotes disunion and disaffection. Lest I make thee desolate, a land not inhabited;
the Targum adds, by way of illustration,

``as the land of Sodom;''

so that not a man should dwell in it; see ( Jeremiah 4:25 Jeremiah 4:27 Jeremiah 4:29 ) .

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FOOTNOTES:

F19 (yrowh) "cape disciplinam", Vatablus; "admitte disciplinam", Cocceius; "castigationem", Schmidt.
F20 (Kmm yvpn eqt Np) "ut non luxetur, [vel] avellatur anima mea a te", Vatablus, Junius & Tremellius, Schmidt.

Jeremiah 6:8 In-Context

6 For thus has Yahweh of Hosts said, Hew you down trees, and cast up a mound against Jerusalem: this is the city to be visited; she is wholly oppression in the midst of her.

7 As a well casts forth its waters, so she casts forth her wickedness: violence and destruction is heard in her; before me continually is sickness and wounds.

8 Be instructed, Jerusalem, lest my soul be alienated from you; lest I make you a desolation, a land not inhabited.

9 Thus says Yahweh of Hosts, They shall thoroughly glean the remnant of Israel as a vine: turn again your hand as a grape-gatherer into the baskets.

10 To whom shall I speak and testify, that they may hear? behold, their ear is uncircumcised, and they can't listen: behold, the word of Yahweh is become to them a reproach; they have no delight in it.