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The Prophets · Old Testament

Jeremiah 17

Jeremiah 17: sin graven on the heart, the tree by the waters and the sabbath gates

General context

The sin of Judah is written with a pen of iron and the point of a diamond, graven on the table of their heart and on the horns of their altars, while their children remember the altars and groves on the high hills. The Lord will give the substance of his mountain in the field to the spoil and make the people serve their enemies in an unknown land. Cursed is the man who trusts in man and makes flesh his arm; he is like the heath in the desert. Blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord; he is like a tree planted by the waters whose leaf stays green in drought. The heart is deceitful above all things, and the Lord searches the heart and tries the reins to give every man according to his ways. He who gets riches not by right is like a partridge that sits on eggs and does not hatch them. The place of the sanctuary is a glorious high throne, and all who forsake the Lord, the fountain of living waters, will be written in the earth. The prophet prays, Heal me, O Lord, and reports the taunt, Where is the word of the Lord? let it come now. He has not desired the woeful day, and asks the Lord not to be a terror to him but to confound his persecutors with double destruction. The Lord then sends him to stand in the gate where the kings of Judah come in and go out, to tell kings and people to bear no burden on the sabbath and to hallow it as their fathers were commanded and did not. If they hearken, kings on David's throne will enter the gates in chariots and the city will remain for ever; if not, the Lord will kindle in the gates a fire that devours the palaces and is not quenched.

Cited passages: Jeremiah 17:1, Jeremiah 17:2, Jeremiah 17:3, Jeremiah 17:4, Jeremiah 17:5, Jeremiah 17:6, Jeremiah 17:7, Jeremiah 17:8, Jeremiah 17:9, Jeremiah 17:10, Jeremiah 17:11, Jeremiah 17:12, Jeremiah 17:13, Jeremiah 17:14, Jeremiah 17:15, Jeremiah 17:16, Jeremiah 17:17, Jeremiah 17:18, Jeremiah 17:19, Jeremiah 17:20, Jeremiah 17:21, Jeremiah 17:22, Jeremiah 17:23, Jeremiah 17:24, Jeremiah 17:25, Jeremiah 17:26, Jeremiah 17:27

Jeremiah 17 (KJV)

1The sin of Judah is written with a pen of iron, and with the point of a diamond: it is graven upon the table of their heart, and upon the horns of your altars;

2Whilst their children remember their altars and their groves by the green trees upon the high hills.

3O my mountain in the field, I will give thy substance and all thy treasures to the spoil, and thy high places for sin, throughout all thy borders.

4And thou, even thyself, shalt discontinue from thine heritage that I gave thee; and I will cause thee to serve thine enemies in the land which thou knowest not: for ye have kindled a fire in mine anger, which shall burn for ever.

5Thus saith the Lord; Cursed be the man that trusteth in man, and maketh flesh his arm, and whose heart departeth from the Lord.

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

7Blessed is the man that trusteth in the Lord, and whose hope the Lord is.

8For he shall be as a tree planted by the waters, and that spreadeth out her roots by the river, and shall not see when heat cometh, but her leaf shall be green; and shall not be careful in the year of drought, neither shall cease from yielding fruit.

9The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?

10I the Lord search the heart, I try the reins, even to give every man according to his ways, and according to the fruit of his doings.

11As the partridge sitteth on eggs, and hatcheth them not; so he that getteth riches, and not by right, shall leave them in the midst of his days, and at his end shall be a fool.

12A glorious high throne from the beginning is the place of our sanctuary.

13O Lord, the hope of Israel, all that forsake thee shall be ashamed, and they that depart from me shall be written in the earth, because they have forsaken the Lord, the fountain of living waters.

14Heal me, O Lord, and I shall be healed; save me, and I shall be saved: for thou art my praise.

15Behold, they say unto me, Where is the word of the Lord? let it come now.

16As for me, I have not hastened from being a pastor to follow thee: neither have I desired the woeful day; thou knowest: that which came out of my lips was right before thee.

17Be not a terror unto me: thou art my hope in the day of evil.

18Let them be confounded that persecute me, but let not me be confounded: let them be dismayed, but let not me be dismayed: bring upon them the day of evil, and destroy them with double destruction.

19Thus said the Lord unto me; Go and stand in the gate of the children of the people, whereby the kings of Judah come in, and by the which they go out, and in all the gates of Jerusalem;

20And say unto them, Hear ye the word of the Lord, ye kings of Judah, and all Judah, and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem, that enter in by these gates:

21Thus saith the Lord; Take heed to yourselves, and bear no burden on the sabbath day, nor bring it in by the gates of Jerusalem;

22Neither carry forth a burden out of your houses on the sabbath day, neither do ye any work, but hallow ye the sabbath day, as I commanded your fathers.

23But they obeyed not, neither inclined their ear, but made their neck stiff, that they might not hear, nor receive instruction.

24And it shall come to pass, if ye diligently hearken unto me, saith the Lord, to bring in no burden through the gates of this city on the sabbath day, but hallow the sabbath day, to do no work therein;

25Then shall there enter into the gates of this city kings and princes sitting upon the throne of David, riding in chariots and on horses, they, and their princes, the men of Judah, and the inhabitants of Jerusalem: and this city shall remain for ever.

26And they shall come from the cities of Judah, and from the places about Jerusalem, and from the land of Benjamin, and from the plain, and from the mountains, and from the south, bringing burnt offerings, and sacrifices, and meat offerings, and incense, and bringing sacrifices of praise, unto the house of the Lord.

27But if ye will not hearken unto me to hallow the sabbath day, and not to bear a burden, even entering in at the gates of Jerusalem on the sabbath day; then will I kindle a fire in the gates thereof, and it shall devour the palaces of Jerusalem, and it shall not be quenched.

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Historical context

The chapter has no date and names no king; the sabbath oracle is addressed to "ye kings of Judah, and all Judah, and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem" collectively. Verses 1 through 4 accuse Judah, and "my mountain in the field" is the Lord's phrase for what will be spoiled; the text does not identify it further. The curse and blessing of verses 5 through 8 are introduced by "Thus saith the Lord," and verse 10 is the Lord's own statement, "I the Lord search the heart." Verses 13 through 18 shift to the prophet's voice, addressing the Lord as "the hope of Israel" and reporting his opponents' taunt, "Where is the word of the Lord? let it come now," which implies that the threatened evil has not yet come when he speaks. His defence, "I have not hastened from being a pastor to follow thee: neither have I desired the woeful day," is his own claim. The sabbath command is tied to what the Lord "commanded your fathers," and the text says the fathers "obeyed not." The promised gathering names regions: the cities of Judah, the places about Jerusalem, the land of Benjamin, the plain, the mountains and the south. The phrase "the fountain of living waters" in verse 13 repeats 2:13. The threat of fire in the gates is conditional on not hallowing the sabbath, and the chapter reports no response.

Cited passages: Jeremiah 17:1, Jeremiah 17:3, Jeremiah 17:5, Jeremiah 17:10, Jeremiah 17:13, Jeremiah 17:15, Jeremiah 17:16, Jeremiah 17:19, Jeremiah 17:20, Jeremiah 17:22, Jeremiah 17:23, Jeremiah 17:26, Jeremiah 17:27

Literary context

The chapter is a set of contrasts. Sin graven with iron and diamond on the heart is set against the Lord who searches the heart. The cursed man and the blessed man are built as a matched pair, the heath in the desert that "shall not see when good cometh" against the tree by the waters that "shall not see when heat cometh," the parched salt land against the river and the green leaf. The partridge that sits on eggs and hatches them not is a figure for riches not gained by right. The prophet's prayer turns the images of the chapter on himself: he asks to be healed, calls the Lord his hope as verse 7 called the Lord the blessed man's hope, and asks not to be confounded while his persecutors are. The taunt "let it come now" is answered only by his appeal for the day of evil to fall on them. The sabbath oracle is built as a double conditional, if ye diligently hearken and but if ye will not hearken, with the gates as the hinge: burdens through the gates, kings entering the gates, or fire kindled in the gates. The chapter ends with the palaces of Jerusalem devoured by a fire that "shall not be quenched," the words of 7:20.

Cited passages: Jeremiah 17:1, Jeremiah 17:5, Jeremiah 17:6, Jeremiah 17:7, Jeremiah 17:8, Jeremiah 17:9, Jeremiah 17:10, Jeremiah 17:11, Jeremiah 17:14, Jeremiah 17:15, Jeremiah 17:17, Jeremiah 17:18, Jeremiah 17:21, Jeremiah 17:24, Jeremiah 17:25, Jeremiah 17:27

Key moments

  1. A pen of iron (Jeremiah 17:1). Judah's sin is graven on the table of their heart and the horns of their altars.
  2. The heath in the desert (Jeremiah 17:6). The man who trusts in man will not see when good comes.
  3. A tree planted by the waters (Jeremiah 17:8). The man who trusts in the Lord keeps a green leaf in the year of drought.
  4. Who can know the heart? (Jeremiah 17:9). The heart is called deceitful above all things and desperately wicked.
  5. Heal me, O Lord (Jeremiah 17:14). The prophet asks to be healed and saved and calls the Lord his praise.
  6. Where is the word of the Lord? (Jeremiah 17:15). The prophet reports the taunt that the threatened word should come now.
  7. No burden on the sabbath (Jeremiah 17:21). Kings and people are told to hallow the sabbath or see fire in the gates.

For reflection

The chapter says the heart is deceitful above all things and asks who can know it, then has the Lord answer that he searches it. What does it change for a reader to hold those two lines together rather than either one alone?

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