The Prophets · Old Testament
Jeremiah 6
Jeremiah 6: siege against the daughter of Zion and reprobate silver
General context
The children of Benjamin are told to flee out of Jerusalem and blow the trumpet in Tekoa, because evil appears out of the north. The daughter of Zion is likened to a comely and delicate woman against whom shepherds pitch their tents. The attackers plan to go up at noon and then, as the shadows stretch out, to go by night and destroy her palaces. The Lord of hosts orders a mount cast against Jerusalem, a city wholly oppression, casting out wickedness as a fountain casts out water. The prophet asks to whom he can speak, since their ear is uncircumcised; he is full of the Lord's fury and weary with holding it in, and it will fall on children, young men, husband and wife, and the aged. From least to greatest all are given to covetousness, prophet and priest deal falsely, and they have healed the hurt of the daughter of my people slightly, saying Peace, peace, when there is no peace. The Lord tells them to ask for the old paths and find rest, and they answer, We will not walk therein; he sets watchmen with a trumpet, and they answer, We will not hearken. Incense from Sheba is refused. A cruel people from the north country, with bow and spear and a voice like the sea, rides against the daughter of Zion. The people answer that their hands grow feeble and pain has taken them as a woman in travail. The daughter of my people is told to mourn as for an only son. The Lord has set the prophet as a tower and a fortress to try the people's way, and the assay fails: the bellows burn, the founder melts in vain, and men will call them reprobate silver because the Lord has rejected them.
Cited passages: Jeremiah 6:1, Jeremiah 6:2, Jeremiah 6:3, Jeremiah 6:4, Jeremiah 6:5, Jeremiah 6:6, Jeremiah 6:7, Jeremiah 6:9, Jeremiah 6:10, Jeremiah 6:11, Jeremiah 6:12, Jeremiah 6:13, Jeremiah 6:14, Jeremiah 6:15, Jeremiah 6:16, Jeremiah 6:17, Jeremiah 6:18, Jeremiah 6:19, Jeremiah 6:20, Jeremiah 6:22, Jeremiah 6:23, Jeremiah 6:24, Jeremiah 6:25, Jeremiah 6:26, Jeremiah 6:27, Jeremiah 6:28, Jeremiah 6:29, Jeremiah 6:30
Jeremiah 6 (KJV)
1O ye children of Benjamin, gather yourselves to flee out of the midst of Jerusalem, and blow the trumpet in Tekoa, and set up a sign of fire in Beth-haccerem: for evil appeareth out of the north, and great destruction.
2I have likened the daughter of Zion to a comely and delicate woman.
3The shepherds with their flocks shall come unto her; they shall pitch their tents against her round about; they shall feed every one in his place.
4Prepare ye war against her; arise, and let us go up at noon. Woe unto us! for the day goeth away, for the shadows of the evening are stretched out.
5Arise, and let us go by night, and let us destroy her palaces.
6For thus hath the Lord of hosts said, Hew ye down trees, and cast a mount against Jerusalem: this is the city to be visited; she is wholly oppression in the midst of her.
7As a fountain casteth out her waters, so she casteth out her wickedness: violence and spoil is heard in her; before me continually is grief and wounds.
8Be thou instructed, O Jerusalem, lest my soul depart from thee; lest I make thee desolate, a land not inhabited.
9Thus saith the Lord of hosts, They shall throughly glean the remnant of Israel as a vine: turn back thine hand as a grapegatherer into the baskets.
10To whom shall I speak, and give warning, that they may hear? behold, their ear is uncircumcised, and they cannot hearken: behold, the word of the Lord is unto them a reproach; they have no delight in it.
11Therefore I am full of the fury of the Lord; I am weary with holding in: I will pour it out upon the children abroad, and upon the assembly of young men together: for even the husband with the wife shall be taken, the aged with him that is full of days.
12And their houses shall be turned unto others, with their fields and wives together: for I will stretch out my hand upon the inhabitants of the land, saith the Lord.
13For from the least of them even unto the greatest of them every one is given to covetousness; and from the prophet even unto the priest every one dealeth falsely.
14They have healed also the hurt of the daughter of my people slightly, saying, Peace, peace; when there is no peace.
15Were they ashamed when they had committed abomination? nay, they were not at all ashamed, neither could they blush: therefore they shall fall among them that fall: at the time that I visit them they shall be cast down, saith the Lord.
16Thus saith the Lord, Stand ye in the ways, and see, and ask for the old paths, where is the good way, and walk therein, and ye shall find rest for your souls. But they said, We will not walk therein.
17Also I set watchmen over you, saying, Hearken to the sound of the trumpet. But they said, We will not hearken.
18Therefore hear, ye nations, and know, O congregation, what is among them.
19Hear, O earth: behold, I will bring evil upon this people, even the fruit of their thoughts, because they have not hearkened unto my words, nor to my law, but rejected it.
20To what purpose cometh there to me incense from Sheba, and the sweet cane from a far country? your burnt offerings are not acceptable, nor your sacrifices sweet unto me.
21Therefore thus saith the Lord, Behold, I will lay stumblingblocks before this people, and the fathers and the sons together shall fall upon them; the neighbour and his friend shall perish.
22Thus saith the Lord, Behold, a people cometh from the north country, and a great nation shall be raised from the sides of the earth.
23They shall lay hold on bow and spear; they are cruel, and have no mercy; their voice roareth like the sea; and they ride upon horses, set in array as men for war against thee, O daughter of Zion.
24We have heard the fame thereof: our hands wax feeble: anguish hath taken hold of us, and pain, as of a woman in travail.
25Go not forth into the field, nor walk by the way; for the sword of the enemy and fear is on every side.
26O daughter of my people, gird thee with sackcloth, and wallow thyself in ashes: make thee mourning, as for an only son, most bitter lamentation: for the spoiler shall suddenly come upon us.
27I have set thee for a tower and a fortress among my people, that thou mayest know and try their way.
28They are all grievous revolters, walking with slanders: they are brass and iron; they are all corrupters.
29The bellows are burned, the lead is consumed of the fire; the founder melteth in vain: for the wicked are not plucked away.
30Reprobate silver shall men call them, because the Lord hath rejected them.
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Historical context
The chapter names places in and around Judah: Jerusalem, Tekoa, Beth-haccerem, and the children of Benjamin as those who must flee. Verses 4 and 5 quote the attackers' own words, "Prepare ye war against her," and "let us go by night," with the lament "Woe unto us! for the day goeth away" placed in their mouths; the text does not label the speakers beyond the shepherds and their flocks of verse 3. The enemy is "a people" from "the north country" and "a great nation" from the sides of the earth, not named. Verses 10 and 11 are the prophet's first-person words: he asks to whom he should speak and says he is full of the fury of the Lord, and verse 11 continues "I will pour it out upon the children abroad"; the text does not mark whether that "I" is the prophet or the Lord, and verse 12 closes with "saith the Lord." Verse 24, "We have heard the fame thereof," is a plural voice of those threatened. Verse 27 is the Lord addressing the prophet as a tower and a fortress among the people, and the assaying images that follow give the outcome. The charge that prophet and priest say "Peace, peace; when there is no peace" in verse 14 is repeated word for word in 8:11, and the whole of verses 13 through 15 recurs in 8:10 through 12. Sheba and the far country of verse 20 are named only as sources of incense and cane. The chapter states no date.
Cited passages: Jeremiah 6:1, Jeremiah 6:3, Jeremiah 6:4, Jeremiah 6:5, Jeremiah 6:10, Jeremiah 6:11, Jeremiah 6:13, Jeremiah 6:14, Jeremiah 6:20, Jeremiah 6:22, Jeremiah 6:24, Jeremiah 6:27, Jeremiah 6:30
Literary context
The chapter runs from warning to siege to verdict. The trumpet and fire sign of verse 1 recall the alarm of chapter 4, and the watchmen's trumpet returns in verse 17 with the people's refusal. Two refusals are set in parallel and word for word: "We will not walk therein" and "We will not hearken." The fountain image is turned around from chapter 2, where the Lord was the fountain of living waters; here Jerusalem is a fountain casting out wickedness. The phrase "daughter of Zion" and "daughter of my people" recurs as the object of attack, false healing and mourning. The command to mourn "as for an only son" answers the earlier likeness of the city to a comely and delicate woman. The chapter closes with a change of image: the prophet as tower and fortress, the people as brass and iron, the smelting that consumes the lead but leaves the wicked unplucked, and the final name, "Reprobate silver." The last clause, "because the Lord hath rejected them," states the reason in the plainest form and answers the opening "evil appeareth out of the north."
Cited passages: Jeremiah 6:1, Jeremiah 6:2, Jeremiah 6:7, Jeremiah 6:14, Jeremiah 6:16, Jeremiah 6:17, Jeremiah 6:23, Jeremiah 6:26, Jeremiah 6:27, Jeremiah 6:28, Jeremiah 6:29, Jeremiah 6:30
Key moments
- Flee out of Jerusalem (Jeremiah 6:1). The children of Benjamin are told to sound the trumpet in Tekoa as evil appears out of the north.
- Let us go by night (Jeremiah 6:5). The attackers plan to destroy her palaces by night.
- Weary with holding in (Jeremiah 6:11). The prophet is full of the Lord's fury and is told to pour it out on all ages.
- Peace, peace; when there is no peace (Jeremiah 6:14). Prophet and priest heal the hurt of the people slightly.
- We will not walk therein (Jeremiah 6:16). The people refuse the old paths where rest for their souls is offered.
- A people from the north (Jeremiah 6:22). A cruel nation with bow and spear is raised against the daughter of Zion.
- Reprobate silver (Jeremiah 6:30). The founder melts in vain, and the Lord has rejected the people.
For reflection
The Lord offers rest for their souls on the old paths, and the answer is We will not walk therein. What does the chapter show about a refusal that is spoken plainly rather than hidden?
