Chapter Eleven

1–8. The prophet as a herald of the divine law. 9–17. The stubbornness of the people and their rejection. 18–23. A conspiracy against Jeremiah in Anathoth.

Jer 11:1-8. The prophet comes forward as a witness and herald of the divine covenant which once was entered into between Jehovah and Israel at Sinai. He must remind them of this covenant and its conditions not only to the inhabitants of Jerusalem but also to other cities of Judah.

Jeremiah 11:2. hear the words of this covenant and speak them to the men of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem; “Hear—speak.” Here is contained a command addressed not only to Jeremiah but also to the other prophets of his time. “This covenant.” Here there is an obvious reference to the “book of the Covenant” found in Josiah’s time (see Bible History vol. 2, p. 530–531). Jeremiah was to explain in detail all the conditions of the union once entered into between Jehovah and the Hebrew people. Jer 11:9-17. The activity of the prophet turned out to be fruitless. Israel, like its ancestors, did not wish to listen to the prophet. The Judeans made a silent agreement to live as they pleased and continued to serve foreign gods. Therefore God promises to bring calamities upon them and forbids the prophet to even pray for the apostates. As a result, the people, instead of according to God’s purpose being a flourishing olive tree, will be burned by the fire of God’s judgment like a completely dry tree.

Jeremiah 11:9. And the Lord said to me: There is a conspiracy among the men of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem: “Conspiracy.” The Judeans, apparently even in the time of Josiah, who wished to restore true worship of God, agreed among themselves to do nothing to carry out the intentions of their king. They did not openly oppose his reforms, but in their hearts they were against them, and as a result it is understandable that the king’s reforms did not take root in Judah.

Jeremiah 11:10. they have turned back to the iniquities of their forefathers, who refused to hear my words; they have gone after other gods to serve them; the house of Israel and the house of Judah have broken my covenant which I made with their fathers. An open return to former customs of life occurred already under the successors of Josiah.

Jeremiah 11:14. But you, do not pray for this people, and do not lift up cry or prayer for them; for I will not hear when they call to me because of their trouble. See Jer 7:16.

Jeremiah 11:15. What right has my beloved in my house, when she has done many vile things? Can sacred meat avert your doom? Can you then exult? “My beloved” means the Judean people. God calls this people, which had truly received a lofty destiny but had fallen away from him, by this name in order to express sorrow over its fall (compare beloved in Matt 26:50).

Jeremiah 11:18. The Lord has revealed to me, and I know; then you showed me their deeds. Jeremiah 11:19. But I was like a gentle lamb led to the slaughter, and I did not know it was against me that they devised schemes, saying, “Let us destroy the tree with its fruit, and let us cut him off from the land of the living, that his name be remembered no more. Jeremiah 11:20. But, O Lord of hosts, righteous Judge, who tests the heart and the mind! Let me see your vengeance upon them, for to you have I committed my cause. Jeremiah 11:21. Therefore thus says the Lord concerning the men of Anathoth who seek your life, saying, “You shall not prophesy in the name of the Lord, or you shall die by our hand”; Jeremiah 11:22. therefore thus says the Lord of hosts: “Behold, I will punish them; the young men shall die by the sword; their sons and daughters shall die by famine; Jeremiah 11:23. and there shall be no remnant of them; for I will bring evil upon the men of Anathoth, the year of their punishment. In Anathoth, the prophet’s native city, enmity toward the word of Jehovah was expressed in a conspiracy against the life of God’s messenger—Jeremiah. Only the warning which he received from God saved the prophet from deadly danger. For this the inhabitants of Anathoth will suffer severe punishment from God.

Jeremiah 11:19. But I was like a gentle lamb led to the slaughter, and I did not know it was against me that they devised schemes, saying, “Let us destroy the tree with its fruit, and let us cut him off from the land of the living, that his name be remembered no more. Jeremiah here is a type of the suffering Messiah compare Isa 53:7. “Let us put” should more correctly be translated thus: “Let us destroy the tree (that is, the prophet) along with its fruit, that is, the tree laden with fruit.” The enemies of the prophet call him a tree bearing fruit in keeping with Eastern modes of thought. The fruits are the words of the prophet, which they dislike. Special remarks. Some critics regard almost the whole of this chapter as inauthentic. But if some later writer, or as critics say, a later editor of Jeremiah, had inserted this chapter into the book of Jeremiah, he would surely have described the events mentioned here in much greater detail. The first hearers or readers of this chapter had no need of a description of all the details of the event, which, as contemporaries of Jeremiah, they knew well. Chapter Jer 11:18-23 together with the addition of chapter Jer 12:1-5 is read as a paremiae on Great Thursday at matins and on Great Friday at the ninth hour, apparently because the Church sees in Jeremiah a type of the suffering Christ. * * * Notes Sacrifices.