Chapter Seventeen

1–4. For their sins the people of Judah must necessarily bear punishment. 5–11. False and true confidence. 12–13. The prophet’s hope. 19–27. On the observance of the Sabbath.

Jer 17:1-4. The Lord cannot forget the transgression of Judah, in which Judah does not wish to repent. Therefore He will give the country of Judah over to ruin, and the people into captivity.

Jeremiah 17:1. The sin of Judah is written with an iron pen, with a diamond point engraved on the tablet of their heart and on the horns of their altars. Just as an engraver with a diamond point carves clear and distinct letters on metal or on crystal, so the sin of Judah has been imprinted on his heart and on the horns of his altars. The Lord thus sees in the depths of Judah’s heart the inclination toward paganism. As for the altars to pagan gods, they were of course already destroyed under King Josiah, yet the Lord did not forget about them and about the horns that adorned them, made in the likeness of the horns on the true altar of the Temple of Jehovah.

Jeremiah 17:2. As they remember their sons, they remember their altars and their Asherah poles beside the green trees, on the high hills. The contemporaries of Jeremiah regret the suppressed idolatry, and the pagan altars, groves, hills where pagan sacrifices were made are dear to them in their memories like their own children.

Jeremiah 17:3. My mountain in the field, your wealth and all your treasures I will give for spoil, and your high places, on account of sin throughout all your territory. God’s mountain—this is Jerusalem, visible from afar to those traveling in the surrounding plains. However, the Hebrew phrase, translated in the Russian text as “My mountain,” can also be related to the preceding verse and translated thus: “on the mountains of the field.” Jer 17:5-11. Wretched is he who trusts in man rather than in God. Even if he achieves something, God will take it from him. On the other hand, he who trusts in God will prosper, like a tree growing by water.

Jeremiah 17:5. Thus says the Lord: Cursed is the man who trusts in man and makes flesh his strength, and whose heart turns away from the Lord. It is very likely that the prophet has in mind King Jehoiakim, who placed great hopes in help from the Egyptians and, contrary to the advice of the prophet Jeremiah, entered into conspiracies against the Babylonian king.

Jeremiah 17:6. He shall be like a shrub in the desert and shall not see when good comes, and shall dwell in the parched places in the wilderness, in a land of salt and uninhabited. “A shrub in the desert”—a plant placed in the wilderness, of course, grows poorly because it has no irrigation.

Jeremiah 17:9. The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately corrupt; who can understand it? Jeremiah 17:10. I, the Lord, search the heart and examine the innermost thoughts, to give to each man according to his ways, and according to the fruit of his deeds. The prophet here also has in mind the cunning schemes of Jewish politicians, which, however, the Lord clearly sees.

Jeremiah 17:11. Like a partridge that gathers eggs that she did not lay, so is he who gathers wealth unjustly; in the midst of his days it will leave him, and at the end he will be a fool. Here the prophet speaks of the partridge that sits on eggs not her own, from the perspective of the understandings of that time, which may not accord with scientific observation. Jer 17:12-18. The enemies of the prophet scoff at him, not seeing the fulfillment of his threats yet, and the prophet asks God to come to his aid and punish his enemies, since he was always a faithful executor of Jehovah’s will.

Jeremiah 17:12. A throne of glory, exalted from of old, is the place of our sanctuary. The prophet speaks here on behalf of the better part of the Jewish people, who regard with aversion the pagan altars, bowing down only before the altar of the true God, standing in the Temple of Jerusalem.

Jeremiah 17:13. O Lord, the hope of Israel; all who abandon You will be ashamed. “Those who turn away from Me will be written in the dust, because they have abandoned the Lord, the source of living water. “Written in the dust.” Just as writing in sand is easily erased, so quickly does the well-being of those who turn away from Jehovah disappear.

Jeremiah 17:16. I have not rushed to become a shepherd under You, nor have I desired the day of calamity; You know this; what has come from my lips is open before Your face. The prophet had no hostile feeling toward his fellow citizens. It was hard for him to constantly predict misfortunes to them. Jer 17:19-27. The prophet must restore in the mind of the people the concept of the holiness of the Law of Moses, in particular to preach to all the necessity of keeping the law regarding Sabbath rest. To this is added a promise of well-being for those who honor the Sabbath and threats to its violators.

Jeremiah 17:19. Thus the Lord said to me: Go and stand in the gate of the people, through which the kings of Judah enter and through which they go out, and in all the gates of Jerusalem, “The gate of the people.” Instead of “the people”—from the Hebrew benei-am—it is better to read: the Benjamin gate. The word benei-am may be recognized as an abbreviation of the word Benjamin. These were city gates constructed on the north side of the wall—in the direction of the tribe of Benjamin. “The kings of Judah”—see Jer 13:13.

Jeremiah 17:21. Thus says the Lord: Take heed to yourselves, and do not carry loads on the Sabbath day, nor bring them through the gates of Jerusalem, The kings, of course, did not carry the loads themselves, but forced others to do so. Special Remarks. The speech found in Jer 16:1 – Jer 17:18 verses may be considered a continuation and conclusion of that spoken during the drought (Chapters 14–15). The mockery of the prophet’s words (Jer 17:15) shows that the Chaldeans had not yet caused serious harm to the Judean country. Probably, therefore, this speech was spoken during the comparatively quiet years of Jehoiakim’s reign. As for Jer 17:19-27, this passage represents an independent whole. One may suppose that this is one of the sermons with which Jeremiah addressed the people in the days of King Josiah, regarding the discovery of the book of the Law of Moses. From it we see that the prophet Jeremiah, who so zealously stood for inner piety, at the same time considered it necessary to observe the external precepts of the Law of Moses. The keeping of the law about the Sabbath becomes a test stone for the people and should testify to how faithful he is to Jehovah.