21 So this is what the Lord of armies has said about the men of Anathoth who have made designs against your life, saying, You are not to be a prophet in the name of the Lord, or death will overtake you by our hands:
But I have to go on my way today and tomorrow and the third day, for it is not right for a prophet to come to his death outside Jerusalem. O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, putting to death the prophets, and stoning those who were sent to her! again and again would I have taken your children to myself, as a bird takes her young ones under her wings, but you would not!
But to those who were separate you gave wine for drink; and to the prophets you said, Be prophets no longer.
For numbers of them say evil secretly in my hearing (there is fear on every side): they say, Come, let us give witness against him; all my nearest friends, who are watching for my fall, say, It may be that he will be taken by deceit, and we will get the better of him and give him punishment.
If running with the fighting-men has made you tired, how will you be able to keep up with horses? and if in a land of peace you go in flight, what will become of you in the thick growth of Jordan? For even your brothers, your father's family, even they have been untrue to you, crying loudly after you: have no faith in them, though they say fair words to you.
Who say to the seers, See not; and to the prophets, Do not give us word of what is true, but say false things to give us pleasure:
You whose hearts are hard and whose ears are shut to me; you are ever working against the Holy Spirit; as your fathers did, so do you. Which of the prophets was not cruelly attacked by your fathers? and they put to death those who gave them the news of the coming of the Upright One; whom you have now given up and put to death;
And he said to them, Truly I say to you, No prophet is honoured in his country.
For this reason, I send you prophets, and wise men, and scribes: some of them you will put to death and put on the cross, and to some of them you will give blows in your Synagogues, driving them from town to town; So that on you may come all the blood of the upright on the earth, from the blood of upright Abel to the blood of Zachariah, son of Barachiah, whom you put to death between the Temple and the altar. Truly I say to you, All these things will come on this generation. O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, putting to death the prophets, and stoning those who are sent to her! Again and again would I have taken your children to myself as a bird takes her young ones under her wings, and you would not!
Now it came to the ears of Pashhur, the son of Immer the priest, who was chief in authority in the house of the Lord, that Jeremiah was saying these things; And Pashhur gave blows to Jeremiah and had his feet chained in a framework of wood in the higher doorway of Benjamin, which was in the house of the Lord.
And the workmen made an attack on his servants, giving blows to one, putting another to death, and stoning another.
Do not have the thought that I have come to send peace on the earth; I came not to send peace but a sword. For I have come to put a man against his father, and the daughter against her mother, and the daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law: And a man will be hated by those of his house.
And brother will give up brother to death, and the father his child: and children will go against their fathers and mothers, and put them to death.
For the son puts shame on his father, the daughter goes against her mother and the daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law; and a man's haters are those of his family.
Let not words like these be dropped, they say: Shame and the curse will not come to the family of Jacob! Is the Lord quickly made angry? are these his doings? do not his words do good to his people Israel? As for you, you have become haters of those who were at peace with you: you take the clothing of those who go by without fear, and make them prisoners of war. The women of my people you have been driving away from their dearly loved children; from their young ones you are taking my glory for ever. Up! and go; for this is not your rest: because it has been made unclean, the destruction ordered will come on you. If a man came with a false spirit of deceit, saying, I will be a prophet to you of wine and strong drink: he would be the sort of prophet for this people.
But be a prophet no longer at Beth-el: for it is the holy place of the king, and the king's house. Then Amos in answer said to Amaziah, I am no prophet, or one of the sons of the prophets; I am a herdman and one who takes care of sycamore-trees: And the Lord took me from the flock, and the Lord said to me, Go, be a prophet to my people Israel. Now then, give ear to the word of the Lord: You say, Be no prophet to Israel, and say not a word against the people of Isaac.
Now it came to the ears of Shephatiah, the son of Mattan, and Gedaliah, the son of Pashhur, and Jucal, the son of Shelemiah, and Pashhur, the son of Malchiah, that Jeremiah had said to all the people, These are the words of the Lord: Whoever goes on living in this town will come to his death by the sword or through need of food or by disease: but whoever goes out to the Chaldaeans will keep his life out of the power of the attackers and be safe. The Lord has said, This town will certainly be given into the hands of the army of the king of Babylon, and he will take it. Then the rulers said to the king, Let this man be put to death, because he is putting fear into the hearts of the men of war who are still in the town, and into the hearts of the people, by saying such things to them: this man is not working for the well-being of the people, but for their damage. Then Zedekiah the king said, See, he is in your hands: for the king was not able to do anything against them. So they took Jeremiah and put him into the water-hole of Malchiah, the king's son, in the place of the armed watchmen: and they let Jeremiah down with cords. And in the hole there was no water, but wet earth: and Jeremiah went down into the wet earth.
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Keil & Delitzsch Commentary » Commentary on Jeremiah 11
Commentary on Jeremiah 11 Keil & Delitzsch Commentary
Judah's Faithlessness to Covenant Obligations, and the Consequences Thereof - Jeremiah 11-13
In the first part of this compilation of discourses (Jer 11:1-17) Judah is upbraided for disloyalty to the covenant, on account of which people and kingdom are threatened with sore disaster. In the second part (11:18-12:17), the murderous attempt of the people of Anathoth against the prophet's life (Jeremiah 11:18-23) gives occasion for a description of Judah's irreclaimable perverseness; while Jeremiah's expostulation with God as to the prosperity of godless men, and the reproof therefor received by him from God (Jeremiah 12:1-6), call forth an announcement that, in spite of God's long-suffering, judgment on Judah and all nations will not be for ever deferred (Jeremiah 12:7-17). Finally, in the third part, Jer 13, we have first a further account, by means of a symbolical action to be performed by the prophet, of the abasement of Judah's pride in banishment to Euphrates (Jeremiah 11:1-11); and next, an account of the judgment about to fall on Judah in the destruction of Jerusalem, and this both in figurative and in direct language (Jeremiah 11:12 -27).
From the contents of the discourses it appears unquestionable that we have here, gathered into the unity of a written record, various oral addresses of Jeremiah, together with some of the experiences that befell him in the exercise of his calling. There is no foundation for the assertion, that Jeremiah 12:7-17 is a self-complete prophetic discourse (Hitz.), or a supplement to the rest, written in the last years of Jehoiakim (Graf); nor for the assumption of several commentators, that the composition of c. 13 falls into the time of Jehoiachin - as will be shown when we come to expound the passages referred to. The discourse throughout contains nothing that might not have been spoken or have happened in the time of Josiah; nor have we here any data for determining precisely the dates of the several portions of the whole discourse.
Judah's Disloyalty to the Covenant, with the Consequences Thereof
In Jeremiah 11:2-8 is a short summary of the covenant made with the fathers; in Jeremiah 11:9-13 is an account of the breaking of this covenant by Judah, and of the calamity which results therefrom; and in Jeremiah 11:14-17 further description of this calamity.
Jeremiah 11:1-8
"The word which came to Jeremiah from Jahveh, saying: Jeremiah 11:2. Hear ye the words of this covenant, and speak to the men of Judah and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, Jeremiah 11:3. And say thou to them: Thus hath Jahve, the God of Israel, said: Cursed is the man that heareth not the words of this covenant, Jeremiah 11:4. Which I commanded your fathers in the day that I brought them forth out of the land of Egypt, out of the iron furnace, saying: Hearken to my voice, and do them according to all which I command you; so shall ye be my people, and I will be your God; Jeremiah 11:5. That I may perform the oath which I have sworn unto your fathers, to give them a land flowing with milk and honey, as it is this day. And I answered and said: So be it, Jahveh. Jeremiah 11:6. Then said Jahveh to me: Proclaim all these words in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem, saying: Hear ye the words of this covenant and do them. Jeremiah 11:7. For I have testified to your fathers in the day that I brought them out of the land of Egypt unto this day, testifying from early morning on: Hearken to my voice! Jeremiah 11:8. But they hearkened not, nor inclined their ear, but walked each in the stubbornness of their evil heart; and so I brought on them all the words of this covenant which I have commanded them to do, and they have not done them."
The form of address, Jeremiah 11:2 : hear ye ( שׁמעוּ ), and speak ye ( דּבּרתּם ), is noteworthy since we are not told who are to hear and speak; while at Jeremiah 11:3, in ואמרתּ Jeremiah receives the commission to declare the words of the covenant to the people, and to make known in the cities of Judah, etc. (Jeremiah 11:6). The difficulty is not removed by the plan adopted by Hitz. and Graf from the lxx, of changing ודבּרתּם into ודבּרתּם , "and speak them;" for the שׁמעוּ remains to be dealt with. To whom then, is it addressed? Schleussner proposed to change it into שׁמעה - a purely arbitrary change. In Jeremiah 11:4 "hearing" is used in the sense of giving ear to, obeying. And in no other sense can it be taken in Jeremiah 11:1. "The words of this covenant" are, as is clear from the succeeding context, the words of the covenant recorded in the Pentateuch, known from the reading of the Torah. The call to hear the words thereof can only have the meaning of: to give ear to them, take them to heart. Hence Chr. B. Mich. and Schnur. have referred the words to the Jews: Listen, ye Jews and ye citizens of Jerusalem, to the words of the covenant, and make them know to one another, and exhort one another to observe them. But this paraphrase is hardly consistent with the wording of the verse. Others fancied that the priests and elders were addressed; but if so, these must necessarily have been named. Clearly it is to the prophets in general that the words are spoken, as Kimchi observed; and we must not take "hear ye" as if the covenant was unknown to the prophets, but as intended to remind the prophets of them, that they might enforce them upon the people. Taken thus, this introductory verse serves to exalt the importance of the truths mentioned, to mark them out as truths which God had commanded all the prophets to proclaim. If it be the prophets in general who are addressed in Jeremiah 11:2, the transition to "and say thou" is easily explained. Jeremiah, too, must himself do that which was the bounden duty of all the prophets, must make the men of Judah and Jerusalem call to mind the curse overhanging transgressors of the covenant. The words: Cursed is the man, etc., are taken from Deuteronomy 27:26, from the directions for the engagement to keep the covenant, which the people were to solemnise upon their entry into Canaan, and which, acc. to Joshua 8:30., they did solemnise. The quotation is made freely from memory. Instead of "that heareth not the words of this covenant," we find in Deut. l.c .: "the confirmeth not ( יקים ) the words of this law to do them." The choice there of the word יקים is suggested by its connection with the act of solemnisation enjoined. The recitation and promulgation of the law upon Mount Gerizim and Ebal (Deut 27) had no other aim than that of solemnly binding the people to keep or follow the law; and this is what Jeremiah means by "hearing." The law to be established is the law of the covenant, i.e., the covenant made by Jahveh with Israel, and spoken of in Deuteronomy 28:68 and Deuteronomy 29:8 as the "words of this covenant." This covenant, which Moses had made with the sons of Israel in the land of Moab (Deuteronomy 28:68), was but a renewal of that solemnly concluded at Sinai (Ex 24). And so Jeremiah speaks of this covenant as the one which Jahveh commanded the fathers in the day, i.e., at the time, of their leaving Egypt. "In the day that," etc., as in Jeremiah 7:22. "Out of the iron furnace:" this metaphor for the affliction endured by Israel in Egypt is taken from Deuteronomy 4:20. The words: hearken unto my voice and do them (the words of the covenant), suggest Deuteronomy 27:1-2; and the words: so shall ye be my people, suggest Deuteronomy 29:12, a passage which itself points back to ex. Jeremiah 6:7 (Jeremiah 19:5.), Leviticus 27:12; Deuteronomy 7:6, etc. That I may establish, i.e., perform, the oath which I have sworn unto your fathers, i.e., the patriarchs Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob (Deuteronomy 7:8, etc.), promising to give them a land flowing, etc. The frequently repeated description of the promised land; cf. Exodus 3:8, Exodus 3:17; Deuteronomy 6:3, etc. כּיּום , as in Deuteronomy 2:30; Deuteronomy 4:20, etc., is not: at this time, now (Graf), but: as this day, meaning: as is even now the case, sc. that ye still possess this precious land. The assenting reply of the prophet: אמן יהוה , yea, or so be it ( γένοιτο , lxx), Lord, corresponds to the אמן with which the people, acc. to Deuteronomy 27:15., were to take on themselves the curses attached to the breaking of the law, curses which they did take on themselves when the law was promulgated in Canaan. As the whole congregation did on that occasion, so here the prophet, by his "yea," expresses his adherence to the covenant, and admits that the engagement is yet in full force for the congregation of God; and at the same time indicates that he, on his part, is ready to labour for the fulfilment of the covenant, so that the people may not become liable to the curse of the law.
Jeremiah 11:6-8
Having set forth the curse to which transgressors of the law are exposed, God commands the prophet to proclaim the words of the covenant to the inhabitants of Judah and Jerusalem, and to call upon them to do these. "All these words" are those subsequently specified, i.e., the commandments of the law (cf. Jeremiah 11:2). Jeremiah is to proclaim these, because, in spite of unremitting exhortation to hear and give heed to the voice of the Lord, the fathers had paid no regard thereto. קתא , not: read aloud (Hitz., Graf), but: proclaim, make known, as in Jeremiah 2:2; Jeremiah 3:12, etc. העיד with בּ , to testify against any one, equivalent to: solemnly to enforce on one with importunate counsel and warning; cf. Deuteronomy 30:19; Psalms 50:7, etc. On השׁכּם והעד , see at Jeremiah 7:13. - But they have not hearkened, Jeremiah 11:8 , running almost literally in the words of Jeremiah 7:24. "And I brought upon them," etc., i.e., inflicted upon them the punishments with which transgressors of the law were threatened, which curses had been, in the case of the greater part of the people, the ten tribes, carried to the extreme length, i.e., to the length of their banishment from their own land into the midst of the heathen; cf. 2 Kings 17:13.
Jeremiah 11:9-13
The people's breach of the covenant, and the consequences of this. - Jeremiah 11:9. "And Jahveh said unto me: Conspiracy is found among the men of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem. Jeremiah 11:10. They are turned back to the iniquities of their forefathers, which refused to give ear to my words, and they are 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. Jeremiah 11:11. Behold, I bring evil upon them, from which they cannot escape; and though they cry to me, I will not hear them. Jeremiah 11:12. And the cities of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem shall go and cry unto the gods unto whom they offer incense, but they shall not help them in the time of their trouble. Jeremiah 11:13. For as many as are thy cities, so many are thy gods become, O Judah; and as many as are the streets of Jerusalem, so many altars have ye set up to Shame, altars to offer odours to Baal."