28 But thou shalt say H559 unto them, This is a nation H1471 that obeyeth H8085 not the voice H6963 of the LORD H3068 their God, H430 nor receiveth H3947 correction: H4148 truth H530 is perished, H6 and is cut off H3772 from their mouth. H6310
And judgment H4941 is turned away H5253 backward, H268 and justice H6666 standeth H5975 afar off: H7350 for truth H571 is fallen H3782 in the street, H7339 and equity H5229 cannot H3201 enter. H935 Yea, truth H571 faileth; H5737 and he that departeth H5493 from evil H7451 maketh himself a prey: H7997 and the LORD H3068 saw H7200 it, and it displeased H3415 H5869 him that there was no judgment. H4941
Ah H1945 sinful H2398 nation, H1471 a people H5971 laden H3515 with iniquity, H5771 a seed H2233 of evildoers, H7489 children H1121 that are corrupters: H7843 they have forsaken H5800 H853 the LORD, H3068 they have provoked H5006 H853 the Holy One H6918 of Israel H3478 unto anger, H5006 they are gone away H2114 backward. H268 Why should ye be stricken H5221 any more? ye will revolt H5627 more and more: H3254 the whole head H7218 is sick, H2483 and the whole heart H3824 faint. H1742
The bellows H4647 are burned, H2787 the lead H5777 is consumed H8552 of the fire; H800 H784 the founder H6884 melteth H6884 in vain: H7723 for the wicked H7451 are not plucked away. H5423 Reprobate H3988 silver H3701 shall men call H7121 them, because the LORD H3068 hath rejected H3988 them.
And they bend H1869 their tongues H3956 like their bow H7198 for lies: H8267 but they are not valiant H1396 for the truth H530 upon the earth; H776 for they proceed H3318 from evil H7451 to evil, H7451 and they know H3045 not me, saith H5002 the LORD. H3068 Take ye heed H8104 every one H376 of his neighbour, H7453 and trust H982 ye not in any brother: H251 for every brother H251 will utterly H6117 supplant, H6117 and every neighbour H7453 will walk H1980 with slanders. H7400 And they will deceive H2048 every one H376 his neighbour, H7453 and will not speak H1696 the truth: H571 they have taught H3925 their tongue H3956 to speak H1696 lies, H8267 and weary H3811 themselves to commit iniquity. H5753 Thine habitation H3427 is in the midst H8432 of deceit; H4820 through deceit H4820 they refuse H3985 to know H3045 me, saith H5002 the LORD. H3068 Therefore thus saith H559 the LORD H3068 of hosts, H6635 Behold, I will melt H6884 them, and try H974 them; for how shall I do H6213 for H6440 the daughter H1323 of my people? H5971 Their tongue H3956 is as an arrow H2671 shot out; H7819 it speaketh H1696 deceit: H4820 one speaketh H1696 peaceably H7965 to his neighbour H7453 with his mouth, H6310 but in heart H7130 he layeth H7760 his wait. H696
The good H2623 man is perished H6 out of the earth: H776 and there is none upright H3477 among men: H120 they all lie in wait H693 for blood; H1818 they hunt H6679 every man H376 his brother H251 with a net. H2764 That they may do evil H7451 with both hands H3709 earnestly, H3190 the prince H8269 asketh, H7592 and the judge H8199 asketh for a reward; H7966 and the great H1419 man, he uttereth H1696 his mischievous H1942 desire: H5315 so they wrap it up. H5686 The best H2896 of them is as a brier: H2312 the most upright H3477 is sharper than a thorn hedge: H4534 the day H3117 of thy watchmen H6822 and thy visitation H6486 cometh; H935 now shall be their perplexity. H3998 Trust H539 ye not in a friend, H7453 put ye not confidence H982 in a guide: H441 keep H8104 the doors H6607 of thy mouth H6310 from her that lieth H7901 in thy bosom. H2436
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Keil & Delitzsch Commentary » Commentary on Jeremiah 7
Commentary on Jeremiah 7 Keil & Delitzsch Commentary
The Vanity of Putting Trust in the Temple and in the Sacrificial Service, and the Way to Safety and Life - Jeremiah 7-10
This discourse divides itself into three sections. Starting with the people's confident reliance in the possession of the temple and the legal sacrificial worship, Jeremiah in the first section, by pointing to the destruction of Shiloh, where in the old time the sanctuary of the ark of the covenant had been, shows that Jerusalem and Judah will not escape the fate of Shiloh and the kingdom of Ephraim, in case they persist in their stiffneckedness against the Lord their God (Jer 7:1-8:3). For the confirmation of this threatening he goes on, in the second section, further to tell of the people's determined resistance to all reformation, and to set forth the terrible visitation which hardened continuance in sin draws down on itself (Jer 8:4-9:21). To the same end he finally, in the third section, points out the means of escape from impending destruction, showing that the way to safety and life lies in acknowledging the Lord as the only, everlasting, and almighty God, and in seeing the nothingness of the false gods; and, as the fruit of such knowledge, he inculcates the fear of the Lord, and self-humiliation under His mighty hand (Jer 9:22-10:25).
This discourse also was not uttered at any one particular time before the people in the temple, and in the shape in which it comes before us; but it has been gathered into one uniform whole, out of several oral addresses delivered in the temple by Jeremiah upon various occasions in the days of Josiah. According to Jer 26, Jeremiah, at the beginning of the reign of Jehoiakim, and in the court of the temple before the people, uttered the threatening that if they would not hear the words addressed to them by the prophets, nor reform their lives, the Lord would make the temple like Shiloh, and make the city a curse to all nations. For this speech he was found worthy of death by the priests and false prophets, and was saved only through the interference of the princes of the people Now the present discourse opposes to the people's vain confidence in the temple the solemn warning that the temple will share the fate of Shiloh; and hence many commentators, especially Graf and Nהg. , have inferred the identity of this with the discourse in Jer 26, and have referred its composition to the beginning of Jehoiakim's reign. But the agreement of the two chapters on this one point is not sufficient to justify such an inference. Jeremiah is wont often to repeat his leading thoughts in his discourses; and so it is not unlikely that more than once, during the eighteen years of his ministry under Josiah, he may have held up the fate of Shiloh and the sanctuary there, as a warning to the people which built its confidence on the possession of the temple and the performance of the legal cultus. If the foundation even of the first section of the present discourse were to be found in that given in Jer 26, taken in connection with the impression it made on the priests and prophets, with the violent feeling it excited, and the storm against Jeremiah which it called forth, then certainly the continuation of this discourse from Jeremiah 7:16 onwards would have been something different from what we find it. In writing down the discourse, Jeremiah would certainly not have passed immediately from threatening the people with the fate of Shiloh to the repudiation of all intercessory prayers, and to the statement there made as to the sacrificial service. This we mention without entering on the discussion of the other portions of the discourse. In the whole of the rest of the discourse, as continued Jer 8-10, there is not the least trace of hostility against Jeremiah on the part of priests or people, or any hint of anything that would carry us beyond the time of Josiah into the reign of Jehoiakim.
Jeremiah 7:1-8:3
Warning against a False Trust in the Temple and the Sacrificial Service. The temple does not afford protection from the threatened punishment. If Judah does not change its manner of life, the temple will suffer the fate of Shiloh, and Judah will, like Ephraim, be rejected by the Lord (Jeremiah 7:1-15). Neither intercession on behalf of the corrupt race, nor the multitude of its burnt and slain offerings, will turn aside from Jerusalem the visitation of wrath (Jeremiah 7:16-28); for the Lord has cast away the hardened sinners on account of their idolatry, and will make Jerusalem and Judah a field of death (v. 29-8:3).
The vanity of trusting in the temple. - Jeremiah 7:1. "The word that came to Jeremiah from Jahveh, saying, Jeremiah 7:2. Stand in the gate of the house of Jahveh, and proclaim there this word, and say, Hear the word of Jahveh, all ye of Judah, that enter these gates to worship before Jahveh: Jeremiah 7:3. Thus hath spoken Jahveh of hosts, the God of Israel, Make your ways and your doings good, and I will cause you to dwell in this place. Jeremiah 7:4. Trust ye not in lying words, when they say, The temple of Jahveh, the temple of Jahveh, the temple of Jahveh, is this. Jeremiah 7:5. But if ye thoroughly make your ways good, and your doings; if ye thoroughly execute right amongst one another; Jeremiah 7:6. Oppress not stranger, fatherless, and widow, and shed not innocent blood in this place, neither follow after other gods to your hurt; Jeremiah 7:7. Then I cause you to dwell in this place, in the land which I have given unto your fathers, from eternity unto eternity. Jeremiah 7:8. Behold, ye trust in lying words, though they profit not. Jeremiah 7:9. How? to steal, to murder, and commit adultery, and swear falsely, and offer odours to Baal, and to walk after other gods whom ye know not? Jeremiah 7:10. And then ye come and stand before my face in this house, upon which my name is named, and think, We are saved to do all these abominations. Jeremiah 7:11. Is then this house become a den or murderers, over which my name is named, in your eyes? I too, behold, have seen it, saith Jahveh. Jeremiah 7:12. For go ye now to may place which was at Shiloh, where I formerly caused my name to dwell, and see what I have done unto it for the wickedness of my people Israel. Jeremiah 7:13. And now, because ye do all these deeds, saith Jahve, and I have spoken to you, speaking from early morning on, and ye have not heard; and I have called you, and ye have not answered; Jeremiah 7:14. Therefore I do unto this house, over which my name is named, wherein ye trust, and unto the place which I have given to you and to your fathers, as I have done unto Shiloh. Jeremiah 7:15. And cast you away from my face, as I have cast away all your brethren, the whole seed of Ephraim."