8 And hath been as a tree planted by waters, And by a rivulet he sendeth forth his roots, And he doth not see when heat cometh, And his leaf hath been green, And in a year of dearth he is not sorrowful, Nor doth he cease from making fruit.
Waters have made it great, The deep hath exalted him with its flowings, Going round about its planting, And its conduits it hath sent forth unto all trees of the field. Therefore higher hath been his stature than all trees of the field, And multiplied are his boughs, and long are his branches, Because of many waters in his shooting forth, In his boughs made a nest hath every fowl of the heavens, And under his branches brought forth hath every beast of the field, And in his shade dwell do all great nations. And he is fair in his greatness, In the length of his thin shoots, For his root hath been by great waters. Cedars have not hid him in the garden of God, Firs have not been like unto his boughs, And chesnut-trees have not been as his branches, No tree in the garden of God hath been like unto him in his beauty, Fair I have made him in the multitude of his thin shoots, And envy him do all trees of Eden that `are' in the garden of God. Therefore, thus said the Lord Jehovah: Because that thou hast been high in stature, And he yieldeth his foliage between thickets, And high is his heart in his haughtiness,
And Thou exaltest as a reem my horn, I have been anointed with fresh oil. And mine eye looketh on mine enemies, Of those rising up against me, The evil doers, do mine ears hear. The righteous as a palm-tree flourisheth, As a cedar in Lebanon he groweth. Those planted in the house of Jehovah, In the courts of our God do flourish. Still they bring forth in old age, Fat and flourishing are they, To declare that upright `is' Jehovah my rock, And there is no perverseness in Him!
That which hath been the word of Jehovah unto Jeremiah concerning the matters of the dearths: Mourned hath Judah, and her gates have languished, They have mourned to the earth, And the cry of Jerusalem hath gone up. And their honourable ones have sent their little ones to the water, They have come unto ditches, They have not found water, They have turned back -- their vessels empty! They have been ashamed, And have blushed and covered their head. Because the ground hath been broken, For there hath been no rain in the land, Ashamed have been husbandmen, They have covered their head. For even the hind in the field hath brought forth -- to forsake `it!' For there hath been no grass. And wild asses have stood on high places, They have swallowed up wind like dragons, Consumed have been their eyes, for there is no herb.
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Commentary on Jeremiah 17 Keil & Delitzsch Commentary
Judah's sin is ineffaceably stamped upon the hearts of the people and on their altars. These four verses are closely connected with the preceding, and show why it is necessary that Judah be cast forth amidst the heathen, by reason of its being perfectly stepped in idolatry. Jeremiah 17:1. "The sin of Judah is written with an iron pen, with the point of a diamond graven on the table of their hearts and on the horns of your altars. Jeremiah 17:2 . As they remember their children, so do they their altars and their Astartes by the green tree upon the high hills. Jeremiah 17:3 . My mountain in the field, thy substance, all thy treasures give I for a prey, thy high places for sin in all thy borders. Jeremiah 17:4 . And thou shalt discontinue, and that of thine own self, from thine inheritance that I gave thee, and I cause thee to serve thine enemies in a land which thou knowest not; for a fire have ye kindled in mine anger, for ever it burneth."