15Behold, they ask me, “Where is Yahweh’s word? Let it be fulfilled now.”
16As for me, I have not hurried from being a shepherd after you. I haven’t desired the woeful day. You know. That which came out of my lips was before your face.
17Don’t be a terror to me. You are my refuge in the day of evil.
18Let them be disappointed who persecute me, but let not me be disappointed. Let them be dismayed, but don’t let me be dismayed. Bring on them the day of evil, and destroy them with double destruction.
15 Behold, they ask me, “Where is Yahweh’s word? Let it be fulfilled now.”
16 As for me, I have not hurried from being a shepherd after you. I haven’t desired the woeful day. You know. That which came out of my lips was before your face.
17 Don’t be a terror to me. You are my refuge in the day of evil.
18 Let them be disappointed who persecute me, but let not me be disappointed. Let them be dismayed, but don’t let me be dismayed. Bring on them the day of evil, and destroy them with double destruction.
KJVKing James Version
15 Behold, they say unto me, Where is the word of the LORD? let it come now.
16 As for me, I have not hastened from being a pastor to follow thee: neither have I desired the woeful day; thou knowest: that which came out of my lips was right before thee.
17 Be not a terror unto me: thou art my hope in the day of evil.
18 Let them be confounded that persecute me, but let not me be confounded: let them be dismayed, but let not me be dismayed: bring upon them the day of evil, and destroy them with double destruction.
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JPSJPS Tanakh (1917)
15 Behold, they say unto me: 'Where is the word of the LORD? let it come now.'
16 As for me, I have not hastened from being a shepherd after Thee; neither have I desired the woeful day; Thou knowest it; that which came out of my lips was manifest before Thee.
17 Be not a ruin unto me; Thou art my refuge in the day of evil.
18 Let them be ashamed that persecute me, but let not me be ashamed; Let them be dismayed, but let not me be dismayed; Bring upon them the day of evil, and destroy them with double destruction.
Nahum 1:7(v17)Yahweh is good, a stronghold in the day of trouble; and he knows those who take refuge in him.
Psalms 59:16(v17)But I will sing of your strength. Yes, I will sing aloud of your loving kindness in the morning. For you have been my high tower, a refuge…
Jeremiah 16:19(v17)Yahweh, my strength, and my stronghold, and my refuge in the day of affliction, the nations will come to you from the ends of the earth,…
Psalms 35:4(v18)Let those who seek after my soul be disappointed and brought to dishonor. Let those who plot my ruin be turned back and confounded.
Psalms 40:14(v18)Let them be disappointed and confounded together who seek after my soul to destroy it. Let them be turned backward and brought to dishonor…
Show all 49 cross-references
Psalms 25:2-3(v18)My God, I have trusted in you. Don’t let me be shamed. Don’t let my enemies triumph over me. Yes, no one who waits for you will be shamed.…
Psalms 83:17-18(v18)Let them be disappointed and dismayed forever. Yes, let them be confounded and perish; that they may know that you alone, whose name is…
Psalms 88:15-16(v17)I am afflicted and ready to die from my youth up. While I suffer your terrors, I am distracted. Your fierce wrath has gone over me. Your…
Isaiah 5:19(v15)who say, “Let him make haste, let him hasten his work, that we may see it; let the counsel of the Holy One of Israel draw near and come,…
Job 31:23(v17)For calamity from God is a terror to me. Because of his majesty, I can do nothing.
Jeremiah 11:20(v18)But, Yahweh of Armies, who judges righteously, who tests the heart and the mind, I will see your vengeance on them; for to you I have…
Jeremiah 20:11(v18)But Yahweh is with me as an awesome mighty one. Therefore my persecutors will stumble, and they won’t prevail. They will be utterly…
Psalms 35:8(v18)Let destruction come on him unawares. Let his net that he has hidden catch himself. Let him fall into that destruction.
Ezekiel 12:22(v15)“Son of man, what is this proverb that you have in the land of Israel, saying, ‘The days are prolonged, and every vision fails?’
Psalms 41:1(v17)Blessed is he who considers the poor. Yahweh will deliver him in the day of evil.
Psalms 70:2(v18)Let them be disappointed and confounded who seek my soul. Let those who desire my ruin be turned back in disgrace.
Psalms 71:1(v18)In you, Yahweh, I take refuge. Never let me be disappointed.
Psalms 77:2-9(v17)In the day of my trouble I sought the Lord. My hand was stretched out in the night, and didn’t get tired. My soul refused to be comforted.…
Jeremiah 4:19-20(v16)My anguish, my anguish! I am pained at my very heart! My heart trembles within me. I can’t hold my peace, because you have heard, O my…
Jeremiah 16:18(v18)First I will recompense their iniquity and their sin double, because they have polluted my land with the carcasses of their detestable…
Jeremiah 17:7(v17)“Blessed is the man who trusts in Yahweh, and whose confidence is in Yahweh.
Jeremiah 17:13(v17)Yahweh, the hope of Israel, all who forsake you will be disappointed. Those who depart from me will be written in the earth, because they…
Jeremiah 17:16(v18)As for me, I have not hurried from being a shepherd after you. I haven’t desired the woeful day. You know. That which came out of my lips…
Jeremiah 18:19-23(v18)Give heed to me, Yahweh, and listen to the voice of those who contend with me. Should evil be recompensed for good? For they have dug a pit…
Jeremiah 20:7-8(v15)Yahweh, you have persuaded me, and I was persuaded. You are stronger than I, and have prevailed. I have become a laughingstock all day.…
Ezekiel 12:27-28(v15)“Son of man, behold, they of the house of Israel say, ‘The vision that he sees is for many days to come, and he prophesies of times that…
Acts 20:20(v16)how I didn’t shrink from declaring to you anything that was profitable, teaching you publicly and from house to house,
Acts 20:27(v16)for I didn’t shrink from declaring to you the whole counsel of God.
Revelation 18:6(v18)Return to her just as she returned, and repay her double as she did, and according to her works. In the cup which she mixed, mix to her…
Job 16:14(v18)He breaks me with breach on breach. He runs at me like a giant.
Jeremiah 1:4-10(v16)Now Yahweh’s word came to me, saying, “Before I formed you in the womb, I knew you. Before you were born, I sanctified you. I have…
Jeremiah 9:1(v16)Oh that my head were waters, and my eyes a spring of tears, that I might weep day and night for the slain of the daughter of my people!
Jeremiah 13:17(v16)But if you will not hear it, my soul will weep in secret for your pride. My eye will weep bitterly, and run down with tears, because…
Jeremiah 14:17-21(v16)“You shall say this word to them: “ ‘Let my eyes run down with tears night and day, and let them not cease; for the virgin daughter of my…
Jeremiah 18:20(v16)Should evil be recompensed for good? For they have dug a pit for my soul. Remember how I stood before you to speak good for them, to turn…
Jeremiah 20:9(v16)If I say, I will not make mention of him, or speak any more in his name, then there is in my heart as it were a burning fire shut up in my…
Ezekiel 3:14-19(v16)So the Spirit lifted me up, and took me away; and I went in bitterness, in the heat of my spirit; and Yahweh’s hand was strong on me. Then…
Ezekiel 33:7-9(v16)“So you, son of man: I have set you a watchman to the house of Israel. Therefore hear the word from my mouth, and give them warnings from…
Amos 5:18(v15)“Woe to you who desire the day of Yahweh! Why do you long for the day of Yahweh? It is darkness, and not light.
Amos 7:14-15(v16)Then Amos answered Amaziah, “I was no prophet, neither was I a prophet’s son; but I was a herdsman, and a farmer of sycamore figs; and…
Romans 9:1-3(v16)I tell the truth in Christ. I am not lying, my conscience testifying with me in the Holy Spirit that I have great sorrow and unceasing pain…
2 Corinthians 1:12(v16)For our boasting is this: the testimony of our conscience, that in holiness and sincerity of God, not in fleshly wisdom but in the grace of…
2 Corinthians 2:17(v16)For we are not as so many, peddling the word of God. But as of sincerity, but as of God, in the sight of God, we speak in Christ.
Ephesians 6:13(v17)Therefore put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.
James 1:19(v16)So, then, my beloved brothers, let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, and slow to anger;
James 3:1(v16)Let not many of you be teachers, my brothers, knowing that we will receive heavier judgment.
2 Peter 3:3-4(v15)knowing this first, that in the last days mockers will come, walking after their own lusts and saying, “Where is the promise of his coming?…
Psalms 35:26-27(v18)Let them be disappointed and confounded together who rejoice at my calamity. Let them be clothed with shame and dishonor who magnify…
Jeremiah 14:17(v18)“You shall say this word to them: “ ‘Let my eyes run down with tears night and day, and let them not cease; for the virgin daughter of my…
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
Explain this passage (17 sources)
Historical commentary, presented as a primary source — not an endorsement.
John Calvin1540 · Public DomainOn vv15–18Here Jeremiah complains of the obstinate contempt of the…
Here Jeremiah complains of the obstinate contempt of the people; he found them not only uncourteous but even petulant towards God, so that they hesitated not to discredit all prophecies, to despise the promises, and boldly to reject all threatenings. The Prophet had often threatened them; and when God delayed the time, they made a wrong use of his forbearance, as it is commonly the case with the reprobate. Nor did they deem it enough even to add sins to sins, but they openly and petulantly provoked God, “Where is the word? many years have now elapsed since thou hast continually spoken of war, of famine, and of pestilence; but we still remain quiet, and God spares us; where then is the word of Jehovah, which thou hast announced?”
We now then see how great was the wilfulness of this people, for the teaching of Jeremiah became not only useless but was treated with ridicule. They had however heard much before from the mouth of Isaiah,
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“Alas! when the Lord calls you to ashes and sackcloth, ye say, “Let us eat and drink, to-morrow we shall die.” “As I live, saith the Lord, not forgiven to you shall be this iniquity.” (Isaiah 22:12-14.)
God then had sworn by his own glory that their sin would be inexpiable, because they continued obstinately in their vices, and were in no degree terrified by the threatenings of the prophets. We however see that they ever became worse and worse. Isaiah was dead when they thus spoke in contempt and mockery, Where is the word of Jehovah? let it now come, as though they designedly provoked God, like one who despises his enemy, and says, “Oh! thou art indeed to be dreaded, if thou art to be believed; let us now see thy power, shew to us what thou canst do.” Thus contemptibly did they utter their scoffs, when God by his servants made known to them the approaching ruin which they deserved. We see, in short, that the Prophet shews here that they had come to a hopeless state. It follows —
John Calvin's Commentaries (1540-1563) — public domain. Text from the Calvin Translation Society English edition (1840s-50s) via the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (ccel.org). Calvin's coverage is partial (roughly two-thirds of the Bible); uncommented books and verses are honest gaps, never fabricated. The 19th-century editor's footnotes and remarks are omitted so the notes are faithfully Calvin's own voice.
Geneva Bible translators1599 · Public DomainOn vv15–18The wicked say that my prophecy shall not come…
The wicked say that my prophecy shall not come to pass, because thou deferrest the time of thy vengeance.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp1656 · Public DomainOn vv15–18Jer 17:15 Behold, they say unto me, Where [is]…
Jer 17:15 Behold, they say unto me, Where [is] the word of the LORD? let it come now.
Ver. 15. Behold, they say unto me.] Heb., They are saying unto me; it is their daily dicterium, or jeer.
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Where is the word of the Lord?] Whereby thou so oft threatenest us with desolation. {a} Thus profane persons flear, when they should fear. See 2Pe 3:4 Isa 5:19 Amo 5:18.
{a} Ubi est? It is where? i.e., Nusquam est. It is nowhere. - Piscat
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Matthew Poole1685 · Public DomainOn vv15–18They say unto me, Where is the word of…
They say unto me, Where is the word of the Lord? scoffing at me, as if I had threatened them in thy name without any order or direction from thee, as the scoffers mentioned by Peter, 2Pe 3:4, said, Where is the promise of his coming? This hath been the practice of all wicked men hardened in their sinful courses, and resolved to go on, to put the evil day far from them, and to scoff at all denunciations of God’s judgments, Isa 5:19; Amo 5:18.
Let it come now; daring the vengeance of God, and challenging God to damn them, or to execute the vengeance with which he threateneth them.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
John Gill1763 · Public DomainOn vv15–18Behold, they say unto me,.... Or, "they are saying…
Behold, they say unto me,.... Or, "they are saying unto me" (y), continually; these were their daily flouts and jeers:
Where is the word of the Lord? that thou hast so often talked of? thou hast for a long time threatened us with a siege, and famine, pestilence, and the sword, and captivity, but none of these come to pass; where is the accomplishment of them? thou hast pretended to have the word of the Lord for all this; but where is it, or the fulfilment of it? so the Targum,
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"where is that which thou hast prophesied in the name of the Lord?''
the judgments, as punishments for sin, he prophesied of. This has been always usual in all ages, that when God's judgments threatened have not been immediately executed, scoffers and mockers have rose up, suggesting they would never come; see Mal 2:17;
let it come now; immediately, or we shall not believe it ever will; a very impudent, daring, and wicked expression: this is like that in Isa 5:19. The Targum is,
"let it now be confirmed;''
or fulfilled; declaring as their impiety, so their infidelity; not believing it ever would be fulfilled.
(y) "ecce illi sunt dicentes ad me", Schmidt.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Wesley1765 · Public DomainOn vv15–16Where - Daring the vengeance of God.
Where - Daring the vengeance of God.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke1810 · Public DomainOn vv15–18Verse 15. Where is the word of the Lord?]…
Verse 15. Where is the word of the Lord?] Where is the accomplishment of his threatenings? Thou hast said that the city and the temple should both be destroyed. No such events have yet taken place. But they did take place, and every tittle of the menace was strictly fulfilled.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Joseph Benson1811 · Public DomainOn v15Jer 17:15-18. Behold, they say unto me — Scoffing…
Jer 17:15-18. Behold, they say unto me — Scoffing at me, as if I had denounced threatenings in thy name, without any order or direction from thee: Where is the word of the Lord? — Like the scoffers, mentioned by St. Peter, 2Pe 3:4, saying, Where is the promise of his coming? This has been the practice of all wicked men, hardened in their sinful courses, and resolved to go on in them: they put the evil day far from them, and scoff at all denunciations of divine wrath. Let it come now — So said these scoffers, daring the vengeance of God, and challenging him to execute the judgments he had threatened. As for me, I have not hastened, &c. — Dr. Waterland translates this clause, “But as for me, I have not forced or intruded myself upon thee for a pastor.” To the same sense the Geneva translation interprets the words. According to which reading the prophet solemnly appeals to God that he had not intruded himself into the office of a prophet, nor had been desirous of an employment that foreboded so much evil to others, and brought a great deal of trouble upon himself. The words in the Hebrew, however, are literally as our translation expresses them, and may be paraphrased thus, “As I did not seek the office of a prophet, so when thou wast pleased to call me to it I did not decline it.” The LXX, render it, εγω δε ουκ εκοπιασα κατακολουθων οπισω σου, I have not been weary of following thee. Neither have I desired the woful day — Namely, the day of the accomplishment of his prophecies. Though, when it came, it would prove him to have been a true prophet, which they had questioned, and would be the avenging of him upon his persecutors, and therefore, on those accounts, he might have been tempted to desire it; yet, as it would be a woful day to Jerusalem, he deprecated it, and could appeal to God that he wished it might never come. That which came out of my lips was right before thee — That is, it exactly agreed with what I had received from thee. Be not a terror unto me — Amidst all the terrors, with which mine adversaries threaten me, let me still find comfort in thee; and let not any apprehension of being forsaken by thee be added to my other fears. Let them be confounded, &c. — See notes on Jer 11:20; Jer 16:18.
Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary1859 · Public DomainOn vv15, 16, 18Come. We have several instances of such impious sarcasms,…
Come. We have several instances of such impious sarcasms, Isaias xxviii. 10., and xxxiv. 13., Amos ii. 12., and Micheas ii. 6. (Calmet) --- We fear not the Chaldeans. (Menochius)
George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown1871 · Public DomainOn vv15–18Where is the word?-- (Isa 5:19; Amo 5:18). Where…
Where is the word?-- (Isa 5:19; Amo 5:18). Where is the fulfilment of the threats which thou didst utter as from God? A characteristic of the last stage of apostasy (Pe2 3:4).
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Daniel D. Whedon1874 · Public DomainOn vv16, 1816. A pastor to follow thee — Better, a…
16. A pastor to follow thee — Better, a shepherd after thee.
The woful day — Literally, the day of mortal sickness: the day of judgment and calamity to the city and nation.
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Was right before thee — Omit the misleading word “right” inserted by the translators. The meaning is: I have spoken as in God’s presence. No higher claim could be set up by an ambassador of heaven. Did every Christian minister always have as realizing and vivid a sense of God’s presence as of the presence of his fellow men, it would elevate and purify the tone and spirit of his utterances as nothing else could.
Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges1878 · Public DomainOn vv15–1815. The scoffs of his enemies suggested to him…
15. The scoffs of his enemies suggested to him thoughts of such faithlessness as would never otherwise have occurred to him. For their derision of his predictions cp. Isa_5:19. The v. shews that the time is, at any rate, before the capture of Jerusalem at the end of Jehoiakim’s reign. If that event had occurred, the people would not, as here, challenge the prophet to point out a fulfilment of his prophecies of woe.
now] not denoting time, but in the sense of we pray thee.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers1878 · Public DomainOn vv15–18(15) Behold, they say unto me.—The speakers are not…
(15) Behold, they say unto me.—The speakers are not named or defined, but they are clearly the mockers who questioned Jeremiah’s prophetic character, on the ground (comp. Deu_18:22) that his threats had received no fulfilment. Presumably, therefore, the words were written before the death of Jehoiakim and the capture of Jerusalem.
Let it come now.—The last word is the usual formula of request, and implies a mocking tone in the speakers: “Let it come, if you please.”
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary1880 · Public DomainOn vv15–18The occasion of this prayer is the hostility of…
The occasion of this prayer is the hostility of his neighbors, and their mocking question, Where is the word of the Lord? The prophecy seems to be floating as it were in mid-air, unable to alight (Isa_9:8) and fulfill itself, so that Jeremiah could be plausibly treated as a false prophet. (Deu_18:22) Hence, as Keil remarks, the discourse of which this forms the conclusion must have been spoken before the first Babylonian invasion of Judah.
"Where is the word of the Lord?
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I THE PRETEXT AND AIM OF THIS QUESTION. The prophet"s subsequent comment on the question shows with what bitter hatred to him it was asked. Sad, indeed, it is to reflect that these very words might be asked in a far different spirit; that they might come from the depths of an ignorant seeking heart, wandering long amid idolatries and human systems of philosophy, without hearing anything to serve as bread of heaven for the deep hunger within. There are people upon whom God"s Word has been pressed in every variety of appeal and representation. The Word has sought them out again and again; and yet in the end all they can do is to cast a scornful doubt on whether it is the Word of God at all. It may, indeed, be allowed that they did not mean to insult Jehovah; all they had in view was to express, in the most stinging way, their bitter hatred of this pertinacious, plain-spoken prophet this man who had come as a comparative youth from little Anathoth, rebuking those who were high in rank, old in years, and looked up to by the bulk of the people. No fallacy infecting the regions of practical life is more pernicious than that which, professing to admit the authority of him who sends, yet discredits the status of his professed messenger. It is thus very easy to evade unpleasant, humiliating messages. So the Jews of our Lord"s time were fanatically solicitous to honor their conception of Jehovah, and, as part of this devotion, they ended by crucifying Jesus as a blasphemer. The very people who asked, "Where is the word of Jehovah?" may have been the first to frame plausible repudiations of any wish to blaspheme him. Their great aim and purpose was to put this upstart Jeremiah in his proper place. They probably thought that these scornful speeches might become at last as a gag in his mouth. The lesson is plain: do not reject truth, or in any wise try to evade it because it comes through some one you do not like. What Jeremiah said here, respecting the character and work of these men, was true; and they do not deny the truth. They simply ignore the charges, and by one scornful question hint that the threatenings connected with the charges are but as empty words.
II THE WAYS IN WHICH THIS QUESTION MAY BE ANSWERED, Jeremiah, we perceive, has his own answer appropriate to his individual circumstances. He fails back on his integrity. God knows the fidelity and obedience of his heart. God had put into his mouth the words he had spoken. They did not rise out of his personal feeling; they were not the breathings of an egotist, a fanatic, a madman, an enemy of his country. But inasmuch as this question is ever being asked by a certain class who will not believe in a Divine plan of the world partly revealed in Scripture and the partial execution of which is shown in history it is well to remember how Jehovah has honored his servants who have had in any way to fill the office of prophets. He who has gone forth to threaten the persistently impenitent has never been without some achieved judgment of God which he might adduce as an illustration. The shadows cast forward into the future have their correspondences in the substances belonging to the past. If we could only summon out of the invisible world the generation which perished in the Flood, the dwellers in the cities of the plain, Pharaoh and his army, those who were destroyed in the gainsaying of Korah, and many others, they would be able to give no uncertain answer to the question, "Where is the word of Jehovah?" The kingdom of God is not in word only; it has in it a power which can be manifested in all needful abundance, with all needful rapidity, and in whatever aspect may be proper to the occasion. God"s Word becomes a complete and plainly perceptible deed exactly when the time is ripe. Shall man be able to arrange a time-piece so that when the hour hand and minute hand together point to twelve there shall be the striking which signifies noon has arrived; and shall not God be able to order the mysteries and complexities of the world so as to bring out the intended results just when he wants them? It is not for us to know times and seasons; but most emphatically it is for us to believe that every word of God is true. These very scorners of Jeremiah were about to add, in the course of a few short years at most, an illustration as forcible as any that what God has spoken may be taken as already done. God"s calm advancing of his kingdom should do much to make his people calm. It is our fault if the sarcasms of the unbelieving become anything more than words; and mere words are best met by a silent, patient, and believing continuance in well-doing. Y.
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Biblical Illustrator1887 · Public DomainOn v17Be not a terror unto me: Thou art my…
Jer_17:17
Be not a terror unto me: Thou art my hope in the day of evil.
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Divine wrath an object of fear
I. The petition.
1. Gods majesty is in itself an object of fear and dread (Heb_12:21; Isa_6:5; Hab_3:16; Hos_3:5).
2. Divine chastisements are to be feared (Jer_10:24; Psa_6:1; Job_9:34).
3. Gods wrath is still more dreadful.
4. The prophet prays for support and comfort in the time of trial.
II. The expression of confidence.
1. The grace exercised is hope.
(1) God is the object of His peoples hope (Psa_71:5; Psa_78:5).
(2) God is the end of their hope. They need no more (Psa_16:11; Psa_17:15).
2. The time when this grace is exercised. Day of evil.
(1) Sin and sorrow make every day an evil day; stiff let us hope (Psa_62:8; Psa_71:14).
(2) Yet there are peculiar days of evil. National calamity; reverses in business; disappointments; affliction; old age (Psa_73:26; 2Ti_1:12).
Learn--
1. That hopes and fears are blended together in the experience of the godly (Psa_147:11).
2. If God is sometimes a terror to His own people, how much more to the wicked? (B. Beddome, M. A.)
The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
unfoldingWord translationNotes2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0On vv15, 17"Look" or "Listen" or "Pay attention to what I…
See
"Look" or "Listen" or "Pay attention to what I am about to tell you."
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they are saying to me
Here the word "me" refers to Jeremiah and the word "they" to his enemies.
Where is the word of Yahweh?
The people use this question to ridicule Jeremiah because the things that he said had not yet happened. It can also be translated as a statement. AT: "Where are the things that Yahweh told you would happen?" or "The things that Yahweh told you would happen have not happened." (See: Rhetorical Question and Assumed Knowledge and Implicit Information)
Let it come
"Let what Yahweh has said happen"
I did not run from being a shepherd following you
Jeremiah speaks of leading and caring for the people as if he were a shepherd caring for sheep. He speaks of his abandoning that work as if he were running away from it. (See: Metaphor)
I did not long for
"I did not desire"
the proclamations that came from my lips
Here the word "lips" represents Jeremiah who spoke. The word "proclamations" can be translated with a verbal phrase. AT: "the proclamations that I spoke" or "the things that I proclaimed" (See: Synecdoche and Abstract Nouns)
They were made
This can be stated in active form. AT: "I made them" (See: Active or Passive)
Tyndale Open Study Notes2022 · CC BY-SA 4.0On vv15–1817:15 Jeremiah’s predictions had not yet come true, so…
17:15 Jeremiah’s predictions had not yet come true, so the people treated him with scorn; they might have even called him a false prophet (cp. Deut 18:21-22).
GEBible — Godless Engineer's Bible App
John Calvin 1540 · Public Domain On vv15–18 Here Jeremiah complains of the obstinate contempt of the…
Here Jeremiah complains of the obstinate contempt of the people; he found them not only uncourteous but even petulant towards God, so that they hesitated not to discredit all prophecies, to despise the promises, and boldly to reject all threatenings. The Prophet had often threatened them; and when God delayed the time, they made a wrong use of his forbearance, as it is commonly the case with the reprobate. Nor did they deem it enough even to add sins to sins, but they openly and petulantly provoked God, “Where is the word? many years have now elapsed since thou hast continually spoken of war, of famine, and of pestilence; but we still remain quiet, and God spares us; where then is the word of Jehovah, which thou hast announced?”
We now then see how great was the wilfulness of this people, for the teaching of Jeremiah became not only useless but was treated with ridicule. They had however heard much before from the mouth of Isaiah,
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“Alas! when the Lord calls you to ashes and sackcloth, ye say, “Let us eat and drink, to-morrow we shall die.” “As I live, saith the Lord, not forgiven to you shall be this iniquity.” (Isaiah 22:12-14.)
God then had sworn by his own glory that their sin would be inexpiable, because they continued obstinately in their vices, and were in no degree terrified by the threatenings of the prophets. We however see that they ever became worse and worse. Isaiah was dead when they thus spoke in contempt and mockery, Where is the word of Jehovah? let it now come, as though they designedly provoked God, like one who despises his enemy, and says, “Oh! thou art indeed to be dreaded, if thou art to be believed; let us now see thy power, shew to us what thou canst do.” Thus contemptibly did they utter their scoffs, when God by his servants made known to them the approaching ruin which they deserved. We see, in short, that the Prophet shews here that they had come to a hopeless state. It follows —
John Calvin's Commentaries (1540-1563) — public domain. Text from the Calvin Translation Society English edition (1840s-50s) via the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (ccel.org). Calvin's coverage is partial (roughly two-thirds of the Bible); uncommented books and verses are honest gaps, never fabricated. The 19th-century editor's footnotes and remarks are omitted so the notes are faithfully Calvin's own voice.
Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain On vv15–18 The wicked say that my prophecy shall not come…
The wicked say that my prophecy shall not come to pass, because thou deferrest the time of thy vengeance.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain On vv15–18 Jer 17:15 Behold, they say unto me, Where [is]…
Jer 17:15 Behold, they say unto me, Where [is] the word of the LORD? let it come now.
Ver. 15. Behold, they say unto me.] Heb., They are saying unto me; it is their daily dicterium, or jeer.
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Where is the word of the Lord?] Whereby thou so oft threatenest us with desolation. {a} Thus profane persons flear, when they should fear. See 2Pe 3:4 Isa 5:19 Amo 5:18.
{a} Ubi est? It is where? i.e., Nusquam est. It is nowhere. - Piscat
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain On vv15–18 They say unto me, Where is the word of…
They say unto me, Where is the word of the Lord? scoffing at me, as if I had threatened them in thy name without any order or direction from thee, as the scoffers mentioned by Peter, 2Pe 3:4, said, Where is the promise of his coming? This hath been the practice of all wicked men hardened in their sinful courses, and resolved to go on, to put the evil day far from them, and to scoff at all denunciations of God’s judgments, Isa 5:19; Amo 5:18.
Let it come now; daring the vengeance of God, and challenging God to damn them, or to execute the vengeance with which he threateneth them.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain On vv15–18 Behold, they say unto me,.... Or, "they are saying…
Behold, they say unto me,.... Or, "they are saying unto me" (y), continually; these were their daily flouts and jeers:
Where is the word of the Lord? that thou hast so often talked of? thou hast for a long time threatened us with a siege, and famine, pestilence, and the sword, and captivity, but none of these come to pass; where is the accomplishment of them? thou hast pretended to have the word of the Lord for all this; but where is it, or the fulfilment of it? so the Targum,
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"where is that which thou hast prophesied in the name of the Lord?''
the judgments, as punishments for sin, he prophesied of. This has been always usual in all ages, that when God's judgments threatened have not been immediately executed, scoffers and mockers have rose up, suggesting they would never come; see Mal 2:17;
let it come now; immediately, or we shall not believe it ever will; a very impudent, daring, and wicked expression: this is like that in Isa 5:19. The Targum is,
"let it now be confirmed;''
or fulfilled; declaring as their impiety, so their infidelity; not believing it ever would be fulfilled.
(y) "ecce illi sunt dicentes ad me", Schmidt.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Wesley 1765 · Public Domain On vv15–16 Where - Daring the vengeance of God.
Where - Daring the vengeance of God.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain On vv15–18 Verse 15. Where is the word of the Lord?]…
Verse 15. Where is the word of the Lord?] Where is the accomplishment of his threatenings? Thou hast said that the city and the temple should both be destroyed. No such events have yet taken place. But they did take place, and every tittle of the menace was strictly fulfilled.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Joseph Benson 1811 · Public Domain On v15 Jer 17:15-18. Behold, they say unto me — Scoffing…
Jer 17:15-18. Behold, they say unto me — Scoffing at me, as if I had denounced threatenings in thy name, without any order or direction from thee: Where is the word of the Lord? — Like the scoffers, mentioned by St. Peter, 2Pe 3:4, saying, Where is the promise of his coming? This has been the practice of all wicked men, hardened in their sinful courses, and resolved to go on in them: they put the evil day far from them, and scoff at all denunciations of divine wrath. Let it come now — So said these scoffers, daring the vengeance of God, and challenging him to execute the judgments he had threatened. As for me, I have not hastened, &c. — Dr. Waterland translates this clause, “But as for me, I have not forced or intruded myself upon thee for a pastor.” To the same sense the Geneva translation interprets the words. According to which reading the prophet solemnly appeals to God that he had not intruded himself into the office of a prophet, nor had been desirous of an employment that foreboded so much evil to others, and brought a great deal of trouble upon himself. The words in the Hebrew, however, are literally as our translation expresses them, and may be paraphrased thus, “As I did not seek the office of a prophet, so when thou wast pleased to call me to it I did not decline it.” The LXX, render it, εγω δε ουκ εκοπιασα κατακολουθων οπισω σου, I have not been weary of following thee. Neither have I desired the woful day — Namely, the day of the accomplishment of his prophecies. Though, when it came, it would prove him to have been a true prophet, which they had questioned, and would be the avenging of him upon his persecutors, and therefore, on those accounts, he might have been tempted to desire it; yet, as it would be a woful day to Jerusalem, he deprecated it, and could appeal to God that he wished it might never come. That which came out of my lips was right before thee — That is, it exactly agreed with what I had received from thee. Be not a terror unto me — Amidst all the terrors, with which mine adversaries threaten me, let me still find comfort in thee; and let not any apprehension of being forsaken by thee be added to my other fears. Let them be confounded, &c. — See notes on Jer 11:20; Jer 16:18.
Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary 1859 · Public Domain On vv15, 16, 18 Come. We have several instances of such impious sarcasms,…
Come. We have several instances of such impious sarcasms, Isaias xxviii. 10., and xxxiv. 13., Amos ii. 12., and Micheas ii. 6. (Calmet) --- We fear not the Chaldeans. (Menochius)
George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown 1871 · Public Domain On vv15–18 Where is the word?-- (Isa 5:19; Amo 5:18). Where…
Where is the word?-- (Isa 5:19; Amo 5:18). Where is the fulfilment of the threats which thou didst utter as from God? A characteristic of the last stage of apostasy (Pe2 3:4).
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain On vv16, 18 16. A pastor to follow thee — Better, a…
16. A pastor to follow thee — Better, a shepherd after thee.
The woful day — Literally, the day of mortal sickness: the day of judgment and calamity to the city and nation.
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Was right before thee — Omit the misleading word “right” inserted by the translators. The meaning is: I have spoken as in God’s presence. No higher claim could be set up by an ambassador of heaven. Did every Christian minister always have as realizing and vivid a sense of God’s presence as of the presence of his fellow men, it would elevate and purify the tone and spirit of his utterances as nothing else could.
Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain On vv15–18 15. The scoffs of his enemies suggested to him…
15. The scoffs of his enemies suggested to him thoughts of such faithlessness as would never otherwise have occurred to him. For their derision of his predictions cp. Isa_5:19. The v. shews that the time is, at any rate, before the capture of Jerusalem at the end of Jehoiakim’s reign. If that event had occurred, the people would not, as here, challenge the prophet to point out a fulfilment of his prophecies of woe.
now] not denoting time, but in the sense of we pray thee.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain On vv15–18 (15) Behold, they say unto me.—The speakers are not…
(15) Behold, they say unto me.—The speakers are not named or defined, but they are clearly the mockers who questioned Jeremiah’s prophetic character, on the ground (comp. Deu_18:22) that his threats had received no fulfilment. Presumably, therefore, the words were written before the death of Jehoiakim and the capture of Jerusalem.
Let it come now.—The last word is the usual formula of request, and implies a mocking tone in the speakers: “Let it come, if you please.”
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain On vv15–18 The occasion of this prayer is the hostility of…
The occasion of this prayer is the hostility of his neighbors, and their mocking question, Where is the word of the Lord? The prophecy seems to be floating as it were in mid-air, unable to alight (Isa_9:8) and fulfill itself, so that Jeremiah could be plausibly treated as a false prophet. (Deu_18:22) Hence, as Keil remarks, the discourse of which this forms the conclusion must have been spoken before the first Babylonian invasion of Judah.
"Where is the word of the Lord?
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I THE PRETEXT AND AIM OF THIS QUESTION. The prophet"s subsequent comment on the question shows with what bitter hatred to him it was asked. Sad, indeed, it is to reflect that these very words might be asked in a far different spirit; that they might come from the depths of an ignorant seeking heart, wandering long amid idolatries and human systems of philosophy, without hearing anything to serve as bread of heaven for the deep hunger within. There are people upon whom God"s Word has been pressed in every variety of appeal and representation. The Word has sought them out again and again; and yet in the end all they can do is to cast a scornful doubt on whether it is the Word of God at all. It may, indeed, be allowed that they did not mean to insult Jehovah; all they had in view was to express, in the most stinging way, their bitter hatred of this pertinacious, plain-spoken prophet this man who had come as a comparative youth from little Anathoth, rebuking those who were high in rank, old in years, and looked up to by the bulk of the people. No fallacy infecting the regions of practical life is more pernicious than that which, professing to admit the authority of him who sends, yet discredits the status of his professed messenger. It is thus very easy to evade unpleasant, humiliating messages. So the Jews of our Lord"s time were fanatically solicitous to honor their conception of Jehovah, and, as part of this devotion, they ended by crucifying Jesus as a blasphemer. The very people who asked, "Where is the word of Jehovah?" may have been the first to frame plausible repudiations of any wish to blaspheme him. Their great aim and purpose was to put this upstart Jeremiah in his proper place. They probably thought that these scornful speeches might become at last as a gag in his mouth. The lesson is plain: do not reject truth, or in any wise try to evade it because it comes through some one you do not like. What Jeremiah said here, respecting the character and work of these men, was true; and they do not deny the truth. They simply ignore the charges, and by one scornful question hint that the threatenings connected with the charges are but as empty words.
II THE WAYS IN WHICH THIS QUESTION MAY BE ANSWERED, Jeremiah, we perceive, has his own answer appropriate to his individual circumstances. He fails back on his integrity. God knows the fidelity and obedience of his heart. God had put into his mouth the words he had spoken. They did not rise out of his personal feeling; they were not the breathings of an egotist, a fanatic, a madman, an enemy of his country. But inasmuch as this question is ever being asked by a certain class who will not believe in a Divine plan of the world partly revealed in Scripture and the partial execution of which is shown in history it is well to remember how Jehovah has honored his servants who have had in any way to fill the office of prophets. He who has gone forth to threaten the persistently impenitent has never been without some achieved judgment of God which he might adduce as an illustration. The shadows cast forward into the future have their correspondences in the substances belonging to the past. If we could only summon out of the invisible world the generation which perished in the Flood, the dwellers in the cities of the plain, Pharaoh and his army, those who were destroyed in the gainsaying of Korah, and many others, they would be able to give no uncertain answer to the question, "Where is the word of Jehovah?" The kingdom of God is not in word only; it has in it a power which can be manifested in all needful abundance, with all needful rapidity, and in whatever aspect may be proper to the occasion. God"s Word becomes a complete and plainly perceptible deed exactly when the time is ripe. Shall man be able to arrange a time-piece so that when the hour hand and minute hand together point to twelve there shall be the striking which signifies noon has arrived; and shall not God be able to order the mysteries and complexities of the world so as to bring out the intended results just when he wants them? It is not for us to know times and seasons; but most emphatically it is for us to believe that every word of God is true. These very scorners of Jeremiah were about to add, in the course of a few short years at most, an illustration as forcible as any that what God has spoken may be taken as already done. God"s calm advancing of his kingdom should do much to make his people calm. It is our fault if the sarcasms of the unbelieving become anything more than words; and mere words are best met by a silent, patient, and believing continuance in well-doing. Y.
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Biblical Illustrator 1887 · Public Domain On v17 Be not a terror unto me: Thou art my…
Jer_17:17
Be not a terror unto me: Thou art my hope in the day of evil.
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Divine wrath an object of fear
I. The petition.
1. Gods majesty is in itself an object of fear and dread (Heb_12:21; Isa_6:5; Hab_3:16; Hos_3:5).
2. Divine chastisements are to be feared (Jer_10:24; Psa_6:1; Job_9:34).
3. Gods wrath is still more dreadful.
4. The prophet prays for support and comfort in the time of trial.
II. The expression of confidence.
1. The grace exercised is hope.
(1) God is the object of His peoples hope (Psa_71:5; Psa_78:5).
(2) God is the end of their hope. They need no more (Psa_16:11; Psa_17:15).
2. The time when this grace is exercised. Day of evil.
(1) Sin and sorrow make every day an evil day; stiff let us hope (Psa_62:8; Psa_71:14).
(2) Yet there are peculiar days of evil. National calamity; reverses in business; disappointments; affliction; old age (Psa_73:26; 2Ti_1:12).
Learn--
1. That hopes and fears are blended together in the experience of the godly (Psa_147:11).
2. If God is sometimes a terror to His own people, how much more to the wicked? (B. Beddome, M. A.)
The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
unfoldingWord translationNotes 2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0 On vv15, 17 "Look" or "Listen" or "Pay attention to what I…
See
"Look" or "Listen" or "Pay attention to what I am about to tell you."
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they are saying to me
Here the word "me" refers to Jeremiah and the word "they" to his enemies.
Where is the word of Yahweh?
The people use this question to ridicule Jeremiah because the things that he said had not yet happened. It can also be translated as a statement. AT: "Where are the things that Yahweh told you would happen?" or "The things that Yahweh told you would happen have not happened." (See: Rhetorical Question and Assumed Knowledge and Implicit Information)
Let it come
"Let what Yahweh has said happen"
I did not run from being a shepherd following you
Jeremiah speaks of leading and caring for the people as if he were a shepherd caring for sheep. He speaks of his abandoning that work as if he were running away from it. (See: Metaphor)
I did not long for
"I did not desire"
the proclamations that came from my lips
Here the word "lips" represents Jeremiah who spoke. The word "proclamations" can be translated with a verbal phrase. AT: "the proclamations that I spoke" or "the things that I proclaimed" (See: Synecdoche and Abstract Nouns)
They were made
This can be stated in active form. AT: "I made them" (See: Active or Passive)
translationWords
word of God
shepherd
preach
unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.
Tyndale Open Study Notes 2022 · CC BY-SA 4.0 On vv15–18 17:15 Jeremiah’s predictions had not yet come true, so…
17:15 Jeremiah’s predictions had not yet come true, so the people treated him with scorn; they might have even called him a false prophet (cp. Deut 18:21-22).
Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.