But your eyes and your heart are only for your covetousness, for shedding innocent blood, for oppression, and for doing violence.”
Parallel Translations
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But your eyes and your heart are only for your covetousness, for shedding innocent blood, for oppression, and for doing violence.”
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But thine eyes and thine heart are not but for thy covetousness, and for to shed innocent blood, and for oppression, and for violence, to do it.
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But thine eyes and thy heart are not but for thy covetousness, and for shedding innocent blood, and for oppression, and for violence, to do it.
Cross-references (25)
Passages linked to Jeremiah 22:17 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, ordered by reader-vote popularity; verse text shown in World English Bible.
- 2 Kings 24:4 and also for the innocent blood that he shed; for he filled Jerusalem with innocent blood, and Yahweh would not pardon.
- Jeremiah 22:3 Yahweh says: “Execute justice and righteousness, and deliver him who is robbed out of the hand of the oppressor. Do no wrong. Do no violence to the foreigner, the fatherless, or the widow. Don’t shed innocent blood in this place.
- Ezekiel 19:6 He went up and down among the lions. He became a young lion. He learned to catch the prey. He devoured men.
- 2 Peter 2:14 having eyes full of adultery, and who can’t cease from sin; enticing unsettled souls; having a heart trained in greed; children of cursing;
- Psalms 10:3 For the wicked boasts of his heart’s cravings. He blesses the greedy and condemns Yahweh.
- Ezekiel 33:31 They come to you as the people come, and they sit before you as my people, and they hear your words, but don’t do them; for with their mouth they show much love, but their heart goes after their gain.
- Exodus 18:21 Moreover you shall provide out of all the people able men which fear God: men of truth, hating unjust gain; and place such over them, to be rulers of thousands, rulers of hundreds, rulers of fifties, and rulers of tens.
- Joshua 7:21 When I saw among the plunder a beautiful Babylonian robe, two hundred shekels of silver, and a wedge of gold weighing fifty shekels, then I coveted them and took them. Behold, they are hidden in the ground in the middle of my tent, with the silver under it.”
- 1 Kings 21:19 You shall speak to him, saying, ‘Yahweh says, “Have you killed and also taken possession?” ’ You shall speak to him, saying, ‘Yahweh says, “In the place where dogs licked the blood of Naboth, dogs will lick your blood, even yours.” ’ ”
- 2 Chronicles 36:8 Now the rest of the acts of Jehoiakim, and his abominations which he did, and that which was found in him, behold, they are written in the book of the kings of Israel and Judah; and Jehoiachin his son reigned in his place.
- Job 31:7 if my step has turned out of the way, if my heart walked after my eyes, if any defilement has stuck to my hands,
- Psalms 119:36-37 Turn my heart toward your statutes, not toward selfish gain. Turn my eyes away from looking at worthless things. Revive me in your ways.
- Jeremiah 26:22-24 Then Jehoiakim the king sent men into Egypt, Elnathan the son of Achbor, and certain men with him, into Egypt; and they fetched Uriah out of Egypt, and brought him to Jehoiakim the king, who killed him with the sword, and cast his dead body into the graves of the common people. But the hand of Ahikam the son of Shaphan was with Jeremiah, so that they didn’t give him into the hand of the people to put him to death.
- Zephaniah 3:3 Her princes within her are roaring lions. Her judges are evening wolves. They leave nothing until the next day.
- Mark 7:21-22 For from within, out of the hearts of men, proceed evil thoughts, adulteries, sexual sins, murders, thefts, covetings, wickedness, deceit, lustful desires, an evil eye, blasphemy, pride, and foolishness.
- Luke 12:15-21 He said to them, “Beware! Keep yourselves from covetousness, for a man’s life doesn’t consist of the abundance of the things which he possesses.” He spoke a parable to them, saying, “The ground of a certain rich man produced abundantly. He reasoned within himself, saying, ‘What will I do, because I don’t have room to store my crops?’ He said, ‘This is what I will do. I will pull down my barns, build bigger ones, and there I will store all my grain and my goods. I will tell my soul, “Soul, you have many goods laid up for many years. Take your ease, eat, drink, and be merry.” ’ “But God said to him, ‘You foolish one, tonight your soul is required of you. The things which you have prepared—whose will they be?’ So is he who lays up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God.”
- Luke 16:13-14 No servant can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to one, and despise the other. You aren’t able to serve God and Mammon.” The Pharisees, who were lovers of money, also heard all these things, and they scoffed at him.
- Romans 1:29 being filled with all unrighteousness, sexual immorality, wickedness, covetousness, malice; full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, evil habits, secret slanderers,
- 1 Corinthians 6:10 nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor slanderers, nor extortionists, will inherit God’s Kingdom.
- Ephesians 5:3-5 But sexual immorality, and all uncleanness or covetousness, let it not even be mentioned among you, as becomes saints; nor filthiness, nor foolish talking, nor jesting, which are not appropriate, but rather giving of thanks. Know this for sure, that no sexually immoral person, nor unclean person, nor covetous man, who is an idolater, has any inheritance in the Kingdom of Christ and God.
- Colossians 3:5 Put to death therefore your members which are on the earth: sexual immorality, uncleanness, depraved passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry.
- James 1:14-15 But each one is tempted when he is drawn away by his own lust and enticed. Then the lust, when it has conceived, bears sin. The sin, when it is full grown, produces death.
- 2 Peter 2:3 In covetousness they will exploit you with deceptive words: whose sentence now from of old doesn’t linger, and their destruction will not slumber.
- 1 Timothy 6:9-10 But those who are determined to be rich fall into a temptation, a snare, and many foolish and harmful lusts, such as drown men in ruin and destruction. For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Some have been led astray from the faith in their greed, and have pierced themselves through with many sorrows.
- 1 John 2:15-16 Don’t love the world or the things that are in the world. If anyone loves the world, the Father’s love isn’t in him. For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, isn’t the Father’s, but is the world’s.
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
Explain this verse (13 sources)
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John Calvin 1540 · Public Domain Here the Prophet expresses more clearly how much Jehoiakim…
Here the Prophet expresses more clearly how much Jehoiakim differed from Josiah his father. He indeed shews that he was wholly unlike him, because Josiah had endeavored to observe what was equitable, while he set all his thoughts on fraud, plunder, and cruelty; for by the eye and the heart he means all the faculties of his soul and body. One of the main senses of the body, as it is well known, is the sight. Hence the Prophet includes here whatever is external and internal in men, when he says, thine eye, that is, all thy bodily senses are set on covetousness, and also thine heart, that is, all thy thoughts, feelings, designs, meditations, and purposes are employed in the same way. He intimates, in short, that Jehoiakim was corrupt both in body and mind, so that having cast aside every fear of God, he abandoned himself to avarice as well as to plunder and all acts of oppression. Thine eye, he says, and thy heart is not, except on covetousness
The verb בצע, betso, means to covet; hence the noun signifies not only avarice, but also any sinful lust. He adds cruelty, for it, cannot be but that all are bloody who give loose reins to their lusts. He mentions in the third place rapacity, or violent seizure; for עשק, oshek, means to take by force what belongs to another; hence the noun signifies rapacity. What follows in the last place is oppression, or disquietude. As רוף, ruts, means to run, Jerome renders it “the course of thy work,” as though ל, lamed, prefixed to עשות, oshut, were not one of the serviles, ם, ל, כ, ב, beth, caph, lamed, mem, but this cannot be admitted. The clear meaning of the Prophet indeed is, that Jehoiakim was not only intent on taking possession on what belonged to others, but that he also oppressed and distressed all he could. It is lastly added, to do; the verb to do is to be applied to what has gone before, that Jehoiakim employed all his thoughts, and was wholly engaged in evil deeds, that he not only contrived acts of cruelty and of avariciousness in his mind, but also carried fully into execution what he had contrived. 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.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain Jer 22:17 But thine eyes and thine heart [are]…
Jer 22:17 But thine eyes and thine heart [are] not but for thy covetousness, and for to shed innocent blood, and for oppression, and for violence, to do [it].
Ver. 17. But thine eyes and thy heart are not but for thy covetousness.] That is all thou mindest and lookest after, oculis atque animo intentus ad rem. "Hearts they have," saith Peter of such, "exercised with covetous practices: cursed children." {2Pe 2:14} William Rufus is in story noted for such another.
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 All that thou lookest after, and that thy heart…
All that thou lookest after, and that thy heart is set upon, is thy own grandeur and riches. And to make thyself great, thou makest no difficulty to destroy thy subjects that are innocent, and have not deserved death, and to oppress others, using all manner of violence against them. It is not to be thought that Jehoiakim did all this in person, but by such corrupt and unjust judges as he set up; so God accounted that Ahab had killed and taken possession, 1Ki 21:19, though the elders and nobles were those that did it, 1Ki 21:11-13. Princes are responsible to God for the sins of their ministers and judges.
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 But thine eyes and thine heart are not but…
But thine eyes and thine heart are not but for thy covetousness,.... He was wholly intent upon gratifying that lust; his heart was meditating, contriving, and forming schemes for that purpose; and his eyes were looking out here and there for proper objects and opportunities to exercise it:
and for to shed innocent blood; in order to get their money, goods, and possessions into his hands; avarice often leads to murder:
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and for oppression, and for violence, to do it; by making incursions, and seizing upon the properties of men, and converting them to his own use; so true it is, that covetousness, or the love of money, is the root of all evil, Ti1 6:10.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Joseph Benson 1811 · Public Domain Jer 22:17. But thine eyes and thy heart are…
Jer 22:17. But thine eyes and thy heart are not but for thy covetousness — They are for that, and for nothing else. For this cause Jehoiakim is compared to a lion, by the Prophet Eze 19:6. Observe, reader, in covetousness the heart walks after the eyes, Job 31:7; it is therefore called the lust of the eye, 1Jn 2:15 : and the eyes and the heart are then for covetousness when the aims and affections are set upon the wealth of this world; and when they are so the temptation is strong to fraud, oppression, and all manner of violence and villany, even, as it is here said, to shed innocent blood.
Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain Covetousness - literally, gain. Besides exacting forced labor Jehoiakim,…
Covetousness - literally, gain. Besides exacting forced labor Jehoiakim, to procure the necessary means for the vast expenses he incurred, put innocent people to death on various pretexts, and escheated their property.
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown 1871 · Public Domain thine--as opposed to thy father, Josiah.
thine--as opposed to thy father, Josiah.
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 17. But thine eyes, etc. — Thou rulest for…
17. But thine eyes, etc. — Thou rulest for thine own selfish emolument or cruel and revengeful gratification; thy father ruled for the good of his people.
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 17. covetousness] better as mg. dishonest gain. Jehoiakim “remained…
17. covetousness] better as mg. dishonest gain. Jehoiakim “remained fixed in the recollections of his countrymen, as the last example of those cruel, selfish, luxurious princes, the natural product of Oriental monarchies, the disgrace of the monarchy of David.” (Stanley, J. Ch. II. 448.)
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 (17) Thy covetousness.—More literally, thy gain, the word used…
(17) Thy covetousness.—More literally, thy gain, the word used implying (as in Jer_6:13; Jer_8:10) the idea of violence and oppression as the means by which it was obtained. The verb from which the noun is derived is so translated—“ violence” (literally, “crushing”)—in Deu_28:33. The marginal reading, “incursion,” has nothing to commend it. In “the blood of the innocent” here, as in Jer_22:3, we have an allusive reference to many, for the most part unrelenting, acts of cruelty. One of these, the murder of Urijah, meets us in Jer_26:23.
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 But thou, O Jehoiakim, art the opposite of thy…
But thou, O Jehoiakim, art the opposite of thy father. For (not, But) thine eyes and thine heart are not but for thy covetousness. "Covetousness" includes the ideas of injustice and violence; (comp. Jer_6:13 Jer_8:10) hence the second half of the verse emphasizes the cruel tyranny which marked the internal policy of Jehoiakim.
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
unfoldingWord translationNotes 2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0 there is nothing in your eyes and heart except…
there is nothing in your eyes and heart except worry ... crushing of others
Here "eyes" is a metonym for seeing and "heart" is a metonym for thinking. AT: "you never look for or think about anything except ... crushing of others" or "you only look for and think about ways to cheat others and pour out innocent blood, and to oppress and crush others" (See: Metonymy)
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unjust profit
This is getting money by cheating or by using unfair means.
pouring out innocent blood
Here "pouring out ... blood" is associated with murder, and "blood" refers to the murdered people. AT: "murdering innocent people" (See: Idiom and Synecdoche)
crushing of others
"doing violence to others in order to get money"
They will not lament for him
In verse 18, Yahweh stops speaking directly to Jehoiakim and begins to speak to other people. Here "lament" refers to grieving at Jehoiakim's death. AT: "They will not lament for Jehoiakim when he dies" (See: Ellipsis)
Woe, my brother! ... Woe, my sister! ... Woe, master! ... Woe, majesty!
Yahweh uses the word "Woe" several times for emphasis. He addresses the various people who would normally show great sadness when someone dies. (See: Parallelism)
He will be buried with a donkey's burial, dragged away and thrown out
The burial of Jehoiakim is spoken of as being the same as the manner in which people would bury a donkey. This can be stated in active form. AT: "They will bury his dead body the way they would bury a dead donkey; they will drag it away and throw it out" (See: Metaphor and Active or Passive)
translationWords
heart
profit
innocent
blood
oppress
Jehoiakim
king
Judah
lament
lord
majesty
bury
donkey
gate
Jerusalem
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 22:17 Unlike his father, Josiah, Jehoiakim practiced greed and…
22:17 Unlike his father, Josiah, Jehoiakim practiced greed and dishonesty and ignored the requirements of the covenant.
Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.