I set watchmen over you, saying, ‘Listen to the sound of the trumpet!’ But they said, ‘We will not listen!’
Parallel Translations
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I set watchmen over you, saying, ‘Listen to the sound of the trumpet!’ But they said, ‘We will not listen!’
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Also I set watchmen over you, saying, Hearken to the sound of the trumpet. But they said, We will not hearken.
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And I set watchmen over you: 'Attend to the sound of the horn', but they said: 'We will not attend.'
Cross-references (12)
Passages linked to Jeremiah 6:17 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, ordered by reader-vote popularity; verse text shown in World English Bible.
- Jeremiah 25:4 Yahweh has sent to you all his servants the prophets, rising up early and sending them (but you have not listened or inclined your ear to hear),
- Isaiah 58:1 “Cry aloud! Don’t spare! Lift up your voice like a trumpet! Declare to my people their disobedience, and to the house of Jacob their sins.
- Isaiah 21:11 The burden of Dumah. One calls to me out of Seir, “Watchman, what of the night? Watchman, what of the night?”
- Zechariah 7:11 But they refused to listen, and turned their backs, and stopped their ears, that they might not hear.
- Isaiah 56:10 His watchmen are blind. They are all without knowledge. They are all mute dogs. They can’t bark— dreaming, lying down, loving to slumber.
- Habakkuk 2:1 I will stand at my watch, and set myself on the ramparts, and will look out to see what he will say to me, and what I will answer concerning my complaint.
- Ezekiel 3:17-21 “Son of man, I have made you a watchman to the house of Israel. Therefore hear the word from my mouth, and warn them from me. When I tell the wicked, ‘You will surely die;’ and you give him no warning, nor speak to warn the wicked from his wicked way, to save his life; that wicked man will die in his iniquity; but I will require his blood at your hand. Yet if you warn the wicked, and he doesn’t turn from his wickedness, nor from his wicked way, he will die in his iniquity; but you have delivered your soul.” “Again, when a righteous man turns from his righteousness, and commits iniquity, and I lay a stumbling block before him, he will die. Because you have not given him warning, he will die in his sin, and his righteous deeds which he has done will not be remembered; but I will require his blood at your hand. Nevertheless if you warn the righteous man, that the righteous not sin, and he does not sin, he will surely live, because he took warning; and you have delivered your soul.”
- Ezekiel 33:2-9 “Son of man, speak to the children of your people, and tell them, ‘When I bring the sword on a land, and the people of the land take a man from among them, and set him for their watchman; if, when he sees the sword come on the land, he blows the trumpet, and warns the people; then whoever hears the sound of the trumpet, and doesn’t heed the warning, if the sword comes, and takes him away, his blood will be on his own head. He heard the sound of the trumpet, and didn’t take warning. His blood will be on him; whereas if he had heeded the warning, he would have delivered his soul. But if the watchman sees the sword come, and doesn’t blow the trumpet, and the people aren’t warned, and the sword comes, and takes any person from among them; he is taken away in his iniquity, but his blood I will require at the watchman’s hand.’ “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 me. When I tell the wicked, ‘O wicked man, you will surely die,’ and you don’t speak to warn the wicked from his way; that wicked man will die in his iniquity, but I will require his blood at your hand. Nevertheless, if you warn the wicked of his way to turn from it, and he doesn’t turn from his way; he will die in his iniquity, but you have delivered your soul.
- Hosea 8:1 “Put the trumpet to your lips! Something like an eagle is over Yahweh’s house, because they have broken my covenant, and rebelled against my law.
- Amos 3:6-8 Does the trumpet alarm sound in a city, without the people being afraid? Does evil happen to a city, and Yahweh hasn’t done it? Surely the Lord Yahweh will do nothing, unless he reveals his secret to his servants the prophets. The lion has roared. Who will not fear? The Lord Yahweh has spoken. Who can but prophesy?
- Acts 20:27-31 for I didn’t shrink from declaring to you the whole counsel of God. Take heed, therefore, to yourselves, and to all the flock, in which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to shepherd the assembly of the Lord and God which he purchased with his own blood. For I know that after my departure, vicious wolves will enter in among you, not sparing the flock. Men will arise from among your own selves, speaking perverse things, to draw away the disciples after them. Therefore watch, remembering that for a period of three years I didn’t cease to admonish everyone night and day with tears.
- Hebrews 13:17 Obey your leaders and submit to them, for they watch on behalf of your souls, as those who will give account, that they may do this with joy, and not with groaning, for that would be unprofitable for you.
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
Explain this verse (14 sources)
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John Calvin 1540 · Public Domain This is an explanation of the last verse, yet…
This is an explanation of the last verse, yet not simply so; for the Prophet by a similitude aggravates the obstinacy of the people, who were not only deaf to the Prophet’s admonitions, but would not be roused by the sound of the trumpet, nor even attend to it. The sound of the trumpet ought to have penetrated into their minds more than anything else for two reasons, — because it was louder than any voice of man, — and also, because we do not usually hear the trumpet sounding, except when war is at hand, or when there is the fear of war.
We hence see why the Prophet, after having announced his message, mentions the sound of the trumpet; as though he had said, that not only the prophets were despised, while teaching the people, but that the sound of the trumpet, announcing the approach of war, was not attended to by them. The stupidity of the people, and not only their stupidity, but as I have said, their perverseness also, was more fully proved, than if the Prophet had simply said, that they had resolved not to hear. It now 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 Prophets which should warn you of the dangers that…
Prophets which should warn you of the dangers that were at hand.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain Jer 6:17 Also I set watchmen over you, [saying],…
Jer 6:17 Also I set watchmen over you, [saying], Hearken to the sound of the trumpet. But they said, We will not hearken.
Ver. 17. Also I set watchmen over you,] i.e., Priests and prophets to watch for your welfare.
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Hearken to the sound of the trumpet.] See on Jer 6:8.
We will not hearken.] See on Jer 6:16.
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 Watchmen, viz. prophets and messengers, that sought their good,…
Watchmen, viz. prophets and messengers, that sought their good, and endeavoured to prevent their miseries by foretelling what was coming upon them, Eze 3:17; 33:7 A metaphor from watchmen, that are usually set upon high places to espy out dangers afar off.
The sound of the trumpet; either the voice of his prophets, which is compared to a trumpet, Isa 58:1, intimating his loud crying upon the account of imminent danger; for men do not use to sound the trumpet till danger be approaching; or the trumpet of that enemy, Jer 4:19,21.
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We will not hearken; more of their obstinacy suitable to their carriage, Jer 6:16.
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 Also I set watchmen over you,.... That is, prophets,…
Also I set watchmen over you,.... That is, prophets, as Jarchi; true prophets, as Kimchi; such an one was Ezekiel, Jer 3:17. The Targum interprets it teachers; such were the apostles and first ministers of the Gospel; and all faithful preachers of it, who teach men good doctrine and watch for their souls, give them warning of their danger, and exhort them to flee to Christ for rest and safety; and these are of the Lord's appointing, constituting, and setting in his churches; see Co1 12:28.
Saying, hearken to the sound of the trumpet; to their voice, lifted up like a trumpet, Isa 58:1, to the word preached by them; to the law, which lays before them their sin and danger; and to the Gospel, which is a joyful sound, and gives a certain one, and proclaims peace, pardon, and salvation, by Christ:
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but they said, we will not hearken; so the Jews, in the times of Christ and his apostles, turned a deaf ear to their ministry, contradicted and blasphemed the Gospel, and judged themselves unworthy of it, and of eternal life, brought to light by it. Perhaps here it may regard the punishments threatened the Jews by the prophets, which they would not believe were coming upon them, but put away the evil day far from them.
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 Trumpet - The voice of his prophet, intimating his…
Trumpet - The voice of his prophet, intimating his loud crying upon the account of eminent danger.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain Verse 17. I set watchmen] I have sent prophets…
Verse 17. I set watchmen] I have sent prophets to warn you.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain Watchmen - The prophets Isa 52:8.
Watchmen - The prophets Isa 52:8.
The second of the trumpet - This was the signal for flight Jer 6:1; Amo 3:6. Similarly the prophet’s warning was to move men to escape from God’s judgments.
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary 1859 · Public Domain Watchmen. Prophets, Ezechiel iii. 17., and xxxiii. 2.
Watchmen. Prophets, Ezechiel iii. 17., and xxxiii. 2.
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 watchmen--prophets, whose duty it was to announce impending calamities,…
watchmen--prophets, whose duty it was to announce impending calamities, so as to lead the people to repentance (Isa 21:11; Isa 58:1; Eze 3:17; Hab 2:1).
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain 17. I set] “I ever raised up,” Dr. See…
17. I set] “I ever raised up,” Dr. See on Jer_6:16.
watchmen] the prophets; so Eze_3:17; Eze_33:7.
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the sound of the trumpet] Cp. Jer_6:1; Amo_3:6.
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) Watchmen.—i.e., the sentinels of the army, as in…
(17) Watchmen.—i.e., the sentinels of the army, as in 1Sa_14:16, giving the signal in this case, not for advance but for retreat (comp. Jer_6:1, and Amo_3:6). The watchmen are, of course (as in Isa_52:8; Isa_56:10; Eze_3:17; Hab_2:1), the prophets blowing the trumpet of alarm, proclaiming, as in Jer_6:1, the nearness of the invader, and calling on them to flee from the wrath of Jehovah. They call, however, in vain. The people refuse to hearken.
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 Also I set; rather, and I kept raising up…
Also I set; rather, and I kept raising up (the frequentative perfect). Watchmen; i.e. prophets. (Eze_3:17, and part of Isa_52:8 Isa_56:10) Hearken, etc. probably the words of Jehovah. Standing on their high watch-tower, (Hab_2:1) the prophets scrutinize the horizon for the first appearance of danger, and give warning of it by (metaphorically) blowing a trumpet. (so Amo_3:6)
Watchmen.
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I THE MISSION OF THE WATCHMEN.
1. They are appointed by God. God raises up prophets, preachers, teachers of righteousness. Unless they have a Divine call they are usurping a position to which they have no right. (Gal_1:1, Gal_1:15) Hence see
(1) the authority of the watchmen;
(2) the merciful kindness of God in providing warning and instruction.
1. They are to observe what goes on around them. The prophets are seers of spiritual truths, observers of events of history in the light of those truths, and thus, as watchmen, able to discern approaching dangers. The Christian teachers must not be wrapped up in abstract truth. They must see the application of this, note the condition and needs of men, discern the "signs of the times." The prophets were political leaders. They discoursed on subjects which in our day would be discussed in the newspaper.
2. They are to blow the trumpet. The seer is to be a prophet. He who knows truth must make it known to others. The watchman must not simply "let his light shine;" he must blow a trumpet, demand attention, compel men to hear. The enemy is at the gate. This is no time for mild disquisitions on military tactics; it is a moment when men must be awaked from their sleep and summoned to arms. The Christian preacher speaks to men who are asleep and in great danger. His duty is not simply to let the truth be known. He must arouse, urge, "compel" men to hear his message.
II THE RECEPTION OF THE MISSION OF THE WATCHERS. The watchman has done his duty in sounding the trumpet. If none will hear, he is free.
1. Men must hearken to the Divine message before they can profit by it. To be warned is not to be saved. If men refuse to accept the truths of Christianity these can do them no good, and they are left free to follow or to neglect them.
2. Men must obey the Divine message before they can profit by it. It is nothing to tremble at the warning of judgment unless we are moved to actions of precaution. Felix trembled, and was none the better for this proof of the powerful effect of the preaching of St. Paul. (Act_24:25)
3. If the Divine message is heard and disregarded, the folly, guilt, and ruin will only be aggravated. The plea of ignorance is gone. Indifference is converted into obstinate rebellion (ver. 19).
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Tyndale Open Study Notes 2022 · CC BY-SA 4.0 6:17 Prophets were the Lord’s watchmen (25:4; Isa 58:1;…
6:17 Prophets were the Lord’s watchmen (25:4; Isa 58:1; Ezek 3:17).
Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.