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Jeremiah 6:27

“I have made you a tester of metals and a fortress among my people, that you may know and try their way.

World English Bible · Public Domain

Parallel Translations

  • WEB World English Bible

    “I have made you a tester of metals and a fortress among my people, that you may know and try their way.

  • KJV King James Version

    I have set thee for a tower and a fortress among my people, that thou mayest know and try their way.

  • JPS JPS Tanakh (1917)

    I have made thee a tower and a fortress among My people; that thou mayest know and try their way.

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Cross-references (6)

Passages linked to Jeremiah 6:27 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, ordered by reader-vote popularity; verse text shown in World English Bible.

  • Jeremiah 1:18 For, behold, I have made you today a fortified city, an iron pillar, and bronze walls against the whole land, against the kings of Judah, against its princes, against its priests, and against the people of the land.
  • Jeremiah 15:20 I will make you to this people a fortified bronze wall. They will fight against you, but they will not prevail against you; for I am with you to save you and to deliver you,” says Yahweh.
  • Jeremiah 9:7 Therefore Yahweh of Armies says, “Behold, I will melt them and test them; for how should I deal with the daughter of my people?
  • Ezekiel 3:8-10 Behold, I have made your face hard against their faces, and your forehead hard against their foreheads. I have made your forehead as a diamond, harder than flint. Don’t be afraid of them, neither be dismayed at their looks, though they are a rebellious house.” Moreover he said to me, “Son of man, receive in your heart and hear with your ears all my words that I speak to you.
  • Ezekiel 20:4 “Will you judge them, son of man? Will you judge them? Cause them to know the abominations of their fathers.
  • Ezekiel 22:2 “You, son of man, will you judge? Will you judge the bloody city? Then cause her to know all her abominations.

Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)

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Explain this verse (17 sources)

Historical commentary, presented as a primary source — not an endorsement.

John Calvin 1540 · Public Domain The Prophet says, that he was set by God…

The Prophet says, that he was set by God as a watchtower, which was also fortified, that he might observe the wickedness of the people. In order to gain more authority for his prophecy, he introduces God as the speaker. He had spoken hitherto in his own person; but now God himself comes forth, and says, I have made thee a citadel. Jerome renders the last word “probation.” The verb בחן, becken, means to prove; and Jeremiah uses the verb in this verse, “that thou mayest prove their way.” But as the word מבצר, mebezar, “fortress, “follows, we cannot take the word here otherwise than as meaning a citadel or rampart. I therefore have no doubt but that a citadel for watching is what is meant; as though God had said, that his Prophet was like a watchtower, from which might be seen at one glance whatever was done far and wide: for we cannot see far from a plain, but they who are located high can see to a great distance.

But the word fortress is also added: for it behooved Jeremiah to watch without fear, and not to be exposed to the threats, calumnies, or clamors of the people. Jeremiah intimates that two things are required in God’s servants, even knowledge and undaunted courage; for it was not enough for the prophets to see clearly what was needful, except they were firmly prepared to discharge their office. Both these things seem to be included, when he says, that he was set as a watchtower, and also as a fortress

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Why was he thus set? That thou mayest know, he says, and prove their way Let us now see what was the intention of this. The Prophet no doubt here claims power and credit to himself, that he might not only freely but authoritatively reprove the people: for objections, we know, were ever in their mouths, that they might be at liberty to despise the Prophet’s teaching, as though it did not proceed from God. This then was the reason why God here declares that Jeremiah was like a citadel, and that a fortified one; he was made so, that he might observe and know the way of the people. Hence it followed, that however obstinately they might defend themselves, it availed them nothing; for Jeremiah was endued with the highest authority, even that which was divine, in order to perform his office of a judge in condemning them: for it immediately 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 Meaning, Jeremiah, whom God had appointed to try out…
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain Jer 6:27 I have set thee [for] a tower…
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain Here God speaks by way of encouragement to the…
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain I have set thee for a tower,.... Or "in"…
John Wesley 1765 · Public Domain I have set thee - Here God speaks by…
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain Verse 27. I have set thee for a tower…
Joseph Benson 1811 · Public Domain Jer 6:27. I have set thee for a tower,…
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain Render it:
Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary 1859 · Public Domain Trier of my people, as of gold in the…
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown 1871 · Public Domain tower . . . fortress-- (Jer 1:18), rather, "an…
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain 27. A tower and a fortress — The rendering…
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain 27. a tower] rather, as mg., a trier. It…
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain (27) I have set thee . . .—The verse…
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain I have set thee, etc.; literally, as an assayer…
unfoldingWord translationNotes 2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0 General Information:
Tyndale Open Study Notes 2022 · CC BY-SA 4.0 6:27-30 The Lord interrupted Jeremiah’s lamentation and brought him…

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