Глава 17

1–4. The Jewish people must be punished for their sins. 5–11. False and true confidence. 12–13. The hope of the prophet himself. 19–27. About keeping the Sabbath. Jeremiah 17:1–4. The Lord cannot forget about the crime of Judas, for which Judas does not even want to repent. Therefore, He will give the Jewish country over to devastation, and He will give the people into captivity. Jeremiah 17:1. The sin of Judah is written with an iron chisel, inscribed with a diamond point on the tablet of their hearts and on the horns of their altars. As an engraver with a diamond point carves clear and distinct letters on metal or crystal, so the sin of Judas was imprinted on his heart and on the horns of his altars. The Lord thus sees in the depths of Judas’s heart a gravitation towards paganism. As for the altars in honor of the pagan gods, they, of course, had already been destroyed under King Josiah, but nevertheless the Lord did not forget about them and the horns that adorned them, made in the likeness of the horns on the true altar of the temple of Jehovah. Jer.17:2. As if they were their sons, they remember their altars and their oak groves near the green trees, on the high hills. Contemporaries of Jeremiah regret the abolition of idolatry under King Josiah, and the pagan altars, groves, and hills where pagan sacrifices were made are dear to them, in their memories, as if they were their own children. Jeremiah 17:3. My mountain in the field, your property and all your treasures I will give for plunder, and all your high places for sins throughout your borders. The Mountain of God is Jerusalem, visible from afar to those walking along the surrounding plain. However, the Hebrew expression, translated in the Russian text with the words: “My mountain,” can be attributed to the previous verse and translated as follows: “on the mountains of the field.” Jeremiah 17:5–11. Unhappy is the one who trusts in people and not in God. If he achieves anything, God will take it away from him. On the contrary, he who trusts in God will prosper like a tree growing by water. Jer.17:5. Thus says the Lord: Cursed is the man who trusts in man and makes the flesh his support, and whose heart moves away from the Lord. It is very likely that the prophet here has in mind King Jehoiakim, who had high hopes for help from the Egyptians and, contrary to the advice of the prophet Jeremiah, entered into conspiracies against the Babylonian king. Jer.17:6. He will be like heather in the desert and will not see when good comes, and will settle in hot places in the steppe, on a barren, uninhabited land. “Heather in the desert” - a plant planted in the steppe, of course, grows poorly because it does not have irrigation. Jer.17:9. The human heart is deceitful above all things and desperately wicked; who recognizes him? Jeremiah 17:10. I, the Lord, pierce the heart and test the reins, to reward everyone according to his way and according to the fruit of his deeds. The prophet here also has in mind the cunning plans of Jewish politicians, which, however, the Lord clearly sees. Jeremiah 17:11. The partridge sits on eggs that it did not lay; Such is he who acquires wealth by unrighteousness: he leaves it half his days, and remains a fool at the end. Here the prophet speaks of a partridge hatching other people's eggs, from the point of view of the ideas of that time, which may not coincide with scientific observations. Jeremiah 17:12–18. The prophet’s opponents mock him, not yet seeing the fulfillment of his threats, and the prophet asks God to come to his aid and punish his enemies, since he has always been a faithful executor of the will of Jehovah. Jer.17:12. The throne of glory, exalted from the beginning, is the place of our sanctification. The Prophet speaks here on behalf of the best part of the Jewish people, which treats pagan altars with disgust, bowing only before the altar of the true God standing in the Temple of Jerusalem. Jeremiah 17:13. You, O Lord, are the hope of Israel; all who forsake you will be put to shame. “Those who turn away from Me will be written in the dust, because they have forsaken the Lord, the fountain of living water.” "Written in the Ashes". Just as writing in the sand is easily erased, so quickly does the well-being of those who apostate from Jehovah disappear. Jer.17:16. I was in no hurry to be Your shepherd and did not desire a day of trouble, You know this; what has come out of my mouth is open before You. The Prophet had no ill will towards his fellow citizens. It was hard for him to constantly predict misfortunes for them. Jeremiah 17:19–27. The prophet must restore in the minds of the people the concept of the holiness of the Law of Moses, in particular, preach to everyone about the need to observe the law of the Sabbath rest. Added to this is a promise of prosperity for those who keep the Sabbath and threats to its violators. Jeremiah 17:19. Thus the Lord said to me: Go and stand at the gate of the children of the people, by which the kings of Judah enter and by which they go out, and at all the gates of Jerusalem, "The Gate of the Sons of the People". Instead of the sons of the people - according to Heb. benei-am - better read: Benjamin. The word benei-am may be recognized as an abbreviation of the word: Benjamin. This was a city gate, built on the northern side of the wall - towards the tribe of Benjamin. – “Kings of the Jews” – see Jer 13.13. Jer.17:21. Thus says the Lord: Take care of your souls and do not carry burdens on the Sabbath day and do not bring them in through the gates of Jerusalem, The kings, of course, did not carry the burdens themselves, but forced others to carry them. Special notes. The speech contained in Jer 16.1 - Jer 17.18 can be considered a continuation and conclusion of what was said during the drought (Ch. XIV-XV). Mocking the words of the prophet (Jer 17.15) shows that the Chaldeans have not yet caused serious harm to the Jewish country. It is likely, therefore, that this speech was made during the relatively calm years of Joachim’s reign. – As for Jeremiah 17.19–27, this passage represents an independent whole. It can be assumed that this is one of the sermons that Jeremiah addressed to the people in the days of King Josiah regarding the discovery of the book of the law of Moses. From it it is clear that the prophet Jeremiah, who so zealously stood for internal piety, at the same time considered it necessary to fulfill the external prescriptions of the Law of Moses. The observance of the Sabbath law is a teststone for a people and should testify to their loyalty to Jehovah. You might be interested in: