Commentary
Old Testament : Genesis
Exodus
Leviticus
Numbers
Deuteronomy
Joshua
Judges
Ruth
1 Samuel
2 Samuel
1 Kings
2 Kings
1 Chronicles
2 Chronicles
Ezra
Nehemiah
Esther
Job
Psalms
Proverbs
Ecclesiastes
The Song of Songs
Isaiah
Jeremiah
Lamentations
Ezekiel
Daniel
Hosea
Joel
Amos
Obadiah
Jonah
Micah
Nahum
Habakkuk
Zephaniah
Haggai
Zechariah
Malachi
![](images/minus.gif)
Text -- Jeremiah 6:1-30 (NET)
![](images/arrow_open.gif)
Strongs On/Off
Context
The Destruction of Jerusalem Depicted
6:1 “Run for safety , people of Benjamin ! Get out of Jerusalem ! Sound the trumpet in Tekoa ! Light the signal fires at Beth Hakkerem ! For disaster lurks out of the north ; it will bring great destruction .
6:2 I will destroy Daughter Zion , who is as delicate and defenseless as a young maiden.
6:3 Kings will come against it with their armies. They will encamp in siege all around it. Each of them will devastate the portion assigned to him.
6:4 They will say, ‘Prepare to do battle against it! Come on ! Let’s attack it at noon !’ But later they will say, ‘Oh, oh! Too bad ! The day is almost over and the shadows of evening are getting long .
6:5 So come on , let’s go ahead and attack it by night and destroy all its fortified buildings .’
6:6 All of this is because the Lord who rules over all has said : ‘Cut down the trees around Jerusalem and build up a siege ramp against its walls. This is the city which is to be punished . Nothing but oppression happens in it.
6:7 As a well continually pours out fresh water so it continually pours out wicked deeds. Sounds of violence and destruction echo throughout it. All I see are sick and wounded people.’
6:8 So take warning , Jerusalem , or I will abandon you in disgust and make you desolate , a place where no one can live .”
6:9 This is what the Lord who rules over all said to me: “Those who remain in Israel will be like the grapes thoroughly gleaned from a vine . So go over them again, as though you were a grape harvester passing your hand over the branches one last time.”
6:10 I answered, “Who would listen if I spoke to them and warned them? Their ears are so closed that they cannot hear ! Indeed , what the Lord says is offensive to them. They do not like it at all.
6:11 I am as full of anger as you are, Lord , I am tired of trying to hold it in.” The Lord answered, “Vent it, then, on the children who play in the street and on the young men who are gathered together . Husbands and wives are to be included , as well as the old and those who are advanced in years .
6:12 Their houses will be turned over to others as will their fields and their wives . For I will unleash my power against those who live in this land ,” says the Lord .
6:13 “That is because , from the least important to the most important of them, all of them are greedy for dishonest gain . Prophets and priests alike, all of them practice deceit .
6:14 They offer only superficial help for the harm my people have suffered . They say , ‘Everything will be all right !’ But everything is not all right !
6:15 Are they ashamed because they have done such shameful things ? No, they are not at all ashamed . They do not even know how to blush ! So they will die , just like others have died . They will be brought to ruin when I punish them,” says the Lord .
6:16 The Lord said to his people: “You are standing at the crossroads . So consider your path. Ask where the old , reliable paths are. Ask where the path is that leads to blessing and follow it. If you do, you will find rest for your souls .” But they said , “We will not follow it!”
6:17 The Lord said, “I appointed prophets as watchmen to warn you, saying: ‘Pay attention to the warning sound of the trumpet !’” But they said , “We will not pay attention !”
6:18 So the Lord said, “Hear , you nations ! Be witnesses and take note of what will happen to these people .
6:19 Hear this, you peoples of the earth : ‘Take note ! I am about to bring disaster on these people . It will come as punishment for their scheming . For they have paid no attention to what I have said , and they have rejected my law .
6:20 I take no delight when they offer up to me frankincense that comes from Sheba or sweet-smelling cane imported from a faraway land . I cannot accept the burnt offerings they bring me. I get no pleasure from the sacrifices they offer to me.’
6:21 So , this is what the Lord says : ‘I will assuredly make these people stumble to their doom. Parents and children will stumble and fall to their destruction. Friends and neighbors will die .’
6:22 “This is what the Lord says : ‘Beware ! An army is coming from a land in the north . A mighty nation is stirring into action in faraway parts of the earth .
6:23 Its soldiers are armed with bows and spears . They are cruel and show no mercy . They sound like the roaring sea as they ride forth on their horses . Lined up in formation like men going into battle to attack you, Daughter Zion .’”
6:24 The people cry out, “We have heard reports about them! We have become helpless with fear ! Anguish grips us, agony like that of a woman giving birth to a baby!
6:25 Do not go out into the countryside . Do not travel on the roads . For the enemy is there with sword in hand. They are spreading terror everywhere .”
6:26 So I said, “Oh, my dear people , put on sackcloth and roll in ashes . Mourn with painful sobs as though you had lost your only child . For any moment now that destructive army will come against us.”
6:27 The Lord said to me, “I have made you like a metal assayer to test my people like ore. You are to observe them and evaluate how they behave .”
6:28 I reported, “All of them are the most stubborn of rebels ! They are as hard as bronze or iron . They go about telling lies . They all deal corruptly .
6:29 The fiery bellows of judgment burn fiercely . But there is too much dross to be removed. The process of refining them has proved useless . The wicked have not been purged .
6:30 They are regarded as ‘rejected silver ’ because the Lord rejects them.”
![](images/advanced.gif)
![](images/advanced.gif)
![](images/advanced.gif)
Names, People and Places, Dictionary Themes and Topics
![](images/arrow_open.gif)
Names, People and Places:
Dictionary Themes and Topics:
Sin |
Israel |
Frankincense |
Silver |
Wicked |
Impenitence |
Bellows |
Repentance |
Ashes |
MINES, MINING |
Call |
Minister |
War |
Circumcision |
Fire |
Lead |
Calamus |
Backsliders |
TEXT OF THE OLD TESTAMENT |
REFINER; REFINING |
more
![](images/cmt_minus_head.gif)
expand allCommentary -- Verse Notes / Footnotes
NET Notes -> Jer 6:1; Jer 6:1; Jer 6:1; Jer 6:1; Jer 6:1; Jer 6:1; Jer 6:1; Jer 6:2; Jer 6:2; Jer 6:2; Jer 6:3; Jer 6:3; Jer 6:3; Jer 6:3; Jer 6:4; Jer 6:4; Jer 6:4; Jer 6:4; Jer 6:6; Jer 6:6; Jer 6:6; Jer 6:6; Jer 6:6; Jer 6:6; Jer 6:7; Jer 6:7; Jer 6:7; Jer 6:8; Jer 6:8; Jer 6:8; Jer 6:9; Jer 6:9; Jer 6:9; Jer 6:9; Jer 6:9; Jer 6:10; Jer 6:10; Jer 6:10; Jer 6:10; Jer 6:10; Jer 6:11; Jer 6:11; Jer 6:11; Jer 6:11; Jer 6:12; Jer 6:14; Jer 6:14; Jer 6:15; Jer 6:16; Jer 6:16; Jer 6:16; Jer 6:16; Jer 6:17; Jer 6:17; Jer 6:17; Jer 6:18; Jer 6:18; Jer 6:19; Jer 6:19; Jer 6:19; Jer 6:19; Jer 6:20; Jer 6:20; Jer 6:20; Jer 6:21; Jer 6:21; Jer 6:21; Jer 6:22; Jer 6:23; Jer 6:24; Jer 6:24; Jer 6:25; Jer 6:25; Jer 6:26; Jer 6:26; Jer 6:26; Jer 6:26; Jer 6:27; Jer 6:27; Jer 6:27; Jer 6:28; Jer 6:28; Jer 6:29; Jer 6:29; Jer 6:30
NET Notes: Jer 6:1 This passage is emotionally charged. There are two examples of assonance or wordplay in the verse: “sound” (Heb tiq’u, “blow...
![](images/cmt_minus.gif)
NET Notes: Jer 6:2 Heb “The beautiful and delicate one I will destroy, the daughter of Zion. The English versions and commentaries are divided over the rendering o...
![](images/cmt_minus.gif)
NET Notes: Jer 6:3 There is a wordplay involving “sound…in Tekoa” mentioned in the study note on “destruction” in v. 1. The Hebrew verb ...
![](images/cmt_minus.gif)
NET Notes: Jer 6:4 Heb “Woe to us!” For the usage of this phrase see the translator’s note on 4:13. The usage of this particle here is a little exagger...
![](images/cmt_minus.gif)
![](images/cmt_minus.gif)
![](images/cmt_minus.gif)
NET Notes: Jer 6:8 The wordplay begun with “sound…in Tekoa” in v. 1 and continued with “they will pitch” in v. 3 is concluded here with ...
![](images/cmt_minus.gif)
NET Notes: Jer 6:9 Heb “Pass your hand back over the branches like a grape harvester.” The translation is intended to clarify the metaphor that Jeremiah shou...
![](images/cmt_minus.gif)
![](images/cmt_minus.gif)
![](images/cmt_minus.gif)
NET Notes: Jer 6:12 Heb “I will reach out my hand.” This figure involves both comparing God to a person (anthropomorphism) and substitution (metonymy) where h...
![](images/cmt_minus.gif)
![](images/cmt_minus.gif)
![](images/cmt_minus.gif)
![](images/cmt_minus.gif)
NET Notes: Jer 6:17 Heb “Pay attention to the sound of the trumpet.” The word “warning” is not in the Hebrew text, but is implied.
![](images/cmt_minus.gif)
NET Notes: Jer 6:18 Heb “Know, congregation [or witness], what in [or against] them.” The meaning of this line is somewhat uncertain. The meaning of the noun ...
![](images/cmt_minus.gif)
![](images/cmt_minus.gif)
NET Notes: Jer 6:20 Heb “Your burnt offerings are not acceptable and your sacrifices are not pleasing to me.” “The shift from “your” to R...
![](images/cmt_minus.gif)
NET Notes: Jer 6:21 The words “and fall to their destruction” are implicit in the metaphor and are supplied in the translation for clarity.
![](images/cmt_minus.gif)
![](images/cmt_minus.gif)
![](images/cmt_minus.gif)
NET Notes: Jer 6:24 Or “We have lost our strength to do battle”; Heb “Our hands hang limp [or helpless at our sides].” According to BDB 951 s.v. &...
![](images/cmt_minus.gif)
![](images/cmt_minus.gif)
![](images/cmt_minus.gif)
![](images/cmt_minus.gif)
![](images/cmt_minus.gif)
![](images/cmt_minus.gif)