Jeremiah 17:5

Individuals Are Challenged to Put Their Trust in the Lord ¹ 

17:5 The Lord says,

“I will put a curse on people

who trust in mere human beings,

who depend on mere flesh and blood for their strength, ² 

and whose hearts ³  have turned away from the Lord.

Psalms 73:27

73:27 Yes, ⁴  look! Those far from you ⁵  die;

you destroy everyone who is unfaithful to you. ⁶ 

Proverbs 14:14

14:14 The backslider ⁷  will be paid back ⁸  from his own ways,

but a good person will be rewarded ⁹  for his.

Isaiah 1:28

1:28 All rebellious sinners will be shattered, ¹⁰ 

those who abandon the Lord will perish.

[17:5]  ¹ sn Verses 5-11 are a collection of wisdom-like sayings (cf. Ps 1) which set forth the theme of the two ways and their consequences. It has as its background the blessings and the curses of Deut 28 and the challenge to faith in Deut 29-30 which climaxes in Deut 30:15-20. The nation is sinful and God is weary of showing them patience. However, there is hope for individuals within the nation if they will trust in him.

[17:5]  ² tn Heb “who make flesh their arm.” The “arm” is the symbol of strength and the flesh is the symbol of mortal man in relation to the omnipotent God. The translation “mere flesh and blood” reflects this.

[17:5]  ³ sn In the psychology of ancient Hebrew thought the heart was the center not only of the emotions but of the thoughts and motivations. It was also the seat of moral conduct (cf. its placement in the middle of the discussion of moral conduct in Prov 4:20-27, i.e., in v. 23).

[73:27]  ⁴ tn Or “for.”

[73:27]  ⁵ sn The following line defines the phrase far from you in a spiritual sense. Those “far” from God are those who are unfaithful and disloyal to him.

[73:27]  ⁶ tn Heb “everyone who commits adultery from you.”

[14:14]  ⁷ tn Heb “a turning away of heart.” The genitive לֵב (lev, “heart”) functions as an attributive adjective: “a backslidden heart.” The term סוּג (sug) means “to move away; to move backwards; to depart; to backslide” (BDB 690 s.v. I סוּג). This individual is the one who backslides, that is, who departs from the path of righteousness.

[14:14]  ⁸ tn Heb “will be filled”; cf. KJV, ASV. The verb (“to be filled, to be satisfied”) here means “to be repaid,” that is, to partake in his own evil ways. His faithlessness will come back to haunt him.

[14:14]  ⁹ tn The phrase “will be rewarded” does not appear in the Hebrew but is supplied in the translation for the sake of clarity and smoothness.

[1:28]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “and [there will be] a shattering of rebels and sinners together.”