This passage consists of five short parts (vv. 1-5, 6-8, 9-10, 11-14, and 15-17). Most scholars believe it dates from the reign of Josiah, perhaps after the discovery of the Law but before he initiated his reforms (about 621 B.C.; cf. 2 Chron. 34:8-33).
11:1-2 The Lord's word again came to Jeremiah. The prophet was to listen to the words of the Mosaic Covenant and then address the people of Judah and Jerusalem.
11:3-4 Yahweh, Israel's God, announced a curse on any of His people who did not obey the covenant that He gave their forefathers when He liberated them from their Egyptian hardships (cf. Deut. 4:20; 11:28; 27:26; 28:15-19; 29:20-21; 1 Kings 8:51; Isa. 48:10). At that time the Lord had commanded the Israelites to listen to His voice and to be completely obedient (cf. Exod. 19:5-6). By promising to do so they entered into covenant relationship with Yahweh; they became His special people and He became their God (cf. 7:23; 24:7; 32:38).
"Ancient Near Eastern international treaties normally contained a section of benedictions and maledictions which were expected to occur according to whether or not the covenant was horoured."214
11:5 The Mosaic Covenant was to be the means by which God would fulfill His earlier promises to Abraham concerning the Promised Land (Gen. 12:7). Jeremiah replied, "So be it, Yahweh,"a standard response to a covenant (cf. Exod. 19:8; 24:7; Deut. 27:15-26). He promised to do what God had just told him to do.
11:6 Again the Lord instructed his prophet to bear a similar message to the same audience. Since the expression "in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem"was proverbial for the length and breadth of the country, Jeremiah may not have carried on an itinerant preaching ministry.215The people were to listen to and obey the Mosaic Covenant as Jeremiah proclaimed it.
11:7 The importance of doing so was clear in that the Lord had commanded his people to hear and obey the covenant when He first gave it and ever since.
11:8 Nevertheless the Israelites had failed to listen and obey. Consequently the Lord had brought all the curses warned of in the covenant on them. The root of the problem was Israel's stubborn and evil heart.
"We are prone to hope that God will be like the modern indulgent parent and that there will be no reckoning if we, also, disobey Him. It is a vain hope. Judgment is sure to come. As God punished Israel, so will He punish allwhose hearts are confirmed in disobedience toward Him."216
11:9 Another word from the Lord informed Jeremiah of a conspiracy among his people.
11:10 They had returned (Heb. shub) to the sins of their forefathers who had rejected Yahweh's words and had pursued idols. This constituted breaking the covenant. Both the Northern and Southern Kingdoms were guilty, and the Northern Kingdom had already gone into captivity for its failure.
11:11 The result of this conduct would be disaster for them all. The Lord would bring this on them, and all their appeals to Him for relief would be of no avail. People who do not listen are not heard.
11:12 Receiving no relief from the Lord, the people would appeal to their idols, but they would not save them either.
11:13 The Judahites had worshipped multitudes of idols described hyperbolically as numbering as many as Jerusalem's streets and Judah's cities (cf. 2:28).
11:14 The Lord instructed Jeremiah again (cf. 7:16; 11:14) not to pray that He would withhold judgment from his people. Their sin was so great that the Lord would not defer judgment even though the prophet or his people cried out to Him for mercy (cf. v. 11). Genuine repentance was the only thing that would affect His punishment.
11:15 The Judahites, even though they were beloved by the Lord, had no right to come into His temple to worship Him because they had committed so many sins and had not repented. Their sacrifices alone could not make things right with Him. Judgment was inevitable.
11:16 Even though the Lord had compared His nation to a beautiful and fruitful green olive tree, He would burn it up in a great tumult because it had proved worthless as far as fulfilling His purpose for it (cf. 21:14; Ps. 52:8; 80:16; Isa. 27:11; Rom. 11:17-24). He would destroy the nation as He might destroy a tree by striking it with lightning.
"The olive [tree] was the source of oil for light, cooking, medicine, anointing for the body, and many other uses. It became the symbol of prosperity and divine blessing, of beauty and strength.' Thus it is here an apt picture of the Hebrew people, blessed by God, but now rejected."217
11:17 Even though Almighty Yahweh had planted Israel, He would bring evil (Heb ra'ah) on her because she had done evil (ra'ah) by provoking Him by worshipping Baal.
"There is nothing in this oracle that does not appear in earlier oracles except that there is here a certain sense of the imminence of coming doom. Such language would certainly provoke the kind of reaction we find in 11:18-12:6, where we are told of a plot against Jeremiah's life in his own village."218
