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Jeremiah 11:1-23

The Pulpit Commentary on Jeremiah 11:1-23

The Pulpit Commentary · Joseph S. Exell and contributors · Public domain

EXPOSITION

The superscription in evidently belongs to the three chapters 11-13, though and are more closely connected with each other than with . To which period the group of prophecies belongs—whether to the reign of Josiah, or of Jehoiakim, or of Jehoiachin, or to various periods, is a matter of dispute. It contains at any rate one passage () which was almost certainly put in by a later editor. It is doubtless Jeremiah's work, but seems out of place here (see below, on this passage). Naegelsbach's analysis of ; , is striking. The fundamental idea of the entire discourse he assumes to be the antithesis of covenant and conspiracy, and proceeds thus:

1. A reminder of the renewal of the covenant between Jehovah and the people lately made under Josiah ().

2. First stage of the conspiracy; all Israel, instead of keeping the covenant with Jehovah, conspires against him ().

3. The punishment of the conspiracy is an irreversible, severe judgment ( 17).

4. Second stage of the conspiracy; the plot of the men of Anathoth ().

5. Third stage; the plot in the prophet's own family (). Naegelsbaeh, however, with violence to exegesis, continues thus (assuming the homogeneousness of and ):

6. Israel's conspiracy punished by a conspiracy of the neighboring peoples against Israel ().

7. Removal of all antitheses by the final union of all in the Lord ().

The opening verses of this chapter give us (as we have seen already in the general Introduction) a most vivid idea of the activity of Jeremiah in propagating a knowledge of the Deuteronomic Torah (i.e. the Divine "directions" with regard to the regulation of life). It may even be inferred from verse 6 that he made a missionary circuit in Judah, with the view of influencing the masses. It was, in fact, only the "elders" of the different towns who had taken part in the solemn ceremony described in . "The words of this covenant" had been ratified by the national representatives; but it required a prophetic enthusiasm to carry them home to the hearts of the people. Hence it was that "the word came to Jeremiah from Jehovah, saying, Hear ye the words of this covenant, and speak unto the men of Judah," etc.

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Matthew Henry on Jeremiah 11:1-10Jeremiah 11:1-10 · Matthew Henry Concise CommentaryGod never promised to bestow blessings on his rational creatures, while they persist in wilful disobedience. Pardon and acceptance are promised freely to all believers; but no man can be saved who does not obey the comm…Charges against Judah. (b. c. 606.)Jeremiah 11:1-10 · Matthew Henry's Commentary on the Whole BibleCHARGES AGAINST JUDAH. (B. C. 606.) The prophet here, as prosecutor in God's name, draws up an indictment against the Jews for wilful disobedience to the commands of their rightful Sovereign. For the more solemn managem…The Pulpit Commentary on Jeremiah 11:1-8Jeremiah 11:1-8 · The Pulpit CommentaryThe ancient covenant. I. THE OBJECT OF THE COVENANT. This was to secure obedience. No covenant was required on God's side, since he is ever willing to bless and changeless in his beneficence. But for the sake of men's f…The Pulpit Commentary on Jeremiah 11:1-12Jeremiah 11:1-12 · The Pulpit CommentaryThe covenant with the fathers binding on the children. Here it is necessary to go back over all the history of Israel, and consider the great covenant transactions between God and his people. Such transactions we find t…
commentaryMatthew Henry on Jeremiah 11:1-10God never promised to bestow blessings on his rational creatures, while they persist in wilful disobedience. Pardon and acceptance are promised freely to all believers; but no man can be saved who does not obey the comm…Matthew HenrycommentaryCharges against Judah. (b. c. 606.)CHARGES AGAINST JUDAH. (B. C. 606.) The prophet here, as prosecutor in God's name, draws up an indictment against the Jews for wilful disobedience to the commands of their rightful Sovereign. For the more solemn managem…Matthew HenrycommentaryThe Pulpit Commentary on Jeremiah 11:1-8The ancient covenant. I. THE OBJECT OF THE COVENANT. This was to secure obedience. No covenant was required on God's side, since he is ever willing to bless and changeless in his beneficence. But for the sake of men's f…Joseph S. Exell and contributorscommentaryThe Pulpit Commentary on Jeremiah 11:1-12The covenant with the fathers binding on the children. Here it is necessary to go back over all the history of Israel, and consider the great covenant transactions between God and his people. Such transactions we find t…Joseph S. Exell and contributorscommentaryThe Pulpit Commentary on Jeremiah 11:2Hear ye … and speak. To whom is this addressed? To Jeremiah and his disciples. The Septuagint, indeed, followed by Hitzig and Graf, read (instead of "speak ye"), "Thou shalt speak unto them," adopting one different vowe…Joseph S. Exell and contributorscommentaryThe Pulpit Commentary on Jeremiah 11:3The doom of disobedience. This new discourse, which begins with Jeremiah 11:1-23. is a continuation of the same sad monotone of denunciation and doom which goes on throughout well-nigh the whole of Jeremiah's prophecies…Joseph S. Exell and contributorscommentaryThe Pulpit Commentary on Jeremiah 11:3Here begins a series of direct references to Deuteronomy, determining the date of the discourse. Cursed be the man, etc.; alluding to Deuteronomy 27:26. Nothing, perhaps, is so injurious to a correct understanding of th…Joseph S. Exell and contributorscommentaryThe Pulpit Commentary on Jeremiah 11:4From the iron furnace; rather, out of the iron furnace. It is Egypt which is thus described (comp. Deuteronomy 4:20; 1 Kings 8:51). The oppression in Egypt was like the furnace in which iron is rendered malleable by hea…Joseph S. Exell and contributors