Jeremiah 11:1

The Lord gave Jeremiah permission to present legal charges against the people of Judah and Jerusalem. With the divine name's power supporting his words, the Lord explained the covenant's terms. These terms included curses for those who did not obey (see Deuteronomy 27:15–26; 28:15–68).

The Lord reminded Jeremiah of several messages (Exodus 19:5) that had formed the foundation of the relationship between the Lord and Israel for many centuries. Since the kingdom of Judah was the last part of Israel, its people were the ones facing judgment before the Lord. This likely happened during King Jehoiakim's reign.

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 management of this charge,
I. He produces the commission he had to draw up the charge against them. He did not take pleasure in accusing the children of his people, but God commanded him to speak it to the men of Judah, Jer 11:1, Jer 11:2. In the original it is plural: Speak you this. For what he said to Jeremiah was the same that he gave in charge to all his servants the prophets. They none of them said any other than what Moses, in the law, had said; to that therefore they must refer themselves, and direct the people: "Hear the words of this covenant; turn to your Bibles, be judged by them." Jeremiah must now proclaim this in the cities of Judah and the streets of Jerusalem, that all may hear, for all are concerned. All the words of reproof and conviction which the prophets spoke were grounded upon the words of the covenant, and agreed with that; and therefore "hear these words, and understand by them upon what terms you stood with God at first; and then, by comparing yourselves with the covenant, you will soon be aware upon what terms you now stand with him."
II. He opens the charter upon which their state was founded and by which they held their privileges. They had forgotten the tenour of it, and lived as if they thought that the grant was absolute and that they might do what they pleased and yet have what God had promised, or as if they thought that the keeping up of the ceremonial observances was all that God required of them. He therefore shows them, with all possible plainness, that the thing God insisted upon was obedience, which was better than sacrifice. He said, Obey my voice, Jer 11:4 and again Jer 11:7. "Own God for your Master; give up yourselves to him as his subjects and servants; attend to all the declarations of his mind and will, and make conscience of complying with them. Do my commandments, not only in some things, but according to all which I command you; make conscience of moral duties especially, and rest not in those that are merely ritual; hear the words of the covenant, and do them." 1. This was the original contract between God and them, when he first formed them into a people. It was what he commanded their fathers when he first brought them forth out of the land of Egypt, Jer 11:4 and Jer 11:7. He never intended to take them under his guidance and protection upon any other terms. This was what he required from them in gratitude for the great things he did for them when he brought them from the iron furnace. He redeemed them out of the service of the Egyptians, which was perfect slavery, that he might take them into his own service, which is perfect freedom, Luk 1:74, Luk 1:75. 2. This was not only laid before them then, but it was with the greatest importunity imaginable pressed upon them, Jer 11:7. God not only commanded it, but earnestly protested it to their fathers, when he brought them into covenant with himself. Moses inculcated it again and again, by precept upon precept and line upon line. 3. This was made the condition of the relation between and God, which was so much their honour and privilege: "So shall you be my people and I will be your God; I will own you for mine, and you may call upon me as yours;" this intimates that, if they refused to obey, they could no longer claim the benefit of the relation. 4. It was upon these terms that the land of Canaan was given them for a possession: Obey my voice, that I may perform the oath sworn to your fathers, to give them a land flowing with milk and honey, Jer 11:5. God was ready to fulfil the promise, but then they must fulfil the condition; if not, the promise is void, and it is just with God to turn them out of possession. Being brought in upon their good behaviour, they had no wrong done them if they were turned out upon their ill behaviour. Obedience was the rent reserved by the lease, with a power to re-enter for non-payment. 5. This obedience was not only made a condition of the blessing, but was required under the penalty of a curse. This is mentioned first here (Jer 11:3), that they might, if possible, be awakened by the terrors of the Lord: Cursed be the man, though it were but a single person, that obeys not the words of this covenant, much more when it is the body of the nation that rebels. There are curses of the covenant as well as blessings: and Moses set before them not only life and good, but death and evil (Deu 30:15), so that they had fair warning given them of the fatal consequences of disobedience. 6. Lest this covenant should be forgotten, and, because out of mind, should be thought out of date, God had from time to time called to them to remember it, and by his servants the prophets had made a continual claim of this rent, so that they could not plead, in excuse of their non-payment, that it had never been demanded; from the day when he brought them out of Egypt to this day (and that was nearly 1000 years) he had been, in one way or other, at sundry times and in divers manners, protesting to them the necessity of obedience. God keeps an account how long we have enjoyed the means of grace and how powerful those means have been, how often we have been not only spoken to, but protested to, concerning our duty. 7. This covenant was consented to (Jer 11:5): Then answered I, and said, So be it, O Lord! These are the words of the prophet, expressing either, (1.) His own consent to the covenant for himself, and his desire to have the benefit of it. God promised Canaan to the obedient: "Lord," says he, "I take thee at thy word, I will be obedient; let me have my inheritance in the land of promise, of which Canaan is a type." Or, (2.) His good will, and good wish, that his people might have the benefit of it. "Amen; Lord, let them still be kept in possession of this good land, and not turned out of it; make good the promise to them." Or, (3.) His people's consent to the covenant: "Then answered I, in the name of the people, So be it." Taking it in this sense, it refers to the declared consent which the people gave to the covenant, not only to the precepts of it when they said, All that the Lord shall say unto us we will do and will be obedient, but to the penalties when they said Amen to all the curses upon Mount Ebal. The more solemnly we have engaged ourselves to God the more reason we have to hope that the engagement will be perpetual; and yet here it did not prove so.
III. He charges them with breach of covenant, such a breach as amounted to a forfeiture of their charter, Jer 11:8. God had said again and again, by his law and by his prophets, "Obey my voice, do as you are bidden, and all shall be well;" yet they obeyed not; and, because they were resolved not to submit their souls to God's commandments, they would not so much as incline their ears to them, but got as far as they could out of call: They walked every one in the imagination of their evil heart, followed their own inventions; every man did as his fancy and humour led him, right or wrong, lawful or unlawful, both in their devotions and in their conversations; see Jer 7:24. What then could they expect, but to fall under the curse of the covenant, since they would not comply with the commands and conditions of it? Therefore I will bring upon them all the words of this covenant, that is, all the threatenings contained in it, because they did not what they were commanded. Note, The words of the covenant shall not fall to the ground. If we do not by our obedience qualify ourselves for the blessings of it, we shall by our disobedience bring ourselves under the curses of it. That which aggravated their defection from God, and rebellion against him, was that it was general, and as it were by consent, Jer 11:9, Jer 11:10. Jeremiah himself saw that many lived in open disobedience to God, but the Lord told him that the matter was worse than he thought of: A conspiracy is found among them, by him whose eye is upon the hidden works of darkness. There is a combination against God and religion, a dangerous design formed to overthrow God's government and bring in the pretenders, the counterfeit deities. This intimates that they were wilful and deliberate in wickedness (they rebelled against God, not through incogitancy, but presumptuously, and with a high hand), - that they were subtle and ingenious in wickedness, and carried on their plot against religion with a great deal of art and contrivance, - that they were linked together in the design, and, as is usual among conspirators, engaged to stand by one another in it and to live and die together; they were resolved to go through with it. A cursed conspiracy! O that there were not the like in our day! Observe, 1. What the conspiracy was. They designed to overthrow divine revelation, and set that aside, and persuade people not to hear, not to heed, the words of God. They did all they could to derogate from the authority of the scriptures and to lessen the value of them; they designed to draw people after other gods to serve them, to consult them as their oracles and make court to them as their benefactors. Human reason shall be their god, a light within their god, an infallible judge their god, saints and angels their gods, the god of this or the other nation shall be theirs; thus, under several disguises, they are in the same confederacy against the Lord and against his anointed. 2. Who were in conspiracy. One would have expected find some foreigners ring-leaders in it; but no, (1.) The inhabitants of Jerusalem are in conspiracy with the men of Judah; city and country agree in this, however they may differ in other things. (2.) Those of this generation seem to be in conspiracy with those of the foregoing generation, to carry on the war from age to age against religion: They are turned back to the iniquities of their forefathers, and have risen up in their stead, a seed of evil-doers, and increase of sinful men, Num 32:14. In Josiah's time there had been a reformation, but after this death the people returned to the idolatries which then they had renounced. (3.) Judah and Israel, the kingdom of the ten tribes and that of the two, that were often at daggers - drawing one with another, were yet in a conspiracy to break the covenant God had made with their fathers, even with the heads of all the twelve tribes. The house of Israel began the revolt, but the house of Judah soon came into the conspiracy. Now what else could be expected but that god should take severe methods, both for the chastising of the conspirators and the crushing of this conspiracy; for none ever hardened his heart thus against God and prospered? He that rolls this stone will find it return upon him.

Jeremiah 11:1-5

1. The word that came to Jeremiah from the LORD, saying,

1. Sermo qui directus fuit ad Jeremiah a Jehova, dicendo,

2. Hear ye the words of this covenant, and speak unto the men of Judah, and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem;

2. Audite verba (sermones) foe-deris hujus, et dicite viro Jehudah (viris Jehudah, enallage est numeri) et habitatoribus Jerusalem;

3. And say thou unto them, Thus saith the LORD God of Israel; Cursed be the man that obeyeth not the words of this covenant,

3. Et dices ad cos, Sic dicit Jehova, Deus Israel, Maledictus vir qui non audierit verba foederis hujus;

4. Which I commanded your fathers in the day that I brought them forth out of the land of Egypt, from the iron furnace, saying, Obey my voice, and do them, according to all which I command you: so shall ye be my people, and I will be your God:

4. Quae (vel, quod foedus) mandavi patribus vestris die quo eduxi eos e terra Egypti, e fornace ferrea, dicendo, Audite vocem meam, et facite ea quae (hoc est, quaecunque) praecipio (relativum sine antecedente; seeundum omnia quae praecepi vobis) et eritis mihi in populum, et ego ero vobis in Deum; (cohoerent hoecomnia inter se, ideo non disjungo)

5. That I may perform the oath which I have sworn unto your fathers, to give them a land flowing with milk and honey, as it is this day. Then answered I, and said, So be it, O LORD.

5. Ut statuam (vel, stabiliam; alii vertunt, suscitem, sed improprie) jusjurandum quodjuravipatribus vestris ad dandum illis terrain afltuentem lacte et roelie, secundum diem hanc: et respondi et dixi, Amen, Jehova.

Here the Prophet teaches us, that the Jews, though they continued to profess God's holy name, were yet wholly perfidious, and had departed altogether from the law. The import of this discourse is, that the Jews gloried in the name of God, and yet were violaters of his covenant, for they had broken their faith pledged to God, and wholly cast aside the doctrine of the law. The Jews, no doubt, were often greatly exasperated against Jeremiah, as though he was pleading his own cause: it was therefore necessary to set before them their departure from the law, so that they might feel assured that their contention was not with Jeremiah but with Moses, and with God himself, the author of the law. They were doubtless exasperated with his doctrine; but Jeremiah could not spare them when he saw that they were so perverse.

We may understand this better by an example: Though the Papists at this day openly repudiate everything adduced from the law, and the prophets, and the gospel, yet they dissemble on this point, and even affirm that they receive whatever proceeds from God. As they then shuffle and do so shamelessly, he who seeks to restore the pure worship of God and true religion, may deal with them in the same manner. As for instance, when any one of God's servants meets the Papists, he may thus address them: -- "Let not the dispute be now between us individually, but hear what God commanded formerly by Moses, and what he has more fully confirmed by his prophets, and at last by his only -- begotten Son and his apostles; so that it is not right to do anything any longer against his word: now then attend to the law and the prophets."

We now understand what was God's design in bidding his servant Jeremiah to speak these words. For, except we duly consider the unfaithfulness of that people, we shall feel surprised that the word covenant is so often mentioned, and it will appear unmeaning to us. But the Prophet, as I have said, when he saw that the Jews by their cavils made evasions, could not deal with them in any other way than by shewing that, they had violated God's covenant and had thus become apostates, having wholly departed from the law. And he says that this was commanded them by God: nor is there doubt but that God not only suggested this to his servant, but dictated also to him the way and manner of speaking.

Rightly then does Jeremiah begin by saying, that this word was given to him. By using the plural number in the second verse, he no doubt shews that he had a few assistants remaining, whom God addressed in connection with him, that they might unite together in delivering his message. For though there were very few good men, yet Jeremiah was not wholly deprived of colleagues, who assented to and confirmed his doctrine. Baruch was one of them, and there were a few like him. These, then, God addresses in the second verse, when he says, Hear ye the words of this coveant, and say ye [30] to the men of Judah and to the citizens of Jerusalem Jeremiah indeed knew, and also those who were with him, that they brought forward nothing but what was in the law: but however conscious they were of their own sincerity, and could testify before God and his angels that they drew nothing from puddles but from a pure fountain, yet God intended to strengthen them against the contumacy of the people; for they had this objection ready at hand, "Ye indeed boast that whatever it pleases you to bring forward, is the word of God; but this we deny." Since then the prophets had to undergo such a contest, it seemed good to God to strengthen their hands, that they might first be themselves assured, and then become fit and bold witnesses of his truth to others, having good authority, as it was derived from the law itself, and not from the devices of men.

And we see to whom God intended this to be proclaimed, even to the men of Judah and to the citizens of Jerusalem The ten tribes, as it has elsewhere appeared, were now driven into exile; and here was the flower, as it were, of the chosen people; and having survived so many calamities, they thought that they had been preserved by Divine power, because religion and God's worship prevailed among them. Thus they were inebriated with false notions and self -- flatteries. Hence the Prophet, and those who were with him, are expressly bidden to declare, what we shall hereafter notice, to the citizens of Jerusalem and to the inhabitants of the land who remained, and thought that they were the chosen of God and would continue safe, even if all others were to perish.

The Prophet afterwards shews more clearly that the command was especially given to him, for he uses the singular number, Thou shalt say to them Nor is it inconsistent that at first he joined others with himself; for God might have united the suffrages of the few who wished the restoration of pure religion among the people, while yet Jeremiah, who was superior to the rest, sustained the chief part. There is no doubt but that others were anxious by their consent to confirm his doctrine: but there was no emulation among them; and though he excelled them, he yet winingly admitted into a connection with himself all those whom he found to be united with him in so good and holy a cause. God then, in the last verse, spoke of them in common, for he wished all his servants to add their testimony to that of his Prophet; but now he addresses the Prophet alone, for his authority was greater.

It follows, Thus saith Jehovah, the God of Israel, cursed the man who does not hearken to the words of this covenant As often as the word covenant is mentioned, Jeremiah no doubt cuts off every pretext for all those evasions to which the Jews, according to what we have said, had recourse: for they never winingly allowed that they took away anytiling from the law, though they yet despised Jeremiah, who was its true and faithful interpreter, who had blended with it nothing of his own, but only applied what had been taught by Moses to the condition of the people at that time. There is then to be understood an implied contrast between the word covenant and the doctrine of Jeremiah; not that there was any difference or contrariety, or that Jeremiah had anything apart from the law, but that he formed his discourse so as to suit the condition of the people. And there is a kind of concession, as though he had said, "I do not now demand to be heard by you, but hear only the law itself: I have hitherto brought forward nothing but what God has commanded; and I have taught nothing at variance with Moses; there has been nothing additional in my doctrine: but as I cannot convince you of this, I now give over speaking to you; Moses himself speaks, hear him."

By adding the pronoun demonstrative, "Hear ye the words of this covenant," it is the same as though he had openly shewed them as by his finger, so that there was no room for any doubt. [31] He then upbraided them by pointing out the covenant, as though he had said, "What avails you to feign and to pretend that what we say is ambiguous, and to hold it as uncertain whether we are or not the servants of God? whether we speak by his Spirit? whether he himself has sent us? The thing is clear; this is the covenant." We now perceive the force of this pronoun.

But in referring to the curse, his purpose, no doubt, was to bend the stubbornness of the people. Had the Jews been teachable and submissive, God would have used a milder strain, and allured them by words of kindness and love: but as he had to do with perverse minds, he was under the necessity of addressing them in this manner, in order to strike them with terror, and to render them more attentive, and also to make them to hear with more reverence, as they usually treated with contempt what he had spoken before. We hence see why he began with mentioning a curse. God followed in the law another order; for he first introduced the rule of life, and added also promises to render the people wining to obey; and then he subjoined the curses. But Jeremiah here begins by saying, Cursed are all those who hear not the words of this covenant Why was this done? Even because he had already found out the hardness and the obstinate wickedness of the people. He then does not propound a simple doctrine, but before all things he sets before them the curse of God; as though he had said, "It is very strange that you have not hitherto been moved, since God's curse has been so often denounced on you: as then ye are so stupid, before I begin to speak of God's commands, his curse shall be mentioned to awaken your torpidity."

But we learn from the Prophet's words that he alluded to the form prescribed in the law: for after Moses rehearsed all the precepts, he added, "Cursed is every one who turns aside to foreign gods;" and he commanded the people to respond, Amen; and, "Cursed is every one who curses father and mother," and he bade them to respond, Amen; and after having narrated all the precepts, he added, "Cursed is every one who fulfils not all the words of this law," and the people responded, Amen. (Deuteronomy 27:15, 16, 26) The same form does Jeremiah now adopt when he says,

"Declare then to the people, that they are all accursed who obey not my precepts;"

and then the Prophet adds, I answered and said, Amen, O Jehovah But it must be observed, that the Prophet here personates as before the whole people; as though he had said, "I subscribe to God's judgment, even though ye should be all gainsayers, as ye really are. Though then ye think that ye can escape from God's hand, as though it were easy to elude the curse which is pronounced in his law, yet I subscribe with my own name, and answer before God, Amen, O Jehovah

But we must notice also the other words, Cursed, he says, is every one who hears not the words of this covenant To hear, in this place, and in many other places, is to be taken for obeying. He then speaks of the words or of the covenant itself; for the expression may be taken in either sense, as God had made a covenant with the Jews and at the same time expressed words. I am inclined to consider the covenant itself as intended. God then says that he had made a covenant with them. There is yet a fuller explanation, The words which I commanded your fathers, he says, in the day when I brought them up from the land of Egypt, God shews here by a circumstance as to the time how inexcusable the Jews were; for he says that he gave the law to their fathers at the very time when they were extricated from death; as they were drawn out of the grave, as it were, when God made them a passage through the Red Sea. That redemption ought to have made such a deep impression as to convince them wholly to devote themselves to God; yea,, the memory of such a benefit ought to have been deeply fixed in their hearts.

We hence see how aggravated here is the sin of ingratitude; for the law was given to the Israelites when they had before their eyes the many deaths to which they had been exposed, and from which the Lord had miraculously delivered them. For the same reason also he mentions their miserable state as an iron furnace, according to what we find in the third chapter of Exodus and in many other places, he then compares their Egyptian bondage to a furnace; for the Jews were then like wood and straw in a burning furnace; and he calls the furnace iron, as it could melt and reduce to nothing things harder than wood, evcn gold or silver or any other metal. In short, the deplorable state of the people is here set forth; and the Prophet, by the comparison, magnifies the favor shewn to them -- that God, beyond all hope, had delivered them from death. Since then the authority of the law was sanctioned by so great a benefit, it became evident how much was the impiety of the people, and how unbecoming and wicked their ingratitude; for they did not winingly suffer God's yoke to be laid on them.

He says that God commanded these things This expression, as I have said, is to be applied to the words of the law, and not to the covenant. But the Prophet speaks indiscriminately, now of the covenant, then of the things it embraces, that is, of all the precepts it includes. In other words, he expresses how inexcusable was the sin of the people; for God, in substance, required of them no other thing but to hear his voice: and what can be more just than that they who have been redeemed should obey the voice of their deliverer? and what could have been more detestable and monstrous than for the Israelites to refuse what God had a right to demand? We now then perceive the design of the Prophet in saying, that God commanded this only to his redeemed people, even to hear his voice, and to do what he commanded. [32]

He further adds a promise, which ought to have softened their stony hearts, Ye shall be, he says, to me a people, and I will be to you a God God might have positively required of the Jews what is implanted in all by nature; for they who have never been taught acknowledge that God ought to be worshipped; and the right way of worshipping him is when we obey his precepts. God then might have thus commanded them according to his supreme aufilority. The commands of kings, as it is said, are brief, for they are no soothing expressions, nor do they reason, nor employ any persuasive language. How much greater is the authority of God, who can intimate by a nod what he pleases and what he demands? But as though he descended from his high station, he seeks by promises to attach people to himself, so that they may winingly obey him. Thus God recommends his law by manifesting his favor, and does not merely assert his own authority. Since then God thus kindly addresses his people, and promises so great a reward to obedience, how base and abominable is the contumacy of men when they repudiate his law. Hence the Prophet shews here more clearly why he began by saying, Cursed is every one who obeys not, etc.: for kindness had profited nothing; friendly and tender words, the paternal invitation of God, produced no effect; as though he had said, "God could not, doubtless, have treated you more gently and kindly than by reminding you in a paternal manner of your duty, and by adding promises sufficient to soften even the hardest hearts; but as this has been done without effect, what now remains for God to do but to thunder and announce only his curses?"

We now understand what the Prophet had in view. But it may be here objected, -- that all this was useless and without any benefit, for the Jews could not have undertaken the yoke of the law, until it was inscribed on their hearts. To this I answer, that of this very thing they were here at the same time reminded: for though the teaching of the letter could do nothing but condemn the people, and hence it is said by Paul to be what brings death, (2 Corinthians 3:6) yet the faithful knew that the Spirit of regeneration would not be denied them, if they sought it of God. Then, in the first place, it was their fault that the law was not inscribed on their hearts; and, in the second place, a free promise of forgiveness was added; for why were those sacrifices and expiations under the law, and so many ceremonies, which had respect to their reconciliation to God, but in order that the people might feel assured that God would be propitious and appeasable to them, though they could not satisfy the law? This teaching then was not useless as to the faithful; for God, when he required from the Israelites what they ought to have done, was at the time ready to inscribe the law on their hearts, and also to forgive their sins. But when through obstinate wickedness they rejected the whole law, the Prophet justly declares here that the curse of God was on them; because they basely rejected God's promises, by which he testified his paternal kindness towards them.

He adds, That I may establish the oath which I have sworn to your fathers, to give them a land abounding in milk and honey, according to what it is at this day Here he does not refer to the chief part of their happiness; but only the land of Canaan is mentioned as the pledge or the earnest of God's favor; for his promise had regard to something much higher than to the land of Canaan. God had indeed promised this as an inheritance to the Israelites: but when he says, that he would be their God and they his people, the promise of eternal life and of celestial glory is included, according to what is said elsewhere, that he is not the God of the dead but of the living. (Matthew 22:31) And we must ever bear in mind what is said by the Prophet Habakkuk,

"Thou art our God, we shall not die." (Habakkuk 1:12)

God then promised to the Israelites something far greater than the possession of the land, when he said, that he would be their God But that land was a symbol, an earnest and a pledge of his paternal favor. All these things well agree together.

And to the same purpose is what the Prophet adds, that God had formerly sworn to their fathers, that he would give them that land by an hereditary right: and this promise had been fulfined to their posterity. Were any to lay hold on this only, -- that God's favor was seen in the land of Canaan, because they had obtained it through the expulsion of the heathens by God's kindness, the view would be frigid, and the Prophet would diminish much from that promise which far exceeds all that man can conceive. Hence, as I have said, in speaking of the land of Canaan, he accommodates himself no doubt to the comprehension of a rude and ignorant people, and mentions the earnest and the pledge, that they alight see by their eyes, exhibited to them even in this world and in this frail life some evidence of that favor, which far surpasses all that can be desired in the world.

Now, when he says, That I may establish [33] the oath which I have sworn to your fathers, God doubtless shews that though the Jews should obey him, they had not yet deserved by their obedience the inheritance promised before they were born. God then here proves that it was through his gratuitous kindness that; they became heirs of the land. How so? because they were not created when God sware to Abraham that he would give that land to him and to his posterity. As then the promise had been given long before, it follows that it could not be ascribed to the merits of the people, that they had at length in due time obtained the land. As to the oath, God by referring to it extols his favor; for he not only promised the land for an heritage to the children of Abraham, but he also added an oath, that the covenant might appear more sure. But the Prophet at the same time intimates, that they, if ungrateful to God, might justly be deprived of the promised inheritance; as though he had said, "There is no ground for you to expostulate with God, as though he defrauded you, were he to cast you out of the land; for God himself does not disinherit you, but your own wickedness; and ye are now unworthy, for God regards you not as his children." While then the Prophet takes away every ground for boasting, that the Jews might not think that they possessed the land as a reward for their merits, he also reminds them that they might be justly deprived of their land, and that on account of their own fault, as they rendered not to God the service they owed to him. Hence he says, that I might establish the oath which I have sworn to your fathers

A land, he says, flowing with milk and honey: this mode of speaking was often adopted by Moses, (Exodus 3:8, Exodus 3:17; Exodus 13:5; Exodus 33:3; Leviticus 20:24) The land was no doubt from the beginning very fertile; but it is probable that it became more fruitful after the people entered into it, for it was in a manner renewed; and it was God's design to shew in a visible manner how great; Was the efficacy of his covenant. It was not then to no purpose that Moses said so often that it was a land flowing with milk and honey.

He afterwards adds, According as it is at this day He produces witnesses; as though he had said, "God has dealt faithfully with you, for he has performed the faith pledged to your fathers, and has fulfined his oath: but now since ye have polluted this land, and the memory of God's favor is as it were buried among you, and ye even tread under your feet his law -- since then such great impiety averts his blessing from you, what remains for him to do, but to drive you away into exile?" We hence see that there is here to be understood an implied threatening, when he says that God had performed what he had promised to the fathers, and promised with this condition -- that they were to obey his commands.

We have already spoken of the Prophet's answer. When he answered, Amen, he did not wait for what the people would say; for the greater part no doubt made a clamor and sought to make shifts with God. So great was their effrontery, that they often rose up insolently against the Prophets. Then as he knew that they were so refractory, he subscribed to the curse in his own name. It follows --

Footnotes:

[30] So the Vulgate and the Targum, but the Septuagint, the Syriac, and Arabic, have the verb in the singular number, "and thou shalt say." The m at the end of the verb may be rendered "them;" so Blayney regards it. We may consider the end of this verse and the following as parenthetic; otherwise the particle "this" seems singular. It will thus appear to be "this covenant which I commanded your fathers." Still the whole passage seems not to run well. I am disposed to render hz't, "even these," and to put a part in a parenthesis, thus, -- 2. Hear ye the words of the covenant, even these, (and thou shalt speak them to every man of Judah and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, 3. and thou shalt say to them, Thus saith Jehovah, the God of Israel,) 4. "Cursed is the man who hearkens not to the words of the covenant, even these, which I commanded your fathers in the day I brought them up from the land of Egypt, from the iron furnace, saying, "Hearken to my voice, and do ye according to all that I shall command thee; and ye shall be to me a people, 5. and I shall be to you a God; that I may confirm the oath which I have sworn to your fathers, to give them a land flowing with milk and honey, as it is this day." -- And I answered and said, Amen, O Jehovah. -- Ed.

[31] Gataker says, "It is not unlikely that the Prophet held out the book or volume of the law, wherein the covenant was engrossed and recorded, then in his hand." -- Ed.

[32] There is no need of any alteration in the text, as proposed by some: the literal rendering is, "Hearken to my voice, and do ye according to all that I shall command you." The 'tm "ye," after "do," seems to be placed there instead of with "hearken." Some MSS. have 'vtm, which is evidently wrong. It is only the Targum that countenances this reading: all the versions read according to the meaning given above. -- Ed.

[33] "Establish -- steso," is the Septuagint; "awaken -- suscitem," is the Vulgate; "perform," is the Syriac; "confirm," is the Targum. "To make to stand" is the literal meaning of the verb. Hence the most correct word is "confirm." The connection of this verse is not with the immediately preceding words, but with "Hearken" and "do," etc., at the middle of the former verse. Hearken and do, that I may confirm the oath, etc. -- Ed.

The word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord, saying. Here seems to begin a new prophecy; but when it was, and under what reign, and what time between this and the former, is not known; however, it was from the Lord, and so to be regarded.

CHAPTER 11.

God’ s covenant, . Their disobedience, . Evils to come on them, , and on the men of Anathoth, for conspiring to kill Jeremiah, .

What time and in what manner this revelation came from God to the prophet is not expressed, whether it were in the days of Josiah or Jehoiakim.

Judah's Disloyalty to the Covenant, with the Consequences Thereof
In Jer 11:2-8 is a short summary of the covenant made with the fathers; in Jer 11:9-13 is an account of the breaking of this covenant by Judah, and of the calamity which results therefrom; and in Jer 11:14-17 further description of this calamity.
Jer 11:1-8
"The word which came to Jeremiah from Jahveh, saying: Jer 11:2. Hear ye the words of this covenant, and speak to the men of Judah and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, Jer 11:3. And say thou to them: Thus hath Jahve, the God of Israel, said: Cursed is the man that heareth not the words of this covenant, Jer 11:4. Which I commanded your fathers in the day that I brought them forth out of the land of Egypt, out of the iron furnace, saying: Hearken to my voice, and do them according to all which I command you; so shall ye be my people, and I will be your God; Jer 11:5. That I may perform the oath which I have sworn unto your fathers, to give them a land flowing with milk and honey, as it is this day. And I answered and said: So be it, Jahveh. Jer 11:6. Then said Jahveh to me: Proclaim all these words in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem, saying: Hear ye the words of this covenant and do them. Jer 11:7. For I have testified to your fathers in the day that I brought them out of the land of Egypt unto this day, testifying from early morning on: Hearken to my voice! Jer 11:8. But they hearkened not, nor inclined their ear, but walked each in the stubbornness of their evil heart; and so I brought on them all the words of this covenant which I have commanded them to do, and they have not done them."
The form of address, Jer 11:2 : hear ye (שׁמעוּ), and speak ye (דּבּרתּם), is noteworthy since we are not told who are to hear and speak; while at Jer 11:3, in ואמרתּ Jeremiah receives the commission to declare the words of the covenant to the people, and to make known in the cities of Judah, etc. (Jer 11:6). The difficulty is not removed by the plan adopted by Hitz. and Graf from the lxx, of changing ודבּרתּם into ודבּרתּם, "and speak them;" for the שׁמעוּ remains to be dealt with. To whom then, is it addressed? Schleussner proposed to change it into שׁמעה - a purely arbitrary change. In Jer 11:4 "hearing" is used in the sense of giving ear to, obeying. And in no other sense can it be taken in Jer 11:1. "The words of this covenant" are, as is clear from the succeeding context, the words of the covenant recorded in the Pentateuch, known from the reading of the Torah. The call to hear the words thereof can only have the meaning of: to give ear to them, take them to heart. Hence Chr. B. Mich. and Schnur. have referred the words to the Jews: Listen, ye Jews and ye citizens of Jerusalem, to the words of the covenant, and make them know to one another, and exhort one another to observe them. But this paraphrase is hardly consistent with the wording of the verse. Others fancied that the priests and elders were addressed; but if so, these must necessarily have been named. Clearly it is to the prophets in general that the words are spoken, as Kimchi observed; and we must not take "hear ye" as if the covenant was unknown to the prophets, but as intended to remind the prophets of them, that they might enforce them upon the people. Taken thus, this introductory verse serves to exalt the importance of the truths mentioned, to mark them out as truths which God had commanded all the prophets to proclaim. If it be the prophets in general who are addressed in Jer 11:2, the transition to "and say thou" is easily explained. Jeremiah, too, must himself do that which was the bounden duty of all the prophets, must make the men of Judah and Jerusalem call to mind the curse overhanging transgressors of the covenant. The words: Cursed is the man, etc., are taken from Deu 27:26, from the directions for the engagement to keep the covenant, which the people were to solemnise upon their entry into Canaan, and which, acc. to Jos 8:30., they did solemnise. The quotation is made freely from memory. Instead of "that heareth not the words of this covenant," we find in Deut. l.c.: "the confirmeth not (יקים) the words of this law to do them." The choice there of the word יקים is suggested by its connection with the act of solemnisation enjoined. The recitation and promulgation of the law upon Mount Gerizim and Ebal (Deut 27) had no other aim than that of solemnly binding the people to keep or follow the law; and this is what Jeremiah means by "hearing." The law to be established is the law of the covenant, i.e., the covenant made by Jahveh with Israel, and spoken of in Deu 28:68 and Deu 29:8 as the "words of this covenant." This covenant, which Moses had made with the sons of Israel in the land of Moab (Deu 28:68), was but a renewal of that solemnly concluded at Sinai (Ex 24). And so Jeremiah speaks of this covenant as the one which Jahveh commanded the fathers in the day, i.e., at the time, of their leaving Egypt. "In the day that," etc., as in Jer 7:22. "Out of the iron furnace:" this metaphor for the affliction endured by Israel in Egypt is taken from Deu 4:20. The words: hearken unto my voice and do them (the words of the covenant), suggest Deu 27:1-2; and the words: so shall ye be my people, suggest Deu 29:12, a passage which itself points back to ex. Jer 6:7 (Jer 19:5.), Lev 27:12; Deu 7:6, etc. That I may establish, i.e., perform, the oath which I have sworn unto your fathers, i.e., the patriarchs Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob (Deu 7:8, etc.), promising to give them a land flowing, etc. The frequently repeated description of the promised land; cf. Exo 3:8, Exo 3:17; Deu 6:3, etc. כּיּום , as in Deu 2:30; Deu 4:20, etc., is not: at this time, now (Graf), but: as this day, meaning: as is even now the case, sc. that ye still possess this precious land. The assenting reply of the prophet: אמן יהוה, yea, or so be it (γένοιτο, lxx), Lord, corresponds to the אמן with which the people, acc. to Deu 27:15., were to take on themselves the curses attached to the breaking of the law, curses which they did take on themselves when the law was promulgated in Canaan. As the whole congregation did on that occasion, so here the prophet, by his "yea," expresses his adherence to the covenant, and admits that the engagement is yet in full force for the congregation of God; and at the same time indicates that he, on his part, is ready to labour for the fulfilment of the covenant, so that the people may not become liable to the curse of the law.
Jer 11:6-8
Having set forth the curse to which transgressors of the law are exposed, God commands the prophet to proclaim the words of the covenant to the inhabitants of Judah and Jerusalem, and to call upon them to do these. "All these words" are those subsequently specified, i.e., the commandments of the law (cf. Jer 11:2). Jeremiah is to proclaim these, because, in spite of unremitting exhortation to hear and give heed to the voice of the Lord, the fathers had paid no regard thereto. קתא, not: read aloud (Hitz., Graf), but: proclaim, make known, as in Jer 2:2; Jer 3:12, etc. העיד with בּ, to testify against any one, equivalent to: solemnly to enforce on one with importunate counsel and warning; cf. Deu 30:19; Psa 50:7, etc. On השׁכּם והעד, see at Jer 7:13. - But they have not hearkened, Jer 11:8, running almost literally in the words of Jer 7:24. "And I brought upon them," etc., i.e., inflicted upon them the punishments with which transgressors of the law were threatened, which curses had been, in the case of the greater part of the people, the ten tribes, carried to the extreme length, i.e., to the length of their banishment from their own land into the midst of the heathen; cf. Kg2 17:13.
Jer 11:9-13
The people's breach of the covenant, and the consequences of this. - Jer 11:9. "And Jahveh said unto me: Conspiracy is found among the men of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem. Jer 11:10. They are turned back to the iniquities of their forefathers, which refused to give ear to my words, and they are gone after other gods to serve them; the house of Israel and the house of Judah have broken my covenant which I made with their fathers. Jer 11:11. Behold, I bring evil upon them, from which they cannot escape; and though they cry to me, I will not hear them. Jer 11:12. And the cities of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem shall go and cry unto the gods unto whom they offer incense, but they shall not help them in the time of their trouble. Jer 11:13. For as many as are thy cities, so many are thy gods become, O Judah; and as many as are the streets of Jerusalem, so many altars have ye set up to Shame, altars to offer odours to Baal."
Jeremiah is once more to enforce the words of the covenant upon the people, because they have broken the covenant, returned to the idolatry of the fathers. Conspiracy is found, is to be seen. The people's defection from Jahveh, their breach of faith towards the covenant God, is called conspiracy, because it had become as universal as if it had been initiated by a formal preconcertment. "The former fathers," forefathers of the people, are the Israelites under Moses, who broke the covenant by idolatry while still at Sinai, and those of the time of the Judges. With והמּה the subject is changed; "they" are not the forefathers, but the prophet's contemporaries. In the last clause of Jer 11:10 is comprehended the apostasy of the whole people: Like Israel, Judah too has broken the covenant. Israel has been punished for this by being cast out among the heathen, the like doom awaits Judah.
Jer 11:11-13
Because of the covenant broken, the Lord will bring on Judah and Jerusalem evil out of which they shall not come forth, i.e., not merely, from which they shall not escape safely, but: in which they shall find no way of rescue; for it in this calamity they cry to the Lord, He will not hear them. Nor will the gods whom they serve, i.e., the false gods, help them then. As to "as many as are," etc., see on Jer 2:28. "(The) Shame," i.e., Baal, as at Jer 3:24.
Jer 11:14-17
Neither entreaty on their behalf nor their hypocritical worship will avert judgment. - Jer 11:14. "But thou, pray not for this people, neither lift up for them cry or prayer; for I hear them not in the time that they cry unto me for their trouble. Jer 11:15. What would my beloved in my house? they who practise guile? Shall vows and holy flesh remove they calamity from thee? then mayest thou exult. Jer 11:16. A green olive, fair for its goodly fruit, Jahveh called thy name; with the noise of great tumult He set fire to it, and its branches brake. Jer 11:17. And Jahveh of hosts, that planted thee, hath decreed evil against thee, for the evil of the house of Israel and of the house of Judah which they themselves have done, to provoke me, in that they have offered odours to Baal."
We have already, in Jer 7:16, met with the declaration that the Lord will not accept any intercession for the covenant-breaking people (Jer 11:14); the termination of this verse differs slightly in the turn to takes. - בּעד רעתם the ancient commentators have almost unanimously rendered: tempore mali eorum, as if they had read בּעת (this is, in fact, the reading of some codd.); but hardly on sufficient grounds. בּעד gives a suitable sense, with the force of the Greek ἀμφί, which, like the German um, passes into the sense of wegen, as the English about passes into that of concerning. - In Jer 11:15-17 we have the reason why the Lord will hear neither the prophet's supplication nor the people's cry in their time of need. Jer 11:15 is very obscure; and from the Masoretic text it is hardly possible to obtain a suitable sense. "The beloved" of Jahveh is Judah, the covenant people; cf. Deu 33:12, where Benjamin is so called, and Jer 12:7, where the Lord calls His people ידידוּת נפשׁי. "What is to my beloved in my house?" i.e., what has my people to do in my house - what does it want there? "My house" is the temple of the Lord in Jerusalem, as appears from the mention of holy flesh in the second clause. The main difficulty lies in the words עשׂותהּ המזמּתה הרבּים. Hitz. takes עשׂותהּ to be the subject of the clause, and makes the suffix point back to ידידי, which, as collective, is to be construed generis faem.: what should the accomplishment of his plans be to my beloved in my house? But as adverse to this we must note, a. the improbability of ידיד as used of the people being feminine; b. the fact that even if we adopt Hitz.'s change of המזמּתה into המזמּות, yet the latter word does not mean plans or designs to bring offerings. The phrase is clearly to be taken by itself as a continuation of the question; and the suffix to be regarded, with Ew., Umbr., etc., as pointing, in the Aramaic fashion, to the object following: they who practise guile. מזמּה, a thinking out, devising, usually of hurtful schemes, here guile, as in Psa 139:20; Job 21:27. What is meant is the hypocrisy of cloaking their apostasy from God by offering sacrifices in the temple, of concealing their idolatry and passing themselves off as worshippers of Jahve. On the form מזמּתה, see Ew. 173, g, Gesen. 80, Rem. 2,f. הרבּים makes no sense. It belongs manifestly to the words which follow; for it can neither be subject to עשׂותהּ, nor can it be joined to המזמּתה as its genitive. The lxx render: μὴ εὐχαὶ καὶ κρέα ἅγια ἀφελοῦσιν ἀπὸ σοῦ τὰς κακίας σου; and following this, Dathe, Dahl., Ew., Hitz. hold הנדרים to be the original reading. On the other hand, Maur., Graf, and Ng. think we should read הרנּים (after Psa 32:7) or הרנּים myinirah, crying, loud supplication; on the ground of Buxtorf's hint, Anticrit. p. 661, that probably the Alexandrians had הרבּים in their text, but, changing the ב for נ, read הרנים. We must make our choice between these two conjectures; for even if הרבּים did not stand in the codex used by the Alexandrians, it cannot have been the original word. The form רנּים is, indeed, sufficiently attested by רנּי פלט, Psa 32:7; but the meaning of exultation which it has there is here wholly out of place. And we find no case of a plural to רנּה, which means both exultation and piteous, beseeching cry (e.g., Jer 7:16). So that, although רנּה is in the lxx occasionally rendered by δέησις (Jer 11:14; Jer 14:12, etc.) or προσευχή (Kg1 8:28), we prefer the conjecture הנדרים; for "vow" is in better keeping with "holy flesh," i.e., flesh of sacrifice, Hag 2:12, since the vow was generally carried out by offering sacrifice. - Nor do the following words, 'יעברוּ מעליך וגו, convey any meaning, without some alteration. As quoted above, they may be translated: shall pass away from thee. But this can mean neither: they shall be torn from thee, nor: they shall disappoint thee. And even if this force did lie in the words, no statement can begin with the following כּי רעתכי gniwollo. If this be a protasis, the verb is wanting. We shall have to change it, after the manner of the lxx, to יעברוּ מעליכי רעתכי: shall vows and holy flesh (sacrifice) avert thine evil from thee? For the form יעברוּ as Hiph. cf. ידרכוּ, Jer 9:2. "Thine evil" with the double force: thy sin and shame, and the disaster impending, i.e., sin and (judicial) suffering. There is no occasion for any further changes. אז, rendered ἤ by the lxx, and so read או by them, may be completely vindicated: then, i.e., if this were the case, if thou couldst avert calamity by sacrifice, then mightest thou exult. Thus we obtain the following as the sense of the whole verse: What mean my people in my temple with their hypocritical sacrifices? Can vows and offerings, presented by you there, avert calamity from you? If it could be so, well might you shout for joy.
Jer 11:16-17
This idea is carried on in Jer 11:16, Jer 11:17. Judah (Israel) was truly a noble planting of God's, but by defection from the Lord, its God and Creator, it has drawn down on itself this ruin. Jahveh called Judah a green olive with splendid fruit. For a comparison of Israel to an olive, cf. Hos 14:7, Ps. 52:10; Psa 128:3. The fruit of the tree is the nation in its individual members. The naming of the name is the representation of the state of the case, and so here: the growth and prosperity of the people. The contrasted state is introduced by לקול ה' without adversative particle, and is thus made to seem the more abrupt and violent (Hitz.). Noise of tumult (המלּה, occurring besides here only in Eze 1:24 as equivalent to המון), i.e., of the tumult of war, cf. Isa 13:4; not: roar of the thunderstorm or crash of thunder (Ng., Graf). עליה for בּהּ (OT:871a), cf. Jer 17:27; Jer 21:14, etc. The suffix is regulated by the thing represented by the olive, i.e., Judah as a kingdom. Its branches brake; רעע, elsewhere only transitive, here intransitive, analogously to רצץ in Isa 42:4. Hitz. renders less suitably: its branches look bad, as being charred, robbed of their gay adornment. On this head cf. Eze 31:12. The setting of fire to the olive tree Israel came about through its enemies, who broke up one part of the kingdom after the other, who had already destroyed the kingdom of the ten tribes, and were now about to destroy Judah next. That the words apply not to Judah only, but to Israel as well, appears from Jer 11:17, where the Lord, who has planted Israel, is said to have spoken, i.e., decreed evil for the sin of the two houses, Israel and Judah. דּבּר is not directly = decree, but intimates also the utterance of the decree by the prophet. להם after עשׂוּ is dat. incomm.: the evil which they have done to their hurt; cf. Jer 44:3, where the dative is wanting. Hitz. finds in להם an intimation of voluntary action, as throwing back the deed upon the subject as an act of free choice; cf. Ew. 315, a.