a pace or regular step · noun, common masculine singular construct + pronominal suffix, 3rd person masculine singular
Strong's Exhaustive Concordance (James Strong, 1890/1894), public domain; digitized by Open Scriptures (CC BY-SA). KJV word tagging: eBible.org (public domain). Original-language text, parsing and brief lexicon: STEPBible.org data from Tyndale House, Cambridge (CC BY 4.0).
Cross-references
Proverbs 20:24 Man’s goings are of the LORD; how can a man then understand his own way?
Psalms 37:23 The steps of a good man are ordered by the LORD: and he delighteth in his way.
Proverbs 16:1 The preparations of the heart in man, and the answer of the tongue, is from the LORD.
Psalms 119:116-117 Uphold me according unto thy word, that I may live: and let me not be ashamed of my hope.
Psalms 17:5 Hold up my goings in thy paths, that my footsteps slip not.
Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).
Commentary
Matthew Henry on Jeremiah 10:17–end
In these verses,
I. The prophet threatens, in God's name, the approaching ruin of Judah and Jerusalem, Jer 10:17, Jer 10:18. The Jews that continued in their own land, after some were carried into captivity, were very secure; they thought themselves inhabitants of a fortress; their country was their strong hold, and, in their own conceit, impregnable; but they are here told to think of leaving it: they must prepare to go after their brethren, and pack up their effects in expectation of it: "Gather up thy wares out of the land; contract your affairs, and bring them into as small a compass as you can. Arise, depart, this is not your rest," Mic 2:10. Let not what you have lie scattered, for the…
Despairing of influencing the people, he turns to God.
way of man not in himself-- (Pro 16:1; Pro 20:24; Jam 4:13-14). I know, O Jehovah, that the march of the Babylonian conqueror against me (Jeremiah identifying himself with his people) is not at his own discretion, but is overruled by Thee (Isa 10:5-7; compare Jer 10:19).
that walketh--when he walketh, that is, sets out in any undertaking.
direct . . . steps--to give a prosperous issue to (Psa 73:23).
John Gill on Jeremiah 10:23
O Lord, I know that the way of man is not in himself,.... Kimchi and Ben Melech interpret it of that well known man Nebuchadnezzar, whose way was not in himself, and was not master of his own resolutions, but was under the influence and direction of divine Providence: when he set out of Babylon, he thought to have gone against the Ammonites; but when he came to a place where two ways met; the one leading to the children of Ammon, the other to Jerusalem; God changed his mind, and he steered his course to Jerusalem, to chastise Zedekiah for the breach of his oath: but the words seem to have a more general meaning; and the sense to be, that the prophet knew that it was not with him, nor with an…
It is clear, therefore, from what was said at first and what was added, that the verse "I know, Lord, that the people's way is not their own," neither subjects our free will to nature's enslavement nor submits our affairs to an ordained necessity. Instead, it expressly teaches us that the Lord God keeps his hand on the tiller of the universe and wisely directs it. He provides blessings but also corrects with justice whenever he perceives that despite his extended long-suffering we persist in evildoing.
"All are governed by their own free choice." What Christian can bear to hear this? For if not one, or a few or many, but all of us are governed by our own free choice, what becomes of the help of God? How do you explain the proverb that "A person's goings are ordered by the Lord?" Or "A person's way is not in himself"? Or "No one can receive anything, unless it be given him from above"? And elsewhere, "What do you have that you did not receive?"
Unless God works in us, we cannot be partakers of any virtue. For indeed, without this Good, nothing is good. Without this Light, nothing is bright. Without this Wisdom, nothing is wise. Without this Justice, nothing is right. For the Lord says through the mouth of Isaiah, "I am, I am the Lord, and there is no one besides me who saves," and through Jeremiah, "I know, O Lord, that the way of a person is not in him. Neither is it in a person to direct his way."
The Church Fathers: public-domain translations (Ante-Nicene and Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers), verse-indexed by SermonIndex (CC BY 4.0).
Dictionary and topics
Humility · EXEMPLIFIED — EXEMPLIFIED
Ignorance · General scriptures concerning — General scriptures concerning
Man · Cannot direct his ways — Cannot direct his ways
Dictionary: Easton's (1897) and Smith's (1863), public domain. Topics: Nave's Topical Bible (1896) and Torrey's Topical Textbook (1897), public domain. Both as parsed by NEUU (CC BY 4.0).
on Jeremiah 10:23
Jeremiah 10:23
23. O LORD, I know that the way of man is not in himself: it is not in man that walketh to direct his steps.
23. Novi, Jehova, quod non sit penes hominem via ejus, non sit penes virum ambulantem, ut dirigat grassum suum.
The Jews confine this to Sennacherib, who had, according to his own will, at one time resolved to attack the Ammonites, at another the Moabites, and to reduce them under his own power; but had been induced by a sudden impulse to go to Judea. But this is frivolous. The Prophet, I doubt not, referred to the Jews, who had for a long time been accustomed to dismiss every fear, as though they were able by their own counsels to consult in the best way for the pub…
The captivity of the people, their lamentation for the devastation of the land, and entreaty that the punishment may be mitigated. - Jer 10:17. "Gather up thy bundle out of the land, thou that sittest in the siege. Jer 10:18. For thus hath Jahveh spoken: Behold, I hurl forth the inhabitants of the land this time, and press them hard, that they may find them. Jer 10:19. Woe is me for my hurt! grievous is my stroke! yet I think: This is my suffering, and I will bear it! Jer 10:20. My tent is despoiled, and all my cords are rent asunder. My sons have forsaken me, and are gone: none stretches forth my tent any more, or hangs up my curtains. Jer 10:21. For the shepherds are become brutish, and ha…
Jeremiah wanted the Lord to pour out his wrath, not simply on Judah, but on the nations who devoured your people Israel; cp. Isa 26:9-11; Hab 1:17. These other kingdoms had gone so far in their brutality that the countryside was a desolate wilderness. Jer 10:25 is a quotation from Ps 79:6-7.
Rashi on Jeremiah 10:23
man’s way is not his For the evil inclination that You created in him leads him astray from the way. Another explanation is: I know, O Lord, that man’s way is not his; not every man has the power to make his way prosper, and if it were not for Your command, the enemy would have no power to destroy Your Temple.
