to hear intelligently (often with implication of attent… · verb, qal imperative, 2nd person masculine plural
words
דִּבְרֵ֖יdiv.Rei
H1697
a word · noun, common masculine plural construct
covenant
הַבְּרִ֣יתha.be.Rit
H1285
a compact (because made by passing between pieces of fl… · definite article + noun, common feminine singular absolute
speak
וְדִבַּרְתָּם֙ve.di.bar.Tam
H1696
perhaps properly · conjunction + verb, piel sequential perfect, 2nd person masculine singular + pronominal suffix, 3rd person masculine plural
men
אִ֣ישׁ'ish
H376
a man as an individual or a male person · noun, common masculine singular construct
Judah
יְהוּדָ֔הye.hu.Dah
H3063
Jehudah (or Judah) · proper noun, a place name
inhabitants
יֹשְׁבֵ֖יyo.she.Vei
H3427
properly · verb, qal active participle, masculine plural construct
Jerusalem
יְרוּשָׁלִָֽםye.ru.sha.Lim
H3389
Jerushalaim or Jerushalem · proper noun, a place name
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
Jeremiah 11:6 Then the LORD said unto me, Proclaim all these words in the cities of Judah, and in the streets of Jerusalem, saying, Hear ye the words of t…
Exodus 19:5 Now therefore, if ye will obey my voice indeed, and keep my covenant, then ye shall be a peculiar treasure unto me above all people: for all…
2 Kings 11:17 And Jehoiada made a covenant between the LORD and the king and the people, that they should be the LORD’s people; between the king also and…
2 Kings 23:2-3 And the king went up into the house of the LORD, and all the men of Judah and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem with him, and the priests, an…
2 Chronicles 23:16 And Jehoiada made a covenant between him, and between all the people, and between the king, that they should be the LORD’s people.
2 Chronicles 29:10 Now it is in mine heart to make a covenant with the LORD God of Israel, that his fierce wrath may turn away from us.
2 Chronicles 34:31 And the king stood in his place, and made a covenant before the LORD, to walk after the LORD, and to keep his commandments, and his testimon…
Jeremiah 34:13-16 Thus saith the LORD, the God of Israel; I made a covenant with your fathers in the day that I brought them forth out of the land of Egypt, o…
Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).
Commentary
Matthew Henry on Jeremiah 11:1-10
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 ye the words of this covenant,.... Which. Dr. Lightfoot understands of the covenant lately made in the times of Josiah, upon finding and reading the law of Moses, 2 Kings 23:3, but it seems rather to design the law of Moses itself; or the covenant made with the people of Israel on Mount Horeb, Exodus 24:7, or rather which was made with them in the land of Moab, Deuteronomy 29:1. The words of it are the things contained in it, the blessings and curses; the order to hear them is in the plural number, and is directed, not to Jeremiah only, but to others with him, the rest of the prophets that were in his days; as Zephaniah, who prophesied, as Kimchi observes, in the reign of Josiah; and th…
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…
The Church Fathers
(Verse 2) Hear the words of this covenant (or testament), and speak to the men of Judah, and the inhabitants of Jerusalem. However, it should be noted that the word Berith, in Aquila and Symmachus, is always translated as pact, while in the Septuagint and Theodotion it is translated as testament. Specifically, it now refers to Jerusalem and the men of the tribe of Judah.
What then are we also to hear? "Hear the words of this covenant, and speak to the men of Judah and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem." We are men of Judah because of Christ; for it is plain that our Lord "has arisen out of Judah," and if I establish, according to Scripture, that the name of Judah refers to Christ, then the men of Judah will not be the Jews who disbelieve in Christ, but ourselves, as many as believe in Christ. "Judah, may your brothers praise you. Your hands are upon the back of your enemies"—"may they praise you." His brothers did not praise that Judah, the son of Jacob. But this Judah his brothers will praise, since this Judah says, "I will declare your name to my brothers, in the midst of the church I will hymn you." It is not said with reference to that Judah. "Your hands are upon the back of your enemies": where is that Judah found laying his hands upon the back of his enemies? The narrative has recorded nothing of the sort concerning him. But if you understand the coming of the Lord Jesus abolishing the devil, stripping off "the principalities and powers" and making a show of them and triumphing over them in the wood, you see how upon this Judah the prophecy that says this has been fulfilled: "Your hands are upon the back of your enemies." If this is so, and the word now speaks "to the men of Judah," to whom would it be speaking except to those who believe in Christ, called in a certain manner Judah too because of the tribe of Judah? "To the men of Judah" the word is spoken, and "to the inhabitants of Jerusalem." This is the church. For the city of God is the church, the Vision of peace; in her is the peace which He brought us, if indeed we are children of peace, and it is multiplied and seen.
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
Blessing · CONTINGENT UPON OBEDIENCE — CONTINGENT UPON OBEDIENCE
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).
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…
The Lord reminded Jeremiah of several messages (Exod 19:5) that had been the basis for the relationship between the Lord and Israel over many centuries. Because the kingdom of Judah was the only remaining portion of the nation of Israel, its people were the defendants in their upcoming trial before the Lord. This event probably occurred during the reign of Jehoiakim.
11:1-3 The Lord authorized Jeremiah to present the legal charges against the people of Judah and Jerusalem. With the power of the divine name behind the spoken words, the Lord brought forward the terms of the covenant pertaining to the curses that would come upon those who did not obey (see Deut 27:15-26; 28:15-68).
