Jeremiah 17:13 — meaning, Hebrew and Greek word study, commentary
Jeremiah 17:13
O LORD, the hope of Israel, all that forsake thee shall be ashamed, and they that depart from me shall be written in the earth, because they have forsaken the LORD, the fountain of living waters.
something waited for · noun, common masculine singular construct
Israel
יִשְׂרָאֵל֙Yis.ra.'El
H3478
Jisrael · proper noun, a place name
forsake
עֹזְבֶ֖יךָ'o.ze.Vei.kha
H5800
to loosen · verb, qal active participle, masculine plural construct + pronominal suffix, 2nd person masculine singular
ashamed
יֵבֹ֑שׁוּye.Vo.shu
H954
properly · verb, qal imperfect, 3rd person masculine plural
depart
יָסוּרyâçûwr
H3249
departing
me
סוּרçûwr
H5493
to turn off (literal or figurative)
written
יִכָּתֵ֔בוּyi.ka.Te.vu
H3789
to grave · verb, niphal imperfect, 3rd person masculine plural
earth
בָּאָ֣רֶץba.'A.retz
H776
the earth (at large · preposition with the article + noun, common feminine singular absolute
forsaken
עָזְב֛וּ'a.ze.Vu
H5800
to loosen · verb, qal perfect, 3rd person common plural
LORD
יְהוָֽהYah.weh
H3068
Jehovah · proper noun, a title
fountain
מְק֥וֹרme.Kor
H4726
properly · noun, common masculine singular construct
living
חַיִּ֖יםchai.Yim
H2416
alive · adjective, masculine plural absolute
waters
מַֽיִםma.yim-
H4325
water · noun, common masculine plural absolute
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
Revelation 7:17 For the Lamb which is in the midst of the throne shall feed them, and shall lead them unto living fountains of waters: and God shall wipe aw…
John 4:14 But whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of…
John 7:37-38 In the last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried, saying, If any man thirst, let him come unto me, and drink.
John 4:10 Jesus answered and said unto her, If thou knewest the gift of God, and who it is that saith to thee, Give me to drink; thou wouldest have as…
Revelation 22:1 And he shewed me a pure river of water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding out of the throne of God and of the Lamb.
Psalms 36:8-9 They shall be abundantly satisfied with the fatness of thy house; and thou shalt make them drink of the river of thy pleasures.
Revelation 21:6 And he said unto me, It is done. I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end. I will give unto him that is athirst of the fountain of th…
John 8:6-8 This they said, tempting him, that they might have to accuse him. But Jesus stooped down, and with his finger wrote on the ground, as though…
Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).
Commentary
Matthew Henry on Jeremiah 17:12-18
Here, as often before, we have the prophet retired for private meditation, and alone with God. Those ministers that would have comfort in their work must be much so. In his converse here with God and his own heart he takes the liberty which devout souls sometimes use in their soliloquies, to pass from one thing to another, without tying themselves too strictly to the laws of method and coherence.
I. He acknowledges the great favour of God to his people in setting up a revealed religion among them, and dignifying them with divine institutions (Jer 17:12): A glorious high throne from the beginning is the place of our sanctuary. The temple at Jerusalem, where God manifested his special presence…
me--"Jehovah." Though "Thee" precedes. This sudden transition is usual in the prophetic style, owing to the prophet's continual realization of Jehovah's presence.
all that forsake thee-- (Psa 73:27; Isa 1:28).
written in the earth--in the dust, that is, shall be consigned to oblivion. So Jesus' significant writing "on the ground (probably the accusers' names)" (Joh 8:6). Names written in the dust are obliterated by a very slight wind. Their hopes and celebrity are wholly in the earth, not in the heavenly book of life (Rev 13:8; Rev 20:12, Rev 20:15). The Jews, though boasting that they were the people of God, had no portion in heaven, no status before God and His angels. Contrast "writte…
O Lord, the Hope of Israel,.... Of all true Israelites; such as are regenerate persons, and true believers in him; Christ is the author and giver of that hope that is in them; the door of it unto them; the object on which it is exercised; the ground and foundation of it, or what gives encouragement to it; and the person they are hoping for; Old Testament saints hoped, waited for, and expected his first coming; and New Testament saints are hoping for his second coming, and to be for ever with him (w):
all that forsake thee shall be ashamed; who forsake him as the Hope of Israel, and place their hope elsewhere; in the creature, in themselves, in their riches, in their righteousness, and profe…
The Church Fathers
And again when all their efforts are exhausted and they have failed to deceive us, they must "be confounded and be ashamed" at the failure of their efforts, "who seek our souls to destroy them. Let them be covered with shame and confusion who desire evil against us." Jeremiah also says, "Let them be confounded, and let not me be confounded; let them be afraid, and let not me be afraid; bring on them the fury of your wrath, and with a double destruction destroy them."
We must therefore not doubt that at the time when he was chosen by Christ and obtained a place in the apostolate, the name of Judas was written in the book of the living, and then he heard as well as the rest the words, "Rejoice not because the devils are subject to you, but rejoice because your names are written in heaven." But because he was corrupted by the plague of covetousness and had his name struck out from that heavenly list, it is appropriately said of him and of people like him by the prophet: "O Lord, let all those who forsake you be confounded. Let them who depart from you be written in the earth, because they have forsaken the Lord, the vein of living waters." And elsewhere, "They shall not be in the counsel of my people, nor shall they be written in the writing of the house of Israel, neither shall they enter into the land of Israel."
[Daniel 7:10] "There were millions ministering unto Him, and a billion stood by His side." This was not intended to be a specific number for the servants of God, but only indicates a multitude too great for human computation. These are the thousands and tens of thousands of which we read in the Psalms: "The chariot of God is attended by ten thousands; thousands of them that rejoice. The Lord is among them" (Psalm 68:17). And in another place: "He who maketh His angels spirits, and His ministers a flaming fire" (Psalm 104:4). Now the duty of angels is twofold: the duty of one group is to bestow rewards upon just men; the duty of the other is to have charge over individual calamities. "...The court was in session, and the books were opened." The consciences of men, and the deeds of individuals which partake of either character, whether good or bad, are disclosed to all. One of the books is the good book of which we often read, namely the book of the living. The other is the evil book which is held in the hand of the accuser, who is the fiend and avenger of whom we read in Revelation: "The accuser of our brethren" (Revelation 12:10). This is the earthly book of which the prophet says: "Let them be written on earth" (Jeremiah 17:13).
Dictionary and topics
Backsliders · 8:22; — 8:22;
Forsaking God · Brings confusion — Brings confusion
Fountains And Springs · Illustrative: Of God — Illustrative: Of God
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).
Jeremiah 17:13
13. O LORD, the hope of Israel, all that forsake thee shall be ashamed, and they that depart from me shall be written in the earth, because they have forsaken the LORD, the fountain of living waters.
13. Spes (vel, expectatio) lsrael Jehova, quicunque abs te discedunt (vel, qui te derelinquunt, zvvk; hoc verbo nuper fuerat usus de perdicibus loquens) pudefient; qui deficiunt a me in terra scribentur; quia dereliquerunt (idem est verbum) fontem aquarum viventium Jehovam.
It appears more clear from this verse why the Prophet had commended before the excellency of his own nation, even that by the comparison their impiety might appear less excusable; for the more bountiful God…
Further Confirmation of this Announcement in General Reflections concerning the Sources of Ruin and of well-being. - This portion falls into two halves: a. On the sources of ruin and of well-being (Jer 17:5-18); b. On the way to life (Jer 17:18-27). The reflections of the first half show the curse of confidence in man and the blessings of confidence in God the Lord, Jer 17:5-13; to which is joined, Jer 17:14-18, a prayer of the prophet for deliverance from his enemies.
Jer 17:5-6
"Thus saith Jahveh: Cursed is the man that trusteth in man and maketh flesh his arm, while his heart departeth from Jahveh. Jer 17:6. He shall be as a destitute man in the wilderness, and shall not see that good com…
God’s faithful people worship the sovereign Lord, not money.
Rashi on Jeremiah 17:13
The Lord Who is the source of the hopes of Israel sits upon it. Therefore, all that forsake You shall be shamed.
and they that turn away from me shall be marked on the earth Those who turn away from my words, who do not hearken to my message, will be marked out in the nether graves of the earth.