Jeremiah 17:6

For he shall be like the heath in the desert, and shall not see when good cometh; but shall inhabit the parched places in the wilderness, in a salt land and not inhabited.

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Word by word — the Hebrew

Word	Hebrew	Strong’s	Meaning
heath	עַרעָר ʻarʻâr	H6199	naked
desert	בָּֽעֲרָבָ֔ה ba.'a.ra.Vah	H6160	a desert · preposition with the article + noun, common feminine singular absolute
see	יִרְאֶ֖ה yir.'Eh	H7200	to see · verb, qal imperfect, 3rd person masculine singular
good	ט֑וֹב Tov	H2896	good (as an adjective) in the widest sense · adjective, masculine singular absolute
cometh	יָב֣וֹא ya.Vo'	H935	to go or come (in a wide variety of applications) · verb, qal imperfect, 3rd person masculine singular
inhabit	וְשָׁכַ֤ן ve.sha.Khan	H7931	to reside or permanently stay (literally or figurativel… · conjunction + verb, qal sequential perfect, 3rd person masculine singular
places	חֲרֵרִים֙ cha.re.Rim	H2788	arid · noun, common masculine plural absolute
wilderness	בַּמִּדְבָּ֔ר ba.mid.Bar	H4057	a pasture (i.e. open field · preposition with the article + noun, common masculine singular absolute
salt	מְלֵחָ֖ה me.le.Chah	H4420	properly · noun, common feminine singular absolute
land	אֶ֥רֶץ 'E.retz	H776	the earth (at large · noun, common feminine singular construct
inhabited	תֵשֵֽׁב te.Shev	H3427	properly · verb, qal imperfect, 3rd person feminine 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

Job 20:17 He shall not see the rivers, the floods, the brooks of honey and butter.
Deuteronomy 29:23 And that the whole land thereof is brimstone, and salt, and burning, that it is not sown, nor beareth, nor any grass groweth therein, like t…
Psalms 1:4 The ungodly are not so: but are like the chaff which the wind driveth away.
Job 8:11-13 Can the rush grow up without mire? can the flag grow without water?
Job 15:30-34 He shall not depart out of darkness; the flame shall dry up his branches, and by the breath of his mouth shall he go away.
Job 39:6 Whose house I have made the wilderness, and the barren land his dwellings.
Jeremiah 48:6 Flee, save your lives, and be like the heath in the wilderness.
Judges 9:45 And Abimelech fought against the city all that day; and he took the city, and slew the people that was therein, and beat down the city, and…

Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Jeremiah 17:5-11

It is excellent doctrine that is preached in these verses, and of general concern and use to us all, and it does not appear to have any particular reference to the present state of Judah and Jerusalem. The prophet's sermons were not all prophetical, but some of them practical; yet this discourse, which probably we have here only the heads of, would be of singular use to them by way of caution not to misplace their confidence in the day of their distress. Let us all learn what we are taught here, I. Concerning the disappointment and vexation those will certainly meet with who depend upon creatures for success and relief when they are in trouble (Jer 17:5, Jer 17:6): Cursed be the man that tru…

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Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Jeremiah 17:6

heath--In Psa 102:17; Isa 32:11; Hab 3:9, the Hebrew is translated, "bare," "naked," "destitute"; but as the parallel in Jer 17:8 is "tree," some plant must be meant of which this is the characteristic epithet (Jer 48:6, Margin), "a naked tree." ROBINSON translates, "the juniper tree," found in the Arabah or Great Valley, here called "the desert," south of the Dead Sea. The "heath" was one of the plants, according to PLINY (13.21; 16.26), excluded from religious uses, because it has neither fruit nor seed, and is neither sown nor planted. not see . . . good-- (Job 20:17). salt land-- (Deu 29:23), barren ground.

John Gill on Jeremiah 17:6

For he shall be like the heath in the desert,.... The Vulgate Latin version renders it, "myrice": and so the Latin interpreter of the Targum; but the word that paraphrase makes use of according to R. Hai, mentioned by Kimchi, signifies something that is thorny without, and eatable within; but this is not likely to be intended here. The Septuagint version renders it, "wild myrice"; it seems to be the same that is called "erice", or "ling", and "heath"; which delights to grow in wild and waste places; hence such with us are called "heaths", whether this grows upon them or not. It is a low shrub, fruitless and useless; and, because neither bears fruit nor seed, is reckoned by Pliny (o) among un…

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The Church Fathers

But let us see what kind of fruits a bad tree produces, and let us avoid bearing such fruits. The prophet Jeremiah says, "Cursed is the one who puts his trust in human beings and makes his flesh his support, and whose heart turns away from the Lord; such a person will be like a tamarisk in the desert."
— Bede, Homilies on the Gospels 2:25

One thing you must flee, sin. One refuge from evil must be sought, God. Do not trust in princes. Do not be exalted in the uncertainty of wealth. Do not be proud of bodily strength. Do not pursue the splendor of human glory. None of these things save you. All are transient. All are deceptive. There is one refuge: God. "Cursed is the one who trusts in humankind" or in any human thing.
— Basil of Caesarea, HOMILIES ON THE PSALMS 18:1 (PS 45)

One who puts his trust in humankind or is buoyed up by some other concerns of life, such as power or possessions or any of the things considered by the many to be glorious, is not able to say, "O Lord my God, in you have I put my trust." In fact, there is a command that we should not put our trust in rulers, and "cursed is the one who trusts in humankind." As it is proper not to worship anything else besides God, so also is it proper not to trust in any other except God the Lord of all things. "The Lord," it is said, "is my hope and my praise."
— Basil of Caesarea, HOMILIES ON THE PSALMS 11:2 (PS 7)

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

Heath — Heb. ‘arar, (Jer. 17:6; 48:6), a species of juniper called by the Arabs by the same name (‘arar), the Juniperus sabina or savin. “Its gloomy, stunted appearance, with its scale-like leaves pressed…
Apostasy · UNCLASSIFIED SCRIPTURES RELATING TO — UNCLASSIFIED SCRIPTURES RELATING TO
Desert · An arid region having only sparse vegetation — An arid region having only sparse vegetation
Deserts · Heath often found in — Heath often found in
Heath · General scriptures concerning — General scriptures concerning
Herbs, & C · Found in: The deserts — Found in: The deserts
Parables · Of the vineEze 15; — Of the vineEze 15;
Salt · Places where it abounded barren and unfruitful — Places where it abounded barren and unfruitful
Wicked (People) · .Heath in the — .Heath in the
Wicked, The, Are Compared To · Heath in the desert — Heath in the desert

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 17:6

Word by word — the Hebrew

Cross-references

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Jeremiah 17:5-11

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Jeremiah 17:6

John Gill on Jeremiah 17:6

The Church Fathers

Dictionary and topics

Jeremiah 17:6

Word by word — the Hebrew

Cross-references

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Jeremiah 17:5-11

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Jeremiah 17:6

John Gill on Jeremiah 17:6

The Church Fathers

Dictionary and topics

John Calvin on Jeremiah 17:5-6

Keil & Delitzsch on Jeremiah 17:5–end

Tyndale Open Study Notes on Jeremiah 17:6

Rashi on Jeremiah 17:6