Jeremiah 35:15 — meaning, Hebrew and Greek word study, commentary
Jeremiah 35:15
I have sent also unto you all my servants the prophets, rising up early and sending them, saying, Return ye now every man from his evil way, and amend your doings, and go not after other gods to serve them, and ye shall dwell in the land which I have given to you and to your fathers: but ye have not inclined your ear, nor hearkened unto me.
to send away · conjunction + verb, qal sequential imperfect, 1st person common singular
servants
עֲבָדַ֣י'a.va.Dai
H5650
a servant · noun, common masculine plural construct + pronominal suffix
prophets
הַנְּבִאִ֣יםha.ne.vi.'Im
H5030
a prophet or (generally) inspired man · definite article + noun, common masculine plural absolute
early
הַשְׁכֵּ֣יםhash.Keim
H7925
literally · verb, hiphil infinitive absolute
sending
וְשָׁלֹ֣חַve.sha.Lo.ach
H7971
to send away · conjunction + verb, qal infinitive absolute
saying
לֵאמֹ֡רle.Mor
H559
to say (used with great latitude) · preposition + verb, qal infinitive construct
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 18:11 Now therefore go to, speak to the men of Judah, and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, saying, Thus saith the LORD; Behold, I frame evil again…
Jeremiah 25:5-6 They said, Turn ye again now every one from his evil way, and from the evil of your doings, and dwell in the land that the LORD hath given u…
Ezekiel 18:30-32 Therefore I will judge you, O house of Israel, every one according to his ways, saith the Lord GOD. Repent, and turn yourselves from all you…
Jeremiah 7:3-7 Thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, Amend your ways and your doings, and I will cause you to dwell in this place.
Jeremiah 17:20-25 And say unto them, Hear ye the word of the LORD, ye kings of Judah, and all Judah, and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem, that enter in by th…
Hosea 14:1-4 O Israel, return unto the LORD thy God; for thou hast fallen by thine iniquity.
Isaiah 1:16-19 Wash you, make you clean; put away the evil of your doings from before mine eyes; cease to do evil;
Jeremiah 7:25-26 Since the day that your fathers came forth out of the land of Egypt unto this day I have even sent unto you all my servants the prophets, da…
Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).
Commentary
Matthew Henry on Jeremiah 35:12–end
The trial of the Rechabites' constancy was intended but for a sign; now here we have the application of it.
I. The Rechabites' observance of their father's charge to them is made use of as an aggravation of the disobedience of the Jews to God. Let them see it and be ashamed. The prophet asks them, in God's name, "Will you not at length receive instruction? Jer 35:13. Will nothing affect you? Will nothing fasten upon you? Will nothing prevail to discover sin and duty to you? You see how obedient the Rechabites are to their father's commandment (Jer 35:14); but you have not inclined your ear to me" (Jer 35:15), though one might much more reasonably expect that the people of God should have obe…
In Jer 35:15 and in Ch2 36:15, a distinct mode of address is alluded to, namely, God sending His servants. (Jer 18:11; Jer 25:5-6). I enjoined nothing unreasonable, but simply to serve Me, and I attached to the command a gracious promise, but in vain. If Jonadab's commands, which were arbitrary and not moral obligations in themselves, were obeyed, much more ought Mine, which are in themselves right.
John Gill on Jeremiah 35:15
I have sent also unto you all my servants the prophets,.... One after another, ever since the times of Moses, to explain and enforce the laws given; a circumstance not to be observed in the case of the Rechabites; who yet, without such intimations, kept the charge their father gave them:
rising up early, and sending them; see Jeremiah 7:13;
saying, return ye now every man from his evil way, and amend your doings, and go not after other gods to serve them; all which were of a moral nature, and what were in themselves just and fit to be done; that they should repent of their sins, refrain from them, and reform their lives, and abstain from idolatry, and worship the one only living and true G…
Now, by these words of His, does the Lord clearly show all these points, that there is one King and Lord, the Father of all, of whom He had previously said, "Neither shalt thou swear by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the great King;" and that He had from the beginning prepared the marriage for His Son, and used, with the utmost kindness, to call, by the instrumentality of His servants, the men of the former dispensation to the wedding feast; and when they would not obey, He still invited them by sending out other servants, yet that even then they did not obey Him, but even stoned and slew those who brought them the message of invitation. He accordingly sent forth His armies and destroyed them, and burned down their city; but He called together from all the highways, that is, from all nations, guests to the marriage feast of His Son, as also He says by Jeremiah: "I have sent also unto you my servants the prophets to say, Return ye now, every man, from his very evil way, and amend your doings." And again He says by the same prophet: "I have also sent unto you my servants the prophets throughout the day and before the light; yet they did not obey me, nor incline their ears unto me. And thou shall speak this word to them: This is a people that obeyeth not the voice of the Lord, nor receiveth correction; faith has perished from their mouth." The Lord, therefore, who has called us everywhere by the apostles, is He who called those of old by the prophets, as appears by the words of the Lord; and although they preached to various nations, the prophets were not from one God, and the apostles from another; but, proceeding from one and the same, some of them announced the Lord, others preached the Father, and others again foretold the advent of the Son of God, while yet others declared Him as already present to those who then were afar off.
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
Jehonadab — Jehovah is liberal; or, whom Jehovah impels. (1.) A son of Shimeah, and nephew of David. It was he who gave the fatal wicked advice to Amnon, the heir to the throne (2 Sam. 13:3-6). He was very…
Rechab — Horseman, or chariot. (1.) One of Ishbosheth’s “captains of bands” or leaders of predatory troops (2 Sam. 4:2). (2.) The father of Jehonadab, who was the father of the Rechabites (2 Kings 10:15, 23;…
Wine — The common Hebrew word for wine is yayin, from a root meaning “to boil up,” “to be in a ferment.” Others derive it from a root meaning “to tread out,” and hence the juice of the grape trodden out.…
Call Of God, The · By his ministers — By his ministers
Ear, The · Of the wicked: Not inclined to hear God — Of the wicked: Not inclined to hear God
Impenitence · General scriptures concerning — General scriptures concerning
Jews, The · Had a series of prophets to promote national reformation — Had a series of prophets to promote national reformation
Prophets · The servants of God — The servants of God
Rechabites · Obedience of, a sign to Israel — Obedience of, a sign to Israel
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).
Return
שֻׁבוּshu.vu-
H7725
to turn back (hence · verb, qal imperative, 2nd person masculine plural
man
אִישׁ֩'ish
H376
a man as an individual or a male person · noun, common masculine singular absolute
evil
הָרָעָ֜הha.ra.'Ah
H7451
bad or (as noun) evil (natural or moral) · definite article + adjective, feminine singular absolute
way
מִדַּרְכּ֨וֹmi.dar.Ko
H1870
a road (as trodden) · preposition + noun, common both genders singular construct + pronominal suffix, 3rd person masculine singular
amend
וְהֵיטִ֣יבוּve.hei.Ti.vu
H3190
to be (causative) make well · conjunction + verb, hiphil imperative, 2nd person masculine plural
doings
מַֽעַלְלֵיכֶ֗םma.'a.lei.Khem
H4611
an act (good or bad) · noun, common masculine plural construct + pronominal suffix, 2nd person masculine plural
gods in the ordinary sense · noun, common masculine plural absolute
serve
לְעָבְדָ֔םle.'a.ve.Dam
H5647
to work (in any sense) · preposition + verb, qal infinitive construct + pronominal suffix, 3rd person masculine plural
in
וּשְׁבוּ֙u.she.Vu
H3427
properly · conjunction + verb, qal imperative, 2nd person masculine plural
land
הָ֣אֲדָמָ֔הha.'a.da.Mah
H127
soil (from its general redness) · definite article + noun, common feminine singular absolute
given
נָתַ֥תִּיna.Ta.ti
H5414
to give · verb, qal perfect, 1st person common singular
fathers
וְלַאֲבֹֽתֵיכֶ֑םve.la.'a.vo.tei.Khem
H1
father · conjunction + preposition + noun, common feminine plural construct + pronominal suffix, 2nd person masculine plural
inclined
הִטִּיתֶם֙hi.ti.Tem
H5186
to stretch or spread out · verb, hiphil perfect, 2nd person masculine plural
ear
אָזְנְכֶ֔ם'a.ze.ne.Khem
H241
broadness. i.e. (concrete) the ear (from its form in ma… · noun, common feminine singular construct + pronominal suffix, 2nd person masculine plural
hearkened
שְׁמַעְתֶּ֖םshe.ma'.Tem
H8085
to hear intelligently (often with implication of attent… · verb, qal perfect, 2nd person masculine plural
Jeremiah 35:12-15
12. Then came the word of the LORD unto Jeremiah, saying,
12. Et fuit serum Jehovae ad Jeremiam, dicendo,
13. Thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel; Go and tell the men of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, Will ye not receive instruction to hearken to my words? saith the LORD.
13. Sic dicit Jehova exercituum, Deus Israel, Vade et dic viro Jehudah et incolis Jerusalem, Annon recipietis disciplinam (vel, correctionum) ad obediendum sermonibus meis, dicit Jehova?
14. The words of Jonadab the son of Rechab, that he commanded his sons not to drink wine, are performed; for unto this day they drink none, but obey their father's commandment: notwithstanding I h…
The example of the Rechabites is one for Judah. - Jeremiah is to proclaim the word of the Lord to the people of Judah, as follows: Jer 35:13. "Thus saith Jahveh of hosts, the God of Israel: Go and say to the men of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, Will ye not receive instruction by listening to my words? saith Jahveh. Jer 35:14. The words of Jonadab the son of Rechab, who commanded this sons not to drink wine, are performed, and they have drunk no wine to this day, but have obeyed the command of their father. But I have spoken unto you, rising up early and speaking, yet ye have not listened unto me. Jer 35:15. And I sent unto you all my servants the prophets, rising early and sending…
The Recabites never drank wine, simply because their human ancestor had told them not to. The people of Israel should have been even more willing to listen and obey when the Lord told them to turn from their wicked ways and live according to his laws.
Rashi on Jeremiah 35:11
And it came to pass when Nebuchadrezzar...came up Perforce we came to the city. Therefore, we are now dwelling in houses.
