to hear intelligently (often with implication of attent… · verb, qal imperative, 2nd person masculine plural
foolish
סָכָ֖לsa.Khal
H5530
silly · adjective, masculine singular absolute
people
עַ֥ם'am
H5971
a people (as a congregated unit) · noun, common masculine singular absolute
understanding
לֵ֑בLev
H3820
the heart · noun, common masculine singular absolute
eyes
עֵינַ֤יִם'ei.Na.yim
H5869
an eye (literally or figuratively) · noun, common feminine dual absolute
see
יִרְא֔וּyir.'U
H7200
to see · verb, qal imperfect, 3rd person masculine plural
ears
אָזְנַ֥יִם'a.ze.Na.yim
H241
broadness. i.e. (concrete) the ear (from its form in ma… · noun, common feminine dual absolute
hear
יִשְׁמָֽעוּyish.Ma.'u
H8085
to hear intelligently (often with implication of attent… · verb, qal imperfect, 3rd person masculine plural
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
Ezekiel 12:2 Son of man, thou dwellest in the midst of a rebellious house, which have eyes to see, and see not; they have ears to hear, and hear not: for…
Acts 28:26 Saying, Go unto this people, and say, Hearing ye shall hear, and shall not understand; and seeing ye shall see, and not perceive:
Isaiah 6:9-10 And he said, Go, and tell this people, Hear ye indeed, but understand not; and see ye indeed, but perceive not.
Romans 11:8 (According as it is written, God hath given them the spirit of slumber, eyes that they should not see, and ears that they should not hear;)…
John 12:40 He hath blinded their eyes, and hardened their heart; that they should not see with their eyes, nor understand with their heart, and be conv…
Jeremiah 4:22 For my people is foolish, they have not known me; they are sottish children, and they have none understanding: they are wise to do evil, but…
Matthew 13:13-15 Therefore speak I to them in parables: because they seeing see not; and hearing they hear not, neither do they understand.
Mark 8:18 Having eyes, see ye not? and having ears, hear ye not? and do ye not remember?
Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).
Commentary
Matthew Henry on Jeremiah 5:20-24
The prophet, having reproved them for sin and threatened the judgments of God against them, is here sent to them again upon another errand, which he must publish in Judah; the purport of it is to persuade them to fear God, which would be an effectual principle of their reformation, as the want of that fear had been at the bottom of their apostasy.
I. He complains of the shameful stupidity of this people, and their bent to backslide from God, speaking as if he knew not what course to take with them. For,
1. Their understandings were darkened and unapt to admit the rays of the divine light: They are a foolish people and without understanding; they apprehend not the mind of God, though ever so…
eyes . . . ears, and--Translate, "and yet" (compare Deu 29:4; Isa 6:9). Having powers of perception, they did not use them: still they were responsible for the exercise of them.
John Gill on Jeremiah 5:21
Hear now this, O foolish people, and without understanding,.... or, "heart" (a); See Gill on Jeremiah 4:22,
which have eyes, and see not; which have ears, and hear not; like the idols they served, Psalm 115:4. this is an upbraiding of them with their folly and stupidity, their want of common sense, their blindness and ignorance; notwithstanding they had the means of light and knowledge, the law, and the prophets.
(a) "et non cor", Pagninus, Montanus; "qui non habes cor", V. L. "excors", Junius & Tremellius, Piscator; "cui cor non est", Cocceius.
John Calvin on Jeremiah 5:20-21
Jeremiah 5:20-21
20. Declare this in the house of Jacob, and publish it in Judah, saying,
20. Nuntiate hoc in domo Jacob, et promulgate (ad verbum, audire facite) in Jehudah, dicendo,
21. Hear now this, O foolish people, and without understanding; which have eyes, and see not; which have ears, and hear not:
21. Audite agedum hoc, popule stulte et absque corde; oculi illis, et non vident; aures illis, et non audiunt (et non audient, ad verbum.)
The Prophet confirms what he had said, lest the Jews should think that they were only terrified by words, and not dread the consequences. Hence he says, Declare this The Prophet, no doubt, alludes to a custom which prevailed; for wars were usually…
The Church Fathers
Not understanding him who had been anointed and sent and who was the author of such wonderful works, they returned to their usual ways and talked about him in a foolish and vain way. For although they wondered at the words of grace that proceeded out of his mouth, yet their wish was to treat them as valueless. They said, "Is not this the son of Joseph?" But what does this diminish from the glory of the worker of the miracles? What prevents him from being both venerated and admired, even had he been, as was supposed, the son of Joseph? Didn't you see the miracles? Satan fallen, the herds of devils vanquished, multitudes set free from various kinds of maladies? You praise the grace that was present in his teaching. Then do you, in Jewish fashion, think lightly of him because he considered Joseph for his father? How ignorant can you be! It is true what they say about them: "Lo! A people foolish and without understanding, they have eyes and see not, ears, and hear not."
One who does not carefully weigh every word of the opinions uttered cannot rightly discover the value of the assertion. For someone like this, who only possesses skill in disputation and ornaments of speech, cannot penetrate to the very heart of Scripture and the mysteries of its spiritual meanings. True knowledge is acquired only by true worshipers of God. And certainly this people does not possess it to whom it is said, "Hear, O foolish people, you who have no heart, you who have eyes but do not see and who have ears but do not hear." And again, "Because you have rejected knowledge, I also will reject you from acting as my priest." It is said that in Christ "all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge are hidden." So how can we hold the opinion that someone has acquired spiritual knowledge when that person has not even wanted to find Christ, or, when he does find him, blasphemes him with impious lips or at least defiles the catholic faith by his impure actions? "The Spirit of God will avoid deception and does not live in a body that is subject to sin." There is then no way of arriving at spiritual knowledge but by this which one of the prophets has accurately described: "Sow to yourselves for righteousness. Reap the hope of life. Enlighten yourselves with the light of knowledge."
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
Blindness · 21:14;22:13,14; — 21:14;22:13,14;
Blindness, Spiritual · The wicked are in — The wicked are in
Impenitence · General scriptures concerning — General scriptures concerning
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).
This calamity Judah is preparing for itself by its obduracy and excess of wickedness. - Jer 5:19. "And if ye then shall say, Wherefore hath Jahveh our God done all this unto us? then say to them, Like as ye have forsaken me and served strange gods in your land, so shall ye serve strangers in a land that is not yours. Jer 5:20. Declare this in the house of Jacob, and publish it in Judah, saying, Jer 5:21. Hear now this, foolish people without understanding, that have eyes and see not, have ears and hear not. Jer 5:22. Me will ye not fear, saith Jahve, nor tremble before me? who have set the sand for a bound to the sea, an everlasting boundary that it passes not, and its waves toss themselves…
to Israel: Literally to the house of Jacob. The names “Jacob” and “Israel” are often interchanged throughout the Old Testament, referring sometimes to the individual patriarch and sometimes to the nation. • To be foolish is to engage in rash and immoral behavior that ignores consequences. • senseless: Literally no heart. When “heart” is used in a negative sense, it means that a person or group does not desire to do moral acts and so disdains the intelligent behavior that is pleasing to God. • The people’s ears and eyes functioned (see study note on 6:10), but they stubbornly shut out the true meaning of what they heard and saw (Isa 6:9; Ezek 12:2; Mark 8:18).
Rashi on Jeremiah 5:17
He will impoverish your fortified cities [upon which you rely, with the sword] This verse is in the wrong order [and should be arranged as follows:] He will impoverish with the sword your fortified cities upon which you rely.
impoverish Heb. ירשש, he will impoverish.
with the sword With troops. Comp. “And a sword will not pass in your land” (Lev. 26:6).
