Jeremiah 50:6 — meaning, Hebrew and Greek word study, commentary
Jeremiah 50:6
My people hath been lost sheep: their shepherds have caused them to go astray, they have turned them away on the mountains: they have gone from mountain to hill, they have forgotten their restingplace.
a people (as a congregated unit) · noun, common masculine singular construct + pronominal suffix
lost
אֹֽבְדוֹת֙'oe.dOt
H6
properly · verb, qal active participle, feminine plural absolute
sheep
צֹ֤אןtzon
H6629
a collective name for a flock (of sheep or goats) · noun, common both genders singular absolute
shepherds
רֹעֵיהֶ֣םro.'ei.Hem
H7462
to tend a flock · verb, qal active participle, masculine plural construct + pronominal suffix, 3rd person masculine plural
astray
הִתְע֔וּםhit.'Um
H8582
to vacillate · verb, hiphil perfect, 3rd person common plural + pronominal suffix, 3rd person masculine plural
away
שׁוּבshûwb
H7725
to turn back (hence
mountains
הָרִ֖יםha.Rim
H2022
a mountain or range of hills (sometimes used figurative… · noun, common masculine plural absolute
gone
הָלָ֔כוּha.La.khu
H1980
to walk (in a great variety of applications · verb, qal perfect, 3rd person common plural
mountain
מֵהַ֤רme.Har
H2022
a mountain or range of hills (sometimes used figurative… · preposition + noun, common masculine singular absolute
hill
גִּבְעָה֙giv.'Ah
H1389
a hillock · noun, common feminine singular absolute
forgotten
שָׁכְח֖וּsha.khe.Chu
H7911
to mislay · verb, qal perfect, 3rd person common plural
restingplace
רִבְצָֽםriv.Tzam
H7258
a couch or place of repose · noun, common masculine singular construct + pronominal suffix, 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
Isaiah 53:6 All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the LORD hath laid on him the iniquity of us all.
Matthew 9:36 But when he saw the multitudes, he was moved with compassion on them, because they fainted, and were scattered abroad, as sheep having no sh…
Ezekiel 34:14 I will feed them in a good pasture, and upon the high mountains of Israel shall their fold be: there shall they lie in a good fold, and in a…
Matthew 10:6 But go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.
Jeremiah 50:17 Israel is a scattered sheep; the lions have driven him away: first the king of Assyria hath devoured him; and last this Nebuchadrezzar king…
Psalms 119:176 I have gone astray like a lost sheep; seek thy servant; for I do not forget thy commandments.
Psalms 91:1 He that dwelleth in the secret place of the most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty.
Psalms 116:7 Return unto thy rest, O my soul; for the LORD hath dealt bountifully with thee.
Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).
Commentary
Matthew Henry on Jeremiah 50:1-8
I. Here is a word spoken against Babylon by him whose works all agree with his word and none of whose words fall to the ground. The king of Babylon had been very kind of Jeremiah, and yet he must foretel the ruin of that kingdom; for God's prophets must not be governed by favour or affection. Whoever are our friends, if, notwithstanding, they are God's enemies, we dare not speak peace to them. 1. The destruction of Babylon is here spoken of as a thing done, Jer 50:2. let it be published to the nations as a piece of news, true news, and great news, and news they are all concerned in; let them hang out the flag, as is usual on days of triumph, to give notice of it; let all the world take notic…
(Isa 53:6).
on the mountains--whereon they sacrificed to idols (Jer 2:20; Jer 3:6, Jer 3:23).
resting-place--for the "sheep," continuing the image; Jehovah is the resting-place of His sheep (Mat 11:28). They rest in His "bosom" (Isa 40:11). Also His temple at Zion, their "rest," because it is His (Psa 132:8, Psa 132:14).
John Gill on Jeremiah 50:6
My people hath been lost sheep,.... like lost sheep, without a shepherd, going astray the fold, wandering from place to place, having none to take care of them, guide and direct them, or to go in and out before them, and lead them into suitable pastures; so it was with the Jews in the Babylonish captivity, and so it is with them now, and yet the Lord's people still in some sense; he has a design of grace concerning them, a store of mercy for them, and thoughts of peace towards them, which will take place in due time; and such is the case of all God's elect in a state of nature, they are sheep, but lost sheep, and yet his people;
their shepherds have caused them to go astray; from God and hi…
Jeremiah 50:6
6. My people hath been lost sheep: their shepherds have caused them to go astray, they have turned them away on the mountains: they have gone from mountain to hill, they have forgotten their resting-place.
6. Grex perditus fuit populus meus, pastores eorum errare fecerunt ipsos, per montes abierunt, a monte in collem profecti sunt, obliti sunt accubitus sui.
As the clock strikes, I must stop here.
PRAYER
Grant, Almighty God, that we may not be inebriated with the sweetness of earthly blessings which thou bestowest continually on us, but learn to ascend to the hope of celestial life and eternal felicity, and in the meantime have such a taste of thy blessings, that we may kno…
The Church Fathers
Then he likens them to lost sheep. He ascribes the cause for the destruction of the sheep to the shepherds. He calls "shepherds" not only their kings but also their priests. And he saw how they prepared them to wander: "They drove them to the mountains and made them wander; they have gone from mountain to hill and have forgotten their fold." He calls the shrines of the idols "hills" and "mountains" for in them they worshiped the idols. And he calls the temple of God a "fold" because they had there the enjoyment of good things. This wandering handed them over to the enemy inasmuch as they sinned against the Lord.
He said the sheep is like one who has gone astray. And also in the Gospel he said, "The Son of man came to search for and save the lost." And also in the parable only one is lost out of the hundred that the shepherd who dwelled with them came to find, who also, after laying it on his shoulders, returned it to the ninety-nine. For we are all one body and one sheep. He who is the feet and the head and the rest is the shepherd who, after he came, brought together bone with bone and joint with joint, and after he united them, he took them up to his country. And the unity arises through love and truth and the choice of good. Thus to his own Word he united all. But if some who are disobedient have appeared, they have acquired an incurable condition. Thus every Israelite is one according to the true relationship. For we are all one body and one loaf of bread, and we partake of one spirit. But a sheep that goes astray is one who in word and practice does not join the hunt of what is proper, either by not seeking or by not finding. And the one who knows and does what concerns knowledge does not go astray. But the one who goes astray is driven out by lions. For your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour. And also already young lions roaring to seize and seek from God food for themselves lay snares for the righteous.
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
Seraiah — Soldier of Jehovah. (1.) The father of Joab (1 Chr. 4:13, 14). (2.) The grandfather of Jehu (1 Chr. 4:35). (3.) One of David’s scribes or secretaries (2 Sam. 8:17). (4.) A Netophathite (Jer. 40:8), a…
Sheep · .Of backsli — .Of backsli
Shepherds · Illustrative: (Ignorant and foolish,) of bad ministers — Illustrative: (Ignorant and foolish,) of bad ministers
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).
The fall of Babylon, and deliverance of Israel. - Jer 50:2. "Tell it among the nations, and cause it to be heard, and lift up a standard; cause it to be heard, conceal it not: say, Babylon is taken, Bel is ashamed, Merodach is confounded; her images are ashamed, her idols are confounded. Jer 50:3. For there hath come up against her a nation out of the north; it will make her land a desolation, and there shall be not an inhabitant in it: from man to beast, [all] have fled, are gone. Jer 50:4. In those days, and at that time, saith Jahveh, the children of Israel shall come, they and the children of Judah together; they shall go, weeping as they go, and shall seek Jahveh their God. Jer 50:5. Th…
The shepherds of Israel and Judah, such as Jeroboam I and Manasseh (see 1 Kgs 12:25–13:34; 2 Kgs 21:1-18), had led the people away from the Lord. • The mountains were both literal and metaphorical—Baal worship tended to take place at high elevations.
Rashi on Jeremiah 50:6
their shepherds caused them to stray Their kings caused them to stray away from Me.
mountains...led them astray To the mountains, to the idol worship that was on the mountains. שׁוֹבְבוּם (esvayent in O.F.), led astray, their kings led them astray. And Jonathan rendered: their governors plundered them.
