Jeremiah 17 Study Notes

17:1-27 There is no central theme in this chapter. It is a collection of wise sayings on how life should be lived.

17:1 The iron stylus that had a diamond point (cp. Jb 19:24) was an iron engraver’s tool that chiseled the sin of Judah onto their hard hearts and the horns of their altars. These horns were the projections at the four stone corners on top of the altar (Ex 27:2; 29:12; 30:1-3,10; Lv 4:7). Archaeologists have found such altars at Arad and Tel Sheba. The tablet of Judah’s heart listed her sins, a far contrast to what would happen when God placed his law on hearts in the new covenant (31:33).

17:2 Asherah poles were upright carved wooden objects representing the fertility mother goddess of the Canaanites (2Kg 13:6; 17:16; 18:4; 21:3; 23:6,15).

17:3 High places were elevated platforms on top of a mountain or hill. An altar to a pagan god and a carved pole for the fertility goddess Asherah were located on these sites (2Kg 21:3; 2Ch 14:3). They also featured a stone pillar symbolizing the male deity (2Kg 3:2), along with other deities and perhaps a shelter (1Kg 12:31; 16:32-33).

17:4 Just as Jeremiah predicted a seventy-year captivity in 25:11 and 29:10, so his statement relinquish your inheritance in this verse may hint of that impending judgment. The Hebrew word for “relinquish” (shamat, “lose”) is used in connection with the sabbatical year. Later, Jeremiah explained that Judah’s exile would last seventy years to make up for the seven sabbatical years she had failed to observe.

17:5-13 The poem in these verses has close parallels with Ps 1 and the Wisdom literature of Job, Proverbs, and Ecclesiastes. It focuses on two ways of death and two ways of life.

17:5-6 In these verses there is a play on the words for person . . . mankind and flesh. In Hebrew, the first word is gever, meaning “strong one,” man as male. The second is ‘adam, “man made of dust.” The third is basar, “flesh.” Put together, these indicate a poor substitute for trusting in the Lord. The people’s misplaced trust is like a juniper in the Arabah, a bush that shriveled in the scorching heat. The Arabah, part of the Great Rift Valley that stretches from the south end of the Dead Sea to the Gulf of Aqabah, is desertlike.

17:9-11 These verses contain three wisdom sayings: (1) The heart is more deceitful than anything and is incurable (lit “perverse” or “beyond cure,” 13:23). (2) I, the Lord, examine the mind (Hb, “heart”), I test the heart (lit “kidneys”). The “mind” and the “heart” are hidden elements of a human personality, but God sees them perfectly. (3) The partridge (perhaps a sand grouse) hatches eggs it didn’t lay. Some people amass wealth via the sweat of others, but like these birds, they will discover that their wealth does not last forever (Pr 23:4-5).

17:12 The phrase a glorious throne refers to the temple where the Lord dwelled, and thus to his rule (Lm 5:19).

17:13 On Lord, the hope of Israel, see note at 14:8. Judah had turned her back on her hope and had abandoned the Lord, the fountain of living water (see note at 2:13).

17:14-18 This is another of Jeremiah’s “confessions” (see note at 4:19-22).

17:14 The Lord is described as Jeremiah’s praise or hope. He trusted the Lord to heal and save him.

17:15 Jeremiah’s enemies were taunting him because his prophecies had not yet come to fulfillment.

17:16 Jeremiah took no delight in announcing God’s coming judgment, nor did he shrink away from the unpleasant task.

17:17 Jeremiah feared God might desert him and leave him alone before his enemies.

17:18 This is an imprecation as is often found in the Psalms (e.g., Ps 69:22-28; 139:19-22). Jeremiah recognized his enemies as the enemies of God.

17:19 The People’s Gate was not the gate of the temple. The gate Jeremiah referred to is unknown, but it was apparently a place where people commonly gathered.

17:20-27 The Sabbath day, mentioned several times in these verses, testifies to the fact that God was the Creator of the seventh day and that he had a covenant with Israel. If the Sabbath law was observed, the Davidic line of kings would continue to sit on the throne and Jerusalem would continue to be the center of worship.

17:26 The land of Benjamin was north of Judah; the Judean foothills were the western lowlands, west and southwest of Judah; the hill country was the central part of the country; and the Negev was the dry, arid land south of Judah. Frankincense was not the incense offering, but the incense that was added to the offerings (Ex 30:7-9). Thank offerings were a type of peace or fellowship offering (Lv 7:11).