Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Jeremiah 17:19
Thus said the LORD unto me; Go and stand in the gate of the children of the people, whereby the kings of Judah come in, and by the which they go out, and in all the gates of Jerusalem;
19. the gate of the children of the people ] (mg. the common people. See ch. Jer 26:23.) The expression is very difficult and probably corrupt. Du. suggests that the gate is one within the city and leading to the palace, thus accounting for its use by both the rulers, and those who sought an audience from them. It is better, however, to take “gate” in its ordinary application to a city gate. Peake suggests, by a slight change in MT., to read (as in Jer 37:13, Jer 38:7) in the gate of Benjamin (on the N. side of the city). The mention of kings as using it has reference to Jer 17:25. He further suggests that “in all the gates of Jerusalem” may be a gloss. Dr. makes “the gate” to be “apparently (see Eze 44:1; Eze 44:3 b, Jer 46:1 a, 2) either the outer or inner gate on the east, by which the kings of Judah entered and left the Temple.”
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Ch. Jer 17:19-27. An exhortation on the observance of the Sabbath
This section is unconnected with the preceding, and, as it considers that the doom pronounced on Judah may be averted on condition of Sabbath observance, while the previous section has declared that that doom is inevitable, it has been placed by some, e.g. Orelli, as early as the time of Josiah’s reformation (see introd. note on Jer 1:1 to Jer 12:6), and by others (Stade, Kuenen, Gi., Du., Co.) held to be a piece belonging to the times of Ezra and Nehemiah (cp. Neh 13:15-22). See also on Jer 17:20. The style, however, has much in common with Jeremiah, though this may be asserted to be due to imitation. It is argued that the general tone of the passage, and in particular the appreciation of sacrifice ( Jer 17:26) are not what we should expect. On the other hand “although no doubt Jeremiah speaks disparagingly of sacrifice offered by impure hands (Jer 6:19 f., Jer 7:9 f., 21 26, Jer 14:10-12), it may be questioned whether he would have rejected it when (as is the case explicitly in Jer 17:26) it is conceived as the expression of a right heart (cp. Jer 33:11; also Deu 12:11; Isa 56:7; Isa 60:7).” Dr. LOT. p. 258. At any rate, as we see from the Puritans, strong sabbatarianism need not be inconsistent with depreciation of the ceremonial side of worship.
The section may be subdivided as follows.
(i) Jer 17:19-23. Jehovah tells the prophet to stand at the gate and forbid carriage of goods into and out of the city or houses on the Sabbath. The day is to be hallowed as He has commanded. The people refuse obedience. (ii) Jer 17:24-27. If they will conform, then they and their rulers shall be immune and permanently secure, and offerings be brought from all the neighbouring parts of Palestine to the Temple. If not, then Jerusalem shall be overthrown.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
This prophecy on the observance of the Sabbath, is the first of a series of short predictions. arranged probably in chronological order among themselves, but in other respects independent of one another. Its tone is mild, and dissuasive rather of future neglect than condemnatory of past misconduct; and it may be assigned to the commencement of Jehoiakims reign. Its similarity to the prophecy contained in Jer 22:1-5 makes it probable that they were contemporaneous.
Jer 17:19
The gate of the children of the people – Perhaps the principal entrance of the outer court of the temple. Very probably there was traffic there, as in our Lords time, in doves and other requisites for sacrifice, and so the warning to keep the Sabbath was as necessary there as at the city gates.
Jer 17:21
To yourselves – literally, in your souls, i. e., in yourselves. They were to be on their guard from the depths of their own conscience, thoroughly and on conviction.
Bear no burden on the sabbath day – Apparently the Sabbath day was kept negligently. The country people were in the habit of coming to Jerusalem on the Sabbath to attend the temple service, but mingled traffic with their devotions, bringing the produce of their fields and gardens with them for disposal. The people of Jerusalem for their part took Jer 17:22 their wares to the gates, and carried on a brisk traffic there with the villagers. Both parties seem to have abstained from manual labor, but did not consider that buying and selling were prohibited by the fourth commandment.
Jer 17:25
A picture of national grandeur. The prophet associates with the king the princes of the Davidic lineage, who in magnificent procession accompany the king as he goes in and out of Jerusalem.
Shall remain forever – Or, shall be inhabited forever: populousness is promised.
Jer 17:26
The reward for keeping the Sabbath day holy consists in three things;
(1) in great national prosperity,
(2) in the lasting welfare of Jerusalem, and
(3) in the wealth and piety of the people generally, indicated by their numerous sacrifices.
Bringing sacrifices of praise – Rather, bringing praise. This clause covers all that precedes.
The verse is interesting as specifying the exact limits of the dominions of the Davidic kings, now confined to Judah and Benjamin. These two tribes are divided according to their physical conformation into
(1) the Shefelah, or low country lying between the mountains and the Mediterranean;
(2) the mountain which formed the central region, extending to the wilderness of Judah, on the Dead Sea; and
(3) the Negeb, or arid region, which lay to the south of Judah.
Jer 17:27
Upon disobedience follows the anger of God, which will consume like a fire all the, splendor of the offending city.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Jer 17:19
Whereby the kings of Judah come in.
Courage and fearlessness before kings
When King Don Pedro was unexpectedly brought into the hall in Chicago in which Moody was speaking on Accepting Christ, the obsequious usher, after showing the king to a seat on the platform, whispered to Moody, King Don Pedro is on the platform. Moody took no notice, but at the end of his powerful appeal turned to the king and said, And that is a question that kings cannot postpone, for on their decision depends what God will do with the king. The king afterwards spoke of him as a man to be heard and believed. (G. Campbell Morgan.)
Preaching before the greatest King
Latimer, while preaching one day before Henry VIII, stood up in the pulpit, and, seeing the king, addressed himself in a kind of soliloquy, thus, Latimer, Latimer, take care what you say, for the great King Henry VIII is here. Then he paused, and proceeded, Latimer, Latimer, take care what you say, for the great King of kings is here.
Fuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell
Verse 19. The gate of the children of the people] I suppose the most public gate is meant; that through which there was the greatest thoroughfare.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
Most think that here begins a new prophecy, and therefore this verse should have began a new chapter. The prophets were often commanded to publish such revelations as they had from God, either at the gates of the city, or the gates of the temple, Jer 7:2; 19:2. It is not agreed what this particular gate was at which the kings of Judah were wont most ordinarily to come in and go out, but the prophet was also commanded to publish it in all the gates of Jerusalem, that all might take notice of it.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
19-27. Delivered in the reign ofJehoiakim, who undid the good effected by Josiah’s reformation,especially as to the observance of the Sabbath [EICHORN].
gate of . . . children of . .. peopleThe gate next the king’s palace, called the gate ofDavid, and the gate of the people, from its being theprincipal thoroughfare: now the Jaffa gate. It is probably the sameas “the gate of the fountain” at the foot of Zion, nearwhich were the king’s garden and pool (Jer 39:4;2Ki 25:4; Neh 2:14;Neh 3:15; Neh 12:37).
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
Thus said the Lord unto me,…. Here begins a new sermon or discourse, concerning the sanctification of the sabbath, and a very proper place to begin a new chapter:
Go and stand in the gate of the children of the people; where there were great numbers of people passing and repassing; and whither the people resorted upon one account or another; or where they dwelt. Some particular gate of the city of Jerusalem seems to be meant; and not the gate of the temple, as Abarbinel. Some think the sheep gate, and others the water gate, Ne 3:1; perhaps rather the latter, since the Nethinims dwelt near it, who were the Gibeonites, so called, because given to the congregation of Israel, to be hewers of wood and drawers of water to it; and these were “the children of the people”, of the nations of the world, the old Canaanites, as well as they were the servants of the people of Israel: but what particular gate is intended is not certain; it is very likely it was one that was near the court, by what follows:
whereby the kings of Judah come in, and by which they go out; when they went out to war and returned; or went to their country houses and came back; or on any business and occasion whatever. This shows a reason why the prophet was to go and stand in this gate first; because his message was to be first delivered to these great personages, who had a personal concern herein, and who could influence others by their authority and example:
and in all the gates of Jerusalem; after he had been in the former, and delivered his message; for it concerned all the inhabitants of the city, high and low, rich and poor, male and female, young and old; and therefore he was to go to every gate, and stand and proclaim there, as being the most public places of resort and concourse, and where people were continually going and coming.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
| Sabbath-Sanctification. | B. C. 600. |
19 Thus said the LORD unto me; Go and stand in the gate of the children of the people, whereby the kings of Judah come in, and by the which they go out, and in all the gates of Jerusalem; 20 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 these gates: 21 Thus saith the LORD; Take heed to yourselves, and bear no burden on the sabbath day, nor bring it in by the gates of Jerusalem; 22 Neither carry forth a burden out of your houses on the sabbath day, neither do ye any work, but hallow ye the sabbath day, as I commanded your fathers. 23 But they obeyed not, neither inclined their ear, but made their neck stiff, that they might not hear, nor receive instruction. 24 And it shall come to pass, if ye diligently hearken unto me, saith the LORD, to bring in no burden through the gates of this city on the sabbath day, but hallow the sabbath day, to do no work therein; 25 Then shall there enter into the gates of this city kings and princes sitting upon the throne of David, riding in chariots and on horses, they, and their princes, the men of Judah, and the inhabitants of Jerusalem: and this city shall remain for ever. 26 And they shall come from the cities of Judah, and from the places about Jerusalem, and from the land of Benjamin, and from the plain, and from the mountains, and from the south, bringing burnt offerings, and sacrifices, and meat offerings, and incense, and bringing sacrifices of praise, unto the house of the LORD. 27 But if ye will not hearken unto me to hallow the sabbath day, and not to bear a burden, even entering in at the gates of Jerusalem on the sabbath day; then will I kindle a fire in the gates thereof, and it shall devour the palaces of Jerusalem, and it shall not be quenched.
These verses are a sermon concerning sabbath-sanctification. It is a word which the prophet received from the Lord, and was ordered to deliver in the most solemn and public manner to the people; for they were sent not only to reprove sin, and to press obedience, in general, but they must descend to particulars. This message concerning the sabbath was probably sent in the days of Josiah, for the furtherance of that work of reformation which he set on foot; for the promises here (Jer 17:25; Jer 17:26) are such as I think we scarcely find when things come nearer to the extremity. This message must be proclaimed in all the places of concourse, and therefore inthe gates, not only because through them people were continually passing and repassing, but because in them they kept their courts and laid up their stores. It must be proclaimed (as the king or queen is usually proclaimed) at the court-gate first, the gate by which the kings of Judah come in and go out, v. 19. Let them be told their duty first, particularly this duty; for, if sabbaths be not sanctified as they should be, the rulers of Judah are to be contended with (so they were, Neh. xiii. 17), for they are certainly wanting in their duty. He must also preach it in all the gates of Jerusalem. It is a matter of great and general concern; therefore let all take notice of it. Let the kings of Judah hear the word of the Lord (for, high as they are, he is above them), and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem, for, mean as they are, he takes notice of them, and of what they say and do on sabbath days. Observe,
I. How the sabbath is to be sanctified, and what is the law concerning it, Jer 17:21; Jer 17:22. 1. They must rest from their worldly employment on the sabbath day, must do no servile work. They must bear no burden into the city nor out of it, into their houses nor out of them; husbandmen’s burdens of corn must not be carried in, nor manure carried out; nor must tradesmen’s burdens of wares or merchandises be imported or exported. There must not a loaded horse, or cart, or wagon, be seen on the sabbath day either in the streets or in the roads; the porters must not ply on that day, nor must the servants be suffered to fetch in provisions or fuel. It is a day of rest, and must not be made a day of labour, unless in case of necessity. 2. They must apply themselves to that which is the proper work and business of the day: “Hallow you the sabbath, that is, consecrate it to the honour of God and spend it in his service and worship.” It is in order to this that worldly business must be laid aside, that we may be entire for, and intent upon, that work, which requires and deserves the whole man. 3. They must herein be very circumspect: “Take heed to yourselves, watch against every thing that borders upon the profanation of the sabbath.” Where God is jealous we must be cautious. “Take heed to yourselves, for it is at your peril if you rob God of that part of your time which he has reserved to himself.” Take heed to your souls (so the word is); in order to the right sanctifying of sabbaths, we must look well to the frame of our spirits and have a watchful eye upon all the motions of the inward man. Let not the soul be burdened with the cares of this world on sabbath days, but let that be employed, even all that is within us, in the work of the day. And, 4. He refers them to the law, the statute in this case made and provided: “This is no new imposition upon you, but is what I commanded your fathers; it is an ancient law; it was an article of the original contract; nay, it was a command to the patriarchs.”
II. How the sabbath had been profaned (v. 23): “Your fathers were required to keep holy the sabbath day, but they obeyed not; they hardened their necks against this as well as other commands that were given them.” This is mentioned to show that there needed a reformation in this matter, and that God had a just controversy with them for the long transgression of this law which they had been guilty of. They hardened their necks against this command, that they might not hear and receive instruction concerning other commands. Where sabbaths are neglected all religion sensibly goes to decay.
III. What blessings God had in store for them if they would make conscience of sabbath-sanctification. Though their fathers had been guilty of the profanation of the sabbath they should not only not smart for it, but their city and nation should recover its ancient glory, if they would keep sabbaths better, v. 24-26. Let them take care to hallow the sabbath and do no work therein; and then, 1. The court shall flourish. Kings in succession, or the many branches of the royal family at the same time, all as great as kings, with the other princes that sit upon the thrones of judgment, the thrones of the house of David (Ps. cxxii. 5), shall ride in great pomp through the gates of Jerusalem, some in chariots and some on horses, attended with a numerous retinue of the men of Judah. Note, The honour of the government is the joy of the kingdom; and the support of religion would contribute greatly to both. 2. The city shall flourish. Let there be a face of religion kept up in Jerusalem, by sabbath-sanctification, that it may answer to its title, the holy city, and then it shall remain for ever, shall for ever be inhabited (so the word may be rendered); it shall not be destroyed and dispeopled, as it is threatened to be. Whatever supports religion tends to establish the civil interests of a land. 3. The country shall flourish: The cities of Judah and the land of Benjamin shall be replenished with vast numbers of inhabitants, and those abounding in plenty and living in peace, which will appear by the multitude and value of their offerings, which they shall present to God. By this the flourishing of a country may be judged of, What does it do for the honour of God? Those that starve their religion either are poor or are in a fair way to be so. 4. The church shall flourish: Meat-offerings, and incense, and sacrifices of praise, shall be brought to the house of the Lord, for the maintenance of the service of that house and the servants that attend it. God’s institutions shall be conscientiously observed; no sacrifice nor incense shall be offered to idols, nor alienated from God, but every thing shall go in the right channel. They shall have both occasion and hearts to bring sacrifices of praise to God. This is made an instance of their prosperity. Then a people truly flourish when religion flourishes among them. And this is the effect of sabbath-sanctification; when that branch of religion is kept up other instances of it are kept up likewise; but, when that is lost, devotion is lost either in superstition or in profaneness. It is a true observation, which some have made, that the streams of all religion run either deep or shallow according as the banks of the sabbath are kept up or neglected.
IV. What judgments they must expect would come upon them if they persisted in the profanation of the sabbath (v. 27): “If you will not hearken to me in this matter, to keep the gates shut on sabbath days, so that there may be no unnecessary entering in, or going out, on that day–if you will break through the enclosure of the divine law, and lay that day in common with other days–know that God will kindle a fire in the gates of your city,” intimating that it shall be kindled by an enemy besieging the city and assaulting the gates, who shall take this course to force an entrance. Justly shall those gates be fired that are not used as they ought to be to shut out sin and to keep people in to an attendance on their duty. This fire shall devour even the palaces of Jerusalem, where the princes and nobles dwelt, who did not use their power and interest as they ought to have done to keep up the honour of God’s sabbaths; but it shall not be quenched until it has laid the whole city in ruins. This was fulfilled by the army of the Chaldeans, ch. lii. 13. The profanation of the sabbath is a sin for which God has often contended with a people by fire.
Fuente: Matthew Henry’s Whole Bible Commentary
Vs. 19-27: REMEMBER THE SABBATHI
NOTE: The sabbath had its origin in the completion of creation, when God “ceased from His Labors” and rested on the seventh day. And this is exactly the thing to which He calls us – to cease from all our laborious scheming, striving and trying, in the energy of the flesh, to rest solely in His finished work on our behalf, and in His divine adequacy for our every need. To cease from our own attempts to do something FOR God casting all our care upon Him Who cares for us, and wholly entrusting the sustenance and direction of our lives unto His trustworthy hands; THIS is to “enter into” GOD’S REST; this is true sabbath-keeping!
The sabbath illustrates how God intends us to live – not by trusting in ourselves, or in other men; but in the acceptance of a NEW WAY OF LIFE wherein God Himself is permitted (with our consent) to live and work within us “both to will and to do of his good pleasure,.” (Php_1:12-13). Thus is our whole being made available for His mastery, His service, His glory and praise! Such a life is at rest and peace -sustained by hidden manna and a never-failing spring of divine refreshment.
1. An inescapable part of the Mosaic covenant, the sabbath has filled a major role in the life of the Jewish people, (Exo 20:8-11; Deu 5:12-15).
2. Jeremiah is commanded to stand “at the gates” of Jerusalem, calling all Judah – from king to the most lowly servant (comp. Jer 19:3-4; Hos 5:1) – to their covenant-responsibilities regarding the sabbath, (vs. 19-23).
a. They are to bear no burdens, and do no work, on the sabbath, (Exo 16:23-29; Exo 20:8-10; Deu 5:12-14; Num 15:32-36; Neh 13:15-21).
b. Rather, they are to hallow that day – as God commanded their fathers, (Exo 31:13-17; Isa 56:2-6; Isa 58:13-14; Eze 20:12).
c. But, their fathers have been stubborn and stiff-necked -stopping their ears, walking in disobedience and refusing to receive instruction, (comp. Jer 7:24; Jer 7:26; Jer 7:28; Jer 19:15; Pro 29:1).
3. If they will diligently hearken to the voice of the Lord, in this matter, they will be greatly blessed, (vs. 24-26).
a. The house and throne of David will be divinely sustained, (Jer 22:4; Jer 33:15-17; Jer 33:21; 2Sa 7:16; Isa 9:7; Luk 1:32).
b. Jerusalem will be established as a city of habitation, (Psa 68:16; Psa 87:1-2; Psa 132:13-14).
c. And the people of Judah will bring their sacrifices, offerings and oblations to the house of the Lord in Jerusalem, (Jer 33:17-18; Psa 107:21-22).
4. But, if Judah continues to despise the sabbath, the Lord will surely kindle within her gates an inextinguishable fire that will devour her palaces, (vs. 27; comp. Amo 1:4; Amo 1:7; Amo 1:10; Amo 1:12; Jer 22:5; Jer 26:4-6; Jer 21:14; Jer 7:20).
5. In this passage one may clearly see the conditional nature of the prophecies of doom.
a. They could be revoked IF there was a manifestation OF TRUE REPENTANCE!
b. There is a sense in which men and nations control their own ultimate destinies by the attitude of their hearts toward Jehovah.
Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary
This discourse is no doubt to be separated from the preceding one, and whosoever divided the chapters was deficient in judgment as to many other places as well as here. Now the meaning is, that so great and so gross was the contempt of the law, that they neglected even the observance of the Sabbath; and yet we know that hypocrites are in this respect very careful, nay, Isaiah upbraided the men of his day that they made so much of their sanctity to consist in the outward observance of days. (Isa 1:13.) But, as I have already said, the Jews were so audacious in the time of Jeremiah that they openly violated the Sabbath, men were become so lost, as we commonly say, as not to pretend any religion. The licentiousness of the people was so great that they had no shame; nay, they all openly shewed that they had wholly cast away the yoke of God and of his law. When this was the case at Jerusalem, wlmt can we think was done in obscure villages where so much religion did not exist? for if there was any right teaching, if there was any appearance of religion, it must have been at Jerusalem.
We now then see that the Prophet was sent by God to charge the people with this gross and base contempt of the law; as though he had said, “Go to now, and pretend that you retain at least some religion: yet even in this small matter, the observance of the Sabbath, ye are deficient, for ye bring burdens, that is, ye carry on business on the Sabbath as on other days. As then there is not among you even an external sanctity as to the Sabbath, why do you go on with your evasions? for your impiety is sufficiently proved.” We now see what the Prophet means, and what the import of this discourse is which we are now to explain.
He says first, that he was sent, go, to bring this message. He had been indeed chosen before a prophet; but he speaks here of a special thing which he was commissioned to do: and he says that he was sent to the chief gate of the city, through which the kings entered in and went out and the whole people (186) and then that he was sent to all the gates. By these words he means, that it was not God’s will that the profanation of the Sabbath should be partially made known, but be everywhere proclaimed, in order that he might shame not only the king but also the whole people. The prophets usually spoke first in the Temple, and then they went to the gates, where there was a larger concourse of people. But Jeremiah had here something unusual; for God intended most clearly to condemn the Jews for their base and inexcusable contempt of the Sabbath.
(186) There is a peculiarity in the phraseology of the original as to the relative “which,” after “the gate of the city;” literally it is, “which they enter through it the kings of Judah, and which they go out through it.” In Welsh there is exactly the same form of expression, — (lang. cy) Yr hwn yr a trwyddo frenhinoedd Iwda , etc. Had this been the Welsh version, it would have been literally the Hebrew, and more consonant than the present version with the idiom of the language. — Ed.
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
VI. PROPHETIC PROCLAMATION Jer. 17:19-27
Chapter 17 ends with a prose discourse urging the keeping of the Sabbath. Like Amos (Amo. 8:4-6) and Isaiah (Isaiah 56, 58) before him, Jeremiah regarded violation of the Sabbath as a serious offense. Jeremiah in this sermon addressed to the royal house makes Sabbath observance the condition for national survival. The sermon moves through three phases: (1) exhortation (Jer. 17:19-23); (2) promise (Jer. 17:24-26); and (3) threat (Jer. 17:27).
A. Exhortation Jer. 17:19-23
TRANSLATION
(19) Thus said the LORD unto me: Go and stand in the gate of the children of the people, through which the kings of Judah come in and go out, and in all the gates of Jerusalem; (20)and say unto them, Hear the word of the LORD, O kings of Judah, and all Judah, and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem who are coming in these gates. (21) Thus says the LORD: Watch out for your souls! Do not bear a burden on the Sabbath day, nor bring them into the gates of Jerusalem. (22) Do not bring out a burden from your houses on the Sabbath day and cease all work. Sanctify the Sabbath day as I commanded your fathers. (23) But they did not hearken nor did they incline their ears but made their neck stiff neither to hear nor receive correction.
COMMENTS
Jeremiah is commissioned to preach this sermon in the gates of the city of Jerusalem. He is to start at that gate which was most frequently used by the kings. This gate, called the gate of the children of the people, cannot be identified (Jer. 17:19). He addresses his message to the kings of Judah, the population of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem (Jer. 17:20). The question has been raised as to why Jeremiah uses the plural kings. Perhaps the message was to be applied to successive kings of Judah. But more likely Jeremiah is addressing the entire royal house under this title. There is evidence in this period that the members of the royal family exercised considerable authority. Zedekiah, for example, seems to have been completely dominated by this group. Thus here the word kings is used loosely to refer to all the princes of the realm.
Jeremiahs object in this message is to get the people to hallow the Sabbath day. Apparently the Sabbath law was, disregarded. Goods from far and near were being transported into the city and business was being conducted as usual on the seventh day. For this reason Jeremiah calls upon the merchants to cease bringing goods into the city on the Sabbath (Jer. 17:21) and calls upon the people to cease bringing articles from their houses with which to barter for the produce of the merchants. He exhorts the inhabitants of Jerusalem to sanctify the Sabbath in the way in which God commanded their fathers to do (Jer. 17:22). The fathers had rejected the commandment of God and as a result had suffered divine correction. But even this divine correction had not induced repentance on the part of the previous generation (Jer. 17:23). The nation had continued on the path of disobedience until now Judah was faced with the inevitable national destruction.
Fuente: College Press Bible Study Textbook Series
(19) Thus said the Lord unto me . . .We enter here on an entirely fresh series of messages, arranged probably in chronological order, but having no immediate connection with what precedes, and narrated with a much fuller account of the circumstances connected with them. This, which begins the series, would appear from Jer. 17:25 to have been delivered before the sins of the people had assumed the hopeless, irremediable character which is implied in the two previous chapters; and the first part of this may probably be referred therefore to the early years of the reign of Jehoiakim. In its circumstances and mode of delivery it is parallel with the discourse of Jer. 22:1-5.
The gate of the children of the people . . .No gate so described is mentioned in the great topographical record of Nehemiah 3 or elsewhere, and we are therefore left to conjecture where it was. The context shows that it was a place of concourse, a gate of the Temple rather than of the city, perhaps the special gate by which the kings and people of Judah entered into the enclosure of the Temple. The name may indicate, as in Jer. 26:23, that it was that of the common people, or laity, as in 2Ch. 35:5, as dis tinguished from that used by the priests and Levites; and it would appear, from the nature of the warning proclaimed there, to have been the scene of some open desecration of the Sabbathpossibly of the sale of sheep or doves for sacrifice, like that of Joh. 2:14; Mat. 21:12, or of the more common articles of the market, as in Neh. 13:15. By some writers it has been identified with the gate of Benjamin (Jer. 20:2; Jer. 38:7), but this would seem to have been more conspicuous as a place of judgment than of trade; nor is there any reason why it should be described by a different name here. Some, indeed. have conjectured that we should read gate of Benjamin instead of gate of Beni-am, which gives the meaning children of the people. It is noticeable that the message was to be delivered at the other gates as well, as being a protest against a prevalent sin.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
EXHORTATION TO HALLOW THE SABBATH Jer 17:19-27.
19, 20. The connexion here is certainly not close: but the theme introduced is related to the general drift in that it lays bare another of the causes of Judah’s ruin.
Gate of the children of the people Was this a gate of the city or the temple? As we find elsewhere no intimation of a gate with such a designation, we must fall back on general conjecture. The force of the phrase would seem to be, the people’s gate; and yet it is said that the kings of Judah come in by these gates. This would suggest a gate into the people’s court of the sanctuary, the priests gaining admission to their court by means of another gate. The “children of the people,” then, must mean the people as distinguished from the priests; or, in other words, the laity. It is possible that even then the traffic by which the temple was defiled in our Lord’s time had commenced, and that there was a violation of the law of the sabbath even at the sanctuary itself.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
The Call Goes Out For The True Observance Of The Sabbath Day ( Jer 17:19-27 ).
In Jer 17:5-11 YHWH had promised cursing and blessing on individuals depending on whether they were obedient to His covenant, and this had included a warning about those who obtained riches unfairly. Now YHWH sets a standard test in order to see whether His people will obey Him or not, and whether they will count that obedience as more important than profit from trade. By it He is giving them the opportunity to face up to the covenant and clearly declare that they are His people, for the maintenance of the Sabbath, along with circumcision, were the two clear signs of those who were His.
It is quite clear from what is said that the seventh day Sabbath Law had been diluted with the result that they were using the Sabbath as a convenient market day, a practise which had been prevalent in Israel, but was something which Amo 8:5 had made clear was not allowed. So the call was that they should demonstrate their obedience by going back to fully observing of the Sabbath day by not engaging in buying and selling, and by maintaining a day of complete rest. No doubt the hope was that this would then be a trigger which would spur them on to a new consideration of the whole Law. It was a demand which would separate those who were ready to obey the covenant from those who were not.
The Sabbath day was undoubtedly of ancient origin, and it is mentioned in all the early sources, thus there are no reliable grounds for denying these words to Jeremiah. It was to be used by him as an acid test of obedience.
Note On The Sabbath Day. The Significance Of The Sabbath.
The seventh day Sabbath was unique to Israel in that it was observed every seventh day regardless of the day of the moon period the seventh day fell on, and was a day of total abstention from work of any kind. (Feeding and caring for animals was probably not seen as work, but as an act of compassion and necessity as with feeding the family). It was intended to be a day of delight (Isa 58:13-14) and the Israelites saw the ‘seventh day’ (although not as stated to be the sabbath) as ‘blessed’ (Gen 2:3). It was a day on which evil should not be done lest it polluted the day (Isa 56:2-4). It was especially of delight to the lower orders, for Deu 5:14 especially emphasises the social benefit of the day in that it ensured that even the lowest menial had a day of rest. Thus all the emphasis in relation to the Sabbath in Israel is positive. It is, however, interesting to note that it is never designated as a day of worship, even though certain special sacrifices were offered on that day. The whole emphasis is on avoidance of work for all resulting in a period of relaxation and rest.
It has been suggested that the closest parallel to the Sabbath was the Babylonian sabattu or sabattum, but we should note:
1. That the seeming similarity of name is artificial as is evidenced by the fact that sabbath has two ‘b’s and one ‘t’, while sabattu has only one ‘b’ and two ‘t’s, something important etymologically. Thus they are not directly related words.
2. That the Sabbath in Israel was a day observed in a totally different way from the Babylonian sabattu. The Babylonian sabattu was a ‘day of appeasement of the mind’ (of a deity), and directly connected with the 15th day of the month (the full moon), and no other. But we know that work was regularly done on it (as witnessed by contract tablets) and it is never connected with a seven day period, nor indeed seen as something to be observed in a regular cycle.
It is true that the Babylonians did also observe certain days of ill-omen in certain moon periods of the year (although seemingly not every moon period) but these were never called sabattu. They involved only the king, priests and physicians, and were days of ill-omen, days on which these particular people must beware of arousing the anger of the gods. They were not designated as days of rest. In order to fulfil his obligation the king had to abstain from food prepared by fire, from putting on royal dress, from going out in his chariot and from speaking officially. This would appear to have been a sign of servitude to the gods. These days of ill-omen occurred on the 7th, 14th, 19th, 21st and 28th days of each moon period and while superficially giving the impression of almost paralleling the seventh day sabbath did not in fact do so because they did not follow the continual seven day pattern. This is emphasised by the fact that a moon period was not twenty eight days long. Thus from the twenty eighth day of one moon period to the seventh day of the next was quite regularly longer than seven days. There is indeed nowhere a suggestion that a seven day pattern is important.
The Babylonians in fact appear to have divided time into five day periods, but even then it is clear from contract tablets that days designated as sabattum were not days of cessation from labour, whilst contracts from Mari show that work was sometimes performed over a series of several days without any interruption for a ‘seventh day’.
It is quite apparent from this that the Israelite Sabbath and the Babylonian sabattu (the nearest apparent parallel) bore little relationship to each other, while any resemblance with the days of ill-omen is superficial. The whole emphasis in the Israelite Sabbath is on continuity and regularity without it being related to specific days in a moon period or any other period. It is in fact the only known sacred day which was related to neither sun nor moon, and probably indicated that time was perfectly and separately controlled by God. Furthermore its initial introduction in Exodus 16 indicates no connection with the phases of the moon. Rather it was connected with the giving of the manna. The first ‘sabbath’ fell on the seventh day after the first giving of the manna. It was thus a day marking God’s double provision on the previous day and would later be connected with the seventh day of creation and with the need to give all people of whatever level one day of rest in seven.
End of note.
Jer 17:19
“Thus said YHWH to me,
‘Go, and stand in the gate of the children of the people,
By which the kings of Judah come in, and by which they go out,
And in all the gates of Jerusalem,”
Commencing with ‘the gate of the children of the people’, which was also the gate by which the Kings of Judah came in, and by which they went out (a reminder that the Temple was no longer the king’s chapel), Jeremiah was to go and stand in all the gates of Jerusalem in order to proclaim the message that follows. The ‘gate of the children of the people’ was clearly seen as an important and well used gate, and was probably the east gate of the Temple facing the door of the sanctuary, being the gate most regularly used by the people, and by kings of Judah, and gaining in importance from the royal use. It may have been intended to distinguish it from the gates more often used by the priests and Levites, of whom there would have been many. The mention of both kings and people emphasises that Jeremiah’s message was to both kings and people. The fact that YHWH is calling for obedience to the covenant may suggest a date in the early days of Jehoiakim before Judah’s sin had reached the point of no return.
Jer 17:20
“And say to them, ‘Hear you the word of YHWH,
You kings of Judah, and all Judah,
And all the inhabitants of Jerusalem,
Who enter in by these gates.”
The call was to ‘the kings’ of Judah, to all the people throughout Judah who had come to the feast, and to the people of Jerusalem themselves. The whole nation was thus involved. The plural ‘kings’ may have been intended to indicate the king and his princes, especially including the crown prince who may well have been co-ruler as was common in Judah. Or Jeremiah may have seen himself as speaking to all kings in the future about something that was foundational.
Jer 17:21-23
“Thus says YHWH,
Take heed to yourselves,
And bear no burden on the sabbath day,
Nor bring it in by the gates of Jerusalem,
Nor carry forth a burden out of your houses on the sabbath day,
Nor do you any work,
But hallow you the sabbath day,
As I commanded your fathers.
But they did not listen, nor inclined their ear,
But made their neck stiff,
That they might not hear,
And might not receive instruction.
The call was for them to remedy what their fathers had failed to do, and to commence keeping the Sabbath day correctly. This is an indication that the Sabbath day was only being observed laxly if at all. The purpose of carrying a burden on the Sabbath day would have been in order to take goods for resale to the Temple market for sale, which would include goods brought in by those who entered Jerusalem for a similar purpose. We can compare here Nehemiah’s words in Neh 13:15, ‘I saw in Judah some treading winepresses on the Sabbath, and bringing in sheaves, and lading asses with them, as also wine, grapes and figs, and all manner of burdens which they brought into Jerusalem on the Sabbath day. And I testified in the day in which they sold victuals.’
Furthermore they were to abstain from all work, thereby treating the Sabbath day as ‘holy’ (sanctifying it), and acknowledging YHWH’s Lordship. This had previously been commanded to their fathers, but they had not listened or responded. Indeed they had deliberately stiffened their necks so at to avoid hearing or being instructed. It had been a total slight to YHWH. Now their offspring were being given a ‘second chance’.
Jer 17:24
“And it will come about, if you diligently listen to me, the word of YHWH,
To bring in no burden through the gates of this city on the sabbath day,
But to hallow the sabbath day,
To do no work in it,
Then will there enter in by the gates of this city,
Kings and princes sitting on the throne of David,
Riding in chariots and on horses,
They, and their princes,
The men of Judah, and the inhabitants of Jerusalem,
And this city will remain for ever.”
And the promise was that if they would renew their obedience to YHWH and listen diligently to Him, (it was the guaranteed word of YHWH), something that they would demonstrate, firstly by not bringing trading goods through the gates of the city on the Sabbath day, and secondly by ‘hallowing’ it by not working on it, then their kingship and rulers would be established, sitting on the throne of David and riding in authority and splendour, with the result that they, and the men of Judah and the citizens of Jerusalem, together with their city, would remain for ever. The Davidic rule would be permanently established. It was a remarkable call back to the covenant accompanied by remarkable promises. The implication was that even at that stage they were being offered independence and immunity for Jerusalem and its environs if only they would follow YHWH with all their hearts.
Jer 17:26
“And they will come from the cities of Judah,
And from the places round about Jerusalem,
And from the land of Benjamin, and from the lowland (the Shephelah),
And from the hill-country, and from the South (the Negeb),
Bringing burnt-offerings, and sacrifices,
And meal-offerings, and frankincense,
And bringing praise,
To the house of YHWH.”
And not only so, but they would be free to worship in peace as they chose. The description of those who would come to worship indicates the size of the kingdom of Judah at this point. It included the cities of Judah to the south and west, the environs of Jerusalem, the land of Benjamin to the north, the Shephelah (lower hills) which would include Lachish and Libnah, the hill-country (which may have included the hill-country of Ephraim), and the far south, the Negeb, the pastureland with its oases and towns on their southern borders which would have included Beersheba.
And the people from all these areas would come bringing dedicatory burnt offerings, sin and peace offerings (sacrifices), meal offerings of grain, olive oil and frankincense, and praise and worship in psalms and prayers of thanksgiving, all to the house of YHWH. Judah would be a free and flourishing country under YHWH..
Jer 17:27
“But if you will not listen to me,
To hallow the sabbath day,
And not to bear a burden and enter in at the gates of Jerusalem on the sabbath day,
Then will I kindle a fire in its gates,
And it will devour the palaces of Jerusalem,
And it will not be quenched.”
But if they would not listen to Him, and would not hallow the Sabbath by abstaining from work, and would not abstain from trade on the Sabbath, then Jerusalem would be handed over to their enemies. Its gates would be burned down, its palaces would be ‘devoured’ by fire, and the fire would not be quenched. None would escape.
The point was not that if they kept the Sabbath nothing else would matter, but that how they responded to the Sabbath would reveal what their lives and thoughts were like generally. It would demonstrate a genuine dedication to God and a concern for their fellow human beings, and indicate that they desired to do God’s will. It was the litmus test, similar to Jesus’ command to the rich young man to sell all and follow Him, and would mark them out as belonging to YHWH in a society which would resent it and demonstrate that He mattered more to them than profit and gain. One thing that all this does make clear is that YHWH gave Judah every opportunity to repent before He finally closed His offer and sealed their final judgment.
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
The Hallowing of the Sabbath
v. 19. Thus saith the Lord unto me, v. 20. and say unto them, Hear ye the word of the Lord, ye kings of Judah, v. 21. Thus saith the Lord, Take heed to yourselves, v. 22. neither carry forth a burden out of your houses on the Sabbath-day, neither do ye any work, v. 23. But they obeyed not, neither inclined their ear, v. 24. And it shall come to pass, if ye diligently hearken unto Me, saith the Lord, to bring in no burden through the gates of this city on the Sabbath-day, but hallow the Sabbath-day to do no work therein, v. 25. then shall there enter into the gates of this city kings and princes sitting upon the throne of David, riding in chariots and on horses, v. 26. And they shall come from the cities of Judah, v. 27. But if ye will not hearken unto Me to hallow the Sabbath-day and not to bear a burden, even entering in at the gates of Jerusalem on the Sabbath-day,
Fuente: The Popular Commentary on the Bible by Kretzmann
No sooner had the Prophet finished his prayer, than he begins again his Sermon. It is a delightful transition from preaching to prayer, and from prayer to preaching. Both form a part in the minister’s commission. We have here God’s command blended with his promise, for the sanctification of the sabbath. Oh! who can read it, and the awful judgments connected with the breach of the sabbath, but must tremble for our British Judah and Jerusalem? Oh! for the Lord to pour out of the residue of his Holy Spirit, that we may reverence his sabbaths!
Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Jer 17:19 Thus said the LORD unto me; Go and stand in the gate of the children of the people, whereby the kings of Judah come in, and by the which they go out, and in all the gates of Jerusalem;
Ver. 19. Go and stand in the gate of the children. ] The sheep gate, say some, whereof see Neh 3:1 ; Neh 3:32 ; Neh 12:39 ; or, as others, the water gate, whereof Neh 3:26 . A place it was of great resort and concourse, and therefore fittest for this new sermon to be made in first, though afterwards also he was to preach it in all the gates of Jerusalem, forasmuch as it was about a matter of greatest importance, even the serious sanctification of the Sabbath day. Diem septimum opifex mundi natalem sibi sacravit, et observari praecepit. That fourth commandment, saith Philo, is a famous precept, and profitable to excite to all kind of virtue and piety.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: Jer 17:19-23
19Thus the LORD said to me, Go and stand in the public gate, through which the kings of Judah come in and go out, as well as in all the gates of Jerusalem; 20and say to them, ‘Listen to the word of the LORD, kings of Judah, and all Judah and all inhabitants of Jerusalem who come in through these gates: 21Thus says the LORD, Take heed for yourselves, and do not carry any load on the sabbath day or bring anything in through the gates of Jerusalem. 22You shall not bring a load out of your houses on the sabbath day nor do any work, but keep the sabbath day holy, as I commanded your forefathers. 23Yet they did not listen or incline their ears, but stiffened their necks in order not to listen or take correction.’
Jer 17:19-27 YHWH responds to Jeremiah’s prayer by focusing on covenant obedience, specifically Sabbath observance. Judah would be blessed or cursed based on her obedience (cf. Leviticus 26; Deuteronomy 27-29). This one command represented all the Mosaic legislation.
The Judeans knew this but YHWH would remind them through Jeremiah’s proclamation at a specific gate of the temple used by the king.
Their response is recorded in Jer 17:23; Jer 17:27. Jer 17:24-27 function as a parallel strophe.
YHWH wanted to bless (cf. Jer 17:25-26) Judah so that the world might come to know Him (see Special Topic at Jer 1:5), but they would not (cf. Ezek. 26:22-32).
Jer 17:20 listen The term (BDB 1033, KB 1570, Qal IMPERATIVE) means to hear so as to do (i.e., Deu 4:1; Deu 5:1; Deu 6:3-4, see full note at Deu 6:4 online)! It is repeated in Jer 17:23-24 (intensified), 27. This is similar to Jas 1:23-27. True faith involved heart, head, and hand!
Jer 17:21 take heed for yourselves The MT is literally an idiom, take heed for the sake of your lives. The VERB (BDB 1036, KB 1581, Niphal IMPERATIVE) denotes careful listening (cf. Deu 4:9; Deu 4:15; Deu 4:23; Deu 6:12; Deu 8:11; Jos 23:11).
Jer 17:23 stiffened their necks See note at Jer 7:25-26. They were unwilling to hear and respond!
Fuente: You Can Understand the Bible: Study Guide Commentary Series by Bob Utley
the gate, &c. Probably the main entrance to the Courts of the Temple. See plan, App-68.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
Jer 17:19-23
Jer 17:19-23
A SABBATH PROCLAMATION
Thus said Jehovah unto me: Go, and stand in the gate of the children of the people, whereby the kings of Judah come in, and by which they go out, and in all the gates of Jerusalem; and say unto them, Hear ye the word of Jehovah, ye kings of Judah, and all Judah, and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem, that enter in by these gates: Thus saith Jehovah, Take heed to yourselves, and bear no burden on the sabbath day, nor bring it in by the gates of Jerusalem; neither carry forth a burden out of your houses on the sabbath day, neither do ye any work: but hallow ye the sabbath day, as I commanded your fathers. But they hearkened not, neither inclined their ear, but made their neck stiff, that they might not hear, and might not receive instruction.
Despite the prominence of the sabbath regulation here, one gets the impression that the Fourth Commandment of the Decalogue stands here as a synecdoche for the whole Mosaic Law.
There has been a great deal of quibbling about which gate was meant by “the gate of the children of the people”; but the passage clearly shows that no particular gate is meant. Jeremiah was to stand and preach wherever the people were.
Gate of the children of the people. in all the gates of Jerusalem … these gates … in the gates of Jerusalem …..
(Jer 17:19-21). No gate was to be exempt from Jeremiah’s preaching, not even the gate used by the kings of Judah.
Some commentators deny this passage to Jeremiah on their false assumption that sabbath observance was a feature of the post-exilic times; but for those interested in such groundless denials, Green has provided some answers. He also noted that the appearance of the Sabbath Day in this context “is a sign of the Mosaic Covenant.”
Throughout Jeremiah the conditional nature of prophecies of doom is continually stressed, a fact that will receive special attention in the next chapter, where all prophecies, whether of blessing or condemnation, are revealed as absolutely conditional. Thompson’s comment here is, “Jeremiah made it clear that the people of Judah held their destiny in their own hands.”
The particular violation of the sabbath regulations which might have precipitated this choice of that commandment to stand by metonymy for the whole Law of Moses was suggested by Feinberg as follows: “The people who lived in the fields surrounding Jerusalem and worked the fields during the week selected the Sabbath as the day to bring their produce into the city, and the people of the city brought stores of goods and materials out of their houses to exchange for the produce, contrary to the express commandment of God through Moses.
Chapter 17 ends with a prose discourse urging the keeping of the Sabbath. Like Amos (Amo 8:4-6) and Isaiah (Isaiah 56, 58) before him, Jeremiah regarded violation of the Sabbath as a serious offense. Jeremiah in this sermon addressed to the royal house makes Sabbath observance the condition for national survival. The sermon moves through three phases: (1) exhortation (Jer 17:19-23); (2) promise (Jer 17:24-26); and (3) threat (Jer 17:27).
Exhortation Jer 17:19-23
Jeremiah is commissioned to preach this sermon in the gates of the city of Jerusalem. He is to start at that gate which was most frequently used by the kings. This gate, called the gate of the children of the people, cannot be identified (Jer 17:19). He addresses his message to the kings of Judah, the population of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem (Jer 17:20). The question has been raised as to why Jeremiah uses the plural kings. Perhaps the message was to be applied to successive kings of Judah. But more likely Jeremiah is addressing the entire royal house under this title. There is evidence in this period that the members of the royal family exercised considerable authority. Zedekiah, for example, seems to have been completely dominated by this group. Thus here the word kings is used loosely to refer to all the princes of the realm.
Jeremiahs object in this message is to get the people to hallow the Sabbath day. Apparently the Sabbath law was, disregarded. Goods from far and near were being transported into the city and business was being conducted as usual on the seventh day. For this reason Jeremiah calls upon the merchants to cease bringing goods into the city on the Sabbath (Jer 17:21) and calls upon the people to cease bringing articles from their houses with which to barter for the produce of the merchants. He exhorts the inhabitants of Jerusalem to sanctify the Sabbath in the way in which God commanded their fathers to do (Jer 17:22). The fathers had rejected the commandment of God and as a result had suffered divine correction. But even this divine correction had not induced repentance on the part of the previous generation (Jer 17:23). The nation had continued on the path of disobedience until now Judah was faced with the inevitable national destruction.
Fuente: Old and New Testaments Restoration Commentary
am cir, 3393, bc cir, 611, Jer 7:2, Jer 19:2, Jer 26:2, Jer 36:6, Jer 36:10, Pro 1:20-22, Pro 8:1, Pro 9:3, Act 5:20
Reciprocal: Neh 13:19 – I commanded Jer 19:14 – he stood Zec 1:4 – unto
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Jer 17:19. The most important cities were walled as a protection against enemies, and hence persons entering or passing from them would need to go through the gates. That would make an advantage for one who wished to meet the citizens with some kind of a message, and the prophet was told to go to the gate for that purpose.
Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary
Jer 17:19-24. Thus saith the Lord, Go, &c. Here we evidently have a distinct prophecy, which the prophet was commanded to deliver most probably soon, if not immediately, after the foregoing. Stand in the gate of the children of the people By which It seems is meant the gate most frequented by the people; being that nearest the palace, where the kings of Judah held their most solemn courts of judicature, or by which they ordinarily went out of the city, and returned into it. And say, Hear ye the word of the Lord, ye kings of Judah The word of the Lord equally concerns the highest and the lowest, the greatest princes as well as the meanest subjects. Thus saith the Lord, Take heed to yourselves The Hebrew is, Take heed to your souls, intimating that the sanctification of the sabbath is an important thing, wherein the welfare of mens souls is concerned. Neither carry forth a burden, &c. See notes on Neh 13:15-22. Neither do ye any work Servile work was forbidden to be done upon their solemn festivals, Lev 23:8; Lev 23:35, much more upon the sabbath days. But hallow ye the sabbath days The sabbath was instituted as a sign or token of Gods covenant with his people, Exo 31:13, and the observance of it was the distinguishing character of a Jew, whereby he declared himself to be a worshipper of the true God, who made heaven and earth, and ordained the sabbath day as a memorial of the creation. So that for the Jews to profane the sabbath, was in effect to renounce their share in Gods covenant.
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Jer 17:19-27. The Sabbath Day.The general tone and emphasis of this paragraph, which makes a particular ceremonial ordinance the condition of permanent survival, relate it rather to the period of Neh 13:15-22 than to that of Jeremiah. The prophecy is uttered in the gate (Jer 7:2), because of the Sabbath traffic through it; nothing is known of this particular gate. In Jer 17:21 and Jer 17:25 read as mg.; omit and princes in Jer 17:25. Jer 17:26 designates the districts around the small post-exilic community, viz. the lowland or Shephelah, towards Philistia, the hill-country around Hebron, and the south, the country S. of Judah (pp. 31f.). For the burnt-offering, and sacrifice (i.e peace-offering) see Exo 20:24; for the meal-offering (mg.), Lev 2:1 ff.; for the frankincense, Jer 6:20; for the thanksgiving offering, Lev 7:12. Jer 17:27 b is drawn from the refrain of Amo 1:3; Amo 2:5; cf. Jer 21:14; Jer 49:27; Jer 50:32.
Fuente: Peake’s Commentary on the Bible
17:19 Thus said the LORD to me; Go and stand in the {s} gate of the children of the people, by which the kings of Judah come in, and by which they go out, and in all the gates of Jerusalem;
(s) While your doctrine may best be understood both by high and low.
Fuente: Geneva Bible Notes
The importance of Sabbath observance 17:19-27
This section contains one of Jeremiah’s sermons. Notice its introduction, proclamation of the Law, promise of blessing for the obedient, and threat of judgment for the disobedient.
Fuente: Expository Notes of Dr. Constable (Old and New Testaments)
The Lord commanded Jeremiah to station himself at the gates of Jerusalem, where the king and the people passed by. It seems impossible to determine which of the gates of Jerusalem was the so-called public gate. It may even have been an entrance into the outer court of the temple. [Note: Ibid., 1:289.] The prophet was to call the kings and people to listen to the Lord’s message that he had for them. If chapter 7 records Jeremiah’s Temple Sermon, one might regard this as his Gate Sermon.
Fuente: Expository Notes of Dr. Constable (Old and New Testaments)
CHAPTER X
THE SABBATH – A WARNING
Jer 17:19-27
“THUS said Iahvah unto me: Go and stand in the gate of Benjamin, whereby the kings of Judah come in, and whereby they go out; and in all the gates of Jerusalem. And say unto them, Hear ye the word of Iahvah, O kings of Judah, and all Judah, and all inhabitants of Jerusalem, who come in by these gates!”
“Thus said Iahvah: Beware, on your lives, and bear ye not a burden on the Day of Rest, nor bring it in by the gates of Jerusalem! Nor shall ye bring a burden forth out of your houses on the Day of Rest, nor shall ye do any work; but ye shall hallow the Day of Rest, as I commanded your fathers.” (Albeit, they hearkened not, nor inclined their ear, but stiffened their neck against hearkening, and against receiving instruction.)
“And it shall come to pass, if ye will indeed hearken unto Me, saith Iahvah, not to bring a burden in by the gates of this city on the Day of Rest, but to hallow the Day of Rest, not to do therein any work; then there shall come in by the gates of this city kings (and princes) sitting upon the throne of David, riding on the chariots and on the horses, they and their princes, O men of Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem! and this city shall be inhabited forever. And people shall come in from the cities of Judah and from the places round Jerusalem, and from the land of Benjamin, and from the lowlands, and from the hill country, and from the south, bringing in burnt offering and thank offering, and oblation and incense; and bringing a thanksgiving into the house of Iahvah.”
“And if ye hearken not unto Me to hallow the Day of Rest, and not to bear a burden and come in by the gates of Jerusalem on the Day of Rest: I will kindle a fire in her gates, and it shall devour the palaces of Jerusalem, and shall not be quenched.”
The matter and manner of this brief oracle mark it off from those which precede it as an independent utterance, and a whole complete in itself. Its position may be accounted for by its probable date, which may be fixed a little after the previous chapters, in the three months reign of the ill-starred Jehoiachin; and by the writers or his editors desire to break the monotony of commination by an occasional gleam of hope and promise. At the same time, the introductory formula with which it opens is so similar to that of the following oracles (chapters 18, 19), as to suggest the idea of a connection in time between the members of the group. Further, there is an obvious connection of thought between chapters 18, 19. In the former, the house of Israel is represented as clay in the hand of the Divine Potter; in the latter, Judah is a potters vessel, destined to be broken in pieces. And if we assume the priority of the piece before us, a logical progress is observable, from the alternative here presented for the peoples choice, to their decision for the worst part, {Jer 18:12 sqq.} and then to the corresponding decision on the part of Iahvah (19). Or, as Hitzig puts it otherwise, in the piece before us the scales are still in equipoise; in chapter 18, one goes down; Iahvah intends mischief (Jer 18:11), and the people are invited to appease His anger. But the warning is fruitless; and therefore the prophet announces their destruction, depicting it in the darkest colours (chapter 19). The immediate consequence to Jeremiah himself is related in Jer 20:1-6; and it is highly probable that the section, Jer 21:11-14; Jer 22:1-9, is the continuation of the oracle addressed to Pashchur: so that we have before us a whole group of prophecies belonging to the same eventful period of the prophets activity. {Jer 17:20 agrees closely Jer 22:2, and Jer 17:25 with Jer 22:4}
The circumstances of the present oracle are these. Jeremiah is inwardly bidden to station himself first in “the gate of the sons of the people”-a gate of Jerusalem which we cannot further determine, as it is not mentioned elsewhere under this designation, but which appears to have been a special resort of the masses of the population, because it was the one by which the kings were wont to enter and leave the city, and where they doubtless were accustomed to hear petitions and to administer justice; and afterwards, he is to take his stand in all the gates in turn, so as not to miss the chance of delivering his message to any of his countrymen. He is there to address the “kings of Judah” (Jer 17:20); an expression which may denote the young king Jehoiachin and his mother, {Jer 13:18} orthe king and the princes of the blood; the “House of David” of Jer 21:12. The promise “kings shall come in by the gates of this city and this city shall be inhabited forever,” and the threat “I will kindle a fire in her gates, and it shall devour the palaces of Jerusalem,” may be taken to imply a time when the public danger was generally recognised. The first part of the promise may be intended to meet an apprehension, such as might naturally be felt after the death of Jehoiakim that the incensed Chaldeans would come and take away the Jewish place and nation. In raising the boy Jehoiachin to the throne of his fathers, men may have sorrowfully foreboded that, as the event proved, he would never keep his crown till manhood, nor beget a race of future kings.
The matter of the charge to rulers and people is the due observance of the fourth commandment: “ye shall hallow the Day of Rest, as I commanded your fathers,” {see Exo 20:8} “Remember the Day of Rest, to hallow it”-which is probably the original form of the precept. Jeremiah, however, probably had in mind the form of the precept as it appears in Deuteronomy: “Observe the Day of Rest to hallow it, as Iahvah thy God commanded thee.” {Deu 5:12} The Hebrew term for “hallow” means to separate a thing from common things, and devote it to God.
To hallow the Day of Rest, therefore, is to make a marked distinction between it and ordinary days, and to connect it in some way with religion. What is here commanded is to abstain from “bearing burdens,” and doing any kind of work. {melakah, Gen 2:2-3; Exo 20:9-10; Exo 31:14-15; Gen 39:11, “appointed task,” “duty,” “business”} The bearing of burdens into the gates and out of the houses clearly describes the ordinary commerce between town and country. The country folk are forbidden to bring their farm produce to the market in the city gates, and the townspeople to convey thither from their houses and shops the manufactured goods which they were accustomed to barter for these. Nehemiahs memoirs furnish a good illustration of the general sense of the passage, {Neh 13:15} relating how he suppressed this Sabbath traffic between town and country. Dr. Kuenen has observed that “Jeremiah is the first of the prophets who stands up for a stricter sanctification of the seventh day, treating it, however, merely as a day of rest. What was traditional appears to have been only abstinence from field work, and perhaps also from professional pursuits.” In like manner, he had before stated that “tendencies to such an exaggeration of the Sabbath rest as would make it absolute, are found from the Chaldean period. Isaiah {Isa 1:13} regards the Sabbath purely as a sacrificial day.” The last statement here is hardly a fair inference. In the passage referred to Isaiah is inveighing against the futile worship of his contemporaries; and he only mentions the Sabbath in this connection. And that “tradition” required more than “abstinence from field work” is evident from words of the prophet Amos, written at least a century and a half before the present oracle, and implying that very abstinence from trading which Jeremiah prescribes. Amos makes the grasping dealers of his time cry impatiently, “When will the new moon be gone, that we may sell corn? and the sabbath, that we may set out wheat for sale?”; {Amo 8:5} a clear proof that buying and selling were suspended on the Sabbath festival in the eighth century B.C.
It is hardly likely that, when law or custom compelled, covetous dealers to cease operations on the Sabbath, and buying and selling, the principal business of the time, were suspended, the artisans of town or country would be allowed by public opinion to ply their everyday tasks. Accordingly, when Jeremiah adds to his prohibition of Sabbath trading, a veto upon any kind of “work”-a term which includes this trafficking, but also covers the labour of handicraftsmen {cf. Exo 35:35} -he is not really increasing the stringency of the traditional rule about Sabbath observance.
Further, it is difficult to understand how Dr. Kuenen could gather from this passage that Jeremiah treats the Sabbath “merely as a day of rest.” This negative character of mere cessation from work, of enforced idleness, is far from being the sole feature of the Sabbath, either in Jeremiahs view of it, or as other more ancient authorities represent it. The testimony of the passage before us proves, if proof were needed, that the Sabbath was a day of worship. This is implied both by the phrase “ye shall hallow the Day of Rest,” that is, consecrate it to Iahvah, and by the promise that if the precept be observed faithfully, abundant offerings shall flow into the temple from all parts of the country, that is, as the context seems to require, for the due celebration of the Sabbath festival. There is an intentional contrast between the bringing of innumerable victims, and “bearing burdens” of flour and oil and incense on the Sabbath, for the joyful service of the temple, including the festal meal of the worshippers, and that other carriage of goods for merely secular objects. And as the wealth of the Jerusalem priesthood chiefly depended upon the abundance of the sacrifices, it may be supposed that Jeremiah thus gives them a hint that it is really their interest to encourage the observance of the law of the Sabbath. For if men were busy with their buying and selling, their making and mending, upon the seventh as on other days, they would have no more time or inclination for religious duties than the Sunday traders of our large towns have under the vastly changed conditions of the present day. Moreover, the teaching of our prophet in this matter takes for granted that of his predecessors, with whose writings he was thoroughly acquainted. If in this passage he does not expressly designate the Sabbath as a religious festival, it is because it seemed needless to state a thing so obvious, so generally recognised in theory, however loosely observed in practice. The elder prophets Hosea, Amos, Isaiah, associate Sabbath and new moon together as days of festal rejoicing, when men appeared before Iahvah, that is, repaired to the sanctuary for worship and sacrifice, {Hos 2:11; Isa 1:11-14} and when all ordinary business was consequently suspended. {Amo 8:5}
It is clear, then, from this important passage of Jeremiah that in his time and by himself the Sabbath was still regarded under the double aspect of a religious feast and a day of cessation from labour, the latter being, as in the ancient world generally, a natural consequence of the former characteristic. Whether the abolition of the local sanctuaries in the eighteenth year of Josiah resulted in any practical modification of the conception of the Sabbath, so that, in the words of Professor Robertson Smith, “it became for most Israelites an institution of humanity divorced from ritual,” is rendered doubtful by the following considerations. The period between the reform of Josiah and the fall of Jerusalem was very brief, including not more than about thirty-five years (621-586, according to Wellhausen). But that a reaction followed the disastrous end of the royal Reformer is both likely under the circumstances, and implied by the express assertions of the author of Kings, who declares of the succeeding monarchs that they “did evil in the sight of the Lord according to all that their fathers had done.” As Wellhausen writes: “the battle of Megiddo had shown that in spite of the covenant with Jehovah the possibilities of non-success in war remained the same as before”: so at least it would appear to the unspiritual mind of a populace, still hankering after the old forms of local worship, with their careless connivance at riot and disorder. It is not probable that a rapacious and bloody tyrant, like Jehoiakim, would evince more tenderness for the ritual laws than for the moral precepts of Deuteronomy. It is likely, then, that the worship at the local high places revived during this and the following reigns, just as it had revived after its temporary abolition by Hezekiah. {2Ki 18:22} Moreover, it is with Judah, not ruined and depopulated Israel, that we have to deal; and even in Judah the people must by this time have been greatly reduced by war and its attendant evils, so that Jerusalem itself and its immediate neighbourhood probably comprised the main part of the population to which Jeremiah addressed his discourses during this period. The bulk of the little nation would, in fact, naturally concentrate upon Jerusalem, in the troublous times that followed the death of Josiah. If so, it is superfluous to assume that “most men could only visit the central altar at rare intervals” during these last decades of the national existence. The change of view belongs rather to the sixth than the seventh century, to Babylonia rather than to Judea.
The Sabbath observance prescribed by the old Law, and recommended by Jeremiah, was indeed a very different thing from the pedantic and burdensome obligation which it afterwards became in the hands of scribes and Pharisees. These, with their long catalogue of prohibited works, and their grotesque methods of evading the rigour of their own rules, had succeeded in making what was originally a joyous festival and day of rest for the weary, into an intolerable interlude of joyless restraint; when our Lord reminded them that the Sabbath was made for man, and not man for the Sabbath. {St. Mar 2:27} Treating the strict observance of the day as an end in itself, they forgot or ignored the fact that the oldest forms of the sacred Law agreed in justifying the institution by religious and humanitarian considerations. {Exo 20:8; Exo 20:10; Deu 5:12} The difference in the grounds assigned by the different legislations-Deuteronomy alleging neither the Divine Rest of Exo 20:1-26, nor the sign of Exo 31:13, but the enlightened and enduring motive “that thy bondman and thine handmaid may rest as well as thou,” coupled with the feeling injunction, “Remember that thou wast a bondman in the land of Egypt” {Deu 5:14-15} -need not here be discussed; for in any case, the different motives thus suggested were enough to make it clear to those who had eyes to see, that the Sabbath was not anciently conceived as an arbitrary institution established purely for its own sake, and without reference to ulterior considerations of public benefit. The Book of the Covenant affirmed the principle of Sabbath rest in these unmistakable terms: “Six days thou mayst do thy works, and on the seventh day thou shalt leave off, that thine ox and thine ass may rest, and the son of thine handmaid”-the home-born slave-“and the alien may be refreshed,” {Exo 23:12} lit. recover breath, have respite. The humane care of the lawgiver for the dumb toilers and slaves requires no comment; and we have already noticed the same spirit of humanity in the later precept of the Book of the Law. {Deu 5:14-15} These older rules, it will be observed, are perfectly general in their scope, and forbid not particular actions, {Exo 16:23; Exo 35:3; Num 15:32} but the continuance of ordinary labour; prescribing a merciful intermission alike for the cattle employed in husbandry and as beasts of burden, and for all classes of dependents.
The origin of the Sabbath festival is lost in obscurity. When the unknown writer of Gen 1:1-31 so beautifully connects it with the creation of the world, he betrays not only the belief of his contemporaries in its immemorial antiquity, but also a true perception of the utility of the institution, its perfect adaptation to the wants of humanity. He expresses his sense of the fact in the most emphatic way possible, by affirming the Divine origin of an institution whose value to man is divinely great; and by carrying back that origin to the very beginning, he implies that the Sabbath was made for mankind and not merely for Israel. To whom indeed could an ancient Jewish writer refer as the original source of this unique blessing of a Day of Rest and drawing near to God, if not to Iahvah, the fountain of all things good?
That Moses, the founder of the nation, gave Israel the Sabbath, is as likely as anything can be. Whether in doing so he simply sanctioned an ancient and salutary custom (investing it perhaps with new and better associations), dating from the tribal existence of the fathers in Chaldea, or ordered the matter so in purposeful contrast to the Egyptian week of ten days, cannot at present be determined. The Sabbath of Israel, both that of the prophets and that of the scribes, was an institution which distinguished the nation from all others in the period open to historical scrutiny; and with this knowledge we may rest content. That which made Israel what it was, and what it became to the world; the total of the good which this people realised, and left as a priceless heritage to mankind forever, was the outcome, not of what it had in common with heathen antiquity, but of what was peculiar to itself in ideas and institutions. We cannot be too strongly on our guard against assuming external, superficial, and often accidental resemblances, to be an index of inward and essential likeness and unity. Whatever approximations may be established by modern archeology between Israel and kindred peoples, it will still be true that those points of contact do not explain, though to the apprehension of individuals they may obscure, what is truly characteristic of Israel, and what alone gives that nation its imperishable significance in the history of the world. After all deductions made upon such grounds, nothing can abolish the force of the fact that Moses and the prophets do not belong to Moab, Ammon, or Edom; that the Old Testament, though written in the language of Canaan, is not a monument of Canaanite, but of Israelite faith; that the Christ did not spring out of Babylon or Egypt, and that Christianity is not explicable as the last development of Accadian magic or Egyptian animal worship.
To those who believe that the prophets enjoyed a higher and less fallible guidance than human fancy, reflection, experience; who recognise in the general aim and effect of their teaching, as contrasted with that of other teachers, the best proof that their minds were subject to an influence and a spirit transcending the common limits of humanity; the prominence given by Jeremiah to the law of the Sabbath will be sufficient evidence of the importance of that law to the welfare of his contemporaries, if not of all subsequent generations. If we have rightly assigned the piece to the reign of Jehoiachin, we may suppose that among the contrary currents which agitated the national life at that crisis, there were indications of repentance and remorse at the misdoings of the late reign. The present utterance of the prophet might then be regarded as a test of the degree and worth of the revulsion of popular feeling towards the God of the Fathers. The nation was trembling for its existence, and Jeremiah met its fears by pointing out the path of safety. Here was one special precept hitherto but little observed. Would they keep it now and henceforth, in token of a genuine obedience? Repentance in general terms is never difficult. The rub is conduct. Recognition of the Divine Law is easy, so long as life is not submitted to its control. The prophet thus proposes, in a single familiar instance, a plain test of sincerity, which is perhaps not less applicable in our own day than it was then.
The wording of the final threat suggests a thought of solemn consequence for ourselves. “I will kindle a fire in her gates, and it shall devour the castles of Jerusalem-and shall not be quenched!” The gates were the scene of Judahs sinful breach of the Sabbath law, and in them her punishment is to begin. So in the after life of the lost those parts of the physical and mental organism which have been the principal seats of sin, the means and instruments of mans misdoing, will also be the seat of keenest suffering, the source and abode of the most poignant misery. “The fire that never shall be quenched”-Jesus has spoken of that awful mystery, as well as Jeremiah. It is the ever-kindling, never-dying fire of hopeless and insatiable desire; it is the withering flame of hatred of self, when the castaway sees with open eyes what that self has become; it is the burning pain of a sleepless memory of the unalterable past; it is the piercing sense of a life flung recklessly to ruin; it is the scorching shame, the scathing self-contempt, the quenchless, raging thirst for deliverance from ourselves; it is the fearful consciousness of self-destruction, branded upon the soul forever and ever!