Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Jeremiah 17:21
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;
21. to yourselves ] rather as mg. for your life’s sake, Heb. in your souls; we should say, As you value your lives.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Verse 21. Take heed to yourselves and bear no burden] From this and the following verses we find the ruin of the Jews attributed to the breach of the Sabbath; as this led to a neglect of sacrifice, the ordinances of religion, and all public worship, so it necessarily brought with it all immorality. This breach of the Sabbath was that which let in upon them all the waters of God’s wrath.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
Take heed to yourselves; the Hebrew is, Take heed to your souls, intimating to us that the sanctification of the sabbath is a great thing, wherein the welfare of our souls is concerned.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
21. Take heed toyourselvesliterally, “to your souls.” MAURERexplains, “as ye love your lives”; a phrase used here togive the greater weight to the command.
sabbathThenon-observance of it was a chief cause of the captivity, the numberof years of the latter, seventy, being exactly made to agree with thenumber of Sabbaths which elapsed during the four hundred ninety yearsof their possession of Canaan from Saul to their removal (Lev 26:34;Lev 26:35; 2Ch 36:21).On the restoration, therefore, stress was especially laid on Sabbathobservance (Ne 13:19).
JerusalemIt would havebeen scandalous anywhere; but in the capital, Jerusalem, itwas an open insult to God. Sabbath-hallowing is intended as a symbolof holiness in general (Eze20:12); therefore much stress is laid on it; the Jews’ grossimpiety is manifested in their setting God’s will at naught, in thecase of such an easy and positive command.
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
Thus saith the Lord, take heed to yourselves,…. That ye sin not against the Lord, by breaking the sabbath, and so bring wrath and ruin upon yourselves: or “to your souls” a; to the inward frame of them, that they be in disposition for the work of that day; and that they be wholly engaged therein, even all the powers and faculties of them; and that they be not taken up in thoughts and cares about other things:
and bear no burden on the sabbath day; as no worldly thoughts and cares should, cumber the mind, and lie heavy thereon, to the interruption of spiritual exercises of religion; so neither should any weight or burden be borne by the body, or carried from place to place; as not by themselves, so neither by their servants, nor by their cattle, nor in carts and wagons, nor by any instrument whatever; in short, all servile work was forbidden:
nor bring [it] in by the gates of Jerusalem; to be unloaded and sold there, as wine, grapes, figs, and fish, were, in the times of Nehemiah,
Ne 13:15.
a “in animabus vestris”, Calvin, Montanus, Schmidt.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
He bids them to attend, or to beware in their souls. Some render the words, “As your souls are precious to you.” But I take souls, not for their lives, but for the affections of their hearts; as though he had said, “Take heed carefully of yourselves, that this may be laid up in your inmost heart.” The word נפש nuphesh, means often the heart, the seat of the affections. It is said in Deu 4:15,
“
Take heed to yourselves, לנפשותיכם lanupheshuticam, to your souls.”
here it is, בנפשותיכם, benupheshuticam, “in your souls;” but there, “to” or “for your souls,” as also in Jos 23:11. But the same thing is meant, and that is, that they were to take great heed, to take every care, to exert every effort, and, in short, every faculty of their souls. Take heed then carefully, (187) he says, take heed with every thought and faculty of your soul, that ye carry no burden on the Sabbath-day, and that ye bring it not through the gates of Jerusalem. It was a thing not difficult to be observed; and further, it was a most shameless transgression of the law; for, as I have said, by this slight matter they shewed that they despised the law of God, while yet the observance of the Sabbath was a thing of great importance: it was important in itself, but to observe it was easy. Hence appeared the twofold impiety of the people, — because they despised God’s singular favor, of which the seventh day was an evidence; and, because they were unwilling to take rest on that day, and in so easy a matter, they hesitated not, as it were, to insult God, as it has been before said.
Hence we ought to notice also what he says in these words, Carry no burden, and bring it not through the gatesof Jerusalem: and this was emphatically added; for it was not lawful even in the fields or in desert places to do anything on the Sabbath; but it was extremely shameful to carry a burden through the gates of Jerusalem; it was as though they wished publicly to reproach and despise God. Jerusalem was a public place; and it was as though one was not content privately to do dishonor to his neighbor or his brother, but must shew his ill-nature openly and in the light of day. Thus the Jews were not only reproachful towards God, but also dared to shew their impiety in his own renowned city, and, in short, in his very sanctuary. The rest we must defer.
(187) “Guard ye your souls” is the version of the Septuagint, Vulgate, and the Targum; but that of the Syriac is, “Take heed to yourselves;” which is no doubt the meaning, as the word soul, נפש, is often used for one’s self. — Ed.
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
21, 22. Take heed to yourselves Literally, to your souls.
Bear no burden neither do ye any work These are specifications as to the law of the sabbath, suggested, probably, by violations which were common. The bearing of burdens probably refers to market trade and business. It is not unlikely that the country people, as they came to temple-service, were accustomed to “mingle traffic with their devotions;”
and, as has been suggested, the fact that the people of Jerusalem were forbidden to carry burdens out of their houses seems to point to a practice on their part of carrying their wares to the gates for the purpose of traffic with the inhabitants on their holy day.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Jer 17:21 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;
Ver. 21. Take heed to yourselves. ] Break not the Sabbath, that ye fall not under the fierce wrath of God, who paid him home with stones who but only gathered sticks on that day. Cavete, Beware, it concerns you much.
And bear no burden.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
yourselves = your souls. Hebrew. nephesh. App-13.
bear no burden. Reference to Pentateuch (Exo 20:8; Exo 23:12; Exo 31:13). Compare Neh 13:15-19.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
Take: Deu 4:9, Deu 4:15, Deu 4:23, Deu 11:16, Jos 23:11, Pro 4:23, Mar 4:24, Luk 8:18, Act 20:28, Heb 2:1-3, Heb 12:15, Heb 12:16
bear: Jer 17:22-27, Num 15:32-36, Neh 13:15-21, Joh 5:9-12
Reciprocal: Gen 2:3 – blessed Exo 12:16 – no manner Neh 10:31 – the people Neh 13:18 – Did not your Isa 56:2 – keepeth the Isa 58:13 – turn Jer 17:24 – to bring Jer 17:27 – to hallow Joh 5:10 – it is not
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Jer 17:21. The national corruption of the Jews was the worship of idols. When man takes up a religion that is contrary to that of the Lord he is sure to neglect some of the duties that belong to the service of God. Hence when the Jews took up the practice of idolatry they began to neglect their duties to God, and one of them was that of observing the rest which they were commanded to give the land. They continued their disregard for that ordinance until they had defrauded the land out of 70 such years of rest. That was why the Lord decreed that they should be in captivity for that many years so that the land could “catch up” on its years of rest. It would not be surprising if a nation violated such an ordinance that involved whole years of rest, that other ordinances would likewise be treated with lightness such EB regards secular interests. All the above considerations will explain this and the next verse. The present one referred especially to imports into the city on the sabbath.
Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary
17:21 Thus saith the LORD; Take heed to yourselves, and bear no burden on the {t} sabbath day, nor bring [it] in by the gates of Jerusalem;
(t) By naming the Sabbath day, he comprehends the thing that is signified by it, for if they transgressed in the ceremony, they must be guilty of the rest, read Exo 20:8 and by the breaking of this one commandment, he makes them transgressors of the whole law, as the first and second table are contained in it.
Fuente: Geneva Bible Notes
The Lord commanded His people to observe the Sabbath Day as the Mosaic Covenant specified. They were to refrain from carrying loads in and out of their houses or the city, or doing any work (Exo 20:8-11; Exo 23:12; Exo 31:13-17; Deu 5:12-15; Neh 13:15-22; Amo 8:5).