Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Jeremiah 17:4
And thou, even thyself, shalt discontinue from thine heritage that I gave thee; and I will cause thee to serve thine enemies in the land which thou knowest not: for ye have kindled a fire in mine anger, [which] shall burn forever.
4. and thou, even of thyself, shalt discontinue ] i.e. shalt cease to retain a hold upon thy country. We should rather read, and thou shalt let thine hand fall, adopting J. D. Michaelis’s emendation, suggested by Deu 15:3, where the same Hebrew verb in immediate connexion with “thy hand” is used to indicate the cancelling of a debt. Du. and Co. needlessly reject this part of the v., for metrical reasons and as prosaic in expression.
I will cause thee to serve thine enemies ] So in all probability we should read in Jer 15:14, according to the second of the alternative margins there.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
The verb rendered discontinue is that used of letting the land rest Exo 23:11, and of releasing creditors Deu 15:2 in the sabbatical year. As Judah had not kept these sabbatical years she must now discontinue the tillage of Gods inheritance until the land had had its rest. Even thyself may mean and that through thyself, through thine own fault.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
In the word
discontinue there is a secret promise that they should again come and possess and inherit their land; they should not lose their inheritance, but only discontinue their possession and occupation of it. Some learned authors considering that the same word is here used which is used Exo 23:11, in the law concerning the sabbatical rest, when they were to let the land rest, and lie still, Lev 26:34, think this text hath a reference to that, and the meaning is, Thou shalt discontinue thy ploughing and tilling the land; and go into thine enemies country, and serve them in a land of which thou hast no knowledge; because by thine idolatry and other sins thou hast increased my wrath into such a fire, as shall burn for a long time, for so the word for ever is oft taken, Exo 21:6; Deu 15:17; Psa 89:1; Isa 34:10.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
4. even thyselfrather, “owingto thyself,” that is, by thy own fault (Jer15:13).
discontinue frombedispossessed of. Not only thy substance, but thyself shall be carriedoff to a strange land (Jer 15:14).
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
And thou, even thyself,…. Or, “thou, and in thee” l; that is, thou and those that are in thee, all the inhabitants of Jerusalem and Judea; or, “thou even through thyself” m; through thine own fault, by reason of thy sins and iniquities:
shalt discontinue from thine heritage that I gave thee; be removed from it, and no longer enjoy it: or, “shalt intermit from thine heritage” n; shall not till the land, plough and sow, and reap, and gather the fruits of it: this was enjoined on every seventh year, when the land was to have its rest, or sabbath, Ex 23:10, but this law they did not observe; and now, therefore, whether they would or not, the land should be intermitted, and not tilled and enjoyed by them. The Targum takes in the whole of the sense,
“and I will bring an enemy upon your land; and it shall be desolate as in the year of intermission: and I will take vengeance of judgment upon you, until I remove you from your inheritance which I have given unto you;”
the land of Canaan, which was given them for an inheritance:
I will cause thee to serve thine enemies in the land which thou knowest not; the Babylonians in Chaldea; or, as Jerom thinks; the Romans. Of the different reading of these words, [See comments on Jer 15:13]:
for ye have I kindled a fire in mine anger; or by their sins had caused the anger of the Lord to burn like fire:
which shall burn for ever; as it will in hell, and therefore called everlasting fire: here it only means until these people and their country were consumed by the enemy; perhaps some reference is had to the burning of the city and temple by the Babylonians, or Romans, or both. These first four verses are left out by the Septuagint interpreters, Jerom thinks, to spare their own people.
l “qui [sunt] apud te”, Junius Tremellius. m “Per te”, Piscator. n “ita intermissionen facies”, Junius & Tremellius so Schmidt.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
Here, as it is a concise mode of speaking, there seems to be some obscurity; but as to the subject handled, the meaning of the Prophet is evident, that they would be dismissed from their inheritance, and as it were from their own bowels. Hence he says, You shall be dismissed from your inheritance; that is, though ye think yourselves to be beyond the reach of danger, because as yet the city remains safe, and ye continue in it; yet ye shall perish, as they say, living and seeing. There shall then be a dismissal from the inheritance even as to thee; that is, “Though the Lord should delay the time and suffer you to remain, yet ye shall be like the dead, for God will destroy you, though he may leave you a pining life.” It seems an emphatical expression when the Prophet says that there would be at length a dismissal even as to herself: he intimates, that though some of the people would remain alive, they would yet be given up to exile and dispersion. And it was a condition worse than death for the Jews to have their lives continued and to be scattered among their enemies.
And he says, From the inheritance which I gave to thee; and he says this that they might not expostulate with him, that their own was taken away from them. “How has the land,” he says, “become your inheritance? even because ye have obtained it through my bounty. And now, since ye are so ungrateful, why should I be blamed for taking away what I had given you? or what wrong is done to you? and what can ye object to me? for it has always been my heritage, though for a time I granted it to you. Had ye been thankful to me it would have been yours perpetually; but now when I deprive you of it, this you must ascribe to your own fault.”
For the same purpose he adds, I will make thee to serve thine enemies: and this was much more grievous than to serve their neighbors by whom they were not hated. But he shews here how dreadful would be their calamity, they being constrained to serve their enemies. He adds, In a land which thou knowest not. This is a repetition of what has been said before, and it requires no remark. He in the last place confirms what he had said of their wickedness; Burn, he says, shall fire in my nostril: but אף, aph, may be taken for God’s countenance, though it often means anger. As however he says, “Ye have kindled a fire,” it seems better to render it here, In my face. Further, by the word I never, he intimates that God would be implacable to the Jews, for they had so deserved. (171)
(171) The whole of this passage, from the first to the end of the fourth verse, is wanting in the Septuagint and Arabic, but is found in the other versions and the Targum. The many emendations of Houbigant and Horsley are quite unwarrantable; the first makes his mostly from the Syriac; and the second from various readings, and those of no value, except in one or two instances, as “their” instead of “your altars” in the first verse, countenanced by very many MSS.; the other nine emendations have, for the most part, nothing of any weight in their favor. The transpositions of Houbigant are quite irreconcilable with any thing like errors incidentally committed by scribes. The same objection does not lie against the emendations of Horsley; but that ten mistakes should occur in the space of four verses is not credible; nor are most of the emendations at all necessary.
The received text is no doubt materially correct, there being no different readings of any weight or suitable, except the one noticed above. The Vulgate, the Syriac, and Targum, differ from one another as much as they do from the Hebrew. They indeed all agree materially as to the beginning of the third verse, in regarding “the mountain” and “the field” as places where the people worshipped idols; and the Vulgate and the Syriac connect the words with the former verse; and this, I believe, is what ought to be done. Then the passage will read as follows: —
1. The sin of Judah is written by a pen of iron, By the point of adamant it is graven, On the tablet of their heart, And on the horns of their altars:
2. As a memorial to their children Are their altars and their idols, Near the green tree, on the high hills, On the mountains, in the field. —
3. Thy substance, all thy treasures For a plunder will I give, Thy high places also for sin in all thy borders;
4. And thou shalt be removed, even for thyself, From thine inheritance which I gave thee; And I will make thee to serve thine enemies In a land which thou knowest not; For a fire have ye kindled in mine anger, Perpetually shall it burn.
According to the frequent manner of the prophets, the last line in the first verse is connected with the first line, and the third with the second. The sin of Judah was “written” on “the horns of the altars;” it was “graven” on “the tablet of their heart.” The services at the altars were visible; the impressions within were seen only by God. They left their altars and their idols to their children. The genitive case in Hebrew may often be rendered by a dative, as here, “A memorial to their children.” All emendations as to the beginning of the third verse are unsatisfactory: it will bear the rendering above; “for thyself,” that is, for thine own fault. — Ed.
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
(4) Thou, even thyself.Literally, in or by thyself, an emphatic form for expressing loneliness and abandonment.
Shalt discontinue . . .The word was a half-technical one, used to describe the act of leaving lands untilled and releasing creditors in the sabbatical year (Exo. 23:11; Deu. 15:2). The land would have its rest now, would enjoy its Sabbaths (Lev. 26:34; 2Ch. 36:21), though Judah had failed in obedience to the Law which prescribed them. For the rest of the verse, see Note on Jer. 15:14.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
4. Shalt discontinue That is, be dispossessed of. Even thyself By thine own fault, and by that only.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Jer 17:4 And thou, even thyself, shalt discontinue from thine heritage that I gave thee; and I will cause thee to serve thine enemies in the land which thou knowest not: for ye have kindled a fire in mine anger, [which] shall burn for ever.
Ver. 4. And thou, even thyself, shalt discontinue. ] Or intermit, scil., the tillage of thy land. See Exo 23:11 Lev 26:33-34 . It shall keep her Sabbaths.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
kindled a fire. Reference to Pentateuch (Deu 32:22). Compare Jer 15:14.
burn. Compare Isa 33:14.
for ever. Hebrew. ‘olam. See App-150.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
thyself: Heb. in thyself
shalt: Jer 16:13, Jer 25:9-11, Lev 26:31-34, Deu 4:26, Deu 4:27, Deu 28:25, Jos 23:15, Jos 23:16, 1Ki 9:7, 2Ki 25:21
and I: Jer 5:29, Jer 27:12, Jer 27:13, Deu 28:47, Deu 28:48, Neh 9:28, Isa 14:3
for: Jer 7:20, Jer 15:14, Deu 29:26-28, Deu 32:22-25, Isa 5:25, Isa 30:33, Isa 66:24, Lam 1:12, Eze 20:47, Eze 20:48, Eze 21:31, Nah 1:5, Nah 1:6, Mar 9:43-49
Reciprocal: Num 11:10 – the anger Num 25:3 – the anger Jer 17:27 – then Jer 21:12 – lest
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Jer 17:4. Discontinue from thine heritage denotes that Judah was to lose her possession of the land that she had inherited from the forefathers, God had given this land to the fathers and their descendants on condition that they continue faithful. Instead of remembering with gratitude the God who created them as a nation, the people of Judah went off after strange gods and served them. Now as a punishment God decreed to send them info a strange land, one that had always worshiped these false gods, and there they should serve these foreign enemies and continue their idolatrous practices. Anger burn for ever. The primary meaning of the last two words is “age lasting. in principle it means to the end of the particular age or epoch of which a declaration is being made. Its application here is that Gods anger was so hot because of the unfaithfulness of his people that he would not cease to burn until he had brought that epoch to a close by the captivity.
Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary
17:4 And thou, even {f} thyself, shall discontinue from thy heritage that I gave thee; and I will cause thee to serve thy enemies in the land which thou knowest not: for ye have kindled a fire in my anger, [which] shall burn for ever.
(f) Because you would not give the land rest, at such times, days and years as I appointed, you will after this be carried away and it will rest for lack of labourers.
Fuente: Geneva Bible Notes
The Judeans would voluntarily let the inheritance that God had given them, namely, their land, drop into their enemy’s hands (cf. Jer 15:14; 2Ki 25:13-17). They would serve this enemy in a strange land because they had aroused the Lord’s anger by their sin.
"The irony is clear: Judah has forsaken or abandoned her covenantal inheritance. Therefore Yahweh will abandon Judah to her enemies, and she will find herself exiled from her inheritance in a land that she had not known." [Note: Joel F. Drinkard Jr., Jeremiah 1-25, p. 224. Drinkard wrote the commentary on chapters 17-25 in this volume of the Word Biblical Commentary, which is listed under Craigie, et al., in the bibliography.]
Jer 17:5-8 seem to be proverbs (or psalm verses), that the writer cited and grouped to make his own point. They contrast the wickedness of trusting man with the blessedness of trusting God.