---
title: "Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible -  Jeremiah 11"
description: "CHAPTER 11   :-. EPITOME OF THE
COVENANT FOUND
IN THE TEMPLE IN
JOSIAH"
image: "/images/missing.jpg"
url: "https://realbiblebelievers.com/commentaries/commentary-critical-and-explanatory-on-the-whole-bible/jeremiah/11"
---

CHAPTER 11

. EPITOME OF THE
COVENANT FOUND
IN THE TEMPLE IN
JOSIAH'S REIGN.
JUDAH'S REVOLT
FROM IT, AND GOD'S
CONSEQUENT WRATH.

**2. this covenant**—alluding to
the book of the law ([Deuteronomy 31:26](../../../kjv/deuteronomy/31/26))
found in the temple by Hilkiah the high priest, five years after
Jeremiah's call to the prophetic office ([Deuteronomy 31:26](../../../kjv/deuteronomy/31/26)).
**Hear ye**—Others besides
Jeremiah were to promulgate God's will to the people; it was the duty
of the priests to read the law to them ([Deuteronomy 31:26](../../../kjv/deuteronomy/31/26)).

**3.** ([Deuteronomy 27:26](../../../kjv/deuteronomy/27/26);
[Galatians 3:10](../../../kjv/galatians/3/10)).

**4. in the day**—that is, when.
The Sinaitic covenant was made some time after the exodus, but the
two events are so connected as to be viewed as one.
**iron furnace**— ([Deuteronomy 4:20](../../../kjv/deuteronomy/4/20);
[1 Kings 8:51](../../../kjv/1-kings/8/51)). "Furnace"
expresses the searching ordeal; "iron," the long duration
of it. The furnace was *of earth,* not *of iron* ([1 Kings 8:51](../../../kjv/1-kings/8/51)); a furnace, in heat and duration enough to melt even iron.
God's deliverance of them from such an ordeal aggravates their
present guilt.
**do them**—namely, the
words of the covenant ([Jeremiah 11:3](../../../kjv/jeremiah/11/3)).
**so,** c.— ([Leviticus 26:3](../../../kjv/leviticus/26/3)
[Leviticus 26:12](../../../kjv/leviticus/26/12)).

**5. oath**— ([Psalms 105:9](../../../kjv/psalms/105/9);
[Psalms 105:10](../../../kjv/psalms/105/10)).
**a land flowing with milk and
honey**—(See on [Psalms 105:10](../../../kjv/psalms/105/10)).
**as it is this day**—These
are the concluding words of God to the Israelites when formerly
brought out of Egypt, "Obey . . . that I may *at this time*
make good the promise I made to your fathers, to give," &c.
[MAURER]. *English
Version* makes the words apply to *Jeremiah's time,* "As
ye know at this time, that God's promise has been fulfilled,"
namely, in Israel's acquisition of Canaan.
**So be it**—*Hebrew,
Amen.* Taken from [Psalms 105:10](../../../kjv/psalms/105/10). Jeremiah hereby solemnly concurs in the justice of the
curses pronounced there (see [Psalms 105:10](../../../kjv/psalms/105/10)).

**6.** Jeremiah was to take a
prophetic tour throughout Judah, to proclaim everywhere the
denunciations in the book of the law found in the temple.
**Hear . . . do**— ([Romans 2:13](../../../kjv/romans/2/13);
[James 1:22](../../../kjv/james/1/22)).

**7. rising early**— ().

**8. imagination**—rather,
"stubbornness."
**will bring**—The words,
"even unto this day" (), confirm *English Version* rather than the rendering
of ROSENMULLER: "I
*brought* upon them."
**words**—threats ([Jeremiah 11:3](../../../kjv/jeremiah/11/3);
[Deuteronomy 27:15-26](../../../kjv/deuteronomy/27/15-26)).

**9. conspiracy**—a *deliberate
combination* against God and against Josiah's reformation. Their
idolatry is not the result of a hasty impulse ([Psalms 83:5](../../../kjv/psalms/83/5);
[Ezekiel 22:25](../../../kjv/ezekiel/22/25)).

**11. cry unto me**—contrasted
with "cry unto the gods," ().
**not hearken**— ([Psalms 18:41](../../../kjv/psalms/18/41);
[Proverbs 1:28](../../../kjv/proverbs/1/28); [Isaiah 1:15](../../../kjv/isaiah/1/15);
[Micah 3:4](../../../kjv/micah/3/4)).

**12. cry unto the gods . . . not
save**— ([Deuteronomy 32:37](../../../kjv/deuteronomy/32/37); [Deuteronomy 32:38](../../../kjv/deuteronomy/32/38)).
Compare this verse and beginning of [Jeremiah 11:13](../../../kjv/jeremiah/11/13);
[Jeremiah 2:28](../../../kjv/jeremiah/2/28).
**in the time of their
trouble**—that is, calamity ([Jeremiah 2:28](../../../kjv/jeremiah/2/28)).

**13. shameful thing**—*Hebrew,*
"shame," namely, the idol, not merely shameful, but the
*essence* of all that is shameful ([Jeremiah 3:24](../../../kjv/jeremiah/3/24);
[Hosea 9:10](../../../kjv/hosea/9/10)), which will bring shame
and confusion on yourselves [CALVIN].

**14.** There is a climax of guilt
which admits of no further intercessory prayer (, in the *Chaldee version,* "leave off praying";
[Jeremiah 7:16](../../../kjv/jeremiah/7/16); [1 Samuel 16:1](../../../kjv/1-samuel/16/1);
[1 Samuel 15:35](../../../kjv/1-samuel/15/35); [1 John 5:16](../../../kjv/1-john/5/16)).
Our mind should be at one with God in all that He is doing, even in
the rejection of the reprobate.
**for their trouble**—on
account of their trouble. Other manuscripts read, "*in the
time* of their trouble;" a gloss from [1 John 5:16](../../../kjv/1-john/5/16).

**15. my beloved**—My elect
people, Judea; this aggravates their ingratitude ().
**lewdness with many**—
([Ezekiel 16:25](../../../kjv/ezekiel/16/25)). Rather, "that
great (or, manifold) enormity"; literally, "the enormity,
the manifold"; namely, their idolatry, which made their worship
of God in the temple a mockery (compare [Jeremiah 7:10](../../../kjv/jeremiah/7/10);
[Ezekiel 23:39](../../../kjv/ezekiel/23/39)) [HENDERSON].
**holy flesh**— ([Haggai 2:12-14](../../../kjv/haggai/2/12-14);
[Titus 1:15](../../../kjv/titus/1/15)), namely, the
sacrifices, which, through the guilt of the Jews, were no longer
*holy,* that is, acceptable to God. The sacrifices on which they
relied will, therefore, no longer protect them. Judah is represented
as a priest's wife, who, by adultery, has forfeited her share in the
flesh of the sacrifices, and yet boasts of her prerogative at the
very same time [HORSLEY].
**when thou doest
evil**—literally, "when thy evil" (is at hand).
PISCATOR translates, "When
thy *calamity* is at hand (according to God's threats), thou
gloriest" (against God, instead of humbling thyself). *English
Version* is best (compare [Titus 1:15](../../../kjv/titus/1/15)).

**16. called thy name**—made thee.
**olive**— ([Psalms 52:8](../../../kjv/psalms/52/8);
[Romans 11:17](../../../kjv/romans/11/17)). The "olive"
is chosen to represent the adoption of Judah by the *free grace*
of God, as its *oil* is the image of *richness* (compare
[Psalms 23:5](../../../kjv/psalms/23/5); [Psalms 104:15](../../../kjv/psalms/104/15)).
**with . . . noise of . . .
tumult**—or, "*at* the noise," c., namely, at the
tumult of the invading army ([Psalms 104:15](../../../kjv/psalms/104/15)) [MAURER]. Or,
rather, "with the sound of a mighty voice," namely, that of
God, that is, the thunder thus there is no confusion of metaphors.
The tree stricken with lightning has "*fire kindled* upon
it, and the branches are *broken,*" at one and the same
time [HOUBIGANT].

**17. that planted thee**—
([Jeremiah 2:21](../../../kjv/jeremiah/2/21); [Isaiah 5:2](../../../kjv/isaiah/5/2)).
**against themselves**—The
sinner's sin is to his own hurt (see on [Isaiah 5:2](../../../kjv/isaiah/5/2)).

**18, 19.** Jeremiah here digresses
to notice the attempt on his life plotted by his townsmen of
Anathoth. He had no suspicion of it, until Jehovah revealed it to him
([Jeremiah 12:6](../../../kjv/jeremiah/12/6)).
**the Lord . . . thou**—The
change of person from the third to the second accords with the
excited feelings of the prophet.
**then**—when I was in
peril of my life.
**their doings**—those of
the men of Anathoth. His thus alluding to them, before he has
mentioned their name, is due to his excitement.

**19. lamb**—literally, a "pet
lamb," such as the Jews often had in their houses, for their
children to play with; and the Arabs still have (). His own *familiar* friends had plotted against the
prophet. The language is exactly the same as that applied to Messiah
([Isaiah 53:7](../../../kjv/isaiah/53/7)). Each prophet and
patriarch exemplified in his own person some one feature or more in
the manifold attributes and sufferings of the Messiah to come; just
as the saints have done since His coming ([Galatians 2:20](../../../kjv/galatians/2/20);
[Philippians 3:10](../../../kjv/philippians/3/10); [Colossians 1:24](../../../kjv/colossians/1/24)).
This adapted both the more experimentally to testify of Christ.
**devices**— ([Colossians 1:24](../../../kjv/colossians/1/24)).
**tree with . . .
fruit**—literally, "in its fruit" or "food,"
that is, when it is in fruit. Proverbial, to express the destruction
of cause and effect together. The man is the tree; his teaching, the
fruit. Let us destroy the prophet and his prophecies; namely, those
threatening destruction to the nation, which offended them. Compare
[Matthew 7:17](../../../kjv/matthew/7/17), which also refers to
*prophets* and their *doctrines.*

**20. triest . . . heart**— ().
**revealed**—committed *my
cause.* Jeremiah's wish for vengeance was not personal but
ministerial, and accorded with God's purpose revealed to him against
the enemies alike of God and of His servant ([Psalms 37:34](../../../kjv/psalms/37/34);
[Psalms 54:7](../../../kjv/psalms/54/7); [Psalms 112:8](../../../kjv/psalms/112/8);
[Psalms 118:7](../../../kjv/psalms/118/7)).

**21. Prophesy not**— ([Isaiah 30:10](../../../kjv/isaiah/30/10);
[Amos 2:12](../../../kjv/amos/2/12); [Micah 2:6](../../../kjv/micah/2/6)).
If Jeremiah had not uttered his denunciatory predictions, they would
not have plotted against him. None were more bitter than his own
fellow townsmen. Compare the conduct of the Nazarites towards Jesus
of Nazareth ([Luke 4:24-29](../../../kjv/luke/4/24-29)).

**22.** The retribution of their
intended murder shall be in kind; just as in Messiah's case ().

**23.** ().
**the year of . . .
visitation**—The *Septuagint* translates, "*in*
the year of their," &c., that is, at the time when I shall
visit them in wrath. JEROME
supports *English Version.* "Year" often means *a
determined time.*

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