Jeremiah 17:19-24 - Joseph Benson’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments

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 men's souls is concerned. Neither carry forth a burden, &c. See notes on Nehemiah 13:15-22. Neither do ye any work Servile work was forbidden to be done upon their solemn festivals, Leviticus 23:8; Leviticus 23:35, much more upon the sabbath days. But hallow ye the sabbath days “The sabbath was instituted as a sign or token of God's covenant with his people, Exodus 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 God's covenant.”