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Jeremiah 11:1-23 open_in_new
1-14. Punishment must follow faithlessness.
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Jeremiah 11:3 open_in_new
Cursed, etc.] cp. the language of the warnings in Deuteronomy (Deuteronomy 27:15-26), a book with which this passage has other features in common.
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Jeremiah 11:4 open_in_new
The iron furnace] the brickkilns of the bondage in Egypt (Exodus 1:14) may have given rise to the figure as expressive of affliction.
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Jeremiah 11:6 open_in_new
The cities of Judah] Jeremiah may have accompanied Josiah in the journey which he made to Bethel and to the cities of Samaria for the overthrow of idolatry (2 Kings 23:15; 2 Kings 23:19).
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Jeremiah 11:7 open_in_new
Rising early] a frequent phrase with Jeremiah to denote earnestness, but not occurring in that sense elsewhere.
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Jeremiah 11:8 open_in_new
Imagination] RV 'stubbornness.'
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Jeremiah 11:9 open_in_new
A conspiracy] The words seem to point to an actual secret combination against Josiah on account of his reforms.
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Jeremiah 11:10 open_in_new
The iniquities of their forefathers] referring to the idolatry in the wilderness days. They went after] RV 'they are gone after,' viz. the Jews of the prophet's own day. The reformation had not taken hold of the hearts of the people, they had returned to their heathenism.
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Jeremiah 11:13 open_in_new
The worship of Baal was practised secretly or openly in all parts of the country and city. Shameful thing] i.e. Baal.
15-20. The people resent rebuke.
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Jeremiah 11:15 open_in_new
Faithless Judah's presence in the Ternpie is only an intrusion. And the holy flesh is passed from thee] better, perhaps, 'shall vows and holy flesh (i.e. sacrifices) take away thy wickedness?'
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Jeremiah 11:16 open_in_new
The fair promise and the punishment which apostasy brought about.
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Jeremiah 11:18 open_in_new
The prophet passes from the general to the particular, and charges his fellow-townsmen of Anathoth with conspiring to silence and even to kill him. The Lord had shown him their intentions.
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Jeremiah 11:19 open_in_new
Like a lamb or an ox] RV 'like a gentle lamb.' The tree with the fruit thereof] apparently a proverb. Not only is the tree to perish but there is to be no chance of reproduction by the sowing of its seed.
21-23. Anathoth shall be punished.
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Jeremiah 11:23 open_in_new
There shall be no remnant of them] viz. of the actual conspirators. Among those who return from exile are mentioned 'men of Anathoth' (Ezra 2:23).
Jeremiah's Sixth Prophecy (Reign of Josiah). The Broken Covenant entails a Curse
These Chapter s form a connected prophecy. They probably belong to Josiah's time, for (a) 'the words of this covenant' (Jeremiah 11:3) seem to refer to the reading of the newly discovered law mentioned in 2 Kings 23:3; (b) Jeremiah has not yet removed from Anathoth to Jerusalem (Jeremiah 11:21), and (c) the apparent allusion (Jeremiah 12:4) to a drought accords with similar references in prophecies belonging to Josiah's reign (Jeremiah 3:3; Jeremiah 5:24).