Jeremiah 17:3 - Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible

Bible Comments

O my mountain in the field, I will give thy substance and all thy treasures to the spoil, and thy high places for sin, throughout all thy borders.

My mountain - Jerusalem, and especially Zion and the temple.

In the field. Since Jerusalem was surrounded by mountains (Psalms 125:2), the sense probably is, Ye rely on your mountainous position (Jeremiah 3:23); but I will make "my mountain" to become as if it were in a plain ("field"), so as to give thy substance an easy prey to the enemy (Calvin). "Field" may, however, mean all Judea; it and "my mountain" will thus express the country and its capital (Gesenius translates, 'together with,' instead of "in," as the Hebrew [bª-] is translated Jeremiah 11:19; Hosea 5:6; but, this is not absolutely needed), "the substance" of both of which God "will give to the spoil."

Thy high places - corresponding in parallelism to "my mountain" (cf. Isaiah 11:9, "All my holy mountain"), as "all thy borders," to "the field" (which confirms the view that "field." means all, Judea).

For sin - connected with "high places" in the English version; namely, frequented for sin - i:e., for idolatrous sacrifice. But Jeremiah 15:13 makes the rendering probable, 'I will give thy substance ... to ... spoil ... on account of thy sin throughout all thy borders.

Jeremiah 17:3

3 O my mountain in the field, I will give thy substance and all thy treasures to the spoil, and thy high places for sin, throughout all thy borders.