I have set thee for a tower and a fortress among my people, that thou mayest know and try their way.
I have set thee for a tower and a fortress among my people - (Jeremiah 1:18); rather, an assayer (and) explorer. By a metaphor from metallurgy in Jeremiah 6:27-30, Yahweh, in conclusion, confirms the prophet in his office, and the latter sums up the description of the reprobate people on whom he had to work. The Hebrew for 'assayer' (English version, "tower") is from, a root to try metals х baachown (H969), from baachan]. 'Explorer (English version, "fortress") is from an Arabic root, keen-sighted; or a Hebrew root, cutting - i:e., separating the metal from the dress (Ewald). Gesenius translates as English version the second term х mibtsaar (H4013)] "fortress," which does not accord with the previous 'assayer.' However, it is so translated in Jeremiah 1:18: the sense then will be, 'I have set thee, (as) an assayer (like) a fortress among my people' (secured from their violence) Maurer translates (as the Hebrew word in Job 22:24), 'An assayer without gold,' implying that the 'people among' whom Jeremiah was set were all dress, and no gold in them (Jer. 6:31).