Jeremiah 29:19

29:18 And I will persecute them with the sword, with the famine, and with the pestilence, and will deliver them to be removed to all the kingdoms of the earth, to be a curse, and an astonishment, and an hissing, and a reproach, among all the nations whither I have driven them:

Because they have not hearkened to my words, saith the Lord, which I sent unto them by my servants the prophets, rising up early and sending them; but ye would not hear, saith the Lord.

KJV

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because they have not listened to my words,” says Yahweh, “with which I sent to them my servants the prophets, rising up early and sending them; but you would not hear,” says Yahweh.

Because they have not hearkened to my words, saith the Lord, which I sent unto them by my servants the prophets, rising up early and sending them; but ye would not hear, saith the Lord.

Because they have not listened to my words, says the LORD, which I sent to them by my servants the prophets, rising up early and sending them; but you would not hear, said the LORD. ¶

because they have not hearkened to my words, saith Jehovah, wherewith I sent unto them my servants the prophets, rising up early and sending them; but ye would not hear, saith Jehovah.

29:20 Hear ye therefore the word of the Lord, all ye of the captivity, whom I have sent from Jerusalem to Babylon:

What does Jeremiah 29:19 mean?

Jeremiah 29:19 is a verse in the book of Jeremiah, in the Old Testament. In the original Hebrew, key words include שָׁמַע (shâmaʻ), דָּבָר (dâbâr), נְאֻם (nᵉʼum). It connects to 40 cross-referenced passages elsewhere in Scripture.

Hebrew interlinear

Because

they

have

not

hearkenedשָׁמַעshâmaʻ/shaw-mah'/H8085to hear intelligently (often with implication of attention, obedience, etc.; causatively, to tell, etc.)

words,דָּבָרdâbâr/daw-baw'/H1697a word; by implication, a matter (as spoken of) or thing; adverbially, a cause

saithנְאֻםnᵉʼum/neh-oom'/H5002an oracle

the

LORD,יְהֹוָהYᵉhôvâh/yeh-ho-vaw'/H3068Jehovah, Jewish national name of God

which

sentשָׁלַחshâlach/shaw-lakh'/H7971to send away, for, or out (in a great variety of applications)

unto

them

servantsעֶבֶדʻebed/eh'-bed/H5650a servant

the

prophets,נָבִיאnâbîyʼ/naw-bee'/H5030a prophet or (generally) inspired man

rising

earlyשָׁכַםshâkam/shaw-kam'/H7925literally, to load up (on the back of man or beast), i.e. to start early in the morning

and

sendingשָׁלַחshâlach/shaw-lakh'/H7971to send away, for, or out (in a great variety of applications)

them;

but

would

not

hear,שָׁמַעshâmaʻ/shaw-mah'/H8085to hear intelligently (often with implication of attention, obedience, etc.; causatively, to tell, etc.)

saithנְאֻםnᵉʼum/neh-oom'/H5002an oracle

the

LORD.יְהֹוָהYᵉhôvâh/yeh-ho-vaw'/H3068Jehovah, Jewish national name of God

Commentary on Jeremiah 29:19

CLARKE · whole chapter

ered them with the hopes of a speedy end to their captivity, he sends a second, in which he denounces heavy judgments against those false prophets that deceived them, Jer 29:20-23; as he did afterwards against Shemaiah the Nehelamite, who had sent a letter of complaint against Jeremiah, in consequence of his message, Jer 29:24-32. Verse 1 Now these are the words of the letter - This transaction took place in the first or second year of Zedekiah. It appears that the prophet had been informed that the Jews who had already been carried into captivity had, through the instigations of false prophets, been led to believe that they were to be brought out of their captivity speedily. Jeremiah, fearing that this delusion might induce them to take some hasty steps, ill comporting with their present state, wrote a letter to them, which he entrusted to an embassy which Zedekiah had sent on some political concerns to Nebuchadnezzar. The letter was directed to the elders, priests, prophets, and people who had been carried away captives to Babylon. Verse 4 Thus saith the Lord of hosts - This was the commencement of the letter. Verse 5 Build ye houses - Prepare for a long continuance in your present captivity. Provide yourselves with the necessaries of life, and multiply in the land, that ye may become a powerful people. Verse 7 Seek the peace of the city - Endeavor to promote, as far as you can, the prosperity of the places in which ye sojourn. Let no disaffection appear in word or act. Nothing can be more reasonable than this. Wherever a man lives and has his nourishment and support, that is his country as long as he resides in it. If things go well with that country, his interest is promoted by the general prosperity, he lives at comparative ease, and has the necessaries of life cheaper; and unless he is in a state of cruel servitude, which does not appear to have been the case with those Israelites to whom the prophet writes, (those of the first captivity), they must be nearly, if not altogether, in as good a state as if they had been in the country that gave them birth. And in this case they were much better off than their brethren now in Judea, who had to contend with famine and war, and scarcely any thing before them but God's curse and extermination. Verse 8 Neither hearken to your dreams - Rather, dreamers; for it appears there was a class of such persons, who not only had acquired a facility of dreaming themselves, but who undertook to interpret the dreams of others. Verse 10 For thus saith the Lord - It has been supposed that a very serious transposition of verses has taken place here; and it has been proposed to read after Jer 29:9 the sixteenth to the nineteenth inclusive; then the tenth, and on to the fourteenth inclusive; then the twentieth, the fifteenth, the twenty-first, and the rest regularly to the end. That after seventy years be accomplished - לפי מלאת lephi meloth, "at the mouth of the accomplishment," or "fill to the mouth." Seventy years is the measure which must be filled; - fill this to the brim; - complete this measure, and then you shall be visited and released. The whole seventy must be completed; expect no enlargement before that time. Verse 11 Thoughts of peace - Here God gives them to understand, 1. That his love was moved towards them. 2. That he would perform his good word, his promises often repeated, to them. 3. That for the fulfillment of these they must pray, seek, and search. 4. That he would hearken, and they should find him; provided, 5. They sought him with their whole heart, Jer 29:10-13. Verse 14 I will gather you from all the nations - A quotation from Deu 30:3, and see also Deu 4:7. Verse 15 Because ye have said - The Septuagint very properly insert this verse between the twentieth and the twenty-first, and thus the connection here is not disturbed, and the connection below completed. Verse 17 Behold, I will send upon them the sword - Do not envy the state of Zedekiah who sits on the throne of David, nor that of the people who are now in the land whence ye have been carried captive, ( Jer 29:16 ), for "I will send the sword, the pestilence, and the famine upon them;" and afterwards shall cause them to be carried into a miserable captivity in all nations, ( Jer 29:18 ); but ye see the worst of your own case, and you have God's promise of enlargement when the proper time is come. The reader will not forget that the prophet is addressing the captives in Babylon. Verse 20 Hear ye therefore the word - Dr. Blayney thinks there were two letters written by the prophet to the captives in Babylon, and that the first ends with this verse. That having heard, on the return of the embassy (Elasah and Gemariah, whom Zedekiah had sent to Babylon, and to whom the prophet entrusted the above letter, Jer 29:3 ), that the captives had not received his advises favourably, because they were deceived by false prophets among them, who promised them a speedier deliverance, he therefore wrote a second letter, beginning with the fifteenth verse, and going on with the twenty-first, etc., in which he denounces God's judgments on three of the chief of those, Ahab, Zedekiah, and Shemaiah. Verse 21 He shall slay them before your eyes - Nebuchadnezzar would be led by political reasons to punish these pretended prophets, as their predictions tended to make his Israelitish subjects uneasy and disaffected, and might excite them to rebellion. He therefore slew them; two of them, it appears, he burnt alive, viz., Ahab and Zedekiah, who are supposed by the rabbins to be the two elders who endeavored to seduce Susanna, see Jer 29:23. Burning alive was a Chaldean punishment, Dan 3:6, and Amo 2:1. From them other nations borrowed it. Verse 23 Have committed adultery with their neighbors' wives - This is supposed to refer to the case of Susanna. See above. Verse 24 Speak to Shemaiah - Zephaniah was the second priest, sagan, or chief priest's deputy, and Seraiah, high priest, when Jerusalem was taken. See Jer 52:24. Shemaiah directs his letter to the former, and tells him that God had appointed him to supply the place of the high priest, who was probably then absent. His name was either Azariah or Seraiah his son, but called Jehoiada from the remarkable zeal and courage of that pontiff. See the passages in the margin. - Dodd. After the taking of Jerusalem, Zephaniah was put to death by Nebuchadnezzar at Riblah, see Jer 37:3. The history of Jehoiada may be seen 2Kgs 11:3, etc. Verse 26 For every man that is mad, and maketh himself a prophet - Mad, משגע meshugga, in ecstatic rapture; such as appeared in the prophets, whether true or false, when under the influence, the one of God, the other of a demon. See 2Kgs 9:11; Hos 9:7. Verse 32 I will punish Shemaiah - 1. He shall have no posterity to succeed him. 2. His family, i.e., relations, etc., shall not be found among those whom I shall bring back from captivity. 3. Nor shall he himself see the good that I shall do for my people. And all this shall come upon him and his because he hath taught rebellion against the Lord. He excited the people to reject Jeremiah, and to receive the lying words of the false prophets; and these led them to rebel. Introduction This and the following chapter must relate to a still future restoration of the posterity of Jacob from their several dispersions, as no deliverance hitherto afforded them comes up to the terms of it; for, after the return from Babylon, they were again enslaved by the Greeks and Romans, contrary to the prediction in the eighth verse; in every papistical country they have labored under great civil disabilities, and in some of them have been horribly persecuted; upon the ancient people has this mystic Babylon very heavily laid her yoke; and in no

HENRY_FULL · Jeremiah 29:15–23

The Doom of the False Prophets. ( b. c. 596.) 15 Because ye have said, The Lord hath raised us up prophets in Babylon; 16 Know that thus saith the Lord of the king that sitteth upon the throne of David, and of all the people that dwelleth in this city, and of your brethren that are not gone forth with you into captivity; 17 Thus saith the Lord of hosts; Behold, I will send upon them the sword, the famine, and the pestilence, and will make them like vile figs, that cannot be eaten, they are so evil. 18 And I will persecute them with the sword, with the famine, and with the pestilence, and will deliver them to be removed to all the kingdoms of the earth, to be a curse, and an astonishment, and a hissing, and a reproach, among all the nations whither I have driven them: 19 Because they have not hearkened to my words, saith the Lord , which I sent unto them by my servants the prophets, rising up early and sending them; but ye would not hear, saith the Lord . 20 Hear ye therefore the word of the Lord , all ye of the captivity, whom I have sent from Jerusalem to Babylon: 21 Thus saith the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, of Ahab the son of Kolaiah, and of Zedekiah the son of Maaseiah, which prophesy a lie unto you in my name; Behold, I will deliver them into the hand of Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon; and he shall slay them before your eyes; 22 And of them shall be taken up a curse by all the captivity of Judah which are in Babylon, saying, The Lord make thee like Zedekiah and like Ahab, whom the king of Babylon roasted in the fire; 23 Because they have committed villany in Israel, and have committed adultery with their neighbours' wives, and have spoken lying words in my name, which I have not commanded them; even I know, and am a witness, saith the Lord . Jeremiah, having given great encouragement to those among the captives whom he knew to be serious and well-affected, assuring them that God had very kind and favourable intentions concerning them, here turns to those among them who slighted the counsels and comforts that Jeremiah ministered to them and depended upon what the false prophets flattered them with. When this letter came from Jeremiah they would be ready to say, "Why should he make himself so busy, and take upon him to advise us? The Lord has raised us up prophets in Babylon, v. 15 . We are satisfied with those prophets, and can depend upon them, and have no occasion to hear from any prophets in Jerusalem." See the impudent wickedness of this people; as the prophets, when they prophesied lies, said that they had them from God, so the people, when they invited those prophets thus to flatter them, fathered it upon God, and said that it was the Lord that raised them up those prophets. Whereas we may be sure that those who harden people in their sins, and deceive them with false and groundless hopes of God's mercy, are no prophets of God's raising up. These prophets of their own told them that no more should be carried captive, but that those who were in captivity should shortly return. Now, in answer to this, 1. The prophet here foretells the utter destruction of those who remained still at Jerusalem, notwithstanding what those false prophets said to the contrary: "As for the king and people that dwell in the city, who, you think, will be ready to bid you welcome when you return, you are deceived; they shall be followed with one judgment after another, sword, famine, and pestilence, which shall cut off multitudes; and the poor and miserable remains shall be removed into all kingdoms of the earth, " v. 16 , 18 . And thus God will make them, or rather deal with them accordingly, as the salt that has lost its savour, which, being good for nothing, is cast to the dunghill, and so are rotten figs. This refers to the vision and the prophecy upon it which we had ch. xxiv. And the reason given for these proceedings against them is the same that has often been given and will justify God in the eternal ruin of impenitent sinners ( v. 19 ): Because they have not hearkened to my words. I called, but they refused. 2. He foretells the judgment of God upon the false prophets in Babylon, who deceived the people of God there. He calls upon all the children of the captivity, who boasted of them as prophets of God's raising up ( v. 20 ): "Stand still, and hear the doom of the prophets you are so fond of." The two prophets are named here, Ahab and Zedekiah, v. 21 . Observe, (1.) The crimes charged upon them—impiety and immorality: They prophesied lies in God's name ( v. 21 ), and again ( v. 23 ), They have spoken lying words in my name. Lying was bad, lying to the people of God to delude them into a false hope was worse, but fathering their lies upon the God of truth was worst of all. And no marvel if those that had the face to do that could allow themselves in the gratification of those vile affections to which God, in a way of righteous judgment, gave them up. They have done villainy in Israel, for they have committed adultery with their neighbours' wives. Adultery is villainy in Israel, and in such as pretend to be prophets, who by such wickednesses manifestly disprove their own pretensions. God never sent such profligate wretches on his errands. He is the Lord God of the holy prophets, not of such impure ones. Here it appears why they flattered others in their sins—because they could not reprove them without condemning themselves. These lewd practices of theirs they knew how to conceal from the eye of the world, that they might preserve their credit; but I know it and am a witness, saith the Lord. The most secret sins are known to God; he can see the villainy that is covered with the thickest cloak of hypocrisy, and there is a day coming when he will bring to light all these hidden works of darkness and every man will appear in his own colours. (2.) The judgments threatened against them: The king of Babylon shall slay them before your eyes; nay, he shall put them to a miserable death, roast them in the fire, v. 22 . We may suppose that it was not for their impiety and immorality that Nebuchadnezzar punished them thus severely, but for sedition, and some attempts of their turbulent spirits upon the public peace, and stirring up the people to revolt and rebel. So much of their wickedness shall then be detected, and in such a wretched manner they shall end their days, that their names shall be a curse among the captives in Babylon, v. 22 . When men would imprecate the greatest evil upon one they hated they would think they could not load them with a heavier curse, in fewer words, than to say, The Lord make thee like Zedekiah and like Ahab. Thus were they made ashamed of the prophets they had been proud of, and convinced at last of their folly in hearkening to them. God's faithful prophets were sometimes charged with being the troublers of the land, and as such were tortured and slain; but their names were a blessing when they were gone and their memory sweet, not as these false prophets. As malefactors are attended with infamy and disgrace, so martyrs with glory and honour.

Cross-references

Related passages from the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge.

Deuteronomy 30:1

And it shall come to pass, when all these things are come upon thee, the blessing and the curse, which I have set before thee, and thou shalt call them to mind among all the nations, whither the Lord thy God hath driven thee,

Psalms 30:5

For his anger endureth but a moment; in his favour is life: weeping may endure for a night, but joy cometh in the morning.

Psalms 34:1

I will bless the Lord at all times: his praise shall continually be in my mouth.

Jeremiah 2:11

Hath a nation changed their gods, which are yet no gods? but my people have changed their glory for that which doth not profit.

Jeremiah 6:19

Hear, O earth: behold, I will bring evil upon this people, even the fruit of their thoughts, because they have not hearkened unto my words, nor to my law, but rejected it.

Jeremiah 7:13

And now, because ye have done all these works, saith the Lord, and I spake unto you, rising up early and speaking, but ye heard not; and I called you, but ye answered not;

Jeremiah 7:24

But they hearkened not, nor inclined their ear, but walked in the counsels and in the imagination of their evil heart, and went backward, and not forward.

Jeremiah 10:4

They deck it with silver and with gold; they fasten it with nails and with hammers, that it move not.

Jeremiah 10:25

Pour out thy fury upon the heathen that know thee not, and upon the families that call not on thy name: for they have eaten up Jacob, and devoured him, and consumed him, and have made his habitation desolate.

Jeremiah 11:10

They are turned back to the iniquities of their forefathers, which refused to hear my words; and they went after other gods to serve them: the house of Israel and the house of Judah have broken my covenant which I made with their fathers.

Jeremiah 11:11

Therefore thus saith the Lord, Behold, I will bring evil upon them, which they shall not be able to escape; and though they shall cry unto me, I will not hearken unto them.

Jeremiah 11:16

The Lord called thy name, A green olive tree, fair, and of goodly fruit: with the noise of a great tumult he hath kindled fire upon it, and the branches of it are broken.

Jeremiah 14:3

And their nobles have sent their little ones to the waters: they came to the pits, and found no water; they returned with their vessels empty; they were ashamed and confounded, and covered their heads.

Jeremiah 25:1

The word that came to Jeremiah concerning all the people of Judah in the fourth year of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah king of Judah, that was the first year of Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon;

Jeremiah 25:3

From the thirteenth year of Josiah the son of Amon king of Judah, even unto this day, that is the three and twentieth year, the word of the Lord hath come unto me, and I have spoken unto you, rising early and speaking; but ye have not hearkened.

Jeremiah 25:9

Behold, I will send and take all the families of the north, saith the Lord, and Nebuchadrezzar the king of Babylon, my servant, and will bring them against this land, and against the inhabitants thereof, and against all these nations round about, and will utterly destroy them, and make them an astonishment, and an hissing, and perpetual desolations.

Jeremiah 26:1

In the beginning of the reign of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah king of Judah came this word from the Lord, saying,

Jeremiah 26:5

To hearken to the words of my servants the prophets, whom I sent unto you, both rising up early, and sending them, but ye have not hearkened;

Jeremiah 27:1

In the beginning of the reign of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah king of Judah came this word unto Jeremiah from the Lord, saying,

Jeremiah 27:12

I spake also to Zedekiah king of Judah according to all these words, saying, Bring your necks under the yoke of the king of Babylon, and serve him and his people, and live.

Jeremiah 27:13

Why will ye die, thou and thy people, by the sword, by the famine, and by the pestilence, as the Lord hath spoken against the nation that will not serve the king of Babylon?

Jeremiah 31:18

I have surely heard Ephraim bemoaning himself thus; Thou hast chastised me, and I was chastised, as a bullock unaccustomed to the yoke: turn thou me, and I shall be turned; for thou art the Lord my God.

Jeremiah 32:33

And they have turned unto me the back, and not the face: though I taught them, rising up early and teaching them, yet they have not hearkened to receive instruction.

Jeremiah 34:17

Therefore thus saith the Lord; Ye have not hearkened unto me, in proclaiming liberty, every one to his brother, and every man to his neighbour: behold, I proclaim a liberty for you, saith the Lord, to the sword, to the pestilence, and to the famine; and I will make you to be removed into all the kingdoms of the earth.

Jeremiah 35:10

But we have dwelt in tents, and have obeyed, and done according to all that Jonadab our father commanded us.

Jeremiah 35:14

The words of Jonadab the son of Rechab, that he commanded his sons not to drink wine, are performed; for unto this day they drink none, but obey their father’s commandment: notwithstanding I have spoken unto you, rising early and speaking; but ye hearkened not unto me.

Jeremiah 40:1

The word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord, after that Nebuzar–adan the captain of the guard had let him go from Ramah, when he had taken him being bound in chains among all that were carried away captive of Jerusalem and Judah, which were carried away captive unto Babylon.

Jeremiah 40:2

And the captain of the guard took Jeremiah, and said unto him, The Lord thy God hath pronounced this evil upon this place.

Jeremiah 44:4

Howbeit I sent unto you all my servants the prophets, rising early and sending them, saying, Oh, do not this abominable thing that I hate.

Jeremiah 49:13

For I have sworn by myself, saith the Lord, that Bozrah shall become a desolation, a reproach, a waste, and a curse; and all the cities thereof shall be perpetual wastes.

Jeremiah 51:3

Against him that bendeth let the archer bend his bow, and against him that lifteth himself up in his brigandine: and spare ye not her young men; destroy ye utterly all her host.

Ezekiel 39:24

According to their uncleanness and according to their transgressions have I done unto them, and hid my face from them.

Hosea 6:1

Come, and let us return unto the Lord: for he hath torn, and he will heal us; he hath smitten, and he will bind us up.

Hosea 11:8

How shall I give thee up, Ephraim? how shall I deliver thee, Israel? how shall I make thee as Admah? how shall I set thee as Zeboim? mine heart is turned within me, my repentings are kindled together.

Hosea 14:4

I will heal their backsliding, I will love them freely: for mine anger is turned away from him.

Zechariah 1:4

Be ye not as your fathers, unto whom the former prophets have cried, saying, Thus saith the Lord of hosts; Turn ye now from your evil ways, and from your evil doings: but they did not hear, nor hearken unto me, saith the Lord.

Zechariah 7:11

But they refused to hearken, and pulled away the shoulder, and stopped their ears, that they should not hear.

Zechariah 14:9

And the Lord shall be king over all the earth: in that day shall there be one Lord, and his name one.

Zechariah 14:20

In that day shall there be upon the bells of the horses, HOLINESS UNTO THE LORD; and the pots in the Lord’s house shall be like the bowls before the altar.

Romans 11:15

For if the casting away of them be the reconciling of the world, what shall the receiving of them be, but life from the dead?

Topics

Captivity

Verses like this

Other verses that share key original-language words with Jeremiah 29:19.

Genesis 20:8

Therefore Abimelech rose early in the morning, and called all his servants, and told all these things in their ears: and the men were sore afraid.

Genesis 24:52

And it came to pass, that, when Abraham’s servant heard their words, he worshipped the Lord, bowing himself to the earth.

Genesis 19:2

And he said, Behold now, my lords, turn in, I pray you, into your servant’s house, and tarry all night, and wash your feet, and ye shall rise up early, and go on your ways. And they said, Nay; but we will abide in the street all night.

Genesis 21:14

And Abraham rose up early in the morning, and took bread, and a bottle of water, and gave it unto Hagar, putting it on her shoulder, and the child, and sent her away: and she departed, and wandered in the wilderness of Beer–sheba.

Genesis 21:26

And Abimelech said, I wot not who hath done this thing: neither didst thou tell me, neither yet heard I of it, but to day.

Genesis 22:16

And said, By myself have I sworn, saith the Lord, for because thou hast done this thing, and hast not withheld thy son, thine only son:

Genesis 24:30

And it came to pass, when he saw the earring and bracelets upon his sister’s hands, and when he heard the words of Rebekah his sister, saying, Thus spake the man unto me; that he came unto the man; and, behold, he stood by the camels at the well.

Genesis 24:59

And they sent away Rebekah their sister, and her nurse, and Abraham’s servant, and his men.

Frequently asked questions

What does Jeremiah 29:19 say?

Jeremiah 29:19 (King James Version) reads: "Because they have not hearkened to my words, saith the Lord, which I sent unto them by my servants the prophets, rising up early and sending them; but ye would not hear, saith the Lord."

Is Jeremiah 29:19 in the Old or New Testament?

Jeremiah 29:19 is in the Old Testament of the Bible, in the book of Jeremiah.

Reflect

As you read Jeremiah 29:19, what is one truth here you can carry into today?

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