The sin of Judah is written with a pen of iron, and with the point of a diamond: it is graven upon the table of their heart, and upon the horns of your altars;
What does Jeremiah 17:1 mean?
The sins which men commit make little impression on their minds, yet every sin is marked in the book of God; they are all so graven upon the table of the heart, that they will all be remembered by the conscience.
Key themes
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Keep this verse inside Jeremiah 17:1-4 and alongside a few nearby related passages.
Commentary on Jeremiah 17:1
Judah's sin had been described Jeremiah 16:19 as one of which the very Gentiles will become ashamed. and for which she will shortly be punished by, an intervention of God's hand more marked than anything in her previous history. Jeremiah now dwells upon the indelible nature of her sin. A pen of iron - i. e., an iron chisel for cutting inscriptions upon tables of stone. The point of a diamond - The ancients were well acquainted with the cutting powers of the diamond. Altars - Not Yahweh's one altar, but the many altars which the Jews had set up to Baalim Jeremiah 11:13 .
Key words
- shamir
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shamir. (h) Hierozoic. par. 2. l. 6. c. 11, col. 842.
- shamir
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shamir. (h) Hierozoic. par. 2. l. 6. c. 11, col. 842.
Context in Jeremiah 17
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Jeremiah 17 belongs to the middle movement of the book, especially the section often described as conflict with kings, priests, and prophets. Jeremiah combines fierce warning, autobiographical anguish, symbolic action, the promise of a new covenant, and the trauma of Jerusalem’s fall. Read this chapter with the wider themes of judgment, tears, and new covenant in view so the individual verses keep their proper weight.
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