O LORD, the hope of Israel, all that forsake thee shall be ashamed, and they that depart from me shall be written in the earth, because they have forsaken the LORD, the fountain of living waters.
What does Jeremiah 17:13 mean?
The prophet acknowledges the favour of God in setting up religion. There is fulness of comfort in God, overflowing, ever-flowing fulness, like a fountain.
Key themes
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Keep this verse inside Jeremiah 17:12-14 and alongside a few nearby related passages.
Commentary on Jeremiah 17:13
Shall be written in the earth - i. e., their names shall quickly disappear, unlike those graven in the rock forever Job 19:24 . A board covered with sand is used in the East to this day in schools for giving lessons in writing: but writing inscribed on such materials is intended to be immediately obliterated. Equally fleeting is the existence of those who forsake God. "All men are written somewhere, the saints in heaven, but sinners upon earth" (Origen).
Key words
- what is
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what is . (x) "Castigati a me", Schmidt; so Stockius, p.
- what is
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what is . (x) "Castigati a me", Schmidt; so Stockius, p.
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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