As for me, I have not hastened from being a pastor to follow thee: neither have I desired the woeful day; thou knowest: that which came out of my lips was right before thee.
What does Jeremiah 17:16 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 17:15-18 and alongside a few nearby related passages.
Commentary on Jeremiah 17:16
I have not hastened from - i. e., I have not sought to escape from. A pastor to follow thee - Rather, "a shepherd after Thee." "Shepherd" means "ruler, magistrate" ( Jeremiah 2:8 note), and belongs to the prophet not as a teacher, but as one invested with authority by God to guide and direct the political course of the nation. So Yahweh guides His people Psalm 23:1-2 , and the prophet does so "after Him," following obediently His instructions. The woeful day - literally, "the day of mortal sickness:" the day on which Jerusalem was to be destroyed, and the temple burned. Right - Omit the word.
Key words
- hastened
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As for me, I have not hastened from being a pastor to follow thee,.
- being
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As for me, I have not hastened from being a pastor to follow thee,.
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As for me, I have not hastened from being a pastor to follow thee,.
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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