The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?
What does Jeremiah 17:9 mean?
He who puts confidence in man, shall be like the heath in a desert, a naked tree, a sorry shrub, the product of barren ground, useless and worthless.
Key themes
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Keep this verse inside Jeremiah 17:9-11 and alongside a few nearby related passages.
Commentary on Jeremiah 17:9
The heart is deceitful above all things , and desperately wicked: who can know it? The train of thought is apparently this: If the man is so blessed Jeremiah 17:7-8 who trusts in Yahweh, what is the reason why men so generally "make flesh their arm"? And the answer is: Because man's heart is incapable of seeing things in a straightforward manner, but is full of shrewd guile, and ever seeking to overreach others. Desperately wicked - Rather, mortally sick.
Key words
- heart
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The heart is deceitful above all things , and desperately wicked: who can know it? The heart is deceitful above all things,.
- deceitful
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The heart is deceitful above all things , and desperately wicked: who can know it? The heart is deceitful above all things,.
- above
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The heart is deceitful above all things , and desperately wicked: who can know it? The heart is deceitful above all things,.
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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