Jeremiah 11:3

11:1-10 God never promised to bestow blessings on his rational creatures, while they persist in wilful disobedience. Pardon and acceptance are promised freely to all believers; but no man can be saved who does not obey the command of God to repent, to believe in Christ, to separate from sin and the world, to choose self-denial and newness of life. In general, men will hearken to those who speak of doctrines, promises, and privileges; but when duties are mentioned, they will not bend their ear.

And say thou unto them,.... This shows that the command of publishing the law or covenant was, however, principally given to Jeremiah: thus saith the Lord, the God of Israel; that made them, and brought them out of Egypt, and made a covenant with them, and had taken care of them, and had bestowed many favours upon them: cursed be the man that obeyeth not the words of this covenant; which the prophet, it may be, had in his hands, even the book of the law, and held it forth unto them, while he was speaking; the language of which is, cursed is everyone that does not constantly and perfectly perform what is contained in it, Deuteronomy 27:26.

Verse 3. - Here begins a series of direct references to Deuteronomy, determining the date of the discourse. Cursed be the man , etc.; alluding to Deuteronomy 27:26 (which has, however, not "obeyeth," but "confirmeth," i . e . ratifieth as his own personal rule of conduct. The words of this covenant ; rather, the words of this ordinance . The rendering "covenant," however, is not so much erroneous as unsuitable in this context; it is a secondary meaning of the Hebrew b'rith , the original sense being rather "authoritative appointment" (from barah , to cut, hence to decide). Nothing, perhaps, is so injurious to a correct understanding of the Scriptures as persistently rendering a Hebrew or Greek word by the same supposed equivalent. "Covenant" is no doubt appropriate in some passages (e.g. Joshua 9:6 ; 1 Samuel 18:3 ), because an "appointment" between men, if equals, involves "giving and taking;" but is inadequate when the parties are not equals, and most of all when the superior party is the Divine Being. In these cases we must clearly recur to the original meaning of" appointment" or "ordinance;" and we have one such case here (see also Hosea 6:7 ; 2 Kings 11:4 ; Job 31:1 ; Psalm 105:10 ; but not Genesis 17:9 ). Διαθήκη (1, an arrangement; 2, a will or testament; 3, a covenant) is to some extent parallel (see Cremer's 'Biblico-Theological Lexicon of New Testament Greek,' s . v .). Jeremiah 11:3

And say thou to them, Thus saith the LORD God of Israel; {a} Cursed be the man that obeyeth not the words of this covenant, (a) He calls the Jews to the consideration of God's mercy, who freely chose them, made a covenant of eternal happiness with them and how he ever performed it on his behalf and how they ever showed themselves rebellious and ingrate toward him, and broke it on their part, and so are subject to the curse of the law, De 27:26.

(3) Cursed be the man . . . —The verse is, as it were, a mosaic, so to speak, of phrases, with slight verbal changes, from the recently discovered book of Deuteronomy—the “iron furnace” from Deuteronomy 4:20 ; 1Kings 8:51 , “Hear my voice and do them” from Deuteronomy 28:1 , “Ye shall be my people” from Deuteronomy 29:13 . The “iron furnace” was, of course, Egypt, the “furnace of affliction,” as in Isaiah 48:10 , in which the people had endured sufferings of which that was the only adequate symbol. The word used denoted the “furnace” of the smelter, but the actual form of bondage through which the Israelites had passed, working in the brick-kiln furnaces ( Exodus 1:14 ), had probably given a special force to the phrase.

In Deu 27:26 , it is, Cursed be he that confirmeth not all the words of this law to do them. And all the people shall say, Amen . The people’s saying Amen testified their assent, and made the law a covenant; but they had besides formally and explicitly covenanted with God, Exodus 24:3,7 , with religious rites and ceremonies used in stipulations, and afterwards consented that God should punish those that violated that covenant, Deu 27:26 .

Judah's Disloyalty to the Covenant, with the Consequences Thereof In Jeremiah 11:2-8 is a short summary of the covenant made with the fathers; in Jeremiah 11:9-13 is an account of the breaking of this covenant by Judah, and of the calamity which results therefrom; and in Jeremiah 11:14-17 further description of this calamity. Jeremiah 11:1-8 "The word which came to Jeremiah from Jahveh, saying: Jeremiah 11:2. Hear ye the words of this covenant, and speak to the men of Judah and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, Jeremiah 11:3. And say thou to them: Thus hath Jahve, the God of Israel, said: Cursed is the man that heareth not the words of this covenant, Jeremiah 11:4. Which I commanded your fathers in the day that I brought them forth out of the land of Egypt, out of the iron furnace, saying: Hearken to my voice, and do them according to all which I command you; so shall ye be my people, and I will be your God; Jeremiah 11:5. That I may perform the oath which I have sworn unto your fathers, to give them a land flowing with milk and honey, as it is this day. And I answered and said: So be it, Jahveh. Jeremiah 11:6. Then said Jahveh to me: Proclaim all these words in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem, saying: Hear ye the words of this covenant and do them. Jeremiah 11:7. For I have testified to your fathers in the day that I brought them out of the land of Egypt unto this day, testifying from early morning on: Hearken to my voice! Jeremiah 11:8.

But they hearkened not, nor inclined their ear, but walked each in the stubbornness of their evil heart; and so I brought on them all the words of this covenant which I have commanded them to do, and they have not done them." The form of address, Jeremiah 11:2 : hear ye (שׁמעוּ), and speak ye (דּבּרתּם), is noteworthy since we are not told who are to hear and speak; while at Jeremiah 11:3, in ואמרתּ Jeremiah receives the commission to declare the words of the covenant to the people, and to make known in the cities of Judah, etc. (Jeremiah 11:6). The difficulty is not removed by the plan adopted by Hitz. and Graf from the lxx, of changing ודבּרתּם into ודבּרתּם, "and speak them;" for the שׁמעוּ remains to be dealt with. To whom then, is it addressed? Schleussner proposed to change it into שׁמעה - a purely arbitrary change. In Jeremiah 11:4 "hearing" is used in the sense of giving ear to, obeying. And in no other sense can it be taken in Jeremiah 11:1. "The words of this covenant" are, as is clear from the succeeding context, the words of the covenant recorded in the Pentateuch, known from the reading of the Torah. The call to hear the words thereof can only have the meaning of: to give ear to them, take them to heart. Hence Chr. B. Mich. and Schnur. have referred the words to the Jews: Listen, ye Jews and ye citizens of Jerusalem, to the words of the covenant, and make them know to one another, and exhort one another to observe them.