Jeremiah 17:18

The early versions and the Targum are neither consistent nor satisfactory as to the beginning of this verse: "Deep is the heart above all things, and it is man," Septuagint; "Depraved is the heart of all, and inscrutable," Fulgate; "Hard in heart is man above all things," Syriac; "The heart, deeper than anything, is human," Arabic; "Deceitful is the heart above all things, and it is strong." Targum. Correct, no doubt, is the first clause in the Targum, but not the last. Critics agree as to the first word, "deceitful," but not as to the word rendered in our version "desperately wicked." It occurs in all nine times, and four times in other parts of Jeremiah, (Jeremiah 15:18; Jeremiah 17:16; Jeremiah 30:12, 15) and it is rendered "incurable," except in Jeremiah 17:16. It means to be so bad as to be past endurance or past remedy. Blayney renders it here, "past all hope;" and Horsely, "incurable," which is perhaps the best word, — Deceitful the heart above every thing, And incurable it is, who can know it? The meaning is, that it is incurably deceitful; hence the question," Who can know it?" — Ed.

17:12-18 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. It is always fresh and clear, like spring-water, while the pleasures of sin are puddle-waters. He prays to God for healing, saving mercy. He appeals to God concerning his faithful discharge of the office to which he was called. He humbly begs that God would own and protect him in the work to which he had plainly called him. Whatever wounds or diseases we find to be in our hearts and consciences, let us apply to the Lord to heal us, to save us, that our souls may praise his name. His hands can bind up the troubled conscience, and heal the broken heart; he can cure the worst diseases of our nature.

Let them be confounded that persecute me,.... With words with reproaches, with scoffs and jeers, saying, "where is the word of the Lord?" Jeremiah 17:14 ; let such be ashamed that scoffingly put such a question, by seeing the accomplishment of it: but let not me be confounded; who have delivered it out as the word of the Lord, that should be surely fulfilled; let not me be brought to shame by the failure of it and be reckoned as a false prophet: let them be dismayed; terrified and affrighted when they shall see the judgments of God coming upon them, which they have jeeringly called for: but let not me be dismayed; by their not coming, or when they shall come; but preserve and protect me: bring upon them the day of evil; of punishment; which they put far away, and scoff at; though the prophet did not desire the woeful day to come upon the people in general, yet upon his persecutors in particular. Jarchi interprets it of the men of Anathoth alone; and which desire of his did not arise from malice towards them, but from indignation at their sin and for the glory of the divine Being, whose name was blasphemed by them: and destroy them with double destruction; not with two sorts of judgments, sword and famine, as Jerom; but with an utter destruction, with breach after breach, destruction after destruction, until they were entirely destroyed; unless it should have regard to the two times of destruction, first by the Chaldeans, and then by the Romans.

18 . destroy them with double destruction ] lit. as mg. break them with a double breach . Cp. Jeremiah 4:6 . This may mean a literally twofold punishment, the one part for their apostasy as a nation, the other for their treatment of Jeremiah. It seems more likely however that double is merely equivalent to utter, complete . Co. with Du. holds that the imprecation, as in direct opposition to Jeremiah 17:16 , stamps this part of the v ., or according to him, the whole v . as unauthentic (but see Jeremiah 11:20 ). For metrical reasons also he rejects the v ., but considers that it has taken the place of a genuine ending to the passage, now lost.

Confounded - Put to shame. Destroy them ... - Rather, break them with a double breaking: a twofold punishment, the first their general share in the miseries attendant upon their country's fall; the second, a special punishment for their sin in persecuting and mocking God's prophet.

On this he founds his entreaty that the Lord will not bring him to confusion and shame by leaving his prophecies as to Judah unfulfilled, and gives his encouragement to pray in the clause: Thou art my refuge in the day of evil, in evil times; cf. Jeremiah 15:11 . May God rather put his persecutors to shame and confusion by the accomplishment of the calamity foretold, Jeremiah 17:18 . תּהיה pointed with Tsere instead of the abbreviation תּהי, cf. Ew. 224, c. הביא is imperat. instead of הבא, as in 1 Samuel 20:40 , where the Masoretes have thus pointed even the הביא. But in the Hiph. the i has in many cases maintained itself against the , so that we are neither justified in regarding the form before us as scriptio plena, nor yet in reading הביאה. - Break them with a double breach, i.e., let the disaster fall on them doubly. "A double breach," pr. something doubled in the way of breaking or demolition. שׁבּרון is not subordinated to משׁנה in stat. constr., but is added as accus. of kind; cf. Ew. 287, h.

Micah and Isaiah, a little later, speak of such opposition, in Judah, as habitual Micah 2:6; Isaiah 30:10-11; much more in Israel, where the opposition to God's law was more fundamental, and where God's prophet's had been all but exterminated. Even Asa, in his degenerate days, imprisoned Hanani for prophesying that he would "have wars" 2 Chronicles 16:7, 2 Chronicles 16:10; Joash killed Zechariah son of Jehoiada 2 Chronicles 24:20-21; Amaziah silenced the prophet who rebuked him, "Art thou made of the king's council? forbear. Why shouldest thou be smitten?" 2 Chronicles 25:15-16. Jehoiakim sent even into Egypt to fetch Uriah and killed him Jeremiah 26:20-23. Jeremiah's life was one continuous encounter with false accusations Jeremiah 20:10; Jeremiah 37:13; Jeremiah 38:4, contradictions by false prophets (Jeremiah 23:17 ff; Jeremiah 27:9-10, Jeremiah 27:14-16; Jeremiah 28; Jeremiah 29), hatred Jeremiah 15:10, mockery Jeremiah 17:15; Jeremiah 20:7-8; Jeremiah 23:33, persecution Jeremiah 17:18, imprisonment Jeremiah 20:2; Jeremiah 32:3; Jeremiah 33:1; Jeremiah 37:15-21; Jeremiah 38:6-13, attempts to destroy him (Jeremiah 11:18-21; Jeremiah 18:18, Jeremiah 18:20-23; Jeremiah 26:8 ff; Jeremiah 36:26). The complaint was, as here, "wherefore dost thou prophesy?" Jeremiah 32:3.